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Matt Oakes

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

When not whetting his thirst with an exotic ale, Matt can be found holed up in his Seattle apartment or hidden amongst the mountains. Started blogging about film in college when the college paper wouldn?Äôt have him. Watcher of far too many films annually. Regular attendee @ Sundance, SXSW, SIFF. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.

Publications:

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Alpha (2025) 57% B EDIT “A concussive portrait of a family strained by the specter of a deadly virus, equal parts formally ambitious and puzzle-box cerebral mania. It’s not Ducournau's strongest film, but it continues her tradition of bold, esoteric art.” – Silver Screen Riot Mar 23, 2026 Full Review Fantasy Life (2025) 88% EDIT “It’s intimate, awkward, and loaded with possibility without ever tipping into something overt.” – Silver Screen Riot Mar 19, 2026 Full Review Project Hail Mary (2026) 94% B EDIT “Understands exactly what makes its source material work and delivers it with confidence. It’s just that that same fidelity leaves it feeling a little too safe, as if in translating the story so well, it forgets to find its own version of it.” – Silver Screen Riot Mar 18, 2026 Full Review Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026) 75% C EDIT “Delivers a fairly generic and ultimately forgettable sequel that just kind of batters its way to its inevitable conclusion.” – Silver Screen Riot Mar 17, 2026 Full Review Hoppers (2026) 94% B+ EDIT “In Hoppers, one of Pixar’s best this decade, a direct plea is made to audiences young and old about the importance of conservation and the understanding that all living creatures are part of something larger. ” – Silver Screen Riot Mar 3, 2026 Full Review How to Make a Killing (2026) 44% C EDIT “In aiming to satirize a world built on emptiness, it becomes another glossy artifact of just that. Now that’s rich.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 18, 2026 Full Review Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2025) 83% B EDIT “Delivers on its primary mission: to have a laugh at the absurdity of the present while issuing a very serious warning about an apocalyptic future we seem determined to meet halfway.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Wuthering Heights (2026) 57% B EDIT “A classical romance stripped of manners and pitched to an eleven; a brash, unrestrained, deeply horny fever dream slathered in excess and sincerity in equal measure.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 10, 2026 Full Review The Invite (2026) 91% A- EDIT “‘The Invite’ from Olivia Wilde is a wildly funny swinger comedy that explores how relationships open, close, and end in hilarious and heartfelt ways. ” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 3, 2026 Full Review Frank & Louis (2026) 92% B EDIT “The performances from Ben-Adir and Morgan power Frank & Louis’ emotional core. Both deliver outstanding turns, but it’s their shared chemistry that really makes Volpe’s film sing. ” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 3, 2026 Full Review Union County (2026) 97% C+ EDIT “An observant drama about the victims of addiction and the grueling road to recovery that admirably focuses on the people behind the statistics.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 2, 2026 Full Review Nuisance Bear  (2026) 97% B EDIT “The implication is obvious: the nuisance isn’t the bear.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 2, 2026 Full Review Josephine (2026) 95% B+ EDIT “A feel-bad movie about the downstream effects of trauma on someone too young to intellectualize what they’ve witnessed.” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 2, 2026 Full Review The Incomer (2026) 91% B+ EDIT “A strange little gem powered by plenty of heartfelt laughs and feral charm. ” – Silver Screen Riot Feb 1, 2026 Full Review undertone (2025) 72% A EDIT “A masterfully assembled nightmare of all-encompassing horror, Ian Tucson’s ‘Undertone‘ is as immersive as it is bone chilling, featuring truly elite sound design.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 31, 2026 Full Review The Musical (2026) 59% A- EDIT “As a laughs-per-capita comedy, and as a showcase for a bracing new comedic voice, The Musical is one of the funniest films I have seen in years. ” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 31, 2026 Full Review The Gallerist (2026) 54% C- EDIT “It’s all in service of a very mild, unfunny critique: that the art world is phony, if not outright felonious.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 31, 2026 Full Review Rock Springs (2026) 70% B- EDIT “It swings for something personal and haunted and culturally resonant. It may not all be perfect, but it’s far from disposable.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 31, 2026 Full Review The Weight (2026) 94% B+ EDIT “A film that drapes a muscular, objective-driven plot over lush period-piece trappings.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 30, 2026 Full Review See You When I See You (2026) 71% B+ EDIT “Tragedy and comedy aren’t just coexisting here, their comorbidities elevate one another.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 29, 2026 Full Review Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (2026) 94% B EDIT “When it breaks out in spontaneous dance or traps Ha-Chan in an impossibly awkward situation, it’s impossible to ignore its intoxicating effect.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 29, 2026 Full Review How to Divorce During the War (2026) 100% B EDIT “A powerful kitchen table drama that uses the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia war to explore the quieter war of domestic selfishness.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 28, 2026 Full Review Time and Water (2026) 92% C EDIT “Moves at the pace of a glacier, and unfortunately feels just as cold. Sara Dosa’s anticipated follow-up to ‘Fire of Love’ is ultimately a major snooze about ice loss that struggles to thaw. ” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 27, 2026 Full Review Night Nurse (2026) 76% C EDIT “There’s a Lynchian undercurrent here, but the deadpan line readings and bizarre physicality also nod toward The Room more than Mulholland Drive.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 27, 2026 Full Review If I Go Will They Miss Me (2026) 96% B EDIT “ In its best moments, the work is reminiscent of Barry Jenkins, marking Thompson-Hernández as someone to keep a close eye on.” – Silver Screen Riot Jan 27, 2026 Full Review
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