The location is Reboleira, in the suburbs of Lisbon, Portugal. In the outskirts of the Portuguese capital, a robbery goes wrong. A car crashes, the police arrest the driver, and almost two hundred thousand Euros vanish. Which of the criminal groups took the money? In O Jacaré by Basil da …
In the festival circuit, with each announcement of a major festival, there is a name that people expect to hear: Hong Sang-soo. In February, he premiered The Day She Returns , which played at the Berlinale’s Panorama. Six months later, the Korean master is back with his latest, Nowhere to …
In the first seconds of Rehmat by Gurvinder Singh, a black screen explains the political context of the film. During the forced migration in the Indian subcontinent, the Punjab was partitioned. Independence in 1947 divided the country along religious lines: Hindus and Sikh east in India, Muslims in the west …
Sally’s girls have grown up, and she’s successfully kept them away from magic. Despite their own innate powers, the girls believe that magic is nothing more than fairy tales, and they don’t live in constant fear of the curse. Ignorance is bliss, until it isn’t. Kylie has fallen in love, …
I had to go to France just to see De Gaulle: Liberté, and the movie is so good I just might do it again. Along with its first half, De Gaulle: Résistance, this is an extremely important movie for two reasons. Firstly, French cinema is now focused on films for …
Well, this day had to come eventually: Reacher (Alan Ritchson) made a mistake, and as a result a lot of people are dead. This is hard to take, not just because it means the plot can no longer be discussed without spoilers, but also because there’s an unpleasant subtext kicking …
A karambit is a little knife curved like a claw. It was invented in Indonesia, which is where Lila (Agnez Mo) and her mother Amisha (Anggun) are from. Its unpleasant appearance in this episode means the enemy has a much yuckier appetite for destruction than Reacher (Alan Ritchson) and the …
There’s another content warning for suicide at the start of “One Small Step,” which is the kind of consideration for viewers that some tough guys think isn’t necessary. Considering how much violence takes place in the average episode of Reacher, it’s kind of sweet that here is the one thing …
Kyrene is the Vindica Ultis, the chosen warrior of Shiket, the Goddess of Justice. With her talking (to her at least) sword Zefiah, also known as the Blade of Retribution, she is seen by others as a hero. But she doesn’t see herself that way. But now someone has offered …
Alan Ritchson’s gift for stillness and subtle facial expressions is put to exceptional use in “Cage Fight.” There is also some audience pandering – screengrabs of which are all over social media already, but it would be churlish to spoil that fun – that makes it clear this season really …
The Owens women have a very long history of magic in their blood. Magic is a curse their ancestor, Maria Owens, placed on them. Almost three hundred years ago, she was sentenced to hang for witchcraft by the man she loved, the father of her child. As she faced her …
In a small Romanian town, Marius (Adrian Văncică) is the medical chief at the local hospital. He just lost his wife, and his son, Ioan (Teodor Butănescu), is almost finished with high school. This is the setting of You Don’t Belong Here (Nu e locul tau aici) by Florin Şerban. …
Tang is the powdered drink mix marketed as enjoyed by astronauts and which purportedly had more vitamins and minerals than orange juice. One of the guests at the titular wedding, Guy (Xavier Lacaille), has recently become its regional head of sales so at one point he goes into his full …
A female Korean superfan featured in Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, speaking through tears, provides the best explanation possible for Oasis’ appeal: they are not a band that hectors you to get up when you fall down. They are a band that falls down beside you; they know themselves …
Films festivals normally only reward a movie one single prize. If your movie wins, say, best actress, then it can’t also win the main festival award. But the jury led by Maggie Gyllenhaal at this year’s Venice Film Festival broke that rule for Woman Unknown: its lead actress Mathilde Arcel …
The 1980s in Southern California were a completely different world. Left to themselves by neglectful parents, drugs, sex, and rock and roll ruled Bret Ellis and his friends’ world. And in the summer of 1981, a new playmate appears who threatens to destroy their social world. What’s more, a serial …
Who knew 2026 would involve so many family movies about flocks of British sheep solving crimes? If this is a trend I hope it lasts forever because The Sheep Detectives was adorable and Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is even more so. A stop-motion animated film with …
Long Wu Ying knows his place in the world. As a farmer’s son, he doesn’t expect much, and he’s learned to be content with what he has. He is very aware of the inequalities that exist in life, but he also knows that the world won’t change just because he …
The Owens family is an interesting study. A family of bloodline witches who are born with incredible power and a powerful curse. We first met them in Alice Hoffman’s book Practical Magic. Sister Sally and Gillian face evil and learn to love more, not less. In Hoffman’s book, we go …
Critics have been enjoined not to spoil Karma’s big plot twist, which basically means we’re not supposed to mention two-thirds of the film. Normally that would be a problem, but Karma’s initial set-up is so preposterous that everything which follows just gets more and more ridiculous. This is just an …