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[BD Review] ‘Crave’ Is A Simple Mind Scramble
I have moments, almost constantly, where I wonder if I have said something out loud…or just inside my head. Take this idea, amplify it, throw it into a psychological thriller, and Crave is what you get.
Aiden is a soft spoken crime scene photographer that has these types of moments. However, Aiden sometimes goes beyond blurting out a few words and ends up having full blown hallucinations. So, his range goes from yelling at an old lady in a supermarket (who keeps bumping him with her cart) to shooting up hoodlums on the train who are harassing a young woman. It is a nice set up for a film, especially when you add in his lust for a neighbor, who happens to have a verbally abusive boyfriend she needs to be saved from.
Afterall, Aiden wants to be a better person, simply, and step up when the situation calls for it. This is where Crave teeters between an epic mind scramble and a tragic love story. The path, for the entire 113 minutes, is never truly clear. The character does have moments where, after a hallucination – or what appears to be one, turns to the camera and speaks – letting the audience know if it was reality or not. Yet, along with this clarity there is much mayhem. The line is very much jumbled and we are left wondering if Aiden is just completely mad or not. There is never a full Fight Club-esque payoff.
This is more than likely the exact purpose of Crave. While it works for the most part, the fact that the film runs almost two hours long seems to keep it from reaching its fullest potential. Despite an intriguing plot of how normal people experience this type of psychosis on a regular basis, too many questionable, long winded moments kept Crave from being completely relatable to me, personally. In addition, characters like policeman Pete (Ron Perlman) and abusive boyfriend Ravi (Edward Furlong) struggle to find their footing within the story. Their characters do have a place within Aiden’s life – one being a mentor and the other an antagonist. But since the movie itself is fully set around Aiden and his actions, their characters lacked the beneficial screen time that could have made their ‘pivotal’ moments stand out.
Overall, Crave is a very well made film. Editing, sound, acting – all is sound, and even with the runtime and glitchy clarity, as a whole, the movie is different. With similarities to movies like Fight Club or that episode of X-Files where Mulder and Scully are having hallucinations as result of being devoured by that giant mushroom, Crave simply stands out. Even without a mind-blowing payoff, the trippy fantasy sequences are definitely something that fans of this genre should watch.
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Watch the Opening ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Battle Scene Now Ahead of Physical Media Release in July
Sequel Mortal Kombat II is now available to watch at home on Digital before heading to physical media in July, but you can test your might now and watch the opening scene.
Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid returns to the helm for the new sequel from a script by Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight,” Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire).
In Mortal Kombat II, the fan-favorite champions — now joined by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) — are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, and Hiroyuki Sanada are also part of the ensemble cast of Mortal Kombat II fighters.
Watch the opening below, which introduces a young Kitana (Sophia Xu) as Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) prepares to conquer her father, King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam), and her kingdom of Edenia. It sets the sequel’s entire plot in motion.
From New Line Cinema, James Wan’s Atomic Monster, Broken Road Productions, and Fireside Films, Mortal Kombat II is rated R for “strong bloody violence and gore, and language.”
Look for Mortal Kombat II to arrive on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on July 28, 2026.
The physical media release contains the following special features, as unveiled by IGN:
- Mortal Kombat II: Evolving the Saga (Featurette)
- Returning characters, new alliances and even bigger fatalities! Go behind the scenes to learn all that went into creating the latest chapter in the Mortal Kombat film saga and how the sequel expands the universe to bolder, bloodier heights.
- Building the Realms of Mortal Kombat (Featurette)
- From the decaying streets of Edenia to the terrifying Pit featured in the iconic video game series, discover how the Mortal Kombat II design teams blended practical sets with groundbreaking VFX to create the legendary realms in the film.
- Mortal Kombat II: Choose Your Fighter (Featurette)
- Awaken your Arcana as you meet the cast and explore the brutal weapons, epic costumes and fierce training that went into bringing their characters to life.
- Klose Quarters Kombat (Featurette)
- Cast members and key creatives share insights into how the stunt preparation, intense fight scenes and weapons training shaped both classic moves and new, merciless combat styles.
- A “Boon” to Gamers Everywhere (Featurette)
- Sit down with chief Mortal Kombat mythmaker and creator Ed Boon for a deep dive into the franchise’s storied history and ongoing evolution that spans three decades of near-infinite games, films and comics, culminating with the live-action sequel.