'Tis The Season For Setups | Christmas 2026

Our first Christmas movie of the 2026 season is here. And it is Hallmark’s ‘Tis The Season For Setups. The title only vaguely makes sense and I really wish they picked a different one. I hope this isn’t setting the tone for the season.

Lexi (Amanda Schull) is a tight-knit party planner. Her mother, June (Barbara Niven), is a free spirit who travels the world by herself. When Lexi’s daughter, Piper (Verity Marks), misses out on a ski trip with her friends over the Christmas break, June gets Lexi a job at the ski resort planning their annual holiday party. Once there, Lexi and Ridge (Victor Webster), the son of resort owner Dan (John B. Lowe), try to set June and Dan up on a date. But June and Dan are trying to set Lexi and Ridge up as well! Ah, Christmas love!

Yes, I know the movie is basically about everyone trying to set everyone else up on dates. That is why the title only vaguely works. There are probably a million other puns that would have worked better.

Anyway, ‘Tis The Season is fine. Verity Marks is the standout actor here as Lexi’s teenage daughter. She is the one thing that seems to bring everyone together. Everyone else is fine. They are all capable actors and no one really misses the mark. There just isn’t a lot for them to do. The party planning stuff takes a backseat to hanging out and having fun. But the having fun parts end up as montages. The rest is just walking and talking. And that is boring. But it’s a decent start the season. It could have been a lot worse than this.

Rating: Are snow banks the winter equivalent of quicksand?

If I Can't Have You | Halloween 2026

If I Can’t Have You is the final Tubi movie that I am watching. Ever. I am never ever watching a Tubi original movie again. These are on par with the UpTV Christmas movies I watched, which is why I banished that channel from the blog. Tubi might get one more chance since there were a few good movies there but it is VERY close to banishment.

Marc (Redaric Williams) and his wife, Eva (Dawn Halfkenny), are about to have a baby. However, he has to go away to a work conference before Eva gives birth. While he is away, he has sex with Marissa (Kaye Singleton) multiple times over the weekend. When they return to their usual lives, Marissa becomes obsessive. Marc, unwilling to confess to Eva, tries unsuccessfully to keep Marissa away from his family.

This was a pretty typical obsessed lover type story. Marc is a terrible person and he continues to be terrible through the end of the movie. Marissa is unhinged but not in a fun way. Overall, the movie was fine. It would have been nice if the story moved along a little faster but I have learned that that is the main problem with most Tubi movies. They drag. I would say to stay away from this one. There are a million obsessive stalker movies out there better than this. Watch one of those.

Rating: Is it really that difficult to just not cheat on your wife?

Eye For Eye | Halloween 2026

Halloween is almost here and we are almost finished with the Tubi movies! But first, we have to watch Eye For Eye.

Xavier (Marques Buford) and Bianca (Tiffany Trill Scott) have a seemingly lovely marriage. But little does Bianca know that Xavier is actually a serial killer. After he murders a young woman named Riley (Denise Mone’t), he goes to prison…where he starts getting letters about his loved ones getting killed. The police try to figure out who is killing Xavier’s family but all of the clues lead to dead ends.

Most of these movies are pretty much the same. Though I will say that this movie did a decent job of hiding who the actual killer is. It’s easy to figure out who the mastermind is but the person doing the actual killing? I didn’t see that coming. Despite that, Eye For Eye does still drag a lot and gets very boring in the middle. If you have nothing better to do, this would be a fine way to waste some time.

Rating: Maybe they all kinda deserved it

Deadly Squatters | Halloween 2026

Deadly Squatters may be the shortest review I have ever written. Yes, it is that bad.

Laura (Victoria Vanderberg) and Eugene (Jason Small) have gone on a short vacation together. When they get home, they find siblings Cassie (Niyana Brown) and Tate (Hunter McGowen) living in their house. The siblings won’t leave and the cops say there is nothing they can do. Will Laura and Eugene ever get their house back?

This is a stupid movie. Apparently no one really knows what squatters are. They aren’t random people who break into your house and say they live there. And that isn’t everything that is bad about this movie. The acting is bad, the script is bad, the plot is bad, even the sound effects are bad. I wish I could scrub this movie from my brain.

Review: They aren’t deadly nor are they squatters

Who Hurt Me? | Halloween 2026

We have had a few of these psychological thrillers this year. Who Hurt Me? is basically the same as the others. Very confusing. I’ll try to explain…

Lacey (Ciera Angelia) has just woken up from a coma. As a result, she can’t remember anything from before the coma. Including her best friend, Nessa (Ebony Tates), who takes it upon herself to take care of Lacey by getting her a new apartment and trying to get her to start a new life. But Lacey keeps having flashes from her past. Though with Nessa’s lies, it’s difficult to tell what is real and what isn’t.

And that is the big problem with this movie. We have no idea what is real, what is a lie, and what is made up in Lacey’s head. Even at the end, it’s unclear. Was this all a set up by Nessa to take over Lacey’s life? Is Lacey really insane and made all of this up in a drug-induced haze? Or is all of this real and Lacey’s brain injury has made her confused? Either way, all of this makes the movie awful. There are parts where I thought it would come together but then it would switch scenes. I’m angry that I actually watched this.

