queer-movie

Queer

Perhaps more than any other director working right now, Luca Guadagnino understands that fucking is one of humanity’s greatest motivators, dictating nearly every aspect of our lives, it’s consequences rippling forever through our relationships, ourRead Full Review

seed-of-the-sacred-fig-movie

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

What are the foundations of an oppressive regime? Paranoia, complicity, fear. Whether you’re on the side of the oppressor or the oppressed, those three factors are always present. Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film, The Seed of theRead Full Review

gladiator-ii-movie

Gladiator II

There are legacy sequels and then there is Gladiator II. Ridley Scott returns as director, as do several clips from the Best Picture winner of 2000, in case you were wondering about the connection. Scott’s ownRead Full Review

the-piano-lesson-movie

The Piano Lesson

In the latest stage of Denzel Washington’s career, canonizing the work of August Wilson appears to be of great importance. Washington himself directed and starred in the 2016 adaptation of Fences, while drafting stage director GeorgeRead Full Review

blitz-movie

Blitz

They just gave Richard Curtis an honorary Oscar last weekend, and if he had directed Blitz, it would be the best movie that he ever made. But he didn’t make Blitz, Steve McQueen did, and there liesRead Full Review

dahomey-movie

Dahomey

Mati Diop’s Dahomey is a visually arresting and intellectually heady documentary about twenty-six pieces of art being returned to Africa. The items were seized by French soldiers in 1892 from what was then the nation ofRead Full Review

all-we-imagine-as-light-movie

All We Imagine As Light

In the urban streets of Mumbai, people cram together in search of the life that modernity promises. But what if that promise is false? All We Imagine As Light is a tenderly told story about twoRead Full Review

emilia-perez-movie

Emilia Pérez

The good thing about French artists across all mediums is that they attack projects with an intellectual rigor that instills in them a confidence that they can tackle any subject matter. This is also oneRead Full Review

a-real-pain-movie

A Real Pain

What is the pain referenced in the title of A Real Pain? Our main characters are depressive, though they show it in completely different ways. They’re visiting Poland to partake in a days-long tour of Holocaust rememberence.Read Full Review

small-things-like-these-movie

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan’s fiction is riddled with silences pregnant with foreboding. The rural Irish settings of her books contain characters weathered into submission, accepting the things they cannot change, which is almost everything. In Small Things LikeRead Full Review

juror-no-2

Juror #2

Three years between film projects feels like an eternity for Clint Eastwood. His prolific output both in front and behind the camera ran steady for sixty years up until 2021’s Cry Macho. At that point, ClintRead Full Review

No-Other-Land-movie

No Other Land

I don’t think of this as a spoiler, but be aware: Near the end of No Other Land, there’s a title card that gives the audience a desperate, sinking feeling. At this point you’ve already watched ninety minutesRead Full Review

conclave-movie

Conclave

In the realms of “they just don’t make ’em like this anymore”, Conclave stands proud. A deeply engrossing and profoundly silly suspense film set in the Sistine Chapel, director Edward Berger shifts from the vast andRead Full Review

anora-movie

Anora

If Sean Baker wasn’t such an exceptional filmmaker, his interest in sex work as the narrative catalyst of his films would feel like an uncomfortable fetish. Since 2012’s Starlet, all of his films have dealt with sexRead Full Review

we-live-in-time-movie

We Live in Time

There were rumblings last year when darling indie distributor A24 put out into the trades that they were beginning to look into more mainstream, commercial projects. In a little over a decade, they’ve put out someRead Full Review

the-outrun-movie

The Outrun

At just 30 years old, Saoirse Ronan has already established a sterling reputation as an actor who can “do anything”. Nominated as an adolescent for her precocious performance in Atonement, she’s only capitalized on her potential inRead Full Review

saturday-night-movie

Saturday Night

This year marks fifty years of Saturday Night Live on NBC, a live sketch comedy show that has survived dynastic political and cultural shifts, wild fluctuation in performance talent, and endless accusations of being “not funnyRead Full Review

