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https://blacknerdproblems.com/interview-with-rodney-barnes-on-his-latest-series-crownsville/
This transcript has been edited slightly for clarity and conciseness.
BlackNerdProblems: Hello, welcome to our first interview in a while. My name is Mikkel Snyder. I am a staff writer with Black Nerd Problems, and I’m here with Rodney Barnes. How are you doing today, Rodney?
Rodney Barnes: I’m doing well, thank you.
BNP: So, we’re big fans of your work over here. This is dating me a little bit, but I was the staff writer who did the reviews on Quincredible way back when you were with Lion Forge back in the day.
Rodney: Wow.
BNP: Ah, I loved your take on the genre. It was a lot of fun. We also loved Killadelphia a lot when it came out. It was a darling of ours. But we’re here today to talk about Crownsville. It’s coming out with ONI Press November 5th.
So, before we get into that, I guess my first question is, you’ve worn a lot of hats over the years between different mediums, genres, IP work, original stories. What keeps you coming back to comics? And what keeps you coming back to horror?
Rodney: I love comics. And, you know, there’s an idealism when it comes to comics. I work a lot in television and film. And a lot of times that’s business, you know, it’s work. But when I come to comics, it feels like the closest thing to idealism, like what I wanted writing to be in my head when I was a kid and I said I wanted to be a writer. Comics kind of give me that.
In regards to horror, I’ve loved horror my entire life. You know, the majority of my work in television and other mediums has been drama, sports drama, comedies, that type of thing. And being able to speak directly to horror in the way that I want to, comics kind of give me that.
BNP: Because comics is your first love, as you say, is it easier to write for it? Or have you sort of mastered like different parts of it? And it’s sort of like variable?
Rodney: It’s variable, because, you know, in comics, as we were talking earlier, I’ve done superhero comics. I’ve done a lot of Star Wars stuff. I’ve learned a lot of different things. So it’s not like, you know, it’s just horror when it comes to comics. But a lot of my indie work in comics has been horror. So in that regards, yes. But, you know, comics, I just love the medium in general.
Horror, I just love it, you know, as well.
BNP: So let’s talk about Crownsville. How long have you been working on this particular story?
Rodney: On and off for like five years, you know, it was one of those things where I, when I was a kid, I knew about Crownsville, because my grandmother was a nurse there for a while. And, you know, I always looked at it as like the haunted hospital and had a lot of spooky stories around it and all of that. So on and off, different ideas. I didn’t know what my entry point was going to be. I tried a bunch of different things and then ultimately fell into the story that you have now.
BNP: Could you, for our viewers who will eventually see this, could you sort of give like what your logline for what this Crownsville comic is about?
Rodney: In short, there’s a mental asylum that is haunted and the secrets of its past, how it became haunted and, you know, the circumstances that brought it to the place that it is now in my story have come to light.
And a homicide cop and a newspaper man decide to investigate the strange happenings that are going on at the hospital.
It’s closed at the time, like now in reality and in the story as well. It’s condemned. But the events of the past are drawing in circumstances in the present.
BNP: Having read the first couple issues of it, it’s clearly a story that comes from a place of reverence. It’s set in your home state. It revolves around what is an unfortunately American history staple of unethical medical research. How does this feel writing about all of that during a time where we still have a lot of these issues just manifesting in different ways?
Rodney: It was very, very personal. I mean, I didn’t, when I started working on the book, I wasn’t thinking about it in a political sense. I just wanted to tell a really great story.
And circumstances, you know, started to move in that direction as far as what’s going on in the country and how we look at history and how history is going to be taught, disseminated in school, etc., etc. But I wasn’t thinking about that at the time. I just wanted to tell a really good story that I thought was respectful of the place and the people and what they went through.
But it’s almost like everything dovetailed together to where now I get that question a lot was like, was this in response to what’s going on? And, you know, honestly, none of that was in my head. I just always saw the place. And a lot of the stories that I tell Indie-wise are just stories I always wanted to tell.
BNP: How much research goes into a project like this? Because you clearly have like a history with it already. So there was some background knowledge. How much additional effort do you sort of have to like pull in to like give an authentic version of the story in your mind?
Rodney: A good amount. Shout out to Antonia Hylton, who wrote a book called Madness about Crownsville. Probably about a year ago, it came out. Excellent research. And she allowed me to be a little part of it as well. And there are a lot of historians in Annapolis as well who I was able to speak to and a lot of research online. And I actually spent a good amount of time at Crownsville.
