Matilda Firth Archives

Review: ‘Tinsel Town’ (2025) starring Kiefer Sutherland, Derek Jacobi, Jaimi Barbakoff, Danny Dyer, Matilda Firth, Theodora Williams and Rebel Wilson

December 15, 2025

by Carla Hay

Kiefer Sutherland and Rebel Wilson in “Tinsel Town” (Photo courtesy of Brainstorm Media)

“Tinsel Town” (2025)

Directed by Chris Foggin

Culture Representation: Taking place in Stratford, England (and briefly in California), the comedy/drama film “Tinsel Town” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A difficult and cranky American actor alienates himself from getting work in the United States, and he finds himself reluctantly starring in a musical pantomime version of “Cinderella” at a regional music theater in Stratford, England, during the Christmas holiday season.

Culture Audience: “Tinsel Town” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and corny holiday movies that with a lot of terribly written dialogue and scenarios.

Kiefer Sutherland, Matilda Firth, Rebel Wilson and Theodora Williams in “Tinsel Town” (Photo courtesy of Brainstorm Media)

It’s ironic that the cheesy comedy/drama “Tinsel Town” is about a well-known actor who’s reduced to being in a low-quality acting project (a tacky musical for regional theater) because it also explains why Kiefer Sutherland is in this embarrassing movie. One can only conclude that just like his character in “Tinsel Town,” Sutherland only signed on to this project because he needed the money and couldn’t find better work. In “Tinsel Town,” Sutherland looks like he doesn’t have to do much acting when he has to act frustrated and angry that he’s stuck in this career downgrade rut.

Directed by Chris Foggin, “Tinsel Town” was written by Frazer Flintham, Adam Brown, Piers Ashworth and Jake Brunger. The movie takes place primarily in Stratford, England, but “Tinsel Town” was actually filmed in Leeds, England. There are no surprises in this substandard film, unless you might be surprised at how bad it gets with cringeworthy dialogue and idiotic plot developments.

“Tinsel Town” begins with action movie star Bradley “Brad” Mac (played by Sutherland) on the set of his movie “Killing Time VII,” somewhere in California. Viewers are told that “Killing Time” is a series of silly action flicks that are Brad’s main claim to fame. Brad is the “hero” in all of these movies. He’s also famous for using the catch phrase “All you need is me” in this movie franchise.

While taking a break from filming a scene with a co-star named Martha (played by Jennifer Biddall), who has a “damsel in distress role,” divorced Brad asks Martha out on a date. Martha’s sarcastic response is to ask Brad if her husband and kids can come on the date too. It’s “Tinsel Town’s” way of showing that Brad didn’t care to find out first if Martha was single and available before asking her out on a date.

Shortly after he’s done filming “Killing Time VII,” Brad finds out from his unnamed agent (played by Katherine Ryan) that he doesn’t have any more jobs lined up. His agent tells Brad that no one wants to hire Brad because “you’re difficult, you’re late, you refuse to do your own stunts, you don’t remember names, and you failed your medicals.” Brad’s response is to say that he could do an acting role as Barack Obama, “with the right makeup artist.”

The agent suggests that Brad try doing a theater stage production in England. Brad has only done movies in his acting career, and he’s only taken one acting class in his life. However, his estranged daughter Emma (played by Matilda Firth), who’s about 10 or 11 years old, lives in England. Brad needs the money and thinks working in England would be a good opportunity to spend time with Emma, so he accepts the offer to do the stage production in England.

Like a fool, Brad doesn’t ask what the stage production is about. All he knows is that he think he’s going to have the starring role. When Brad travels to England, he’s rude to a fan (played by Andromeda Godfrey) on the airplane. Upon arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport, Brad is greeted by a friendly young driver named Nigel (played by Mawaan Rizwan), who tells Brad that they are going to the Savoy.

Brad thinks that Nigel means the upscale Savoy Hotel in London. Brad falls asleep in the back of the car. But when Brad wakes up, he finds out that Nigel has actually taken him to a place called the Savoy Guest House in Stratford, which is about two hours away from London. Brad has a small room at this guest house, which is most definitely not upscale.

Brad soon finds out that he was hired for the supporting role of Buttons (Cinderella’s best friend/servant) in a musical pantomime version of “Cinderella” for a small non-profit regional theater group, which performs at the Stoneford Theatre Royal in Stratford. The group’s biggest annual fundraiser is the production that it has for the Christmas holiday season. “Cinderella” is the group’s major fundraiser production for this year.

