I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:03)
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renée Rodgers to talk about the new releases in theatres including the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the new movies coming to theatres including the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night” (VOD/Digital).
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the alien adventures of “The Outer Threat,” the moody “Her Private Hell” and the existential sci fi of “Lars Shrike Walks the Night.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “The Outer Threat,” a new sci fi family drama now playing in theatres, an astrophysicist and his family are forced to go on the run after he makes a groundbreaking extraterrestrial discovery.
CAST: Constance Wu, Mark O’Brien, William Fichtner. Directed by William Woods.
REVIEW: A character driven sci fi film, “The Outer Threat” is a low-key movie about the future of humanity.
Mark O’Brien plays Daniel, an obsessive astrophysicist who lives off the grid with girlfriend Michelle (Constance Wu) and her two children (Isaac Smelcer-Zhang and Callista Crowe). Michelle, also an astrophysicist, is concerned that Daniel’s work is consuming his life, leaving him with little time for her or the kids. She fears he’ll turn out like her own father (Oscar Hsu), a workaholic from whom she is now estranged.
When his research uncovers “the single greatest discovery in the history of physics,” Michelle warns him, “We can’t tell anybody. We are not ready for this.”
But when his evidence of extraterrestrial life becomes known, the information puts Daniel and his family at risk. “So that’s it,” Michelle says, “we’re not in charge anymore.”
As blackouts become widespread, Daniel and family flee, hunted by an anonymous pursuer. As the family and the world faces the unknown, they search for safety, truth and the identity of their stalker.
A low-key sci fi movie set against the backdrop of an intense family drama, “The Outer Threat” succeeds because of uniformly strong performances from the cast.
As the obsessive, flawed Daniel, O’Brien is relatable as a man who has fallen down a rabbit hole and now must deal with the consequences. The stakes are high, but O’Brien never overplaying the situation.
Wu brings warmth and intelligence, grounding the story with her concern for her family over her husband’s scientific activities.
A welcome extended cameo from William Fichtner amps up the film’s paranoia element, while Oscar Hsu, as Michaelle’s father, fits like a puzzle puce into the film’s story of family.
“The Outer Threat” does a lot with a little. Without large set pieces to fall back on, director William Woods maintains a simple, understated approach that values ideas and family relations over spectacle. It fizzles a bit at the end but until then its study of first contact is unique and compelling.
On the Saturday June 13, 2026 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet award-winning actor, writer, and director Mark O’Brien. You know him as Des Courtney on Republic of Doyle and ambitious Deputy District Attorney Thomas Milligan on HBO’s Perry Mason. On the big screen he’s delivered standout performances in films like Arrival, Ready or Not, Marriage Story, and Goalie — for which he won a Canadian Screen Award. More recently, he’s been behind the camera with his acclaimed directorial debut The Righteous, and now his chilling new supernatural horror film The Voices of Our Mother, which he wrote, directed, and stars in.
Then, we’ll meet Kevin Hardcastle, an award-winning Canadian author whose debut short story collection Debris won the Trillium Book Award and ReLit Award, while his first novel In the Cage established him as a powerful voice in contemporary fiction. In his highly anticipated new novel County Road Six, Hardcastle delivers a taut, propulsive family drama about four O’Hare sisters forced to confront their violent father’s legacy and a long-buried secret on a decaying farmstead in rural Ontario.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Here’s some info on The Richard Crouse Show!
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
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C-FAX 1070 in Victoria
SAT 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM
SUN 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
CJAD in Montreal
SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM
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SAT 8 PM to 9:00 PM
NEWSTALK 610 CKTB in St. Catharines
Sat 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM
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I sit with host Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to talk about to the recent Tony Award winner “Giant,” Rush’s triumphant return to the stage, Glenn Close’s honorary Oscar, and I review the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day,” the spoof “Stop! That! Train!” and the supernatural “The Voice Of Our Mother.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to brush your teeth. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the alien thrills of “Disclosure Day,” the spoof “Stop! That! Train!” and the supernatural “The Voice Of Our Mother.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “The Voices of Our Mother,” a new gothic family drama now playing in theatres, a death in the family revives old animosities and secrets, leaving a group of estranged siblings to wonder if their situation is natural or supernatural.
CAST: Mark O’Brien, Sheila McCarthy, Georgina Reilly, Carolina Bartczak, Alex Ozerov-Meyer, and Anna Ferguson.
REVIEW: A mix of family drama and the supernatural, “The Voices of Our Mother” takes geriatric health issues and gives them a demonic spin.
When we first meet family matriarch Harriet Scaflen (Sheila McCarthy) her health has taken a turn after the death of his 95-year-old mother.
Her four children, William (Mark O’Brien, who also wrote and directs), Annika (Georgina Reilly), Therese (Carolina Bartczak) and Martin (Alex Ozerov-Meyer), are summoned to the family home to figure out next steps. Trouble is, they are estranged from her and each other.
Despite their mother’s presiding physician’s claims that she “appears to be healthy,” something must be wrong because mom has never behaved like this before.
A story of evil awoken from resentment, revenge, grief and intergenerational trauma, “The Voices of Our Mother” has a great ensemble, but it’s Sheila McCarthy’s wild performance that sticks.
The “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing” hands in an uninhibited performance that brings her inner demon to the fore. She’s no stranger to horror, having appeared in “Anything for Jackson,” a dark horror comedy about ancient spells and a “reverse-exorcism,” but her work here brings an intensity that is truly disturbing. It’s also interesting to see the usual trope of a child possessed by evil flipped to an elderly matriarch.
Writer, director and actor Mark O’Brien takes a relatable situation, a family brought together to care for a parent, and weaves in ideas of intergenerational trauma and family secrets as a catalyst for a slow-burn story of ancestral evil and possession.
Add to that atmospheric sound design and some wild practical effects and you get “The Family Stone” meets “The Exorcist” with a side of “Hereditary” for extra impact.
“The Voices of Our Mother’s” slow burn ignites when McCarthy lets her freak flag fly but it also does a nice job of blending family dysfunction with the supernatural.