First, I almost got kicked off and almost arrested because you’re not supposed to go up there and walk around the place. But there’s a picture you see in some of the press packets of me standing in front of it. Well, that day we almost got locked up for being out there.
Alan Amato, my photographer, shout out to him as well. But a good amount of research and a lot of things that I didn’t know about the place, you know, what it was originally intended for and what it ultimately became.
BNP: Did you have any specific inspirations for Eloise, Todd, and Paul?
Rodney: There were all sorts of composites of characters that I found along the way.
Todd sort of spoke to who I was, you know, when I was coming up and working jobs in the area and all of that. All of these were people who were just like amalgams of a bunch of people who came together, and I needed to make people up along the way. But the sentiments under all of them were real people and real places and real things.
I just, of course, couldn’t use real people that I knew.
BNP: That would be adding a whole other layer to the story.
Rodney: Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly.
BNP: So we’ve talked a lot about research. How about the other inspirations? So Crownsville clearly has a lot of supernatural elements to it, has a lot of film noir elements to it. What were some of your like benchmarks and your reference works for like the vibe that you wanted to convey with the tone?
BNP: Obviously, The Shining. And ironically, The Exorcist 3. I was a PA for a couple of days on The Exorcist 3 when I worked at Georgetown Law Center in Georgetown, the area where they shot the movie, I was able to work. And if you saw The Exorcist 3 starring the late great George C. Scott, a lot of that was in a hospital. And, you know, I loved haunted houses.
I love that idea of places that still hold spirits and have secrets and all of that stuff. So a lot of it was just kind of mined from movies I’d loved over time and stories that I read that still sort of resonated. There was a great book, Night Stalks the Mansion, when I was a kid that I loved. Amityville Horror, those types of things. And trying to build a sense of mystery and intrigue along with supernatural paranormal events as well.
I wanted to tell a story that wasn’t just a ghost story, but also had a mystery attached to it so that as readers go, they would get to a place where what’s happening? How did we get here? And then the practical problem of how do you solve the problem that’s, you know, that needs solving in the end without giving it away?
BNP: I won’t speak too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil anything for the viewers, but I think I can talk about the fact that you do a lot of cool things with the timeline and going back and forth between events. And it was really interesting seeing that unfold over the first couple of issues.
Rodney: Thank you. Yeah, there’s a lot of historical stuff around Annapolis just with what it is.
Annapolis and Crownsville are sort of adjacent to one another. So I wanted to get a lot of the history in of how a place like Crownsville could exist culturally as much as practically, you know, how you could have a sense of dread that comes from the people themselves. Like each a cop, a newspaper man, they have histories as well.
And their histories, albeit not directly, are linked culturally to this place as well. So there’s a personal sense of it, even though they’re not necessarily both directly connected to it as people, the background, the environment, the history, they’re connected to that stuff.
BNP: I am also from Maryland. I wasn’t born there. I was a military brat, but I spent most of my middle school and high school there. And I think I’ve driven by the area a couple of times. So it felt very much like this feels familiar in a way that I couldn’t quite place. And part of that…
Rodney: Fort Meade, that Fort Meade area, the Naval Academy, all of that stuff, the military in there. Yep, exactly.
BNP: But part of that, I think, is contributed by your artist, Elia Bonetti, who is absolutely fantastic. What was the collaboration process like with them?
Rodney: I met him through Jason Sean Alexander, who works with me. He did Blacula and he did Killadelphia.
And a lot of times when I’m pitching ideas, I pitch them to Jason and he’ll say, this person would be great artist for it, or that person if it’s not him. And he just felt like Elia would be great as his tone, which is sort of a painted book that feels kind of ethereal and atmospheric. And it adds an element of mystery to it that takes the story beyond the words. There’s a story there within how he decides to create the visuals that words can’t elevate sometimes.
BNP: How different was it collaborating with Elia as opposed to Jason, and a new collaborator versus an older collaborator, essentially?
Rodney: Jason I know like a brother. Jason lives a mile and a half away from me. So I see Jason all the time. I talk to Jason all the time. We argue with each other all the time. So there’s a certain level of familiarity to where Jason and I can have knockdown drag out fights and you see what you see in the end. When you’re dealing with someone via email, who you’re not able to talk to on a regular basis, which is probably 90% of the people I work with in comics, because they’re from all over the world. Like when you were mentioning Quincredible, Selia was from the Philippines.