Rating: I don’t know who hurt you, Lacey, but maybe you all deserve it

Broken Bonds | Halloween 2026

Well, I watched Broken Bonds and a lot happened. I’m not really sure how to talk about this one…

Nia (Ciera Angelia) has just started working at a dive bar with Tonya (Robyn Rose) and Stacey (Bella Chadwick). One night, Tonya witnesses a double murder outside the bar while taking out the nightly trash. Noticing that it was a drug deal gone wrong, Tonya talks the other women into taking the bag of money left behind, hoping it would solve all of their problems. All it did was cause a brand new set of problems.

This was a wild one. There were drug dealers, corrupt cops, domestic violence issues, dying family members…you name it, it probably happened here. As usual this season, I can’t say that this is a great movie. I think they tried to fit too many things into a normal movie timeslot. It ends up leaving things feeling unfinished even when we see them kinda tied up. I’m not sure if I want to recommend Broken Bonds. Maybe if you really want to feel that “what the hell did I just watch” feeling. This would be perfect for that.

Rating: This may be the cleanest dive bar in the sketchiest of towns

The Bachelorette Party | Halloween 2026

I don’t think that I’ve seen a movie this season that didn’t revolve around a relationship with a man. Well, I mean, The Bachelorette Party does vaguely revolve around the party for a bride-to-be but the man is probably the least important part of the plot.

Angel (Sidnee Janeé), Katrina (Deborah Lane Spencer), Morgan (Amerrah Garrison), and Zoe (Kayla Von) have all gotten together in a mansion in the middle of nowhere to celebrate the upcoming wedding of their friend, Joi (Elizabeth Foxx). But since none of the women actually like each other, arguments start breaking out along with some long-kept secrets. And which of them are really to blame when the bodies start to drop?

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I went in expecting it to be terrible but it isn’t that bad. And while there are a lot of side-eyes, I don’t think I clocked who the killer actually was. So, I wouldn’t call this a “must see” movie but, if you have some free time and no better way to spend it, this won’t be a waste of your 90 minutes.

Rating: Maybe they should all go to jail

The Caretaker | Halloween 2026

We’re heading into the last week of Tubi thrillers. I’m not quite sure I’ll have enough to finish out the week so there might be a few more movies from other streaming channels. Until then, let’s take a look at The Caretaker.

Miles (Don Snipes) gets into a car accident, severely injuring his spinal column. His wife, Lisa (Robyn Rose), hires a caretaker named Nate (Hakeem Sharif) to help Miles during the day while she is at work. Unfortunately for Miles, Nate has other plans.

The Caretaker is yet another movie that has a good premise and a terrible execution. Having someone unable to care for themselves and have to rely on a complete stranger is already a difficult situation. However, Lisa overlooks so many things…like even getting a background check to begin with or contacting anyone once the original caretaker fell through…well, bad things were bound to happen. However, the acting is so terrible that, no matter how good the premise was, it was going to be a bad movie. (For example, you can see Miles’ doctor reading the script in his only scene.) Stay far away from Nate and this movie.

Rating: Don’t hire the first person that walks into your hospital room claiming to be a caretaker

Twin | Halloween 2026

We are getting close to the end of spooky season. There’s only about a week of Halloween movies left before Christmas rolls in. And today’s offering? Twin.

Justine (Drew Sidora) has recently been released from prison for the murder of her husband. After a quick makeover, she heads to her twin sister, Jordyn’s (Sidora), to either get a promised payment or take over Jordyn’s idyllic life.

This is one of those movies that had a great idea but a bad execution. Since there is a giant twist ending, the movie goes back and forth between the present and the past. And, to be honest, it can get a little difficult to tell exactly what is happening when. We don’t know how long the present day story lasts…it seems to all happen in less than a week…and the past sections are kinda thrown in all over the place, making it all very confusing. I love the idea and I love the big twist. I just wish it was done better.

Rating: There are so many whys

Bite Size Terror | Halloween 2026

Shudder has the V/H/S anthology series. Tubi followed suit with Bite Size Terror.

I’m not going to describe each of the 10 stories in the anthology. However, I will tell you that they are all under 15 minutes long - the shortest being 6 minutes while the longest is 14. Unlike V/H/S, which is set up as one long movie made up by short movies, Bite Size Terror is set up as individual episodes in a playlist. If you don’t like an episode, you can skip to the next one easily. Or, if you really like an episode, you can get the direct link to that particular episode to watch again or give out to your friends and family to watch.

Overall, the anthology isn’t bad. There are some really good episodes (“Book Club,” for example) but there are some that are rather boring (“Resonance”). A lot of the episodes are ones that have great ideas but need more time to flesh out the story. “Come Home” and “Kachina” have some potential in that sense.

Since these are all very short stories, I would recommend giving them a try. Like I said, you can always skip an episode if you aren’t feeling it.

Rating: Sometimes short stories are the best stories