Rebuilding
Some films have a lot of plot and others a dearth. Many of the finest films combine heavy character growth with thick plots. Some, though, have a simple story, quietly [...]
Hamnet
Emotionally stirring and powerfully moving, but a deeply fulfilling journey, Chloe Zhao's historical drama Hamnet holds a deep emotional resonance long after the credits roll. Based on the 2020 novel [...]
Left-Handed Girl
Left-Handed Girl is the first solo feature from director and co-writer Shih-Chin Tsou, who has mostly been a producer. This time, she is joined by Sean Baker, whom she has [...]
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
With the Knives Out films, writer and director Rian Johnson has created a nice franchise for himself and Daniel Craig, who stars as detective Benoit Blanc. The first film was a straight [...]
The Secret Agent
Most spy movies are overwhelmed with severe plotting and are multi-layered with an objective amount of espionage that often contains double-crosses, betrayal, and twists and turns. Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça [...]
Eternity
David Freyne's debut feature Eternity holds a very clever buildup and second act when it focuses on the humor of the afterlife, and it even holds some human complexity [...]
Come See Me in the Good Light
Some films tell a simple story, and others a very complex one. Some are done with lots of feeling but very little style. Others, all style and no substance. Rarely [...]
The Alabama Solution
The Alabama Solution is a vital work of investigation and advocation. Concerned with the prison system in the United States, though centered on the Alabama Department of Corrections-and specifically, on a [...]
The Perfect Neighbor
Documentary is a tricky thing to do, and it is easy to completely destroy a topic and argument by offering too much or too little. Sometimes, this involves heavy editorializing [...]
Ballad of a Small Player
Edward Berger is a talented director, as demonstrated by his Academy Award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave. Colin Farrell is one of our finest actors, able to pull off comedy [...]