Not surprisingly, Brad is furious and wants to back out of this musical. The musical’s no-nonsense director Cassandra Collins, OBE (played by Meera Syal) reminds Brad that he can’t get out of his contract. And if he does try to get out of the contract, the legal fees would be a lot more than if he stayed and did the production.

There would be no “Tinsel Town” movie if Brad quit. He reluctantly stays. Expect a barrage of stereotypes and boring scenes showing a grumpy Brad as a “fish out of water” in not only a different nation but also doing the type of acting job that he’s never done before. The person he clashes with the most is Jill (played by Rebel Wilson), the musical’s sarcastic choreographer. Wilson, who is Australian in real life, has a very unconvincing British accent in this dreadful movie.

Other members of this “Cinderella” production are cast members Izzy (played by Savannah Lee Smith) as Cinderella; Callum (played by Lucien Laviscount) as Prince Charming; Brenda (played by Maria Friedman) as the Fairy Godmother; and drag queens Danny (played by Asim Chaudhry) and David (played by Jason Manford) as Cinderella’s stepsisters. The venue employees include production manager Russell (played by Ray Fearon); box office worker Hilda (played by Barbara Ashworth); stage door worker Albert (played by Derek Jacobi); sound engineer Jonty (played by Dominic G. Britton); lighting director Frank (played by Sean Grogan); and cleaning services staffer Jean (played by Doreen Jackson).

The movie is a little too cluttered with cast members for such a simplistic main plot. “Tinsel Town” makes all of these above-named characters pipe in with lines of dialogue that could’ve been said by less cast members. However, less cast members still wouldn’t make the dialogue any better. It would just reduce the number of annoying or useless characters in “Tinsel Town.”

At one point during rehearsals, Brad is acting like an egotistical jerk because he thinks he’s too good for this musical. As he storms out of the room, he barks this order at no one in particular, so he can leave the premises: “Call me a car!” Danny replies, “You’re a car.” This is the type of brain-dead dialogue in “Tinsel Town” that sounds like the type of stale comedy that even 8-year-old kids wouldn’t think is funny.

Brad’s daughter Emma is a sweet and sensitive child who lives with Brad’s British ex-wife Grace (played by Alice Eve) and Grace’s current (and very metrosexual) husband Spencer (played by James Lance) in London. Spencer is so metrosexual, he likes to knit and comes across more like Emma’s gay best friend than her husband. Brad and Grace split up several years ago, and she moved back to England after the breakup.

Even when they were married, Brad barely paid attention to Emma because he was too self-absorbed and caught up in his career. Now that Brad is in England, he’s trying to make up for lost time with Emma. It should come as no surprise that Emma doesn’t really trust Brad because he’s let her down many times before. Grace is also wary of Brad, but it just so happens that Grace and Spencer will be going to Paris on vacation. Guess who has to take care of Emma while Grace and Spencer are away?

And what a coincidence: Jill has some child-rearing issues with her ex-spouse too. Jill’s outgoing 13-year-old daughter Cara (played by Theodora Williams) lives with Jill, but Jill’s spiteful ex-husband Kieran (played by Danny Dyer) wants joint custody of Cara. Jill and Kieran got divorced because he’s dishonest and has stalker tendencies, as seen in the movie. In her performance as Jill, Wilson does her usual schtick of playing a character who is tough on the outside and tender on the inside.

“Tinsel Town” has very clunky and awkwardly filmed subplots that make the movie worse. One of the sublots is Izzy and Callum have a secret crush on each other but are afraid to tell each other. Most viewers won’t care and won’t be surprised by the outcome. Meanwhile, the feud between Jill and Kieran escalates into a very distracting plot development that is clumsily resolved.

Another poorly conceived subplot is Brad’s guest room has a break-in, so Albert offers Brad a place to stay in Brad’s home. It’s all just a contrivance for Brad to act like he’s the neighborhood watchdog, and for Albert to make a confession to Brad about his personal life. This confession surprises Brad.