a-different-man-movie

A Different Man

It’s kind of a miracle that a film like A Different Man – an elliptical, analytical film the persistently prods it’s audience with moral and ethical questions – can also be such a compelling drama. OurRead Full Review

will-and-herper-movie

Will & Harper

Will & Harper is a film going for a broad audience and delivering mass messaging. Its cause is righteous and its motivations pure. The movie’s premise is simple: two longtime friends, one of which hasRead Full Review

megalopolis-movie

Megalopolis

The journey of Megalopolis to the screen is astonishing. So much so it almost feels impossible that it would produce a mediocre film. Yet, here we are. Francis Ford Coppola called his shot in 2020, in anRead Full Review

the-wild-robot-movie

The Wild Robot

Imagine, if you will, a movie for children that truly captures the full scope of everything that cinema has to offer, that doesn’t condescend to them with immature humor or overprotect them by hiding painful realities.Read Full Review

the-substance-movie

The Substsance

If there is one thing that stands out about the Cannes hit The Substance – well, apart from how gross it is – is it’s blistering rage. French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat does not have the inclinationRead Full Review

rebel-ridge-movie

Rebel Ridge

Filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier wears a lot of hats in Rebel Ridge. He’s the writer and director, the producer, and the editor. He’s certainly not the first person to do all of these things on his movie,Read Full Review

his-three-daughters-movie

His Three Daughters

The implacable tone of an Azazel Jacobs film – comedies tinged with melancholy, where moods swing inconsistently and dollops of surreality pierce the heightened exterior – is a very difficult balancing act. So difficult, inRead Full Review

close-your-eyes-movie

Close Your Eyes

It’s been over thirty years since the last Victor Erice film. Considered to be among the greatest Spanish filmmakers of all time, his latest, Close Your Eyes, is only the fourth film he’s ever made. HisRead Full Review

Between-the-Temples-movie

Between the Temples

Many try to recreate the arch whimsy of Hal Ashby, a director whose offbeat comedies feel wholly singular even with all the imitators that have followed him. Wes Anderson has spun that quirky sensitivity intoRead Full Review

sing-sing-movie

Sing Sing

When you get a movie like Sing Sing, which blends elements of narrative and documentary filmmaking, there can be a tension between the two disciplines as they fight against each other. It’s not always as seamlessRead Full Review

the-instigators-movie

The Instigators

You don’t have to get too far into The Instigators before you realize just how low a priority it is for everyone involved. The movie stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, two actors whose canonical BostonRead Full Review

good-one-movie

Good One

With a debut film, it’s easy to credit influence. You could watch India Donaldson’s Good One and notice that it’s all-natural set pieces and lived-in performances recall the earthy existentialism of Kelly Reichardt; or you may pegRead Full Review

didi-movie

Dìdi

Sean Wang’s Dìdi is a pretty standard coming-of-age indie dramedy. Think Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade meets Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap. The beats all have the familiarity of films you’ve seen from Rebel Without a Cause to Armageddon Time.Read Full Review

twisters-movie

Twisters

Twisters is something less than a remake and something more than a sequel. It carries over none of the characters from the 1996 film Twister, but its spirit – and structure – recalls the regality of theRead Full Review

longlegs-movie

Longlegs

Now that we’ve retired the idea of “elevated horror” – a popular expression in the early 10’s, when exciting filmmakers started excelling within the genre – what to make of a film like Longlegs? Released by Neon, the latestRead Full Review

green-border-movie

Green Border

In Green Border, director Agnieszka Holland is attempting to show us the wide swath of human behavior, from the inhumanly cruel to the generously kind, and everything in between. The film is set against the Polish-BelarusianRead Full Review

kinds-of-kindness-movie

Kinds of Kindness

Yorgos Lanthimos achieving mainstream success in Hollywood probably seemed like a long shot if you were watching his 2009 film Dogtooth. That film, graphically violent and sexually explicit, got a miraculous Oscar nomination for Best International Feature atRead Full Review

