ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Looking for something to watch this September? Check out our 828reviewsNOW guide for the movies to see, stream or watch this month.

You should see…

“EDEN” (2024, 130 min., directed by Ron Howard)

“Eden” is a lot like the waves on Floreana, the Galapagos island on which it is set. The movie begins with a terrific swell, lands with a thunderous crash and recedes with frothy leisure. Its characters are as briny as the water, filled with salty resentment toward each other, and the plot moves in and out of “interesting” and “dull” like high and low tide. If you can ride the wave, “Eden” is a mostly fun ride to an offbeat shore.

Ron Howard’s film underwent a long and laborious path to theatrical exhibition in the United States, debuting in Germany four months before it would bow across the pond. That difficult journey is reflected in the plot of “Eden,” a dramatization of the true story of German philosophers Dr. Friedrich Ritter and Dore Strauch’s attempt to settle on Floreana in the late 1920s and early 30s. Through parasitic infestation, overexposure, thirst and rampaging wild boars, Ritter, played by a snarling Jude Law, and Strauch, an underutilized Vanessa Kirby, eke out a solitary life for themselves on the island. Their hard-earned solitude is soon disrupted, however, by the arrival of the Wittmers, a family of German settlers who admired the pair, and an entrepreneurial entourage led by Baroness Eloise Bosquet de Wagner Wehrhorn, a vain and seductive charlatan.

The adult Wittmers are played by Sydney Sweeney and Daniel Brühl, while their young son is portrayed by Jonathan Tittel. Sweeney, undeniably the weakest member of the cast, including Tittel and a pack of wild dogs, brings a muddled German accent and wide-eyed vacancy to her portrayal of Margret Wittmer, whose account of living on Floreana served as the primary basis for “Eden.” Brühl, who grew up in Germany, is far more convincing in accent and acting, bringing a warmth and determination to his attempts at homesteading and a base line of decency against the dynamic chaos of the other cast members.

Any argument for why you should see “Eden” must begin with Ana de Armas. The actress portrays the Baroness with a sultry, pouting campiness that dominates the screen from the moment she arrives to dominate the island. The Baroness is ultimately a supporting player in “Eden,” which is to the film’s detriment. At an overlong two hours and 10 minutes, whenever de Armas is offscreen, the energy is zapped out of the movie, becoming as much of a slog to get through as Floreana’s humid island weather.

While “Eden” asks the audience to get on its wave, it can’t keep above water. The last hour of the film is tough going, particularly compared with the gross, sexy and handsomely crafted story of the first half. Howard is a classical craftsman, but he and screenwriter Noah Pink could have spent as much time building out the third act of “Eden” as the film’s stunning sets and period costumes. If you decide to follow this review to Floreana, stay for The Countess, appreciate Brühl and acknowledge Law, but don’t make the journey as optimistic as the Wittmers. “Eden” is a tough watch.

Rating: 3/5

“THE TOXIC AVENGER” (2023, 100 min., directed by Macon Blair)

There’s a new Toxie in town! Peter Dinklage takes up the mantle of the murderous mutant superhero in a new reimagining of the 1980s cult classic, written and directed by Macon Blair and co-starring Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.

Echoing the beats of the original, Dinklage plays the meek Winston Gooze, a janitor for an evil healthcare company, who is transformed into a super-strong and hideously disfigured mutant after getting tossed into a vat of toxic waste. Gooze, dubbed by the media as The Toxic Avenger, goes on a revenge rampage, taking out goons and CEOs alike with bloody relish.

“The Toxic Avenger” is a lot of fun, particularly for midnight movie fans. It’s unabashedly silly, profane and gory, with just enough practical effects and good gags to keep things moving. However, outside of that narrow demographic, there is nothing much here to latch onto. The tagline of the film, which went unrated after sitting on the shelf for two years, is “the hero we need now,” promising a level of cultural commentary which simply does not exist in the kooky final product. Whenever Blair begins to gesture at something clever, his script pivots right back to camp. This is a movie with acid urine, backflipping henchmen and pop-out eyeballs, but not one with a brain.

Rating: 2.5/5

You should stream…

“THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB” (2025, 118 min., directed by Chris Columbus)

While “The Thursday Murder Club” may be a murder mystery, its pleasures are very simple. As it turns out, watching four retirees – pensioners, to use the British lingo of this very British film – played by a few of our finest British actors solve crimes and make jokes is an immensely charming exercise in coziness. The film has no lofty ambitions or impressive twists. There is no flashy camerawork or inventive editing. Instead, “The Thursday Murder Club” plays out with an approach much like its protagonists’ sleuthing: slow and competent.

