Same shit, different decade. "Rings" takes the exact concept of the original films (Japanese and American) and asks the question: would this be any good without an actress of the calibre of Naomi Watts in the leading role? The answer is a definite no, as we follow a personality-deprived Julia (Matilda Lutz) on her quest to solve the mystery of her boyfriend Holt's (Alex Roe) disappearance, which naturally leads to her watching the same eerie videotape that Holt and a bunch of his fellow students had already watched as part of Leonard from The Big Bang Theory's research into the afterlife, thus summoning the vengeful spirit of Samara and sending Julia down the same rabbit hole as Naomi Watts a decade earlier, as she tries to save herself and break the curse. Sadly, introducing a touch of "Flatliners" to a worn-out old storyline isn't enough to make things interesting, nor is the final reveal of Samara's origin story any more compelling than what we've seen before. As for the cast: they're a handsome bunch, but none of them get to play characters of any depth. As with "They/Them", "Rings" isn't quite as terrible as many of its naysayers claim, but it is aggressively mediocre, with very little substance lurking beneath its pretty façade.
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