Hello and welcome to week eight of Movie Reviews 2026 – your indispensable guide to what to watch on streaming, on disc, and at the cinema. And this week, when it comes to the cinema, prepare yourself for some familiar faces.
Much anticipated slasher sequel, Scream 7 hits the big screen and brings Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox along for the ride. The pair find themselves tangling with Ghostface yet again, so expect more slicing, more dicing, and a crazed killer to expose.
Meanwhile, other films under discussion this week include Crime 101 and Firebreak. Plus, the Jean-Claude Van Damme action film, Double Impact makes its way onto 4K disc.
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Now streaming…
Firebreak (2026)
First up this week is the Spanish thriller, Firebreak (aka Cortafuego). Directed by David Victori, and starring Belén Cuesta, Joaquín Furriel, and Enric Auquer, the story centres around a mother’s desperate search for her daughter while a forest fire plays out in the background.
In the film, recently widowed mother, Mara and her family (brother Luis, sister-in-law, etc) take a trip to the forest to clear out her cabin ahead of a sale. But upon arrival they learn of a wild fire which has spread in the surrounding area and is posing a threat to life.
As they pack up their things and prepare to leave, Mara realises her eight-year-old daughter, Lide has gone missing. A tip-off from Mara’s neighbour points to the direction of Lide’s last sighting, but she’s simply nowhere to be found.
The police are called in to investigate, but with the fire getting closer, the search has to be called off until the blaze is under control. So, with Mara refusing to leave until Lide is found, an intense search takes place which creates even bigger problems.
With a title like Firebreak, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is some an action-orientated adventure film, centred around a family’s desperate attempt to escape an all encompassing inferno. Sure, a fire does feature in the film, and it is part of the story, but it’s very much in the background for the majority of the runtime, not becoming too much of a physical threat until the back half of the movie.
Instead, the focus is very much on a.) the missing daughter, b.) the attempts to find her, and c.) the finger of suspicion which is pointed in a specific direction. After the initial character introductions are out of the way, and the plot point about the forest fire is set up, Firebreak very much descends into a tale of intense paranoia, where rationality goes out of the window, and desperation and leaps in logic take over.
The suggestion is that Lide didn’t just wander off. It’s possible something happened to her, and someone knows more than they are letting on.
Mara and her brother Luis begin to imagine all sorts of scenarios as the race to locate the missing child, and it’s here where the film is at its most interesting. As the pair head down a path they are unlikely to come back from, accusations are made, things get a bit heavy, and the film takes a dark turn.
Not as dark as say 2013’s Prisoners, of which Firebreak takes a dash of inspiration, but for a while it does operate in similar territory. Mara and Luis suspect foul play, take matters into their own hands, and things just continue to escalate.
With enough twists and turns to keep things moving, Firebreak isn’t bad. It takes a few minutes to get going, but once the missing daughter plot line kicks in and the accusations fly, it becomes a fairly robust thriller.
The ending could be stronger or more impactful, but overall this is decent stuff. Should you wish to take a look, Firebreak is now streaming on Netflix.
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On disc…
Double Impact (1991)
Over to disc now for the 4K UHD release of ‘90s action flick, Double Impact. Directed by Sheldon Lettich, the film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme in a tale about orphaned twins, separated at birth after their parents are gunned down by the Triad.
In the film, Alex and Chad Wagner are babies when their parents are brutally murdered in a targeted hit. Separated for their own protection, the brothers grow up with no knowledge of each other until they reunite as adults… and start kicking ass!
You want a better plot summary than the one set out above? Ha! You won’t get one for Double Impact, but with this movie you will get two performances from Van Damme. One minute he’s Chad, the next he’s Alex, and occasionally he’s Chad and Alex at the same time (thanks to some camera trickery, of course).
The performances are of course questionable, and unintentionally funny (especially when it comes to Alex), but ‘unintentionally funny’ kind of describes Double Impact to a T. The plot makes barely a lick of sense, and there are moments which are beyond laughable, yet at the same time it’s not without some merits.
The action quota is high, the body count even higher, and Van Damme is never too far away from a high-kick, a hefty punch, or an over-the-top outburst. And if this is what you crave, that’s fair enough.