And I think we spoke one time over the three years and the three volumes of that book. So here was a similar dynamic as well, even though I think we met in New York, at New York Comic Con, maybe two years ago, we met and he gave me some great original art that I got framed and all of that. But as far as in the process of making the book, there wasn’t a whole lot of communication, but immediately he grabbed the work, grabbed the way the script went.
We had a couple of emails between the two of us, but he did a lot of research with the buildings and the things that are online as far as to get the architecture right and the environment right. And just hats off to him. I think he did a fantastic job.
BNP: Do you give that same level of feedback to your letterer? Because there was lots of cool things in the dialogue box.
Rodney; Yes, yes, as well. I mean, I think all aspects of the visual, I think heightened anything that I did with the words.
Like I think the way the book came to life and we’re on the sixth, actually, as we speak right now, I’m due to get the last chapter in. But everything that they did, the visual from the colors to the actual art itself to the lettering, everything sort of just fell into place perfectly. I’m very, very proud of the book.
BNP: How many pages is a typical script that you produce for a project like this?
Rodney. Twenty pages. I do it a lot like, you know, in screenwriting, a page is a minute. So if I’m doing a drama script, typically it’s 50 pages for an hour show.
And if it’s a movie, it’s one hundred and twenty page- anywhere from one ten to one twenty. So my comic scripts really go relatively, you know, 20 pages, 20 pages of script.
BNP: Did you develop your own template that somebody else help you out with that? Did you rely on your screenwriting stuff? Like how did this process sort of like hone over the years?
Rodney: Well, I remember the first script, the first project I ever wrote in comics was for Falcon.
That was my first book in Marvel. And I remember when I turned my first script in, my editor at the time said the script is ponderous. And I knew what the word ponderous meant. And I knew it wasn’t a compliment. And basically what he was saying was it was too many words. And I was writing like a screenwriter for something that really you have to work with.
You know, graphic art is different than the moving image. I didn’t know I’d never considered that before. I just looked at it like I would tell a story like I’m telling any other story.
And it wasn’t until the fourth issue of Falcon that I realized that I have to work with the artist and less is more. And over time, you know, by the time I got to Killadelphia, I started to feel like, OK, I kind of had my own voice and I had my own thing. And I did that both in how I wrote scripts, how I communicated with artists, and ultimately had a better idea of how words and art work together for me in the way that I do it.
And so you’ll find that if you look at those first Falcon books all the way through Quincredible. There’s a lot, a lot of words. And over time, I was able to call it down and say, OK, what’s really necessary? How much do I really need? And leaning on the artist more to really make their choices.
And they know more about this than I do. Jason certainly has been doing this a lot longer than me and really just building a relationship with my artists and trust with the artists, and I’m just trying to say more with less.
BNP: As someone who is naturally very perverse, that is an enviable skill.
Rodney: Yeah, it takes time. It really does take time because you feel like you want to dot every I and cross every T and you want to make sure all the information is there. And then at a certain point, if you do it long enough, and we did 36 issues of Killadelphia and we may do some more in the future, you get to a place where you just develop a rhythm and a confidence that I didn’t have in my earlier stuff.
And now it’s gotten to a place where. I have enough confidence to be able to know how long it’s going to take to write a script, what needs to be said, how I want to say it, you know, I figured out my head before I put pen to paper, and it takes time. But if you do anything long enough, you get better at it, good or bad.
BNP: So that’s a lot of the questions I had about Crownsville and your process. I want to like zoom out a bit, have a little bit fun with this interview. So my next question is: what haunts you these days?
Rodney: Oh, my God. So we don’t have enough time to talk about what haunts me.
You know, primarily. Trying to get to a place career wise where I’m getting everything out of my system. I read an article by Stephen King and he was talking about winding down now because he’s getting to an age where he’s starting to feel old, I guess, where, you know, not so much. I think there’s some mental stuff there the way he doesn’t have the same level of clarity that he had when he was younger, which is understandable. And I have so many stories that I want to tell and so many projects and film and television and comics and just everything, novels across the board.
I don’t know if I’m going to have enough time to get all that stuff out of my system. And now I’m at an age where I’m starting to feel that even though there’s nothing wrong, you know, there’s nothing that I’m aware of that’s going on. But it’s like time has become a lot more valuable and I’m a lot more aware of it than I was when I was young.
