With his latest film Kimi, Steven Soderbergh appropriates the inelegance of pandemic dramas and tech gimmicks to craft a crackling paranoid thriller. With potency in the metaphors between the lines of its fleet predictability, Kimi bubbles with rage, teems with Soderbergh’s meticulous craft, and soars with a great Zoë Kravitz performance. Minor spoilers ahead…

Mortal Kombat seemingly wastes no time giving us what we want. Simon McQuoid’s directorial debut, which adapts the immensely violent and popular video game franchise into a rebooted universe, shaves the fluff and cuts straight to the bone, but with its flimsy storytelling, paper-thin characters, and sloppy pacing, this new iteration loses its way quickly. Too self-serious and without Paul W.S. Anderson’s cheeky irreverence and cult sensibilities, Mortal Kombat is as empty as most video game adaptations; even its primary selling point - its mindless, sanguine action - is mostly a disappointment. Minor spoilers ahead…