PREVIEW: Just Play Dead (2026 Film) - Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green

Preview by Jon Donnis

Vertigo Releasing has announced the UK digital release of JUST PLAY DEAD, a tropical crime thriller starring Academy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Samuel L. Jackson and French cinema icon Eva Green. The film arrives on digital platforms on October 5th.

Directed by Martin Campbell, whose credits include Casino Royale, GoldenEye and The Mask of Zorro, JUST PLAY DEAD follows Jack, played by Jackson, as he attempts to escape the authorities after embezzling money.

Jack believes he has found the perfect way to disappear. If everyone thinks he is dead, the authorities cannot arrest him. His plan is to frame his wife's lover for his murder, allowing Jack to split a $30 million insurance payout with his supposedly grieving wife, Nora.

However, Nora has other ideas.

Rather than helping Jack fake his death, Nora decides to kill him for real, frame her lover and keep the entire insurance payout for herself. Her plans become even more complicated thanks to Danny, a homicide detective who is in love with her and soon finds himself caught in the increasingly dangerous scheme.

With everyone hiding their true intentions, JUST PLAY DEAD promises a film noir thriller built around shifting loyalties, deception and competing plans. As Jack and Nora's schemes collide, the question becomes who will survive the tangled web they have created.

Alongside Jackson and Green, the cast includes Eoin Macken, María Pedraza and Jason Fernández.

Following its US theatrical release through Vertical Entertainment on August 28th, JUST PLAY DEAD will arrive in the UK digitally on October 5th.

The film will be available through Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Sky Store, YouTube Movies and Rakuten.

Apple TV - https://apple.co/46zKgvq

Amazon - https://amzn.to/4AmlfRU

COMPETITION: Win Sexy Beast on 4K Ultra HD

Second Sight Films has announced Jonathan Glazer’s seminal Sexy Beast is set to get the Limited Edition Dual 4K UHD/Blu-ray Box Set treatment and will be released on 28 September 2026 alongside Standard Editions.

And to celebrate we have a copy on standard 4K-UHD and a copy on standard Blu-ray to give away!

Synopsis:

Following a long stretch behind bars Gal Dove (Winstone) is ready to hang up his swag bag and retire from a career in crime. Enjoying his new life of luxury with his true love Deedee (Redman), in a sprawling villa in sunny Spain, he’s happy just lazing by the pool in his yellow speedos… but the calm soon becomes a storm when his nemesis, the dangerously unhinged criminal Don Logan (Kingsley), turns up announced on his doorstep.

Gal knows trouble’s not far behind and his blissful world is about to be shattered. When Don tries to tempt him with the promise of one last major job in London, one that’ll mean he’ll never have to work again, Gal refuses to be swayed. Unfortunately, Don won’t take no for an answer and makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms.

With Gal desperate to hold on to his newfound paradise, the hard as nails pair lock horns and the battle of wills from hell ensues, forcing Gal is to go back to his old ways to save his wife, his life and prove who’s the boss.

The brand-new collector’s set is presented in a stunning rigid slipcase with new artwork from Neil Kellerhouse, complete with a slew of brand-new cast interviews, a new commentary, a fantastic 160-page hardback book and much more. 

Pre-Order from https://link.amazon/B0aPgJlrH

Enter now for a chance to win.

Who directs Sexy Beast?

Send your name, address and of course the answer to competition365@outlook.com

Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here

1. Closing date 05-10-26

2. No alternative prize is available

3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.

4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

COMPETITION: Win Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie on 4K UHD

Matt Johnson’s recent cult smash hit NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE,  launches on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on 21 September 2026.

And to celebrate we have a copy on 4K-UHD and a copy on standard Blu-ray to give away!

Synopsis:

When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.

The Visions release will feature a series of exclusive extras, including:

Commentary with Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol

Alternate Opening

Animatics: Back to 2008, Running Cable

Ethan Deleted Scene

Figured It Out Featurette

Home Movies

Nirvanna the Band the Show Episode 101 - The Banner

Packaging for the release will incorporate collector’s edition O-ring packaging, four exclusive art-cards designed by Jay McCarrol, and a reversible poster.

Pre-Order from https://link.amazon/B0i5n7ihJ

The Visions Home Video and Vertigo Releasing webstore launches on 21 September 2026 at https://visionshomevideo.com

Enter now for a chance to win.

