Review: Chip Joslin’s ‘Insane Like Me?’
“‘Insane Like Me?,’ a vampire thriller with little visual style, relies on decent lead performances to make up for a clunky screenplay.”
Review: Cara Mones and Caroline Suh’s ‘Sorry/Not Sorry’
“Sorry/Not Sorry’ is fascinating with its exploration of ethics, but Mones and Suh’s documentary essentially plays out like a CliffsNotes version of The New York Times’ 2017 report about Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct.”
Review: Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s ‘The Devil’s Bath’
“Fiala and Franz, who also co-wrote ‘The Devil’s Bath,’ aren’t interested in making viewers feel comfortable. What they’ve crafted, even more so than their breakout hit, is a tough, distressing watch by design.”
Questioning and Subverting Artistic Authority in ‘Through the Writer’s Mirror’
“Being multiple things at once is what makes Everett’s novels, but also his other art, so intriguing. ‘Through the Writer’s Mirror’ is its own process of plate spinning. It is its own juggling act.”
Review: Pablo Feldman and Sophia Sabella’s ‘Edge of Everything’
“‘Edge of Everything’ straddles the line of original storytelling and coming-of-age tropes like its teenage protagonist straddles the line between adolescence and adulthood.”
Review: Don Hardy’s ‘Linda Perry: Let It Die Here’
“‘Linda Perry: Let It Die Here’ is a moving study of female self-empowerment and perseverance.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Roberta Torre’s ‘Mi fanno male i capelli’
“‘Mi fanno male I capelli’ communicates an important message about the theatrical movie experience that cinephiles will appreciate: some people find inner peace through the outdoors, while others experience closure and rebirth in dark places.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie’
“‘Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie’ is a divisive film, but its bold stylistic choices make up for any narrative deficiencies.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Pietro Castellitto’s ‘Enea’
“‘Enea’ is full of rich character development, yet the protagonists and antiheroes seem like archetypal figures dropped into a real world setting inhabited by naturalistic side players.”
Review: Kit Zauhar’s ‘This Closeness’
“Zauhar gets to the heart of her characters’ deepest fears and desires, in a way that’s disarmingly funny and painfully relatable.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Stefano Sollima’s ‘Adagio’
“Somewhat epic like Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’ (1995) and political in nature like Sollima’s underrated series ‘ZeroZeroZero’ (2020), ‘Adagio’ executes its brutal messaging through cinematographer Paolo Carnera’s observant visual language.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Andrea Arnold’s ‘Bird’
“Part coming-of-age drama, part quirky foray into magical realism, ‘Bird’ is a difficult film to nail down. Written and directed by Andrea Arnold, the 2024 movie sometimes doesn’t seem to know exactly what it’s trying to communicate.”
Review: Quarxx’s ‘Pandemonium’
“Quarxx guides the audience along through a French nightmare tale in ‘Pandemonium’ but doesn’t seem fully invested in what’s scary beyond the surface-level gore. He swings for the fences and falls on home plate in the process.”
Review: Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’
“In just her second film, Kapadia has become one of the most exciting directors working today. I doubt Cannes will be as quick to write off the cinema of India in her wake.”
Review: Chris Nash’s ‘In a Violent Nature’
“The package may be pretty, but there’s nothing of note inside, and what is there has been done better elsewhere.”
Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Review – Paola Cortellesi’s ‘There’s Still Tomorrow’
“‘There’s Still Tomorrow,’ the feature directorial debut by Italian actress Paola Cortellesi, betrays traditional World War II-era films with its unique style and subversion.”
Review: Guillaume Campanacci and Vesper Egon’s ‘Whenever I’m Alone with You’
“‘Whenever I’m Alone with You’ often feels pretentious, albeit in the best way possible.”
Review: Isaac Hirotsu Woofter’s ‘Bound’
“‘Bound,’ the feature directorial debut from actor Isaac Hirotsu Woofter, spotlights the struggles of fringe society characters but falls apart with its confusing editing and narrative structure.”
Cannes Film Festival Review: Jonathan Millet’s ‘Ghost Trail’
“‘Ghost Trail’ is never boring — a testament to Millet’s laser-focused and tightly-edited direction.”
‘Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever’ Review: Borrowed Nostalgia for the Unremembered 90s
“‘Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever’ is formulaic to a fault… however, keep an eye on Fanny Bornedal. It won’t be long until she headlines (or co-headlines) a high-profile TV series or film on a major streaming service.”