Despite its slightness, Slash/Back still proves a diverting, charming girl power romp. Nyla Innuksuk’s Slash/Back opens to the singular vocal stylings of Inuk throat singer Tanya…
Smile is an obnoxious attempt at subverting trauma horror, sunk not only by its own smug conceit but also its failure to capitalize on its unique…
Even given the present soulless age of Disney franchise resurrection, Hocus Pocus 2 is a slight and bargain bin sequel that will likely appeal only to the…
The well-intentioned On the Come Up wants to challenge audiences, but can’t overcome a wholly inauthentic and sanitized presentation of its material. After Rosie Thomas shot to…
Slow cinema miserabilism — right up there with elevated horror and anything written by Steven Knight (Serenity gloriously excepted) — is among the most irksome…
Aubrey Plaza remains one of our most intriguing stars, but Emily the Criminal imprisons its leading lady within anonymous old-school thriller retread. Anyone not already convinced…
Fire of Love is an gorgeous visual document that is somewhat undermined by its inorganic and distracting voiceover work. Despite boasting a title that seems…
On the Count of Three can be uneven and frequently toes the line of twee, but ultimately settles into the right mix of broad comedy…
This Much I Know to Be True is a flowing, amorphous music-doc experience, both capturing and emulating the particularity of Nick Cave’s late-career art. The…
Inbetween Girl manages to avoid the tepid dramatics of so many teen-screen films, but too often succumbs to bouts of preciousness and self-conscious affectation. The problem…
Hello, Bookstore is soothing, cozy documentary but one entirely devoid of stakes or storytelling thrust. Hello, Bookstore opens with footage shot in the early weeks of…
Polar Bear is a pleasing visual document and marks something of a welcome pivot for Disneynature, but still boasts a low ceiling thanks to the…
Petite Maman is both Sciamma’s most intimate and epic work, a gently profound fable about youth’s uneasy passage into adulthood. Celine Sciamma’s characters have always existed…
You Won’t Be Alone is an emotional and aesthetic masterwork, and a stirring expression of the human condition. Goran Stolevski’s feature-length debut, You Won’t Be Alone,…
Despite its workaday subject matter, Cow is still recognizably an Andrea Arnold film, mostly for the better. Depending on your perspective — and depending on…
Night’s End is a Frankensteined mess of horror movie modes that never achieves any formal or thematic cogency. Jennifer Reeder has always gravitated toward highly particular…
Turning Red is another Pixar dud that trades in cheap cribbing at the expense of real originality. Once an unimpeachable bastion of creativity and imagination,…
Fresh isn’t actually all that fresh. From a narrative perspective, Fresh is a nearly impossible film to write about without beelining straight to spoilers. There’s…
Catch the Fair One doesn’t quite pull off its untidy ending, but it’s still an impressive bit of viscerally and emotionally pummeling cinema. Integrating the texture…
The Tiger Rising falls flat on its face. Despite a title that would seem to suggest some kind of magic-tinged narrative, The Tiger Rising is…