Parents' Guide to Burial

This wartime thriller takes its inspiration from some of the neglected stories from World War II. Yet despite its ambitious screenplay and capable cast, Burial's mix of fact and fiction never quite gels, as its story switches between human drama, fantasy violence, and a series of murky forest shootouts. Bookended by cliched opening and closing set pieces that transport us into the future, they do little other than add unnecessary exposition. Writer-director Ben Parker would've been better off spending more time establishing the characters.

The group of Russian soldiers and "heroes" of the story are led by Vega's Brana, who has the basis for a compelling character. While the German "werewolf" pursuers are based on real-life units that operated behind enemy lines. But none of these are developed enough. Elsewhere, Harry Potter alumnus Tom Felton could've been given more to do as anguished local Lukasz. Instead his late entry into the movie only adds to its off-kilter and unbalanced feel. The finale also goes missing, which helps us share the characters' frustration but not much else. Wartime conspiracy adventures, especially ones featuring werewolves, need to have sharper teeth than this.