Prime Time: Merv (2025)

When is a Christmas film not a Christmas film? Despite the argument that crops up every single year about Die Hard (and don't start me on that again, people forget how many Christmas seasonal elements are in there as they argue against it), many movies are put forward as holiday treats without actually leaning in to the cheer and cheese of the season. Merv is one of those movies. It's not entirely tinsel-free, but there's a lengthy middle section that takes place in an area of Florida that is a far cry from any desirable winter wonderland.

Zooey Deschanel is Anna Finch, a woman who has recently ended a serious relationship with Russ Owens (Charlie Cox). They try to stay civil, for the sake of sharing the custody of their beloved dog, Merv, but it's tough. It gets tougher when Merv is diagnosed with depression. Russ decides to take him away to a doggy resort in Florida, but the trip becomes just a little bit more tense when Anna joins them. Will they be able to "fix" Merv, or will that only happen if they find a way to fix themselves?

Written by the husband and wife team of Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, this is an enjoyable enough comedy drama that just doesn't do enough of what viewers may be wanting. The Christmas-tinged scenes are there, but few and far between. The rom-com stuff (or maybe it's more appropriate to refer to it as anti-rom-com stuff) doesn't come across as effortless or charming. So you're really left with a film that you will love or hate based on your reaction to Deschanel, Cox, and seeing lots of pampered pooches onscreen. There are lots of dogs wearing clothing in this film, and if that doesn't seem sweet to you then you should probably swerve this. (it's my partner's pet peeve, no pun intended, so she was rolling her eyes and swearing more than expected while we watched this).

The good news is that Deschanel and Cox are both fine in the lead roles. The bad news is that they're not used as well as they could be. They're stuck in an awkward place, working around one another as they focus on their dog and often avoid the real worries and fears occupying so much of their headspace, but one or two sequences (one involving some fun and dancing, the other getting to the heart of why they separated) hint at a better film hidden away here. Ellyn Jameson is another dog owner who takes a liking to our male lead, which makes him consider how much he is struggling to move on, and she does so well with the friendly and flirty conversation that viewers may be tempted to watch the film head in a completely different direction. Patricia Heaton and David Hunt are parents who are dutifully visited during the holiday season, and Chris Redd and Jasmine Matthews are friends who know what is best for our leads (as dictated by the movie anyway) before they eventually figure it out for themselves.

Director Jessica Swale does a serviceable job, but she feels as hampered as her leads. This is a film right in the middle, neither leaning into every trope nor pushing back against them in a way that could have considerably livened things up. The only thing it gets absolutely right is the cuteness of the main dogs, which means major bonus points for animal lovers. Everyone else will be likely to feel slightly disappointed by the time the end credits roll.

5/10

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Shudder Saturday: Scare Me (2020)

Written and directed by Josh Ruben, who also gives himself a leading role, Scare Me feels very much like a genre film written and directed by someone who gives themselves a leading role. It's a showcase piece, with the wrong person trying to get the most from it.

Ruben is Fred, a wannabe-writer who decides to spend some time in a remote cabin to kickstart his writing endeavours. In a nearby cabin is Fanny (Aya Cash), a writer who has already had no small amount of success. A power outage leads to these two people coming together, and Fanny comes up with the idea of them telling stories to one another, attempting to provide entertainment and scares.

An anthology movie with a twist, Scare Me has gone down well with some horror fans, and I really can't work out how that happened. It failed almost entirely for me, and is only saved by the wonderful turn from Cash.

Although the idea of the main characters telling, and acting out, their tales initially seems like a fun concept, with physical performances being complemented by some wonderful audio/foley work, it quickly outstays its welcome, especially when you realise that you're never going to see more. It then starts to make you wonder why this wasn't simply created as a stage play, or perhaps even some kind of immersive audio-only experience, which could have been fantastic.

Ruben isn't as good as he needs to be in his role, and he doesn't really sell any of the subtler characterisations that bubble up to the surface in time for the third act. Cash is much better, but there are instances when her acting feels as if it is working hard to underline the fact that she is acting, if you know what I mean. Chris Redd, playing a pizza delivery worker named Carlo, brings a fun energy to the proceedings, but it isn't enough to elevate the whole movie.

Of the many problems I have with this movie, the one that may be the most difficult for me to ignore is the fact that almost none of the stories delivered by the performers is remotely scary, or even very good. They are, in fact, mostly forgettable. The joy with an anthology film is that you usually don't have to wait too long to find a story you like, but Scare Me leaves viewers without any proper entertainment to go with the novel presentation.

I really wanted to enjoy this. I'd heard about the format and thought it could be a good way to deliver some traditional fare in a non-traditional way. If nothing else, it featured two people telling spooky stories by a fire on a dark night. Except it didn't. Just that simple concept would have been preferable to this (as happened with the wonderful little gem, The Devil's Business). 

Misguided rather than absolutely inept and horrible, Scare Me just felt a lot more annoying and intolerable to me because Ruben never focused on the strengths available to him. Maybe one of his future projects will be better though, and I'm not writing him off. This was certainly a different way to try to make something with certain limitations in place.

3/10

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