And perhaps the worst subplot is when Brad gets into legal trouble (for reasons that are explained in the movie), which culminates in a courtroom appearance that is so stupid, you’ll be convinced that the “Tinsel Town” filmmakers hate people who love good movies. Jaimi Barbakoff has a supporting role as Brad’s American attorney Sukie Huntington III, who apparently doesn’t know that American lawyers who aren’t licensed to practice law in the United Kingdom can’t represent their clients in this type of U.K. courtroom.

All of the acting in “Tinsel Town” is average to terrible, with Sutherland looking uncomfortable the entire time. His dancing is painful or hilarious to watch, depending on your perspective. As for the “Cinderella” musical, it’s like a unintentional parody of all the worst things that people say about regional theater run by untalented amateurs. If you waited your whole life to see Sutherland and a group of actors perform Katy Perry’s “Roar” in an awful movie about a has-been, egotistical actor who’s starring in a cringeworthy “Cinderella” musical, then “Tinsel Town” is the movie for you.

Brainstorm Media released “Tinsel Town” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on November 28, 2025.

Review: ‘Wolf Man’ (2025), starring Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger and Matilda Firth

January 18, 2025

by Carla Hay

Christopher Abbott in “Wolf Man” (Photo by Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures)

“Wolf Man” (2025)

Directed by Leigh Whannell

Culture Representation: Taking place in rural Oregon and briefly in San Francisco, the horror film “Wolf Man” features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Two spouses and their pre-teen daughter go on a trip to the husband’s childhood home in a remote wooded area in Oregon, where they encounter a werewolf who traps the family and bites the husband.

Culture Audience: “Wolf Man” will appeal mainly to people who don’t mind watching slow-paced werewolf movies that don’t do anything clever or inventive.

Julia Garner, Matilda Firth and Christopher Abbott in “Wolf Man” (Photo by Nicola Dove/Universal Pictures)

“Wolf Man” takes longer to show the story’s wolf transformation than it does to watch paint to dry, which would be a better alternative than watching this sluggish and nonsensical horror movie. Adequate visual effects can’t save this mess. Considering how many movies there are about werewolves, it’s completely disappointing that “Wolf Man” does nothing unique and lazily stays stuck in a basic and derivative plot.

Directed by Leigh Whannell (who co-wrote the “Wolf Man” screenplay with Corbett Tuck”), “Wolf Man” uses the most cliché idea in horror movies: People experience terror in a remote wooded area. There is a relatively small number of people with speaking roles in “Wolf Man.” And all of these characters are as bland as bland can be.

“Wolf Man” begins in 1995, somewhere in rural mountainous area in central Oregon. (“Wolf Man” was actually filmed in New Zealand.) An introductory caption says that a hiker went missing in this area and came back with a fever that the indigenous people of the area attributed to a wolf bite. It’s not a secret that “Wolf Man” is about a man who turns into a werewolf. But getting there turns out to be a long-winded slog with very little suspense.

In this part of Oregon in 1995, a man named Grady Lovell (played by Sam Jaeger) is seen taking his son Blake Lovell (played by Zac Chandler), who’s about 8 or 9 years old, out in the woods so that they can go hunting together. Grady is stern and strict with Blake and orders him not to stray too far. Blake’s mother is not seen or mentioned in the movie.

Grady loses his temper and yells at Blake after Blake briefly gets separated from Grady in the woods. Blake explains apologetically, “I wanted to get closer to the deer.” There are signs that there’s a wolf nearby because wolf sounds are heard. On the ground, there’s also a dead animal that looks like it was attacked by another animal.

In the woods, a creature is seen quickly running near Grady and Blake. It runs by so fast, it looks almost like a blur. It’s obviously the wolf, but Grady lies to Blake and says that the animal is a bear. That’s the end of their hunting trip.

At home in the farmhouse where they live, Blake eavesdrops on Grady, who is talking on a CB radio to someone named Dan (voiced by Whannell), in a conversation where Grady says he “almost shot it.” You’d have to be completely unaware of what this movie is about if you can’t guess that the “it” is the werewolf on the loose. Grady turns around and looks irritated when he sees Blake standing in the open doorway, because now Grady knows that Blake heard this conversation.

“Wolf Man” abruptly cuts to 30 years later, in 2025. Blake is now living in San Francisco with his journalist wife Charlotte (played by Julia Garner) and their daughter Ginger (played by Matilda Firth), who’s about 8 or 9 years old. Blake is a writer, but he tells someone later in the movie that he’s between jobs. Don’t expect the movie to show or tell what type of writer Blake is because he’s never seen writing anything.

