Off the strength of this script alone, screenwriter McClory is doing what Ida Lupino did in noir film history. Like Lupino, she is an accomplished actress and screenwriter who knows how to summon the darkness. Lewis brings focus to an innocuous object during the setup, then uses it as the key that opens the door to unimaginable evil. Misdirection has that same celluloid venom found in the big drop in Fuller’s The Naked Kiss, with the same skin-crawling impact as that classic. The team of Lewis and McClory pulls back the black curtain to show the bottomless depths of corroded humanity’s shadows.
It looks great, as Matti Eerikainen, the director of photography, updates noir’s classic Venetian-blind shadow work with a glowing palette of muted, soft colors that you sink into like an endless sea. This is the neo-noir needed for now and for the ages, as it catches the classic black magic but brings it to the modern cauldron. Of course, this has been painfully academic so far, with lots of French for “black” and references to Turner Classic Movies directors. Let’s say all that musty stuff isn’t your bag, will you still love it? You bet, as this is the kind of dark side pulse pounder that took over theaters in the late 1980s.
Olga Kurylenko as Sara Black in Misdirection (2026).
“…one ride you need to take.”
This thriller gets the popcorn butter pouring like blood from a head wound. It is a roller coaster into darkness with enough twists and dives to send your stomach to the netherworld. But let’s stop ignoring the 800-pound werewolf in the room. The reason I wanted to see this movie is because of the star power of Frank Grillo. Grillo headlined the best werewolf movie since The Howling recently, bringing back a lot of the electricity that you used to see back in the day. Grillo’s star wattage lights up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. His acting here shows that he can do a lot more than just hit people. It also shows how much fun he brings to the show, with a world weariness that screams Spillane (sorry, another old noir reference, that one to the OG who invented the game).
Misdirection throws you in the trunk and takes you to the edge of the screen where the rough stuff lives. Grillo is having that Christopher Walken moment in his career, where he is turning out some truly brilliant work. The direction is reminiscent of Sam Fuller’s classic noir work in the 60s, with incredibly potent storytelling techniques. If dark and intense thrillers are where you go to play, then this is one ride you need to take.
"…a cinematic ferris wheel that breaks loose and tears down the highway."
