London Film Festival Review: Andrew Haigh’s ‘All of Us Strangers’
“‘All of Us Strangers’ is a film that becomes all the more haunting the further from it you get.”
Alistair Ryder
London Film Festival Review: Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
“I much prefer DiCaprio’s more comedic performances to his dramatic ones, but ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ feels like career-best dramatic work from the actor…”
London Film Festival Review: Todd Haynes’ ‘May December’
“‘May December’ has the initial feel of a heightened, vaguely trashy soap opera, revealing new layers to its central figures the more they question their perceived roles.”
Review: Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’
“As carefully controlled as every shot typically is for one of Anderson’s films, this is the most alive behind the wheel he has felt as a purely comic filmmaker in quite some time.”
Sundance Review: Hanna Bergholm’s ‘Hatching’
“An old-fashioned tale given a wonderfully disgusting makeover, ‘Hatching’ is a promising feature debut from Bergholm.”
Sundance Review: Oliver Hermanus’ ‘Living’
“‘Living’ translates wonderfully to post-war Britain, but it never gives the audience time to explore the full depths of sadness like Kurosawa’s source material.”
London Film Festival Review: Sean Baker’s ‘Red Rocket’
“‘Red Rocket’ is Baker’s strongest work to date, a film much smarter (and far funnier) than its provocative synopsis would suggest.”
London Film Festival Review: Pablo Larraín’s ‘Spencer’
“There is a general sense of otherworldliness that feels enrapturing in ‘Spencer,’ even if Larraín stumbles while addressing the heavier themes.”
TIFF Review: Michel Franco’s ‘Sundown’
“‘Sundown’ is in the curious position of being a step backwards, while at least not plumbing to the ideological depths of ‘New Order’ to quite the same extent.”
TIFF Review: Mélanie Laurent’s ‘The Mad Women’s Ball’
“‘The Mad Women’s Ball’ is a squandered opportunity when considering the richness of both the source material and the many stories encapsulated within the asylum walls.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: C.B Yi’s ‘Moneyboys’
“‘Moneyboys’ is the first of a planned thematic trilogy from Yi, which is good news — this is the kind of promising debut that will make audiences eager to see what he does next.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kira Kovalenko’s ‘Unclenching the Fists’
“‘Unclenching the Fists’ is a haunting watch, but a substantial one; a movie that will move Kovalenko up to the next tier of filmmakers in the arthouse and festival circuit.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Teodora Mihai’s ‘La Civil’
“‘La Civil’ excels as a character study of a woman putting herself in considerable danger to find her daughter — but when viewed as a crime procedural, the necessity of relying on various tropes does the film a disservice.”
Review: Jon M. Chu’s ‘In the Heights’
“‘In the Heights’ is far from a smooth transition from stage to screen, but the film remains an infectiously charming tale of community, and a far more incisive piece of social commentary than one might expect from the creator of ‘Hamilton.'”
BFI Flare Review: Marley Morrison’s ‘Sweetheart’
“The way ‘Sweetheart’ approaches the topic of AJ’s sexuality isn’t groundbreaking, but in a world where queer coming of age stories are still defined by the “coming out” part, it feels refreshing all the same.”
BFI Flare Review: Oskar Roehler’s ‘Enfant Terrible’
“‘Enfant Terrible’ is one of the more successful examples of a director biopic, but the familiar conventions of the genre eventually do a disservice to such a talented filmmaker.”
Why Criticism: Can Film Criticism and Awards Season Co-Exist?
“Many of us may miss the drama of awards season, but there are untold benefits to criticism if it continues to evolve away from its current state.”
Sundance Review: Ben Wheatley’s ‘In the Earth’
“The most surprising thing about ‘In the Earth’ may be just how much of a return it is to the pitch black humour that characterised Wheatley’s earliest films.”
Sundance Review: Jane Schoenbrun’s ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’
“‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’ would’ve benefitted from leaning more into the ambiguous lines between documentation and constructed fiction, but it remains a fascinating fiction debut nevertheless.”
Sundance Review: Nattawut Poonpiriya’s ‘One for the Road’
“‘One for the Road’ feels like a filmmaker trying to capture another director’s voice to the extent that they lose their own in the process.”