“Allegedly, The Strangers: Chapter 2 is scheduled to hit cinemas later this year. It cannot possibly be as awful as this one. I may have to rethink my life choices if it is.” I concluded my review of The Strangers: Chapter 1, one of 2024’s worst films, with these words. …
One of the central figures of the newest generation of Brazilian cinema, Gabriel Mascaro, is already a well-known name on the international festival circuit. His 2015 film, Neon Bull (Boi Neon), premiered at the Venice Film Festival. His next work, Divine Love (Divino Amor), world premiered at the 2019 Sundance …
Of course the London Film Festival is the right place for the world premiere of Moss & Freud, a movie about two British people who understood more than most the power of an image. But since Kate Moss is one of its executive producers, Moss & Freud is unwilling to …
Winner of the Orrizonti Award for Best Film at the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, On the Road (En el Camino) is, at its core, a poignant tale of repressed desire bursting in the most undesirable of places. It’s the fifth feature from Mexican writer-director David Pablos, and it’s the …
There are only so many ways a film like Sweetheart, originally titled Gioia Mia, pans out. Special Jury Prize winner at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival’s Filmmakers of the Present competition, Margherita Spampinato’s debut feature is a predictably compelling take on the coming-of-age genre: a schmaltzy drama about grief and …
The formula established in Knives Out and Glass Onion has been changed in Wake Up Dead Man. The series of good old-fashioned murder mysteries solved by gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been a roaring success because they were mostly about fabulously wealthy people being held to account. Tweaking the …
In the nail-biting conclusion to the Twilight saga, Bella finally gets everything she wants, only to face the possibility of losing it all. In a fight to save her family, Bella will discover depths she didn’t know she had. And she’ll learn that even in the face of immortality, there …
The Russian-American director Julia Loktev is a well-known director despite her small filmography. In 1998, she made her debut with Moment of Impact. Then, eight years later, she released her sophomore film with Day Night Day Night. She premiered her most prominent work to date, the 2011 film The Loneliest …
Jude Law’s first appearance as Vladimir Putin is so eerily accurate the Venice Film Festival audience around me laughed in surprise. Who would have thought he could do it? Well congratulations to director Olivier Assayas and his casting director Antoinette Boulat, because the performance Mr. Law gives here is one …
It’s summertime. The glowing sun is out, and the air is calm. It’s the perfect excuse to take a swim or lie still on the grass and wonder about what’s next in your life. It’s certainly the case, or at least initially, for a group of working-class teenagers in Ion …
Since its first exhibition, film has played a crucial role in portraying memory and the feeling of daily life. Directors utilize cinema as a tool to immortalize places, stories, and people. It is the case for Amir Aziz, who delivers a homage in the nostalgia-heavy Daroon-e Amir, or Inside Amir. …
There’s a little scene late in Silent Rebellion (À bras-le-corps) where a disgusting boss offers the young heroine, Emma (a wonderful Lila Gueneau), a “chance” at promotion, but is prevented from molesting her by an older female colleague making a scene. The other woman is punished, but she and Emma …
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Toronto International Film Festival’s wavelength section is the combination of local talents with internationally prestigious names in experimental and bold efforts. The programming team, led by Andréa Picard, balances the most courageous work with more unconventional efforts that compose the best section …
Forty-four minutes into Magellan, we see the eponymous Portuguese navigator at the film’s center, deftly portrayed by Gael García Bernal, sitting still inside a 16th-century tavern, his mind drifting elsewhere. He grips a walking cane on one hand, then an oversized hat on the other. Lit candles beside him quietly …
The new Disney+ series Marvel Zombies builds on a single episode from season one of What If…?, What If…Zombies?, which first imagined a world where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had become its greatest threat. Directed by Bryan Andrews and written by Zeb Wells, the four-episode miniseries introduces a new group of …
There are certain movies which only exist because someone has needed to make them. They are too weird to be mainstream and too proud of their unusual style to truly be weird. This is by no means a complaint. When people lean very hard into style over substance it is …
Min Sook Lee is a veteran of the Canadian documentary filmmaking. With a history of producing documentaries since 2003, the South Korean-born and Toronto-raised director has a strong background in non-fiction. Since her debut, Sook Lee has released other films, such as Hogtown: The Politics of Policing, Tiger Spirit, and …
It’s not really a surprise that Jim Jarmusch has won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival for Father Mother Sister Brother. He has always been a major filmmaker working in a minor key, and here we have another one of his portmanteau films, this time three thematically …
The Swiss-Canadian director, Peter Mettler, is a respected documentary filmmaker. Focusing on exploring the miracles of existence, his films observe the environment surrounding human beings. In this sense, he tends to release long films that meditate on the humane reality. His career spans four decades, featuring celebrated films like Picture …
There is a needle drop in Mother so insane that it either singlehandedly turns the movie into a triumph or ruins it completely, and I still can’t decide which it is. But this is precisely the point director Teona Strugar Mitevska is trying to make with her fictionalised biopic of …