The Truffle Hunters is a considerably handsome film, but one unfortunately absent of much personality or character. The Truffle Hunters is a relatively modest festival contender,…
Un film dramatique is a well-intentioned study, but falls into something of a paternalistic trap in presentation. In general, films about childhood, pedagogy and learning…
Crisis is an overblown and unfocused bit of pap that fails dramatically, intellectually, and rhetorically. Armie Hammer’s very public current controversies are probably the only reason…
Night of the Kings thrives on both its powerful sense of artifice and brutal reality. Storytelling is at the crux of Philippe Lacôte’s entrancing sophomore feature,…
The Obituary of Tunde Johnson squanders its opportunity to use a time-loop gimmick to meaningfully engage with bigger ideas. Early in The Obituary of Tunde Johnson,…
The World to Come is a narratively austere but emotionally and sociologically potent study of women and love under patriarchy. Set on the frigid expanse of…
JUMBO manages to imbue its tricky material with sensitivity but at the expensive of teasing out much of its considerable potential. It’s not often that object…
Blithe Spirit’s attempts at screwball comedy land with a dull, well-costumed thud. Mounting another film adaptation of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit isn’t a heretical act;…
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…
Music is a generic, offensive slog that co-opts ASD in service of bland musical pomp and an imbalanced plot. Pop songstress Sia titling her directorial debut…
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…
PVT CHAT hints at sapient commentary of our transactional internet age, but the gesture ultimately proves empty. Writer-director Ben Hozie’s latest, PVT CHAT, is another film…
Little Fish is a pointless exercise in bleakness that boasts neither interesting characters nor much visual character. Chad Hartigan’s Little Fish dares to answer a question…
The Wanting Mare is a genuine CGI novelty, a delicate, low-key work of great sensitivity. More often than not, when one thinks of special effects extravaganzas,…
A Glitch in the Matrix is a shockingly tame study, likely only of interest to those yet to encounter even a Wikipedia summary of Simulation Theory.…
Falling is an unfussy, straightforward character piece, unable to reach any real highs but wise enough not to fall into the maudlin arc that is so…
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…
Zhu Shengze’s Present.Perfect. is preceded by information about the state of live-streaming in China, making clear its overwhelming popularity in the country — there were…
The Night hints at building nuance into its familiar template, but ultimately jumbles familiar genre tropes to no discernible end. It’s never a good look to…
Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream isn’t the exercise in solipsism or self-serving appropriative art its premise threatens, but its overall effect is one of cautious distance.…