the-bikeriders-movie

The Bikeriders

In The Bikeriders, we have the return of Jeff Nichols, a director whose steady hand was behind several great films from the 2010s, including Take Shelter and Loving, his previous film. It’s been eight years since Loving, a movie thatRead Full Review

janet-planet-movie

Janet Planet

“Every second of my life is hell,” states Lacy, an eleven-year-old girl living with her mother, Janet. Earlier in Janet Planet – the directorial debut from Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker – Lacy calls Janet from aRead Full Review

robot-dreams-movie

Robot Dreams

The beauty of simplicity is that recreating it in art actually takes a good amount of complexity. Truly affecting the wonder of the everyday takes commitment and skill. Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams is a testament toRead Full Review

hit-man-movie

Hit Man

When we bemoan the loss of “real” movie stars, what we’re really yearning after are performances like Glen Powell’s in Hit Man. It’s not just that we want to see our favorite big screen crush inRead Full Review

Furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-movie

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

If Mad Max: Fury Road felt like so much more than a legacy sequel, that’s because it was. Perhaps it was the abundant trend in the 10’s of rebooting every stitch of franchise IP that madeRead Full Review

the-fall-guy-movie

The Fall Guy

Ah, the movies. You gotta love ’em. Director David Leitch is a stuntman turned filmmaker, and his films have always had a self-referential wonder with their own existence. It’s never been more explicit than it isRead Full Review

i-saw-the-tv-glow-movie

I Saw The TV Glow

I Saw the TV Glow, the latest film from Jane Schoenbrun, is perhaps the most quintessentially millennial film ever made. Its fondness for the unhinged television programming of the 90s and 00s goes beyond nostalgia.Read Full Review

Evil-Does-Not-Exist-moviepg

Evil Does Not Exist

Attempting to properly tell a story that fully encapsulates our ecological moment is a daunting task. Say what you will about Paul Schrader’s First Reformed – I find its ideas fully cooked but its narrative underwhelmingRead Full Review

challengers-movie

Challengers

It’s pretty common for sports movies – the good ones, anyway – to use said sport as a metaphor for what the characters are going through off the field. It’s a standard screenwriting conceit, practicallyRead Full Review

civil-war-movie

Civil War

Alex Garland has never been a political artist, though politics are often hovering uncomfortably in the background of his films. He prefers the intimacy of immediate experience, but his scripts – both the ones he’sRead Full Review

monkey-man-movie

Monkey Man

The promotional materials for Monkey Man want you to think of John Wick. You can say this about the promotional materials about any action movie nowadays, but with this film we get some direct parallels, including theRead Full Review

the-beast-movie

The Beast

There’s always a risk when making a film as wide-ranging as The Beast, an intentionally strange and melodramatic film about the most common of human emotions. A magnum opus about the constant battle between love andRead Full Review

la-chimera-movie-review

La Chimera

Alice Rohrwacher is creating in a league of her own. Her narratives possess a deceptive formlessness that requires an amount of commitment from the audience. If you don’t lean into the romantic idiosyncrasies of her storiesRead Full Review

problemista-movie

Problemista

When A24 decided to market Problemista, they chose to emphasize its idiosyncrasies, as if writer-director Julio Torres was a Gen Z Charlie Kaufman. This seems to be the best way for any indie distributor looking toRead Full Review

love-lies-bleeding-movie

Love Lies Bleeding

Movies as thoroughly – and earnestly – horny as Love Lies Bleeding don’t get made very often anymore. And much has been written about how they don’t get made very often anymore. I don’t think that directorRead Full Review

Dune-Part-Two-movie

Dune: Part Two

If 2021’s Dune feels more like a commercial for a sequel than its own complete story, it’s because it was just Denis Villenueve’s proof-of-concept, a cinematic argument that the sequel was actually possible. It was onlyRead Full Review