BNP: We’ll pivot to a fun question after that existential one. But one of my favorite questions I ask everyone, no matter where I’m interviewing, no matter who they are, I want to know what’s a piece of media you wish more people knew about. Not necessarily your favorite, just something you had more exposure was more in the public consciousness.
Rodney: I think two television shows stand out more than anything else. Homicide: Life on the Street was one of my favorite TV shows in the late 90s. It was the reason that I wanted to become a screenwriter.
It was set in Baltimore. It was about homicide detectives. So, you know, you had death, but you also had mystery there.
And that’s my favorite of any genre to write or, you know, consume. And what else? Night Gallery, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery. You know, Night Gallery didn’t get the same amount of love as the Twilight Zone did.
And I’m a huge Rod Serling fan. And I think, you know, those two pieces of work, I wish had more of a life right now, even though Homicide just got picked up on Peacock, but they changed the music because I guess the licensing and all of that stuff.
So many episodes don’t come off exactly the same as they did when I watched them, but it’s still great stuff. And the late, great Andre Brouwer, who played Pembleton on the show, was actually attached to play Killadelphia in the live action TV show before he passed away. And, you know, but that said, still, Homicide is an incredible piece of work.
And I highly recommend it to anybody who loves dramas, mysteries, Law and Order, Dateline, all of that kind of stuff.
BNP: When it originally premiered on Peacock, I consumed all of it in pretty short order. And it is actively incredible how well it holds up and how well you can see like the foundations for every other cop procedural that followed it after.
Rodney: And yeah, it’s a lot like Kolshak the Night Stalker. It’s a lot like Kolshak the Night Stalker with The X-Files. And you see all the other things that came after it, how one thing inspired a bunch of other things.
BNP: So, yes, I agree a hundred percent. Cool. Well, that’s all of the questions I had for this interview. Is there anything you would like to share for viewers and the audience at home?
Rodney: No, just, you know, if you get an opportunity, check out Crownsville, November 5th. I’m really excited about it, really proud of it. And, you know, it’s got that hometown flavor. So I’m anxious for people to give it a read and hopefully they enjoy it.
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The post What haunts you? – An Interview With Rodney Barnes on His Latest Series, ‘CROWNSVILLE’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Your Christmas shopping has begun, but there’s one person not yet on your shopping list. It’s the person who works the hardest, sacrifices the most, and constantly puts others before themselves. The person that you’re probably not shopping for is yourself.
In the season of gift-giving, it’s easy to get caught up in buying gifts for everyone else but yourself. However, buying yourself something special can be a powerful act of self-care.
Why Black women in particular should buy gifts for themselves
According to the American Heart Association, around 50,000 African American women die annually from cardiovascular disease. In addition to higher levels of stress due to racial injustice, Black women endure too much to not be celebrated and spoiled from time to time.
So instead of waiting for someone else to give you a gift you may or may not want, buy yourself the gift you want and deserve. Keep in mind that gift-giving is a celebratory act, and you have so much to honor. Celebrate every time you got out of bed and started the day when you didn’t want to. Celebrate reaching your goals. Giving yourself a gift is a way to recognize your personal accomplishments.
Even if you choose to acknowledge your accomplishment in a different way, buy yourself a Christmas gift because it feels good and you deserve to be happy.
If you’re ready to spend some money on yourself, here are some gifts you’ll want to consider.
7 gifts your should gift yourself
1. A solo trip
Although many gifts come in finely wrapped boxes, one of the best gifts you can give yourself won’t fit under the tree. This holiday season, gift yourself a plane, bus, or train ticket to an unfamiliar place for a solo adventure.
Solo travel gives you the opportunity to disconnect from the stressors of life, discover new cultures, and learn something new about yourself.
If you decide to gift yourself a solo trip, you don’t have to go somewhere far. You can simply visit a neighboring city or the next state over. Putting yourself in a new environment can help uplift your spirits and nurture your soul.
2. Boudoir photoshoot
If you haven’t tried a Boudoir photoshoot, this is your time to do so. These sexy and intimate style photoshoots are a fun and unconventional way to celebrate the beauty of your body.
With this type of photoshoot, you’re encouraged to wear lingerie or any type of clothing you feel sexy in. Although posing in provocative attire may be a little out of your comfort zone, the results of your photoshoot will have you feeling empowered and free.
The bonus aspect of doing a photoshoot near the holidays is that you can print the photos and use them as a gift for yourself or a loved one.
3. A house plant
You may think that a house plant is a simple gift, yet it can produce lasting benefits all year long. According to an article on Healthline.com, some of the various benefits of house plants include increasing productivity, improving air quality, and reducing stress levels.