Double Impact is no Timecop nor is it Universal Soldier, but if you’re a JCVD fan, you may wish to take a look. There’s certainly no knocking the movie’s commitment to delivering what fans want: Van Damme and action.
Should you wish to grab a copy of Double Impact on 4K UHD, the movie is available courtesy of 88 Films. Special features include bonus footage, deleted scenes, a ‘Making Of’ feature, the documentaries ‘Seeing Double’ and ‘Double Entendre’, and commentary from film critics Kim Newman and Sean Hogan.
The set also includes a reversible sleeve featuring artwork from Sean Longmore. And all this will cost you £29.99.
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In cinemas…
Crime 101 (2026)
Over to cinema now for the crime thriller, Crime 101. Written and directed by Bart Layton, and based on Don Winslow’s novel of the same name, the film stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, and Barry Keoghan, and follows the story of a jewel thief operating on Route 101.
In the movie, Hemsworth plays the thief who is very good at what he does and follows a strict code of getting the job done without harming anyone. This particular mantra is the complete opposite viewpoint of a rival thief played by Keoghan, who will do whatever necessary to obtain his score.
Meanwhile, Berry takes on the part of an insurance broker whose firm deals with very wealthy clients, while Ruffalo is an honest cop who is not always dealt a fair hand. He is also investigating Hemsworth’s thief, and believes he has picked up a pattern to his crimes.
During the course of the story, the four main players interact as crimes take place. Along the way, they learn more about themselves than they expected to.
While Crime 101 is quite a slow burning film, and therefore it might not sit well with audiences hoping for a fast-paced crime picture/heist movie, there is a lot to like in what is presented. The direction by Bart Layton is pretty slick, the actors are all on fine form, and the amount of characterisation on display is well worth the price of admission.
In fact, Crime 101 is very much a character driven piece, which is more about the backgrounds, personality traits, and ethics of the core four than it is about robberies and getaways. Layton devotes a significant amount of screen time to fleshing out his characters so they feel fully rounded, and they become far more interesting than the crime plot.
Not that the crime element of the film is dull or unappealing, it just seems more of a thing that happens as we spend time with Hemsworth and Co. Either way, criminal activity does take place, everyone gets involved, and when all is done and dusted there’s a satisfactory conclusion in a fairly satisfying film.
Crime 101 has been on general release for a couple of weeks now, and doesn’t appear to be raking in the money despite generally positive reviews, but don’t let this put you off. The combination of Hemsworth, Berry, Ruffalo, and Keoghan is a winner, and it washes over rather well.
Irrespective of how profitable this film is at the box office, Crime 101 is a solid crime thriller. Take a look if you get the opportunity.
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In cinemas…
Scream 7 (2026)
And finally this week, making its way onto the big screen is slasher sequel, Scream 7. Directed and co-written by Kevin Williamson, the movie stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Joel McHale, Mckenna Grace, Matthew Lillard, and Roger L. Jackson, and sees Sidney Prescott-Evan’s daughter, Tatum, stalked by a new Ghostface killer.
In the movie, Sidney has made a new life for herself with her husband, Mark. However, things are soon turned upside down when Sidney receives a blast from the past phone call which threatens her daughter’s life.
With her family at risk from another Ghostface killer, Sidney is back in action alongside old friend, Gale Weathers, as well as a new cast of teens/victims. But can they hope to unmask this latest Ghostface before it’s too late?
Now, anyone who has followed the production and development of Scream 7 will know it has been a bit of a bumpy ride. The original plan was for Christopher Landon to direct, and for Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega to reprise their roles of Sam and Tara Carpenter from Scream and Scream VI.
However, before filming got underway, Barrera was fired due to comments connected to the Gaza war; Ortega chose to drop out the next day as a result; and Landon soon left the project. The film then went through a rejig which saw Neve Campbell brought back (she sat out Scream VI over a pay dispute), and Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 4 writer Kevin Williamson brought on board as director and co-writer.
From here things mostly ran smoothly, as production got underway and various franchise favourites signed on to return. Although, ‘smoothly’ is probably a slight misnomer, as many online fans became very vocal about not supporting the film over the Barrera business.
