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.”
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.”
Review: Bertrand Bonello’s ‘Coma’
“‘Coma’ conjures up the spirit of 2020 like no other movie thus far. Through its unwieldy structure and genre delineation, Bonello’s film often feels every bit as disorienting as it was to scroll through social media timelines during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Review: Everybody Needs to See John Rosman’s ‘New Life’
“Rosman builds to a powerful resolution and ideal ending moment in ‘New Life,’ using gore and traditional methods to escalate the tension, and then pulls the rug away from the audience — a reminder of who’s in control, a tease of what’s to come.”
Crime Scene #15: ‘Strangler vs. Strangler’ – Belgrade Is Not a Serious City
“‘Strangler vs. Strangler’ is somewhere between the avant-garde and the absurd: a perfect description of Belgrade itself.”
Review: Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’ Is a Highbrow Music Video Experience That Doesn’t Owe You Anything
“A film designed as a long-form music video doesn’t need heavy exposition to reach its ultimate truth, as ‘Challengers’ communicates the most important facts through sound design, reaction shots and shared character moments.”
Review: Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’
“Tynan DeLong’s ‘Dad & Step-Dad’ finds comedic gold in awkward silence and silly stare-downs.”
Review: Louise Archambault’s ‘Irena’s Vow’
“Unfortunately, it takes about 90 minutes for ‘Irena’s Vow’ to find its aesthetic and narrative groove.”
Review: Alice Rohrwacher’s ‘La Chimera’
“‘La Chimera’ will hopefully inspire movie lovers of all ages to learn more about not only Italian cinema, but also the specificities of regional (and rural) Italian culture.”
Review: Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’
“‘Civil War’ is a lot smarter than meets the eye, and the film is far more incisive in its cultural critique than its director’s simplistic interview comments may make it seem.”
Review: Robert Lorenz’s ‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’
“‘In the Land of Saints and Sinners’ truly sings during its quietest moments.”
Review: Arkasha Stevenson’s ‘The First Omen’
“What ‘The First Omen’ lacks in innovation it makes up for in boldness, pushing familiar supernatural genre tropes about the secret relationship between the Church and the Devil to ideological extremes.”
Review: George Henry Horton’s ‘Project Dorothy’
“‘Project Dorothy’ has nothing meaningful to say about the lingering AI threat to humanity.”
Review: Helena Coan’s ‘The Lie: The Murder of Grace Millane’
“Part of the film’s effectiveness lies in the iceberg-style storytelling, which respects the audience’s intelligence by showing and addressing crime scene evidence without detailing the grisly specifics.”
BFI Flare Review: Sacha Polak’s ‘Silver Haze’
“Queerness that isn’t defined by its queerness is always a green flag, but what makes ‘Silver Haze’ an enriching addition to the lesbian canon of cinema is its rugged ties to the British working class.”
Manchester Film Festival Review: Dan Pringle’s ‘Die Before You Die’
“‘Die Before You Die’ is a solid independent horror film that, in its best moments, balances effective satire with claustrophobic terror.”