If you’re new to plant ownership, it’s best to start with a low-maintenance plant such as Aloe Vera, Sansevieria (Snake Plant), or Monstera. All of these plants require occasional watering and can survive in low light.
4. A dance or movement class
Like most, you probably have a New Year’s resolution related to fitness or health. Whether you want to adjust your weight or your muscle tone, you don’t have to herd yourself into the gym like a majority of people will do in the new year.
Instead, you can take a fitness class. There are a variety of different movement classes that involve cardio and strength training to help you reach your fitness goals. If you’re looking for a place to start you can check out ballroom, salsa, or Latin dance classes, Buti Yoga, or even burlesque dance classes.
Taking unconventional movement classes allows you to have more fun while getting into shape.
5. A journal
Journaling is a self-care practice that is recommended by therapists, teachers, coaches, and friends. It provides a safe space for you to release your thoughts and decompress from the stressors of life.
If you’re looking to start journaling, you can check out the journals and stationery from Be Rooted. Founded by Jasmin Foster, this company has products that give women of color the opportunity to explore who they are and celebrate themselves. There are a variety of different journals to choose from, including gratitude and mindfulness journals.
6. Therapy
Similar to journaling, therapy is a self-care gift that can help you improve your quality of life. Therapy gives Black women the opportunity to be seen, heard, and validated, especially if working with a Black therapist.
Starting therapy can feel different, unfamiliar, and scary, but it gives you a way to heal your trauma and other emotional damage. Working with a professional can help set you up for success in the new year.
7. Buy the thing you’ve been telling yourself you don’t deserve
Whether you choose to buy something from the above-mentioned items or not, the most important thing is to buy yourself what you want.
If you desire something that is currently out of your price range, make a plan to put money aside to make that purchase. Instead of talking yourself out of it, start convincing yourself that you deserve whatever it is that you want.
As Christmas time draws closer so does the pressure of buying gifts. Giving gifts, although rooted in capitalism, is about showing people that you care and making them feel good. So in the holiday season remember that you too are worthy and special of giving yourself a gift. Remember, it’s not selfish to want something and let yourself have it.
The post 7 Gifts Every Black Woman Should Gift Themselves This Christmas appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
There’s always a few bad apples in every bunch, and 2025 proved to be no exception. While this year delivered plenty of standout cinema, it also served up its fair share of misfires that left audiences and critics scratching their heads. And while we never underestimate the immense time, labor, and creative passion it takes to bring a film to life, intention doesn’t always translate into execution.
From streaming releases that were clearly advertisements for the streamers and mistook spectacle for substance to indie efforts that struggled to find their voice or justify their ambition, these films simply failed to connect on a creative or emotional level. Whether due to uneven storytelling, lackluster performances, questionable creative choices, or an inability to live up to their own potential, each title on this list missed the mark in ways that were hard to ignore.
Compiled from a select group of esteemed film critics, this list isn’t meant to tear down the craft but to honestly reflect the year’s most disappointing cinematic experiences. Even in a strong year for movies, not every release can be a winner and these are the films that, unfortunately, fell flat.
Jamie Broadnax’s Worst of 2025
Rabbit Trap
I screened this film at Sundance and walked out of the theater having no idea what this movie was about. To be fair, I came in with a blank slate not reading much about the summary of the film, I just saw Dev Patel was the lead and that was enough for me to get a ticket to the screening. But when I watched this haunting folk-horror film about a reclusive musician who retreats to the Welsh countryside to escape the noise of modern life, I didn’t expect this movie to be…all over the place. It’s part horror. Part Irish folktale. Here’s the thing, if you have dense knowledge of Irish folklore, you will likely appreciate and may even love this film. But if you’re more like me and know little to nothing about it, this film will leave you confused. There are weird plot holes like the fact that there’s this weird kid (Jade Croot) stalking this couple (played by Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen) and yet they feel trapped in their home, but never think to get into their vehicle and leave? It’s little things like that which made me scratch my head while watching this. This movie just may not be for me, but it’s one of the worst I’ve seen this year and I’m sticking to that.
