Synchronic

Steve (Mackie) and Dennis (Dornan) work the late shift as paramedics in New Orleans. After attending a series of drug-related emergency calls, only to find the patients dead or in a severely altered state of lucidity, the partners trace every situation back to a new designer drug called Synchronic. With the news of his fast-advancing, terminal illness weighing on his mind, Steve decides he has nothing to lose by taking the drug and making an objective record of its mysterious effects. Soon enough, Synchronic has opened the world of time travel and bended dimensions to him and, with this, provides him the chance to find Dennis's missing daughter, Brianna (Ioannides), rewriting the fates of those he loves.

Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead. Stars: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan, Ally Ioannides, Katie Aselton, Betsy Holt, Shane Brady. 2019. 102 mins. Drama.

Born A Champion

Former marine Mickey Kelley (Flanery) is struggling with his identity and past trauma when he walks into a jiu-jitsu gym. Immediately taken by the discipline and structure of the martial art, he throws his entire being into the practice. As luck would have it, Mickey's a natural. However, the deeper he goes into the fighting, the more he begins to crave it for the violence rather than the craft that had initially saved him. Suddenly, he's back to trying to find himself, living on the edge and risking the love of his wife, Layla (Bowden), that of their son and the future he had promised them both.

Director: Alex Ranarivelo. Stars: Sean Patrick Flanery, Katrina Bowden, Dennis Quaid, Currie Graham, Maurice Compte, Costas Mandylor. 2021. 111 mins. Drama.

Fatman

After receiving a lump of coal on Christmas Day, rich, spoiled 12-year-old Billy (Hurstfield) hires hitman Jonathan Miller (Goggins) with one simple set of instructions: kill Santa Claus. Over in the North Pole, Santa, also known as Chris Cringle (Gibson), works tirelessly on his obligations with Mrs. Claus, aka Ruth Cringle (Jean-Baptiste), while also handling a partnership with the U.S. military. Although overwhelmed, the hardened Cringle is certainly not what jolly Christmas songs have painted him to be, and he waits for the contract assassin to arrive, his elves and workshop assistance on standby.

Directors: Eshom Nelms, Ian Nelms. Stars: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Chance Hurstfield, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Robert Bockstael, Michael Dyson. 2020. 100 mins. Action.