What’s in the Letterboxd? Feb, 2026

I return to catch up on more of the movies I watched this year.

February

February was dominated by some Warhammer 40K since my brother bought a month of Games Workshop’s subscription so he could watch some of the Warhammer shows and shorts. There was quite a bit of mixed results there. I don’t remember a couple of them that aren’t on Latterboxd, but the good stuff we watched is.

There might be slight spoilers for some of these. Anything with major spoilers will be marked.

The World of Kanako — 9/10

Not for the faint of heart. This is a brutal, messed up movie, and that’s putting it lightly. That aside, it’s also amazing. Great actors, great directing, and a really compelling story. Everyone is awful, but some are much worse than others. If you don’t mind really disturbing movies, it’s a huge recommendation.

Perfect Blue — 9/10

It starts off so normal. But it just gets better the more surreal it gets. At some point, you stop trying to guess anything. You accept that reality and illusion coexist. It’s an influential classic for a reason.

The Northman — 7/10

Pretty good overall, but a bit of a mixed bag in some areas.

For one, the second act definitely needed trimming. The story loses all momentum for a while before starting back up. But there are a lot of cool sequences and neat elements to the story overall. And it’s not completely predictable, even if the story of revenge is, for me, a pretty worn out and rather boring story.

The movie also plays a bit fast and loose with the history, grabbing things from Germanic/Viking history and smushing them together because they’re cool, even if they’re in the wrong place or time. But there are a number of neat historical deep cuts in here, however misused or misplaced they might be. I especially appreciated the different cults of Norse gods, rather than the unified pantheon that often gets incorrectly applied to the Norse.

One of my biggest issues, however, is that it’s very much the modern, hyper-stylized and romanticized view of the Vikings. Everything is cold, the people are cold, it’s all very dramatic. There’s no warmth. Even our heroes feel cold and overly stoic. All showing of emotion is saved for hate and violence; even the love is cold and stoic. I just could not connect with the characters, and I ultimately didn’t particular care how the story was going to end (and there are no surprises in the end).

Given the length, it’s hard to say if I’d watch it again.

Secret Level – Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear — 7/10

The animation is great, and the action is fun. The best I can really say is that it wasn’t stupid, but it also wasn’t really memorable. It’s just kind of neat.

Pariah Nexus — 7/10

First episode was the weak point, but episodes 2 and 3 were much better, getting into the meat of the characters and what they fight for. It’s not a bad mini-series to just get into WH40K fiction.

The Tithes — 8/10

A pretty solid 3-part anthology. Really highlights both how dire the 40K universe is and the struggles of keeping humanity going in an endless war. This is the one I recommend most.

Broken Lance — 5/10

A mix of no-stakes action and boring characters in one static location talking. A lot of talking. There’s a cool idea in here about the legacy of the knights, but it was poorly executed. An effort was made, but it’s an easy skip.

Iron Within — 7/10

Pretty well executed. It’s a simple idea of asking for rescue, then learning the truth of your rescuers. Some decent characterization, cool set pieces, but also some rough animations.

The Enemy Without: A Deathwatch Vignette — 5/10

Decent action, but there’s nothing really here. Essentially a neat cut-scene to a game that doesn’t exist.

Parasite — 9/10

What a gathering of characters. The families are all in such stark contrast of each other, trying to make a living. And things go in such unexpected directions. It’s hard to even talk about the movie without spoiling something.

Great cast, and surprisingly great cinematography for a film that takes place almost entirely indoors, and mostly in two locations. The different homes have so much personality that reflect the people who live there.

The Long Walk — 5/10

So, it’s well made. Great cast, cinematography. Maybe not the best CGI blood, but fine. Could have even been a 7/10 if there was nothing remarkable about the story. However.

The premise is weak, ridiculous, and the movie never does anything with it. There’s just no story. This is what I call Stephen King movie-slop. It’s a half-baked idea, focused entirely on the characters, and the ending is a huge letdown. It’s a paper thin story, and its only purpose is for the characters. Not only is the movie predictable, the one time it could have surprised us and done something meaningful, it cops out at the very end instead. Literal and figurative character assassination. I’m sure the book is better, anyway.