Who directs Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie?

Send your name, address and of course the answer to competition365@outlook.com

Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here

1. Closing date 05-10-26

2. No alternative prize is available

3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.

4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

PREVIEW: Remembrance (2026 Film) - Starring Alyssa Haymor

Preview by Jon Donnis

Remembrance is heading to UK digital in October, bringing a dark psychological mystery centred on a young woman who wakes from a coma with no idea who she is or what has happened to her.

Written, directed and starring James Matthew Denton, with Richard Oakes co-directing and Marc Zammit producing, the British feature stars Alyssa Haymor as Grace, who survives a brutal kidnapping before waking in hospital after a week-long coma. Her injuries are serious, but the most troubling thing is what she cannot remember.

Grace has no identity, no recollection of the kidnapping and only fractured flashes of memory that offer little clarity. Detectives investigating the case must therefore work with a victim who cannot tell them what happened, while the person responsible remains at large.

Grace is eventually moved to protected accommodation in an isolated English country house. Instead of providing the sense of security she needs, the location becomes the backdrop to an increasingly disturbing ordeal as PTSD, visions and fragments of memory begin to take hold.

Detective Isaac Phelps, played by Denton, is determined to establish Grace's identity and uncover what happened to her. As he becomes increasingly involved in her confusing world, however, the investigation begins to raise questions about which memories can be trusted.

Directed by Denton and Oakes, Remembrance looks set to play with the uncertain line between trauma, memory and reality, building its mystery around Grace's attempts to understand her own past. The film promises an increasingly unsettling journey towards a finale designed to change the way everything that came before is viewed.

Remembrance gets its UK digital release on 19 October 2026 from Reel2Reel Films.

Apple TV

https://apple.co/4hbFRUp

REVIEW: Runner (2026 Film) - Starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson

Review by Jon Donnis

Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson are an odd pairing on paper, but that is probably what makes Runner work as well as it does. Ritchson plays Hank Malone, a former Army Special Forces soldier who now earns a living transporting goods for clients. Wilson is Ben Bishop, the man who unexpectedly becomes attached to Hank's latest delivery.

What starts as a routine collection quickly becomes a fight for survival when Hank discovers the importance of what he is carrying. The pair are pursued by a Colombian cartel, forcing them through a succession of car chases, shootouts and increasingly desperate attempts to stay alive while getting the delivery to its destination.

The action is where the film earns most of its entertainment value. There is very little waiting around, with Hank constantly having to find another way out of trouble. A few of the set pieces stand out, particularly when he turns the cartel's own attempts to track them against them. The violence is also handled with enough impact to give the confrontations some weight.

Ritchson is well cast as Hank. He has the physical presence for the role, but the character is not simply presented as an indestructible killing machine. His history with his daughter Isabel, who died from leukaemia, explains some of his decisions and gives his attempts to learn French a personal reason.

Wilson gets the more amusing material, and the contrast between the two characters is easily one of the film's better features. Ben is inquisitive and talkative, while Hank is considerably less patient. Their arguments are often funny, and their relationship develops as their situation becomes more dangerous.

The emotional material works better than I expected. Hank's failed marriage to Monica and the loss of his daughter give the character something beyond the usual action-hero motivation. The film does not overplay it, which helps.

Unfortunately, the story is considerably less interesting than the two leads. Runner follows a very familiar buddy-action structure, and there are few genuine surprises. Once Hank and Ben become targets, the various obstacles and betrayals arrive pretty much as expected.

The film also sits awkwardly between action and comedy. There are laughs, mainly through Wilson, but the story is much more concerned with the chase and its consequences. I would have liked either a little more comedy or a slightly darker approach, rather than hovering somewhere between the two.

At around 90 minutes, there is at least no unnecessary padding. The film gets through its story quickly, gives its two leads plenty to do and finishes before the formula has time to become particularly tiresome.

There is nothing especially new here, but Ritchson and Wilson make the familiar material considerably more enjoyable than it deserves to be. The action delivers, the characters have enough personality to keep things interesting and the emotional elements give Hank a reason to care about more than simply surviving the day.

Runner will not stay with me for long, but I enjoyed watching it.

I score Runner a fair 7.5 out of 10.

In Cinemas Now, and not to be confused with the other film with Gal Gadot that I reviewed recently.