Love Hurts
I want better for Ariana DeBose. This is an Oscar-winning actress that somehow has ended up in one trainwreck of a film after another soon after getting her gold statue. From Argyle, to Kraven: The Hunter and now Love Hurts she needs a win. What’s worse is this is the first leading role for Ke Huy Quan and I’m so sorry, but this was just awful. From the action sequences that look like they were AI-generated to the cheesy dialogue, it was just too much. I felt like this movie was trying too hard. Perhaps if it was more self-aware and campy (the way Roadhouse was) it would have been a better film. But the movie wasn’t trying to be campy. It was deadly serious with its dramatic moments and working overtime to deliver those humorless punchlines. This movie just didn’t do it for me. They could have kept this one in the drafts.
Holland
I saw this movie at SXSW and when I left the theater with my colleague we both looked at each other with a WTF look on our faces. Seriously, what did we just watch? Nicole Kidman stars as Nancy, a meticulous schoolteacher whose seemingly idyllic life with her husband (Matthew Macfadyen) begins to unravel when she suspects a dark secret lurking beneath their carefully curated routine. So I came in thinking okay maybe Twin Peaks meets Stepford Wives? Gael García Bernal plays Dave, Nancy’s co-worker, who uncovers some disturbing truths that challenge her sense of reality and safety. My biggest issue with this movie was its pacing. It’s really slow. And once the film finally gets to the point you really don’t care. The plot twist is weird, but it also feels random and doesn’t make much sense. It’s kind of tragic because this ensemble of actors and their talent are completely wasted in this movie.
War Of The Worlds
This is by far not only the worst movie of 2025. This is the worst movie I’ve ever seen. Ice Cube stars as Will Radford, a Department of Homeland Security surveillance and threat assessment expert who watches an extraterrestrial attack unfold through computer and phone screens. As mysterious machines attack Earth. This movie is basically an Amazon Prime ad. From the constant use of delivery drones, to the order placement page, to the actual Amazon delivery driver as a character in the film, Amazon Prime Video (the distributor of the movie) created an entire ad out of a feature film. That’s only the icing on the cake. Ice Cube gives a dreadful performance as Will Radford as he sits in his chair during the film and has to react to the dangers of what’s happening around him. Apparently this was filmed during covid so that’s why he’s sedentary. The problem is, Ice Cube has no range. So his reactions offer nothing emotionally to the story. There’s even one scene where he’s off camera and you can tell he’s literally reading from the script. It’s awful. The best thing about War Of The Worlds is it became a literal meme on social media and was universally panned by critics and fans alike.
Wayne Broadway’s Worst of 2025
The Monkey
In fairness to The Monkey and all other films on my “Worst Of” list, I had earlier made a commitment to myself that I wouldn’t watch clear-cut crap as much as I could help it. Meaning, things like Amazon’s meme-worthy The War of the Worlds remained off my radar, and I consider it an exercise in self love that I still refuse to view it. That said, the films that do make this list are bad for failing to live up to the potential I saw in them. I’m not mad; I’m just disappointed. Take, for example, Osgood Perkin’s The Monkey. Directed by the same mind behind the well-received Longlegs and an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, The Monkey had all the makings of a potential horror classic. But, beyond the creative kills, there was no there there. The story is bland and forgettable, and the characters don’t have much to do besides die. In other films, like this year’s fantastic Final Destination entry, the latter might not be an issue. But this film is at its core a family drama, and the drama falls flat.
Jurassic World Rebirth
In short, life should stop finding a way. The mad scientists at Universal should learn the same lessons as those at InGen and BioSyn and leave the fossils of an epic past to rest in peace. Viewers of this latest iteration gained nothing—no deeper insight in the “Jurassic Park” world, no love for the new, paper-thin characters, no sense that anything was accomplished other than a bland highway robbery that netted the perpetrators nearly a billion dollars. The worst part is that our collective hope that maybe this time they’ll get it right got us into movie theater seats to watch a short film about a lost family and a discarded video game plot about mercenaries get mashed together for two hours and some change. I’m always happy to see Mahershala Ali working, and Scarlett Johansson does what she can with the materials given to her, but there is little these charismatic and talented actors can do to enliven this latest entry in a decaying franchise.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
For suspense fans that want to watch Chase Sui Wonders play a member of a friend group dissolving because of mutual mistrust amid a murder mystery, I suggest watching 2022’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies.” That movie has everything 2025’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer” re-quel thinks it has: engaging characters, sharp dialogue, and a well-earned twist ending. Pity the poor folks like myself who were enticed by the excellent trailer that, at the very least, promised a return to form for the franchise. It’s also likely that a “return to form” doesn’t mean much for a franchise whose original film holds a paltry 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. But still, there was hope and unearned faith that something special might happen here. After all, “Final Destination Bloodlines” is arguably better than 90% of what came before it. But that hope was horribly misplaced. What audiences got was a script that seemed stitched together from last-minute rewrites and frantic responses to the whims of screening focus groups. The mid-credits scene teases a sequel. Let’s pray this film’s box office profits don’t come back to haunt us next summer.
