The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a tonal misfire that fails to ever find the fascinating, complex story at its core. Lee Daniels has an almost unparalleled knack for turning serious subject matter into cartoon, an approach that works when it flirts with…
Despite Rahim’s best efforts, The Mauritanian fails to bring anything new to the familiar thematic and historical territory it recycles. Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian is one of those ripped-from-the-headlines dramas that feels somehow both too soon and too late: the story it details is too…
In 2008, three Dutchmen were accused of deliberately infecting scores of men with HIV during a series of sex parties in a crime that came to be known as the “Groningen case,” after the city in the Netherlands in which it took place. Evidence…
Land works best as a swooning mood piece, but lacks in thematic complexity and is too familiar by half. In Land — one of the two high profile films at Sundance 2021 directed by popular actresses making their debuts behind the camera, the other being…
Based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, Passing is an auspicious directorial debut for actress Rebecca Hall that follows a pair of mixed-race Black women whose light skin allows them to pass for white. Once high school pals, Irene…
Dara of Jasenovac borders of propaganda, more concerned with stoking ongoing political turmoil than honoring the tragedy at its core. Dara of Jasenovac, Serbia’s official submission to the 93rd Academy Awards, is perhaps one of the more obscure titles currently vying for the Best International…
Polyamory is a subject that’s not often explored in mainstream films. While other films have touched on it — Christophe Honoré’s Love Songs and Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers spring readily to mind — few films have tackled the subject by name in such a…
In 1971, after being cast in legendary filmmaker Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, 15-year-old Björn Andrésen was thrust into international fame after the director declared him “the most beautiful boy in the world.” It’s a title that has weighed on the actor ever since,…
Saint Maud is another A24 exercise in elevated, modulated horror but is fairly absent of anything beyond empty, artful pretense. It’s been a long journey to the screen for Rose Glass’ Saint Maud. After premiering at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Saint Maud has…
The Reason I Jump stumbles a bit when it attempts to overexplain but is an otherwise illuminating and beautiful portrait of an underrepresented population. Based on the book by Naoki Higashida, Jerry Rothwell’s documentary The Reason I Jump seeks to examine life from the point…
