The Investigation of Lucy Letby 2026 * * * Stars

CODE RED

"We need to speak to you." Yeah you do. We're talking about Lucy Letby, the nurse who's about to be detained for some unspeakable crimes. Add some bodycam footage and a crying mother and well, you've got a pretty staggering way of opening a non-fictional, true events movie.

So yeah, my latest review is the nearly closed bookend, The Investigation of Lucy Letby, a documentary that causes the viewer to have an almost flip-flopped opinion. I mean did Lucy murder these infants or didn't she? And why is the girl so darn unforthcoming? And uh, what's up with the "no comment" shenanigans? "The only person who knows truly why is Lucy Letby herself." Uh-huh. 

Letby, well she's a mystery, an enigma just like the docu itself. I would say you can't really see the wheels turning in her head so she's like a female Keyser Soze and/or a good old Anton Chigurh type from No Country for Old Men. She is matched only by Detectives Paul Hughes and Simon Blackwell, dudes who are relentless in proving Lucy's culpability. An interrogation here, a double arrest there, a push for Letby's life sentence. It's only in "Investigation's" last act do we realize that maybe it's you know, the hospital's fault and not Lucy's. "But when you delve deeper, things were not so straightforward." Yikes. 

Usual Suspects characters and private dicks aside, The Investigation of Lucy Letby is directed by Dominic Sivyer, he of Rebel Nun and Masked Scammer fame. Sivyer shoots "Investigation" in the traditional Netflix style, streamlined and clean and sterile in its gape. With not-so-long-ago archives, interviews, and a 92-minute running time without an actual coda, The Investigation of Lucy Letby is a riddle wrapped inside a conundrum, begging for you to think about it long after the credits roll. "Depth probe." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart 2026 * * * Stars

SEIZED 

A sensitive documentary that might be only suited for the most mature of audiences. Yeah I'm talking about 2026's Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, one of those 90-minute, streaming pics that unfolds like pure fiction even though it's solely based on true events and communique. I mean why has it taken almost 25 years to tell Smart's story? And what's up with the weird behavior of some of her relatives via media coverage? And why did the abductors wear white robes and tunics? "This case captivated the nation." You ain't kidding boss. You really ain't kidding.

So OK, there's a grainy yet streamlined look to "Kidnapped", with helmer Benedict Sanderson shooting everything chronologically until the big vouchsafe halfway through. Basically with Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart you're looking at early 2000s archives intertwined with present-day interviews mainly from the Smart kin or the Salt Lake City rozzers. You want a solid episode of 48 Hours with production values and Utah locales that ascend? Yup, you'll get that with "Kidnapped". You want a docu that plays it safe, embracing the tactful and/or the kid-glove strands? Not here chief. Surely not here. 

Distributed by Netflix, with scenes of very spectral reenactments (yikes), Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is about well, Elizabeth Smart, a 14-year-old girl who was abducted from her home circa 2002 with only her younger sister as a witness. Her kidnappers were a couple of Bible-thumpers, abusing Smart and keeping her captive for nine months until a chance rescue by the authorities comes about. "Kidnapped", well it's eerie and startling stuff, with haunting music by Mat Davidson and tenebrous direction by Sanderson (mentioned earlier). If it weren't for the audience knowing some good things to come out of Smart's upshot later on, Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart might have been too difficult to keep a weather eye on. "Atrial capture". 

Written by Jesse Burleson

Miracle: The Boys of '80 * * * 1/2 Stars

POWERED PLAY

The U.S. Olympic team goes into Lake Placid circa 1980 and wins the gold medal, beating the heavily favored Soviet Union and those sneaky blokes from Finland. Basically it's considered the greatest sports moment of the 20th century. "I realize now why it became so much bigger than just a hockey game." Oh fo sho. Fo sho. 

So OK, I think 2026's Miracle: The Boys of  '80 is the best flick of the year (so far). After viewing it recently, I also consider it to be stronger in value than the non-docu, 2004 made-for-the-big-screen version starring good old Snake Plissken (that would Kurt Russell). I mean I'm not saying '04's Miracle is bad, it just seems to omit certain particulars that only the actual players (now in their 70s) can attest to. "We weren't superstars, we were the boy next door, lunch pail, hard hat group of guys." You tell 'em left winger Mike Eruzione. You tell 'em bro. 

Directed by two dudes (Max Gershberg, Jacob Rogal), distributed by Netflix (who else), and clocking in at a running time of 108 minutes, Miracle: The Boys of '80 is well, a quaint, time machine of a documentary, going back 45 years as it guns it stealthy to 88 (hint hint). Essex County, New York literally looks the same, Placid's Main Street is still kicking it in all its twee glory. 

"Boys of '80", yeah it tells its story chronologically and cleanly, how US hockey was H-E-double-hockey-sticks until the late Herb Brooks came along and gathered a bunch of amateurs ready to shock the world. Guys like Jim Craig (goalie), Mark Johnson (center), and Ken Morrow (defense) return to the scene of the crime, looking grizzled yet happy as they enter the Olympic Fieldhouse decades later to reflect. Miracle: The Boys of '80, well it intertwines between present-day interviews and strong print, grainy archives, giving the viewer a hint of teary-eyed wistfulness. "Miracle work it." 

Written by Jesse Burleson

The Wrecking Crew 2026 * * * Stars

JUICE CREW

My gosh that was hardcore, an exhausting bodies in motion flick where fists fly, bullets pierce, and bones cleave. Yeah I'm talking about 2026's The Wrecking Crew, an action comedy that's rock 'em sock 'em, where it's action clip then payoff then action clip then payoff, where a sword or tongue is firmly planted in cheek. Mm-hmm, you get the drift. "Crew" stars Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa, two dudes who have well, decent propensity together and at the same time, a disdain for one another. "Well, it should be fun". Uh, you darn tootin'. 

Anyhow The Wrecking Crew has two half-brothers (Bautista as James Hale and Momoa as Jonny Hale) trying to mysteriously find out who offed their father who initially was ruled dead by a hit-and-run. So yeah, basically "Crew" is like a buddy cop movie a la 48 Hrs. and Lethal Weapon, not quite as dark and brooding but just as much fun. Here are the only differences: Momoa's Jonny is a cop that's nonchalant to the nth degree and suspended with pay. Bautista's James is not the fuzz but an ex Navy SEAL with a tempted mean streak. Oh and they're also pseudo related. Did you get all that?

The Wrecking Crew, yup it's Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa going rogue as they leave nothing but human carnage in their wake. As actors they look a little weathered but shine being a couple of antihero gangbusters who have nothing to lose except maybe their heads and/or a limb or two. "Crew's" director (Puerto Rico native Angel Manuel Soto) films nasty fistfights and shootouts three-dimensional, blurring the lines between good taste and good old ferity. His "Crew" has a pretty composite plot for an action vehicle but who cares when there's so much glorious pulp splattered on screen. "Wrecking" ball out. 

Written by Jesse Burleson