But that was then, and this is now. Scream 7 is playing in UK and US cinemas, and what most audiences and Scream fans will want to know is, is this latest sequel worth the time, money, and all the buckets of fake blood to knock it into shape?
The answer: Erm… it’s fine, but lower your expectations.
It’s fair to say the Scream franchise is one of the best and most enduring horror series of all time. For the past 30 years it has been serving up highly enjoyable films, which mix mystery and horror, along with some interesting ideas.
With Scream 7 there is certainly elements of the tried and tested formula in existence, and for all intents and purposes it’s not bad, but this is very much Scream by-the-numbers. It is missing some of the edge of its predecessors, the central mystery is fairly easy to solve, and it lacks the energy of what came before.
It’s not without its moments, and there are a number of fan-pleasing call-backs to the past, but this is a Scream movie which feels like it is on cruise control. The pacing is a little slow (it takes a while to get going), and outside of the legacy characters no one else makes an impression.
The film also struggles with a new idea which involves Ghostface contacting Sidney through video calls, rather than the traditional telephone conversations. On paper it might seem like a good idea, and it does allow the film to play around with a fan-theory that has been doing the rounds for a while, but it ultimately robs the movie of some of its terror.
If Sidney can see who she is talking to, then the caller suddenly seems less threatening. And while things might not be quite what they seem, it still robs the conversations of some impact.
On the plus side, it’s great to see so many familiar faces back in the series (something which the Scream films do well), and it’s of course marvellous to have Neve Campbell back. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega do feel noticeably absent, but the events of Scream VI are referenced multiple times, and the writer/director Kevin Williamson does make it clear this film is very much Sidney’s story this time around.
So, not bad, but not amazing. The series has yet to have any major misses, but this one does wobble.
Scream 7 is fine as horror entertainment and if you’re a die-hard fan of the series then you’ll find much to like, but this is the most middle-of-the-road Scream movie so far. You’ll watch it, you’ll be OK with some of what’s on offer, but it’s not the one you’ll return to again and again.
Although, as Scream films go, Courteney Cox gets her best re-introduction, so this is something of note. But yeah, it could and should be stronger.
After all the faffing and drama during development, it feels like Williamson has largely played this one safe. And this in turn poses the question: What did we miss out on with the other version of Scream 7?
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Also out…
Recent Releases
Not quite done yet? Want more movies? The above suggestions aren’t enough?! Well, here’s what’s also doing the rounds:
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2026)
“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is marvellous, sci-fi adventure fun which is whacky while being worryingly prescient. As with all good dystopian sci-fi tales, the film’s prediction of the future isn’t too far removed from where we are now, and this ensures that at all times it has something worthwhile to say.”
Whistle (2025)
“For a horror movie with a decent central concept, it could do with some work. A few tweaks here and there, and it would be a much better offering. However, it works fine for those happy to just switch off and engage with what’s on offer. So if you accept this isn’t the next Final Destination, you should be alright.”
Cold Storage (2026)
“If you cast Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville as the last line of defence against the destruction of all life on the planet, you really need to make it count. Cold Storage falls short.”
Wuthering Heights (2026)
“Gorgeous to look at, with some truly stunning cinematography from Linus Sandgren, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is a triumph.”
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Movie of the Week
Onto Movie of the Week and this week the top spot goes to Crime 101. The combination of a great cast, plus plenty of character work makes this a captivating crime thriller.
And if you like Crime 101, then you may like:.
- American Animals (2018) – Crime 101 filmmaker, Bart Layton writes and directs this docudrama heist movie about a group of friends who set out to steal rare books.
- Baby Driver (2017) – Edgar Wright directs this fast-paced action crime-thriller about a getaway driver who wants to leave his life of crime in the past.
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) – This slick remake of the late ’60s Steve McQueen film sees Pierce Brosnan play a billionaire who steals a valuable painting from a museum.
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Forthcoming attractions
And that’s it for this week, but coming soon Hoppers, Project Hail Mary, and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Plus, Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale star in The Bride!; Alan Ritchson and Dennis Quaid lead War Machine; and Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy star in an adaptation of Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree.
Alex
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this edition of Movie Reviews 2026. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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