When a movie pulls its punches it’s always a good idea to ask why. In the case of Moulin, a biopic of a national hero of France from the second world war, the obvious answer is because it was designed with younger audiences in mind. As a primer for who …
Using the court system as a way to discuss societal problems has been a mainstay of television around the world for decades. Yet since Anatomy of a Fall gave the world an clever, multilingual mystery, the court system has suddenly become just as popular a technique for movies to address …
Some writers might use subtext. Others have the main female character ask the male lead, “So you’re on a f*cked-up American pilgrimage?” It never hurts to spell things out, but Via Negativa ricochets quite a bit between overly explaining things and letting Young Mazino’s handsome face do all the work. …
Jordan Peele’s third feature film, Nope, was kept a mystery in its marketing and has been slotted into various categories since its release: supernatural horror, science fiction, modern Western, creature feature, and sardonic look at a society obsessed with getting the perfect money-making shot. Nope is all of these in …
Film festivals can be a little too intellectual sometimes. There is of course space in movies for people giving each other lectures on why capitalism is bad (something that featured in an awful lot of films at Cannes this year). But those movies are rarely a good time, and most …
To say there’s not much new in this story of female super-soldiers is kind of reductive, because major action blockbusters centered around a woman are still unusual in Hindi cinema. Fortunately Alia Bhatt is a major Hindi superstar, who has occasionally also worked in English, and who absolutely has the …
Wasteman follows the great British cinema tradition of bringing no-holds barred, gritty stories to life. Cal McMau’s feature debut casts a sceptical eye on the British prison system and questions how effective it realistically is. The drama follows Taylor (David Jonsson) who is mere weeks away from being released on …
It’s a trope seen more often in romantic comedies, but on this level at least Paper Tiger innovates: it is the rare thriller that relies on The Idiot Plot. The only way everything in Paper Tiger happens is because all three main characters are complete and total idiots. It looks …
Content warning: sexual assault, child-centric trauma Writer-director Beth de Araújo has been open that Josephine is based on a true incident from her childhood. The trouble is that knowing this fact hampers the ability to speak critically about the film. Anything negative might feel like a personal attack against the …
The work of Gerard Butler has been interesting to watch unfold. While he is not the most versatile performer, Butler carved a niche. He has existed as an action star akin to someone like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Known for films like 300 or the Has Fallen series, one …
The baby horror film hasn’t really evolved since Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. While still an influential text for many burgeoning filmmakers – despite Polanski’s persona non grata status within the creative community these days (and for good reason) – they seem only interested in ripping it off or creating their …
If you thought that David Mackenzie’s previous film, Relay, was stupid, you haven’t seen anything yet. In his latest disaster, Fuze, Mackenzie, and screenwriter Ben Hopkins somehow screw up a tried-and-true pressure-cooker that should elicit strong popcorn thrills and not total bewilderment. However, instead of sticking to the film’s original …
The signs were there when Sony transferred the rights to Tommy Wirkola’s Shiver – now called Thrash – to Netflix, which the streamer is now attempting to quietly dump a few weeks ago, with minimal promotional awareness. It’s strange, though, because Wirkola’s filmography is filled with impassioned genre works, from …
It’s been a while since such a well-mounted cast failed to meet the moment in an ensemble comedy quite like Jonah Hill’s Outcome, the actor’s sophomore outing into fiction filmmaking after his breakout directorial debut, Mid90s. That movie was (very) well received. This one will get the polar opposite reaction. …
The instructions are simple: Do not overlook any anomalies. If you find an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you do not find any anomalies, do not turn back. Go out from Exit 8. The instructions hang on the wall, where all who enter the switchback tunnels of this particular subway …
Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover arrives as Frankenstein tales are having a real cultural moment. With Guillermo del Toro’s film released last autumn (and picking up three Oscars) and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride currently in cinemas, Glowicki’s picture as director, co-writer (with Ben Petrie, who also stars) and star may not …
Whenever the names of 87North Productions or 87Eleven Entertainment are linked to a new project, my interest immediately spikes. After all, we’re talking about the teams that redefined modern action cinema with the John Wick franchise and continued to leave their mark on films like Nobody, Violent Night, or The …
Content warning: descriptions of incredibly graphic violence from the start Sometimes a movie makes it apparent why we do the work we do. For example, if someone stabbed me in the shoulder, twisted the knife, and then stomped on the knife while it was still in my body, I might …
Sometimes when you get good at keeping secrets, you can start to lose track of what the truth even is. In her new series Imperfect Women, Annie Weisman examines the story of three best friends confronting the secrets they kept that may have led to the murder of one of …
It has taken decades, but Patricia Cornwell’s iconic literary character, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, has finally been brought to life. Nicole Kidman takes on the role of the unrelenting chief medical examiner trying to prove that the case that made her career wasn’t based on misinformation. Scarpetta is more than your …