John and the Hole (2021):

John (Charlie Shotwell) has a secret. Even though he is only 13, he has managed to engineer a situation where he keeps his entire family hostage. He terrorizes them regularly creating a psychological as well as a physical battlefield. Worse, for the family members, John has them imprisoned in a hole in the ground. The story here is not only about John’s bizarre behaviour, but the things the family members are forced to do in order to survive. Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan from the TV series “Dexter”) is one of those in the hole as is Taissa Farmiga, one of the stars of the series “The Gilded Age.” She is younger sister to Vera Farmiga who was the mom on the series “Bates Motel.’ The hole in the ground is actually an unfinished bunker in the woods near the family home, and John’s manipulation to first of all, get everyone in the hole, and then to keep them there, is at the heart of this story. It’s unsettling, and it seems to wander far too much, which breaks the tension that should be building throughout, but sometimes gets lost. Rated 14A.

The Boy Behind the Door (2020):

This horror-thriller in which two boys are kidnapped and held in a house in the middle of nowhere just doesn’t seem to end. That’s not a bad thing – it’s good, because each issue that seems to be resolved, with the boys getting free, is just an escalation to the next bad thing that further ramps up the tension. Kevin and Bobby (Lonnie Chavis who plays 12-year-old Randall Pearson on “This Is Us,” and Ezra Dewey of “Criminal Minds”) are walking home from school through the woods when they are kidnapped by an unseen assailant. They awaken locked in the trunk of a car and are driven to a remote location. Kevin is taken into the house while Bobby is left in the trunk. Bobby is able to free himself, but hearing Kevin’s cries from within the house, he can’t leave his friend behind. The kidnapper has turned Kevin over to a person known as The Creep, and as Bobby carefully makes his way through the rooms inside the house, he finds evidence of a child pornography business in play. He knows that Kevin is locked behind a door, and searches frantically for a key to the lock. He is discovered by The Creep, and after a series of events, is able to kill the man. That should do it, right? Wrong! The kidnapper returns and now the real battle is on with knives, a hatchet, and ultimately a gun. Each time it appears that Bobby has the upper hand, something happens that blocks the boys’ return to freedom, and the kidnapper comes up with another way to harm them. A pretty serviceable thriller! Rated 14A.

American Siege (2021):

Bruce Willis, who now has his very own category at the Razzie Awards for the worst in motion picture acting, and this direct-to-video movie supports the inclusion of Willis at his worst. This dubious action-thriller took just 8 days to film, and Willis’s time on the job amounted to just one day of work. Watching the story play out, he could just as easily have phoned it in, saving a trip to the set. Willis is Ben Watts, a former NYPD officer who has taken a job in a small Georgia town where nothing every happens, as chief of police. He hopes to live out his remaining employable years taking things easy and just relaxing as much as possible. A young woman in town turns up missing, and Chief Watts is not very enthusiastic about working the case. Three town toughs disagree with his approach and they break into the home of a prominent doctor and hold him hostage, since they believe, he is connected to the disappearance. Is this enough to get the Chief off his duff? Just barely. The story here does not hang together well, and there are some very off-putting things that make no sense, especially in the moves from one setting to another where the continuity is hopeless. For true Willis fans only! Rated 14A.

Rescued by Ruby (2022):

This Netflix original was shot in Victoria and in Vancouver, and features a cast of mostly born-and-raised-in-B.C. actors, with two Americans sporting distinctly British Columbia roots. Grant Gustin (Barry Allen on "The Flash") stars as Dan, a state trooper whose dream has always been to join the K-9 rescue team, but he has never had anyone in the police organization believe that this is where he belongs. It isn't until Dan comes across a down-on-its-luck rescue dog named Ruby that things begin to change, as one underdog helps the other. It had always been Ruby's desire to find a home and to be a working dog, and when chance brings them together, everything changes. Scott Wolf also stars - an American actor who has been working on the Lower Mainland for several seasons of "Nancy Drew," and of course, Grant Gustin's "The Flash" was shot entirely in B.C. as well. Rated PG.

Robin Robin (2021):

This stop-motion animated film from the UK tells the story of a little baby robin who rolls out of her nest onto the ground, and who is saved, and then raised by a family of mice. As Robin gets older, she begins to realize that she is not a mouse, and that maybe she doesn't really belong with this family. A heart-warming story with an excellent message that both children and parents will enjoy. Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") provides one of the major voices in this British made film. Rated G.