Monster is a messy, crude, and politically flaccid throwaway flick that probably should have just stayed on the shelf. Premiering at Sundance in 2018 to no…
The Water Man is a slight film that gets bogged down under the weight of its heavy themes and nondescript myth-making. Let’s just be blunt…
Fried Barry’s shock tactics wear thin after a while and its stylistic cribbing leaves much to be desired, but it possesses enough ferocity and ambition…
Much like the man at its center, State Funeral is an inscrutable, complex work. Josef Stalin died on March 5th, 1953, at his Kuntsevo dacha,…
Iva Radivojević’s Aleph builds itself atop Jorge Luis Borges’ short story of the same name, rendering a small tale of infinity-seeking, a philosophical riff on…
What does the end of the world look like to a group of middle school girls? In Kwon Min-pyo and Seo Han-sol’s debut film, Short…
From its opening moments, which show a bird flying to and from a perilously perched nest, Vinothraj P.S.’s debut feature Pebbles tensely balances between serenity…
El Planeta This year, New Directors/New Films opens with Amalia Ulman’s debut feature film El Planeta, a cool choice for MoMA and Film at Lincoln…
A chandelier swings in the gloom, tremulous strings kick in and tension mounts as the camera pulls in. The glinting fixture rocks back and forth…
Mainstream is a depthless, toothless attempt at satire that was out-of-touch at conception and arrives well past its expiration date. Social media, as captured in…
It’s not mind-blowing or overly deep, but The Outside Story is pleasant enough, especially in the performance of lead Brian Tyree Henry. Depending on how…
Grear Patterson’s debut leaves much to be desired in the portrayal of adolescence and budding identity. Set amidst the waning adolescence of two baseball players,…
Once seen as a tragic fall from grace, today it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to hear someone sing the praises of the…
Following in the vein of prolific mockumentarian Christopher Guest, YouthMin manages to poke fun at an easily laughable topic without grabbing only the low-hanging fruit. Micro-budget mockumentary…
With Brewmance, director Christo Brock gives a quick but entertaining introduction to the world of home and small-batch brewing. Craft beer gets a bad rap in…
Golden Arm is a surprising example of cliché done right, bringing a female perspective to a silly topic without making gender the punchline. New high-concept comedy…
Murder Bury Win is overlong and overconfident, with impressive technical aspects that can’t save a losing game. In building its story around three crowd-funding board game…
While The Mitchells vs. the Machines doesn’t live up to obvious touchstone The Incredibles, it rides its own humorous and referential wavelength to mild success. While…
Separation is yet another slog from director William Brent Bell, a logic-less and unscary bit of low-bar horror filmmaking. Director William Brent Bell has been…
OK, so things don’t really vanish anymore: even the most limited film release will (most likely, eventually) find its way onto some streaming service or…
Things Heard and Seen might not thrill horror purists, but its terror-flecked study of domesticity and religion both recalls genre giants and remains mostly fresh.…