Going to the movie theater is one of the easiest outings to plan with your friends, mainly because of how inexpensive yet unifying the experience is. You get to see a story unfold alongside the people you love, while sharing a communion of food all in one sitting. All of these elements make visiting the movie theater worthwhile.

It has been nearly five years since the world collectively forgot the boy beneath the mask. When Spider-Man: No Way Home ended, Peter Parker was left entirely alone - stripped of his friends, his family, and his identity. Going into Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the most pressing question wasn't about which costumed supervillain our friendly neighbourhood web-slinger would have to punch next, but rather, what was actually left of the hero underneath the spandex?

When the new cinematic DC Universe officially launched its flagship hero back into the sky, the world looked up in awe. Superman was exactly what audiences and critics had been begging for over the last decade: a pitch-perfect execution of the classic superhero mythos. It deserved every single ounce of the hype it received. It was a triumph of modern blockbuster filmmaking that knew precisely what it was. But less than a year later, the skies have darkened over Metropolis.

You know the feeling. Endless fluorescent-lit corridors. Carpet that smells faintly of damp. A room that should have an exit but somehow doesn’t.

There was a brief, glorious window, roughly 1995 to 2004, when Hollywood decided the Middle Ages didn’t need to be grim. No mud-caked realism, no muted colour palettes, no dragons brooding in the rain. Instead we got glitter eyeshadow under coronets, jousting tournaments soundtracked by classic rock, and castles that looked like they’d been decorated by a teenager with a Claire’s Accessories card.

There is a strange, specific kind of nostalgia gripping modern audiences: a collective ache for a cinematic era many of us barely lived through. Scroll through social media today and you will not find viral edits of the latest streaming romantic comedy. You will find a loop of Heath Ledger dancing across concrete bleachers, Alicia Silverstone spinning in a yellow plaid skirt, Jennifer Garner sobbing over a pink plastic dollhouse.

Kane Parsons' Backrooms is undeniably impressive. It satisfies that craving for nostalgic dread that got my friends and I hooked on the movie and the lore in the first place. What once only existed on our computer screens was finally recreated on the big screen. And there's no arguing it. Parsons, indeed, has displayed a commendable talent in manipulating atmosphere for a first-time feature director. Unfortunately, atmosphere can only carry a film so far before it gets dragge

If you left the cinema feeling equal parts thrilled and unsettled, you’re not alone. Curry Barker’s horror-romance became one of the breakout hits of the year, and it’s easy to see why. A hopeless romantic breaks a mysterious trinket called the One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, only to discover that getting exactly what you wished for can be its own kind of nightmare. What starts as a sweet, slightly awkward love story tips, scene by scene, into something much darker: