In this week’s minor VOD releases, annoying high schoolers fall in love and annoying college students get attacked by a killer whale, plus a Japanese assassin comes out of retirement and a hapless babysitter gets more than she bargained for.
How to Lose a Popularity Contest (Tubi January 16): While it’s not based on a Wattpad novel, this irritating teen rom-com has many of the hallmarks of a movie adapted from the popular online storytelling platform, including a pair of obnoxious protagonists who are perfect for each other because they’re too insufferable to be with anyone else. The best Wattpad adaptations at least capture the all-consuming intensity of young love, but How to Lose a Popularity Contest contains no such passion, instead plodding toward the inevitable outcome between uptight perfectionist Ellie Pearse (Sara Waisglass) and boorish bully Nate Reed (Chase Hudson). As part of a confusing, poorly thought-out plan to get back at their exes, Ellie and Nate scheme to get Nate elected president of their high school, engaging in various low-level hijinks along the way. TikTok star Hudson puts the bare minimum effort into his movie debut, and Waisglass matches him with rote perkiness. The characters eventually develop slight self-awareness about their smug douchebaggery, but the movie never makes a similar leap. Grade: C
Killer Whale (VOD and select theaters January 16): Despite having “killer” as part of their colloquial name, killer whales lag far behind sharks in cinematic depictions of aquatic terror. This dreadful thriller isn’t likely to change that, or even to join 1977 cult classic Orca in the limited whale-attack pantheon. There’s far too much tragic backstory before estranged best friends Maddie (Virginia Gardner) and Trish (Mel Jarnson) finally end up stranded in a remote cove with a pissed-off orca that’s been dumped from a Sea World-like attraction. Director and co-writer Jo-Anne Brechin draws heavily from the shark-movie playbook, especially 2016’s The Shallows, as Maddie and Trish huddle together on a tiny rock while the whale circles around them. The actual attacks are brief, and the effects are unconvincing, but Brechin spends far more time on the maudlin reconciliation between the former besties (including an absurd melodramatic twist). Aside from a single gruesome image that can be glimpsed on the movie’s poster, there’s nothing scary or startling about Killer Whale. Sharks are still way ahead. Grade: C-
Shaka: A Story of Aloha (VOD January 16): To most people outside of Hawaii, the hand gesture that involves curling in the three middle fingers and extending the thumb and pinky is familiar as the “hang loose” sign, popularized by surfers and the eponymous clothing brand. To Hawaiians, though, it’s known as the shaka, a symbol of the islands’ open, friendly spirit, and even formalized as the official state gesture in 2024. In this documentary, director Alexander Bocchieri and writer/narrator Steve Sue trace the origins of the shaka, offering an overview of nearly a century of Hawaiian culture in the process. It’s a simple, upbeat movie that rarely goes beyond the superficial, but it highlights a range of eccentric and inspiring Hawaiians, from a used-car salesman who brought the shaka to TV to a longtime Honolulu mayor who made it part of his political identity. Sue is an enthusiastic onscreen presence who makes this unlikely topic into something expansive and meaningful, worthy of the feature-length spotlight. Grade: B
Dooba Dooba (VOD and select theaters January 23): Something is clearly off from the moment that aspiring musician Amna (Amna Vegha) arrives for her latest babysitting gig: There are multiple security cameras in every room, and the uncomfortably evasive parents have failed to inform her that she’s there to watch a 16-year-old, not a young child. Amna takes it in stride when she’s told that Monroe (Betsy Sligh) is still traumatized by the unsolved murder of her younger brother a decade earlier and requires specific, increasingly demanding care. Writer-director Ehrland Hollingsworth takes a fairly well-worn horror-movie plot and distorts it with a sly experimental structure, making standard plot beats into surprising and disturbing surreal detours. It all unfolds via the perspective of the house’s security cameras, but it’s also presented as Monroe’s twisted video project, complete with awkward educational interludes and crude graphics. The result is something like Ti West’s The House of the Devil by way of Adult Swim, a darkly funny and brilliantly acted suburban nightmare. Grade: A-
Revolver Lily (VOD January 27): There’s a lot of convoluted exposition in between the action sequences in this Japanese period thriller, but that action is mostly strong enough to push past the narrative lulls. Haruka Ayase brings determination and an undercurrent of melancholy to former assassin Yuri Ozone, who’s given up her killing ways and now runs a small brothel in 1924 Tokyo. She’s drawn back into violence when she learns of the death of a former associate, who left behind an orphaned young son. Yuri takes charge of the scared Shinta Hosomi (Jinsei Hamura), who’s being targeted by various factions for the information he carries about his father’s illicit fortune. The plot is a jumbled mess of flashbacks and long-winded explanations, but the basic conflict is easy enough to follow, as Yuri takes down dozens of bad guys while trying to get Shinta to safety. Director Isao Yukisada stages some impressive set pieces, including a moody fog-shrouded shootout, bringing a slick, stylized approach to a turbulent period in Japanese history. Grade: B