Regardless of what Blake does to get money, he thinks his most important job is to protect Ginger, who is a generically nice and obedient child. When Blake and Ginger walk together on a busy city street, he scolds her for straying a little too far (sound familiar?) because a man who looks mentally ill and homeless makes an aggressive remark to her. This movie is not subtle at all in showing how Blake is a lot more like his father than he would like to think he is.

Conversations in the movie reveal that Blake and Charlotte have been drifting apart because she spends a lot of time at work. Blake has a closer bond with Ginger than Charlotte has. Blake seems to want to talk with Charlotte about their marriage being in trouble, but she remains aloof and unwilling to discuss it.

It’s around this time that Blake gets a notice in the mail that his father Grady, who was missing for years, has now been officially declared dead. Blake has inherited the house where Blake grew up in Oregon. Blake has to go to Oregon to settle some legal affairs, but he doesn’t want to go alone.

And so, Blake suggests to Charlotte that they both go with Ginger for a family getaway trip to this remote area and stay at the family farmhouse, which hasn’t been inhabited for years. Blake says it will give them a chance to “recharge” and work on their relationship. Charlotte reluctantly agrees. They travel to Oregon by using the family’s SUV, with Blake doing the driving.

On the drive to the farmhouse in the woods, Blake gets lost. However, a former neighbor named Derek (played by Benedict Hardie), who’s about the same age as Blake, happens to be perched in a makeshift guard post in the woods. When Blake introduces himself and explains what he’s doing there, Derek remembers Blake from their childhoods. Derek is the son of Dan (who is never seen in the movie), the man who was talking to Grady by CB radio in the conversation that young Blake overheard.

Derek offers to show Blake where the Lovell family house is and gets in the SUV as a passenger. It isn’t long before all hell breaks loose. Blake is not too far from the house when he sees a hairy-looking man standing right in front of him on the road and serves sharply to avoid hitting him. The SUV crashes, leading to a harrowing scene that’s actually more suspenseful than the tedious scenes that follow.

Because the trailer for “Wolf Man” already reveals that Blake is going to turn into a werewolf, by the time the scene with the car accident happens, you can guess how Blake is going to get bitten. Blake gets a deep bloody gash on his right arm. This is the first indication that things will not go well with Blake.

Why can’t the Lovell family get help? Derek can’t help, for a reason that is shown in the movie. After the car crash, the SUV is unusable, and apparently there’s no cell phone service in this location. All they have in the house for outside communication is that old CB radio system, which is rusty and barely works.

These are among the many ridiculous scenarios contrived in “Wolf Man” to keep the Lovell family “stuck” in the house for an awfully long time. The reason why it all looks so stupid is that not once does Charlotte try to walk around to see if she can get a signal on her cell phone. Not once does Blake (who lived in the area for years) suggest that they try to find the closest neighbors or anyone who can help.

All of it is just a just a long, slow buildup to Blake’s werewolf transformation. His skin starts changing, and then he can no longer speak or understand a human language. When he sees Charlotte and Ginger, everything gets blurry, their eyes look like they’re glowing, and the language they speak sounds garbled and muffled to him. The cinematography and visual effects give “Wolf Man” some ominous-looking and striking visuals, but they can’t make up for a weak story.

The cast members’ performances in “Wolf Man” are stifled by a dreadfully dull screenplay, although Firth does a very good job in scenes where Ginger is supposed to be terrified. There are inconsistences in the terror scenes. In one scene, Charlotte doesn’t even flinch when a transformed Blake literally gets up in her face as a werewolf and stares her down. Later in the movie, Charlotte screams and runs away from werewolf Blake, even though he looks essentially the same as he did before when they had their staredown.

As for the werewolf that’s on the loose outside, the identity of this creature is eventually revealed. And it will surprise no one who paid attention to the obvious clues. Because it takes so long for Blake to transform into a werewolf, “Wolf Man” wastes a lot of time in dragging out what viewers already know is supposed to happen. The Lovell family is trapped in the woods, but viewers of “Wolf Man” might feel trapped into hoping that this underwhelming horror flick might get better as it goes along, but it never does.

Universal Pictures released “Wolf Man” in U.S. cinemas on January 17, 2025.