In recent American indie cinema, a fascinating name to study is Jeff Nichols. Since his debut in 2007 with Shotgun Stories, Nichols has examined the deep roots of the rural United States. Despite a few films in his catalog, his projects typically take place in the American South and rural …
Elevated horror. A term coined in the mid-2010s that has since polarised cinephiles. Its existence implies a two-tier approach to the horror genre, where psychologically driven, socially conscious, and metaphorically rich plots are superior to traditional genre fare, comprising slashers, exploitation and creature features. But modern studios didn’t invent this …
It Will Happen Tonight pulls off a very difficult trick: it takes a story of infidelity and makes it exceptionally romantic. This is a huge surprise, because obviously you really shouldn’t be going around falling in love with people who aren’t the ones you married. But everyone knows the heart …
Up to this point, the new DCU has a perfect record with me. I’ve liked or loved every film and every show it has released so far, so Clayface had a streak to protect before I even sat down. The noise around its release didn’t make things calmer, though. A …
Beneath the structure of the international film festivals, the potential of smaller ones is understated. Every filmmaker dreams of Cannes, Berlin, NYFF, London, TIFF, Venice and others. However, for young upcoming filmmakers, especially those in the peripheries of the globe, the journey is even harder to get their films programmed …
The global appetite for American stories is shrinking. The American political climate has an international impact which hardly any ordinary American person realises, but why should they, when they are too busy trying to survive it directly themselves. Bored kids with no money, nothing to do and no future to …
Gustavo Vinagre and Gurcius Gewdner are a duo of filmmakers who, despite their young age, are already veterans in the Brazilian cinema. Vinagre focuses more on queer stories, ranging from his work in films like Três Tigres Tristes, A Rosa Azul de Novalis, and Deus tem AIDS. Meanwhile, Gewdner leans …
Before this Netflix series, my knowledge on East of Eden was non-existent. The John Steinbeck novel was never in my reader-loving orbit, making this Netflix series feel like a gamble of enjoyment. That said, with this cast, the results prove to be more satisfactory than I expected. East of Eden …
The Scottish Ballet is justifiably taking a great deal of pride in These Violent Delights. The dance company is one of the artistic endeavours Scotland is most proud of and this movie – a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, told entirely through dance – will bring its its ethos …
Despite a prolific career with his short films, the Brazilian director Allan Deberton made a splash with his Pacarrete in 2019, a well-received debut that audiences and critics admired during its release rollout throughout the pandemic. The film explored a dreamer who bothers her neighborhood over her failed dream of …
It is so depressing to watch a movie that should have been fun, but isn’t. The Spiral is worse than a prank gone wrong. It’s even worse than telling someone on their way home from a funeral to smile. When a movie should have been a camp delight and is …
Gotham Chopra appropriates the classic language of IMAX documentaries in his free-flowing essay, Portrait of an Artist: Stephen Curry. What could’ve been a traditional piece of hagiography actually elevates its extreme glazing of Stephen Curry through a larger-than-life framing of a basketball giant as he accomplishes one of the greatest …
The Middleburg Film Festival is tucked away in the scenic, hunt-country suburbs of Washington, DC. It has become one of the premier regional festivals to watch during the fall awards campaigns. Over the past weekend, the festival rang in its 14th year with celebrated guests, post-film Q&As, panels, and a …
Every opinion I came across about The Only Living Pickpocket in New York before seeing it was positive. I didn’t see a single negative take, and with nothing else to go on, that consensus was carrying all of my expectations. I’m unfamiliar with Noah Segan as a director, as I …
Tom Kennedy and his son Jake aren’t doing well. After the death of Tom’s wife, Jake’s mother, a few months ago, Tom feels like there’s a gulf between them that he just can’t cross. Hoping that a new home in a new town will help bring them closer, Tom lets …
There is a really boring recent trend in world cinema to make movies about rich people learning valuable lessons. From Triangle of Sadness onwards there has been too many movies about affluent people being all surprised that someone’s money is not the most important thing about them. The trouble is …
Company is directed by Casey Affleck, whose reputation as an actor is not unblemished, and whose reputation as a director will not be helped by the fact there are eight (eight!) credited cinematographers on Company, including himself. It is also not necessarily a positive thing that two of the movie’s …
You won’t have to wait long for directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson to answer the question at the top of most audience members’ minds when diving into Wicker. An adaptation of Ursula Mills’ “The Wicker Husband,” the directorial duo, who are also a real-life couple, know that most moviegoers wonder how on earth Olivia Colman’s …
Arguably, the most terrifying horror stories involve children. Whether it’s as the spook or the victim, it’s just scarier when there’s a child involved. I think it has to do with the innocence and vulnerability of children. We don’t want anything bad to happen to such little guys. But as …
Alejandro G. Iñárritu might have won the discourse game with Digger, but Romain Gavras has won the metatextual satire on the climate crisis with Sacrifice. The critically maligned character study on a vacuous actor suddenly caught in the middle of a terrorist attack during a climate change convention was largely …