Most overrated films of the year so far

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Speak No Evil

The Danish original by film brothers Christian and Mads Tafdrup stands as one of the meanest, darkest films I've ever seen and when it was remade earlier this year by American filmmakers, I had of course hoped it would reach the same sky-high level. Unfortunately, it did not. Not even close. The Eden Lake director's 'Hollywood' changes to the original script made this a much weaker, paler and more predictably dull version of a brilliant film and that, to me, was hilarious in the way it was hyped.

It Ends With Us

The film based on the best-selling book was heavily hyped beforehand and praised by many fellow critics for its heartfelt portrayal of Lily Bloom, but I found it trite - at best. The book's focus on domestic violence was toned down in the film because Blake Lively was clearly more focused on creating a passionate, stylish romantic drama than actually trying to show the true darkness of the relationship between Lily and Ryle. It was more important here to be 'pretty' from every single camera angle than to try to tell a gripping, coherent story.

Trap

Hailed, liked, buzzed about... Sixth Sense man M. Night Shyamalan's 2024 thriller was supposed to be drenched in tension and claustrophobia but despite being based on a clever premise, it was and remains one of the most overrated films of the year. The script felt disjointed, the tone was incoherent and erratic while the dialogue felt contrived and Hartnett's lead acting - downright painfully bad.

Furiosa

A Mad Max film without Mad Max... How can you even think of producing something like that, was my first thought when Furiosa was first announced. Despite the absence of the franchise's most important character, parts of Furiosa looked good beforehand, though, and Miller proved with Fury Road that he is still very much one of the film world's most interesting filmmakers. Unfortunately, nothing worked in Furiosa, which stands as one of the most overrated films of the year so far. Miller's prologue was more reminiscent of a Wish version of Mad Max with a really ugly overuse of green screen, pale villain and an even paler heroine.

Deadpool & Wolverine

Deadpool was packed with heart (and brains). The story wasn't particularly complex, or intelligent, and the film wasn't the least bit original in its premise. But there was heart, grit and the film felt coherently well made. Compared to Deadpool & Wolverine, it made sense. Because the most overrated feature film of the year so far is the one where Ryan Reynolds is given free rein to bomb on with already used meta-jokes and do it side-by-side with a way too old Hugh Jackman who only returned to the Marvel sphere for the money. There is no heart here, and no brains. There's no real story, no common thread, and most of it feels like improvised green screen skits with no connection to each other beyond a panicky, stupid mishmash of multiverse theories.

Which films do you think have been the most overrated of the year so far?