3 Movies Like Apartment 7A (2024)

Staff & contributors
Invisible Victim may not be all that different from the plethora of true crime documentaries available on Netflix and other streaming platforms, but it is worth watching if only to see how misogyny continues to be rampant at best and deadly at worst. Despite being beaten, kidnapped, drugged, and eventually murdered by the superstar footballer Bruno, Eliza Samudio was still largely framed as the perpetrator in the public’s eye because she was deemed a slut. “She died because she was money hungry,” one fan said on social media. A reporter, meanwhile, asked Bruno, “How are you handling all the embarrassment coming your way?” as if the real crime was Eliza tainting Bruno’s glowing career, instead of Bruno ending her short life. The documentary succeeds in arousing the viewer’s anger, though it doesn’t offer anything particularly new to a well-known case apart from Eliza’s never-before-seen messages to her friend, which revealed her fearlessness and defiance up until her untimely end.

Genre: Crime, Documentary

Director: Juliana Antunes

, 2024

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are two of the coolest actors to come out of Hollywood, and this film is a testament to this fact. Watching them, you’ll be reminded of how leading men should be effortlessly funny and charming, but there is such a thing as too cool. Clooney and Pitt are so relaxed and unbothered, you rarely feel the danger of some scenes. When they’re chased by a mob of hitmen or enter a mafia house, you can tell from their expressions alone that they’ll survive, which strips all the fun and mystery out of a thriller such as this. Not that the plot is anything to speak of; its bones are formulaic, helped only by the witty dialogue and charming delivery. They can be hilarious, but mostly watching them feels like hearing a joke that’s gone on for way too long. The movie quickly loses its novelty and drags on, picking up only during the Kid’s (Austin Abrams) whose earnestness and liveliness make him a scene-stealer, yes even and especially with Clooney and Pitt there.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller

Actor: Amanda Aday, Amy Ryan, Anthony N., Austin Abrams, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Frank Trigg, George Clooney, Irina Dubova, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind, Robert Timothy Smith, Vladimir Sizov, Zlatko Burić

Director: Jon Watts

Rating: R

Murder mysteries don’t have to be full of twists to be worthwhile, but if you’re going the predictable route, you might as well make it an exciting one. Killer Heat, despite its name, feels cold and dragging. Gordon-Levitt’s Bali shoots for mysterious and debonair, like the detectives of noir past, but instead, he feels more like a parody of those characters. He never seems to ground Bali into something real, no matter how many flashbacks we get of his tragic family life. Madden similarly feels more like a trope than anything, and it’s beyond frustrating to watch him waste the opportunity to play identical twins. Where other actors seemed to have a blast at this (see: Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers or even Lindsay Lohan in Parent Trap), Madden is just plain indistinguishable. Woodley is the film’s sole believable character, but her affecting performance isn’t enough to save the film.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance

Actor: Abbey Lee, Argyris Gaganis, Babou Ceesay, Clare Holman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Manos Gavras, Richard Madden, Shailene Woodley

Director: Philippe Lacôte

Rating: R