Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes
Critics list

Valerie Kalfrin

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

I'm a multiple award-winning journalist who has left crime reporting behind to focus on fictional mayhem. I'm a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists who writes reviews, essays, criticism, and deep dives into film, entertainment, pop culture, and storytelling for The Hollywood Reporter (Heat Vision), RogerEbert.com, In Their Own League, The Script Lab, Script magazine, Film Racket, ScreenCraft, CC2K, Final Draft, and more.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Frankenstein (2025) 85% EDIT “marvelous. Grand, sumptuous, and passionate, it’s a heartbreaking vision of hubris and humanity where we least expect it. ” – AWFJ.org Nov 7, 2025 Full Review The Perfect Neighbor (2025) 99% EDIT “propulsive with frustration and dread” – AWFJ.org Nov 7, 2025 Full Review A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (2025) 75% EDIT “a sobering warning about what we take for granted and a grateful tribute to those working under such unknowns. ” – AWFJ.org Nov 7, 2025 Full Review After the Hunt (2025) 37% EDIT “raises questions about power and consent, but its execution comes up short.” – AWFJ.org Nov 7, 2025 Full Review Roofman (2025) 87% EDIT “hypes its true-story roots but might have worked better as a documentary. ... the film leans on Tatum’s considerable charm instead of fleshing out the motivations and flaws of its main character.” – AWFJ.org Oct 23, 2025 Full Review One Battle After Another (2025) 94% EDIT “ a kinetic and often darkly comedic film about political stances and personal consequences. ... Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn give wonderfully layered, physical and emotional performances” – AWFJ.org Oct 23, 2025 Full Review Swiped (2025) 44% EDIT “viewers might want to “swipe left.” ... the film skims over a lot. It feels like flipping through several browser windows without reading them.” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review The French Italian (2024) 67% EDIT “even someone who’s never lived in a city will appreciate the less-than-charitable dynamic here about the assumptions we make regarding those living around us” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review The Son and the Sea (2025) EDIT “a delicate film about young men in crisis ... Jonah isn’t the first troubled character to find comfort in the countryside, nor the only one who benefits from getting offline to touch grass, but the way his journey unfolds feels organic and true.” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review The Long Walk (2025) 88% EDIT “Brutal and wrenching. ... standout performances particularly from David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman. Their naturalistic byplay and believable camaraderie, as they support and call each other brothers, makes THE LONG WALK hit right in the heart.” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Eleanor the Great (2025) 67% EDIT “Squibb is a firecracker, dropping tart observations between poignant reflections on grief.” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Forastera (2025) 94% EDIT “at times too subtle for its own good. The film’s pacing lags over an hour and 37 minutes, and the ambiguity ... keeps viewers from understanding its young protagonist better, sapping its emotional impact.” – AWFJ.org Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Aki (2025) EDIT “a portrait of a world that we miss glued to smartphones and other screens. ... This is a film that invites—no, demands—that you sit in this place and these moments, absorb it all, and just be.” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review Caught Stealing (2025) 85% EDIT “Austin Butler takes the lead and runs with it. ... [The film is] diverting enough as a crime story but a more satisfying study of a character caught in the clutch.” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review Red Sonja (2025) 56% EDIT “a mix of 1982’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN meets GLADIATOR, and unsatisfying overall.” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review Somnium (2024) 81% EDIT “[T]hose wanting a different take on someone heading to Hollywood despite the odds will find lots of emotion here ... SOMNIUM isn’t a fright fest, nor is it the likes of MULHOLLAND DRIVE, but like a dream, parts of it linger.” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review Freakier Friday (2025) 73% EDIT “funny and charming ... a film that deserves to be seen with a crowd—and a friend, mom, or sister.” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review Amoeba (2025) 100% EDIT “captures the verve of the teen years beautifully ... a sympathetic, evocative portrait” – AWFJ.org Sep 15, 2025 Full Review The Naked Gun (2025) 87% EDIT “...right on target, a laugh-out-loud funny crime spoof I didn’t know I needed. Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson and company deliver a screwball LA noir full of sight gags and sunshine, loopy puns, rapid patter, and enough raunch to fit within a PG-13 rating.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review The Bad Guys 2 (2025) 87% EDIT “good silly fun—certainly at matinee price. ... an Ocean’s 11-style caper with fur, fins, and scales that left the youngsters at my screening laughing.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review The Sparrow in the Chimney (2024) 67% EDIT “Not an idyllic getaway, and not everyone’s cup of tea.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) 86% EDIT “The Fantastic Four: First Steps really is fantastic. Charming from start to finish, it’s a joyful mix of lively characters, amiable chemistry, retro-futuristic designs, and an earnest spirit that’s like a balm for a cynical soul.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review No Sleep Till (2024) 94% EDIT “No Sleep Till includes ... the heartening thought that sometimes a hurricane warning is just the nudge lethargy needs. But the third act becomes tangled, like a forecaster’s spaghetti models, with muddy and unsatisfactory landing.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) 50% EDIT “The seventh film in this long-running franchise has no sense of wonder anymore about these phenomenal creatures, just a feeling that no one knows what to do with them.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review 28 Years Later (2025) 88% EDIT “bloody, brutal, and in parts surprisingly beautiful ... 28 Years Later proves most memorable and elegiac in its quieter moments.” – AWFJ.org Jul 31, 2025 Full Review
No Reviews Yet
Load More