Four characters make up the titular club. Ben Kingsley plays Ibrahim, a psychiatrist. Pierce Brosnan plays Ron, a former union leader. Helen Mirren plays Elizabeth, a retired secret service agent. Finally, Celia Imrie portrays Joyce, a newcomer to the group and a former nurse.

Unusual for Kingsley, the Oscar-winning actor is the weak link in the central quartet. His Ibrahim is a dull blade among this elder “Knives Out” ensemble, while Mirren is his opposite, playing Elizabeth with sharp wit and sharper intelligence. Brosnan, meanwhile, brings his signature level of cool to Ron, serving as a counter-weight for Imrie’s quirky, chipper characterization of Joyce. Watching the four bounce off each other and navigate a plot studded with character actors – Naomi Ackie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce and Richard E. Grant are among the supporting cast – is delightful.

“The Thursday Murder Club” is a perfect comfort watch for a streaming service. The film is a lengthy 118 minutes, but its easygoing energy and unexceptional nature allow viewers to dip in and out whenever they need a warm, cinematic hug.

Rating: 3/5

You should skip…

“THE ROSES” (2025, 105 min., directed by Jay Roach)

If “The Thursday Murder Club” is a cozy British sweater, “The Roses” is a dreary walk through the slums of London. Starring English icons Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, Jay Roach’s remake of “The War of the Roses” is an agonizing study of the heat death of a loving relationship disguised as a blackly comic romantic satire.

If you have seen the ubiquitous trailer, you might surmise that “The Roses” is a zany comedy, the sort of romantic fare filled with clever barbs about marriage and its foibles, if dialed up a few degrees. Instead, the gun-toting, wart-scraping, insult-trading tone promised by the marketing only arrives three-quarters of the way through the film. The preceding hour is a dour, heartbreaking depiction of a relationship coming apart at the seams. For a black comedy, “The Roses” is light on jokes.

Colman and Cumberbatch are terrific as the sparring couple, but take much more after General Sherman than any royalty of the historical War of the Roses: in the film’s grim march to its absurd conclusion, Roach’s screenplay takes a scorched earth approach. The film is deeply unpleasant to watch, well-acted as it may be, but lacks astute observations about divorce to back it up. “Marriage Story,” this is not, but it isn’t a laugh riot, either. Like the underwritten Rose children, “The Roses” is stuck somewhere in the middle.

Rating: 2/5

“CAUGHT STEALING” (2025, 107 min., directed by Darren Aronofsky)

Darren Aronofsky’s latest crack at bat is a high-octane, New York City thriller throwback. Set in 1998, “Caught Stealing” stars Austin Butler as Hank, a former baseball star turned alcoholic bartender after injuring his leg and killing a friend in a high school drunk driving accident. Depressed and self-sabotaging since the accident, Hank drifts between shifts, bottles and bouts with his paramedic girlfriend, Yvonne – played by Zoë Kravitz – while phoning his mom to talk San Francisco Giants scores. When Hank is sent to the hospital by Russian mobsters hunting for his anarchic neighbor, Russ, played by a mohawked, cockney Matt Smith, he is pitched into a convoluted web of violence, each inning worse than the last.

Butler gives his all to the flick in his first real movie star part. This is not Butler-as-Elvis or Butler as a scary, white-skinned sci-fi villain. Hank is only a real character because Butler imbues him with all of his natural charisma, good looks and swagger. Nonetheless, make no mistake: “Caught Stealing” is a foul ball. Every other character is just as underwritten as Hank, but the rest of the cast lacks Butler’s powerhouse screen presence, leaving the film to rest on a plot as see-through as the Giants’ 2024 uniforms.

The only other member of the cast who might have been “caught stealing” scenes was Kravitz, but Aronofsky, working off of a script by Charlie Huston, made the decision to take her out as a major player by the end of act one. Without spoiling the details of her exit, the move felt straight out of an actual 1998 thriller and just as outdated.

“Caught Stealing” feigns at anarchy, punk rock and thrilling twists, but left a taste in my mouth like a bad ballpark hotdog.

Rating: 2/5