Robert Eggars (The Lighthouse (2019), The Witch (2015)) gives us toxic masculinity writ large without a shred of irony or insight.
Continue readingThe Northman (2022)
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Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)
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This is why I watch films. First-time director Pawo Choyning Dorji takes a simple story and transports you into the world of the inhabitants of Lunana, a remote village in the north west of Bhutan.
Continue readingA Hero (Ghahreman) (2021)
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It’s a relief to watch an Asghar Farhadi film that returns to the morally complex form of his earlier films like A Separation (2011) and The Past (2013). His dip into Hollywood with Everybody Knows (2018) was a disappointment for those who love his exploration of Iranian culture.
Continue readingNever Gonna Snow Again (Sniegu juz nigdy nie bedzie) (2020)
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This beautiful and decidedly enigmatic mood piece from Malgorzata Szumowska (Mug (2018), Body (2015)) and Michal Englert confounds as much as it satisfies.
Continue readingDelicious (Delicieux) (2021)
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Don’t watch this film hungry. With all the warmth and savour of other European foodie films like Chocolat (2000) and Babette’s Feast (1987), Éric Besnard’s Delicieux weaves a gentle story about the French Revolution in the guise of a tale about gastronomy, forgiveness and independence.
Continue readingGaia (2021)
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Jaco Bouwer’s first feature starts with great visuals and effective suspense but gets lost in a a hallucinogenic mess that promises more than it delivers.
Continue readingApples (Μήλα) (2020)
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With a beginning that reminded me of the doleful surrealism of Lanthimos’s The Lobster (2015), Christos Nikou gives us an unexpectedly gentle portrait of a man struggling with grief.
Continue readingLittle Tornadoes (2021)
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Despite the authentic feel of rural Australia in the 1970s, Aaron Wilson’s exploration of masculinity and Australian identity is a rather flat and depressing journey.
Continue readingFreshman Year (A.K.A. Shithouse) (2020)
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This odd and meandering meditation on adolescent vulnerabilities slowly warms your heart as you watch college freshman Alex (writer, director and star Cooper Raiff) get a grip on life.
Continue readingComing Home in the Dark (2021)
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James Ashcroft’s ‘family terrorised in the wilderness’ horror is much more than it seems, revealing layers that explore human frailty and New Zealand’s dark past.
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