Jeanine T. Abraham’s Worst of 2025
One Battle After Another
The press tour for One Battle After Another was a thing of beauty. Not one, but three spectacularly dynamic female actors, Teyana Taylor (Perfidia), Regina Hall (Deandra), and newcomer Chase Infiniti (Willa) were out in front promoting this film as an action film about Black revolutionaries. I was super pumped to see them light up the screen. The trailer featured Leonardo DiCaprio (Bob) and was epic. I was excited in the first scene where I saw Wood Harris (The Wire) up front and center as one of the revolutionaries. I was dialed in and ready to be sucked into a film that was about Black power. But unfortunately, One Battle After Another does not center the Black revolutionary movement. It’s a film about white men with fetishes for Black women, (there is actually a character named “Junglepussy” in this film), white men who will do anything to maintain white supremacy, and white men like Bob who shirk their responsibility to change the racist systems their forefathers left, leaving it to their mixed children to battle while they sit home on the couch and smoke weed and objectify Black women. It’s totally fine for a white male filmmaker to make a film from his perspective, but don’t place the Black women out in front of the press tour, social media marketing, and advertising, making the film seem as if it’s something it’s not. The thing is, One Battle After Another is technically a compelling film with interesting characters, it’s funny, and the action scenes are filmed in surprising and unique ways. Which makes it worse because they could have promoted the film to its intended audience, but they chose not to. I was expecting a Black female-led film, and I was inundated with toxic white male stories, the portrayal of revolutionaries from marginalized communities as snitches, cowards, and horrible mothers. I saw this film with a majority Black audience, and a bunch of people walked out. For leading me to think I was going to see a Black woman positive satire/action/comedy about revolution, and then showing me a satire about white supremacy and fetishizing Black women, One Battle After Another was one of my worst films of 2025.
Highest 2 Lowest
Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest leaves you wondering what ever happened to the brilliant young man who wrote and directed Do the Right Thing? Based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, High and Low, Lee sets the story in Brooklyn and makes the main character David King (Denzel Washington) a music industry mogul. Instead of giving tension, style, and a compelling story, this film served stale vibes, boring speeches, and the cinematic equivalent of someone shaking you by the shoulders, yelling, “DID YOU GET IT?” Every Spike Lee trademark is in Highest 2 Lowest, as he pulls out all the stops, desperately trying to be deep, but it all just falls short. Everyone is super intense, with no subtlety whatsoever, and the film is too long, tedious, and you can see what’s coming from a mile away. The age gap between Denzel Washington’s David King and Ilfenesh Hadera’s Pam King is distracting. Why are all of the love interests light-skinned? The character playing Denzel’s son even describes a girl he’s interested in as a light-skinned Zendaya. Most of the characters speak exclusively in declarations, slogans, and dramatic pauses. A$AP Rocky (a.k.a Rakim Mayers) is in two of my worst films of 2025, and his characters in both films are the same stereotype. There was music playing in the background in weird moments, which was distracting. You can pack talent like Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), NYC theater icon LaChanze (the only Dark skinned Black woman with lines in the film, who was, of course, a cop), and Wendell Pierce (The Wire), but even that level of talent can’t make a terrible script like this worth watching. Highest 2 Lowest was a total fail.
Straw
Watching Straw is like being trapped in a locked escape room, and the only key is suffering. Janiyah Wiltkinson (Taraji P. Henson, Hustle and Flow) is a single mom/ grocery store worker on the worst day of her life. Straw doesn’t really build tension; it takes a shovel and dumps it on you every five minutes.This movie is a series of scenes in which people give melodramatic monologues, snot-cry, and yell and scream at one another over and over for an hour and forty-five minutes. Not one moment in this film felt authentic, writing or acting. From the wigs, makeup, and costume design to the set design and props, everything looked cheap and thrown together. Every single actor in Straw could lead a master class in acting for a Tyler Perry film. The holes in the plotlines are so big you could drive several trucks through them. I wonder, at what point in the history of American cinema will Black filmmakers step away from the lazy tactic of minstrelsy? Apparently, never because there’s an audience. If you enjoy trauma porn, hate subtle, realistic storytelling, loathe seeing Black people connected to joy, and support anything Tyler Perry puts on screen because he’s Black,Straw is the perfect film for you.
Marty Supreme
Marty Supreme was like a spaztic fever dream. Take a bunch of wealthy people, put them in a period costume film, and promote the movie like it’s already gotten an Oscar, and you have Marty Supreme, the most overrated film of 2025. Timothée Chalamet plays Table Tennis Champion Marty Supreme on his quest to make enough money to pay his way to an international table tennis competition in Japan. This film has a lot of non-actors in leading roles, and it shows. Kevin O’Leary plays Milton Rockwell, a wealthy businessman who likes to humiliate people. O’Leary has said he’s playing himself, and I can see that. He is as unfunny, rude, and tiresome in this film as he is on his TV show Shark Tank. Director Josh Safdie ignores the actual racial dynamics of the 1950s, gives Marty a Black best friend, Wally (Tyler, the Creator), and places them in unrealistic situations as vehicles for comedy that were not funny. Gwyneth Paltrow’s Kay Stone is dull as dishwater and has zero chemistry with Marty. Earlier this year, she proudly proclaimed that she refused to use an intimacy coordinator, and it shows. The scenes of intimacy between this lackluster couple are sophomoric, bland, boring, and unbelievable. The script isn’t surprising; it’s just all over the place. It’s disappointing because Chalamet is a talented actor but his work in this film feels labored. Instead of thinking I’m watching Marty, I am watching Timothée Chalamet act like someone from the 21st century wearing a 20th-century costume and running around New York City being annoying. The only interesting actor in this film is Odessa A’zion as Rebecca. The character is horribly written, clingy, codependent but even with what she was given A’zion has a spark that draws you in. Marty Supreme feels like a vanity project for multi millionaires to say, “Hey this acting stuff isn’t so hard! I’m rich enough to play myself!” Yet here’s the thing, we don’t have to say that the film is great cinema just because there are rich people in it.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Not wearing makeup and bad lighting do not make a killer performance. Rose Byrne is a fantastic actor, but watching her play Linda, the overwhelmed mother in this movie was like watching her perform a series of “I’m an annoying Karen mom” TikTok’s strung together. Linda is a working mother with a child who has a mysterious health problem. Her husband is always away working and Linda can’t handle her job as a therapist, and taking care of her child. Writer director Mary Bronstein’s script and direction made you hate Linda and made film feel disconnected. Like Nightbitch last year If I Had Legs I’d Kick You centers a woman with resources who can barely hold it together to raise one child. Both these women are unorganized and have so much support but are overwhelmed and the audience is supposed to have empathy for these frankly really bad mothers because they can’t handle motherhood. The film is supposed to be a comedy but it’s not funny. This is unfortunately another film with a bunch of famous celebrities from comedy and hip hop lending their images to an indie film that seems as if it’s just a rich persons therapy project. Every single actor in this film is over the top, it’s not at all funny and the ending was lackluster.
Chalice Williams’ Worst Films of 2025
The Man in My Basement
I truthfully couldn’t have been more disappointed in a film than I was about The Man in My Basement because I sat down with some level of expectations. Willem Dafoe doesn’t miss, as he is one of the most talented and versatile actors ever to work in the industry. This film was, for lack of better word, pointless, as it built towards an abysmal conclusion. Right when you think you know where they are going with the plot, they say “sike” and leave you hanging. There were so many elements they could have tapped into for the overall “plot twist”, but even though they built them up, they never went toward any of them. There were several scenes that felt cringe and didn’t contribute to anything, such as Dafoe’s character going full frontal (what was the reason?!”), and Corey Hawkins’ having a moment with himself with a mask on (again, what was the reason?). Overall, I expected something deep with the way this film was set up, and got absolutely let down at every turn.
At the end of the day, lists like these are never about rooting for failure, but about holding the medium we love to a higher standard. Holland, One Battle After Another (which also appeared on our Best of List), and The Monkey each arrived with intriguing premises and creative promise, yet ultimately fell short of delivering the impact audiences and critics hoped for. Whether weighed down by muddled storytelling, uneven execution, or unrealized potential, these films serve as reminders that even the most anticipated projects can miss the mark. As always, we celebrate the risks filmmakers take, but we also recognize when those risks don’t pay off. Here’s hoping the lessons learned from these missteps lead to stronger, more compelling stories in the years to come.
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