Holler stumbles a bit on the way to its ending, but its strength of direction, character, and milieu make for an often thrilling bit of…
In the cinema of the filmmaker Christian Petzold, it’s not hard to notice a motif of water that stands out across his work and…
The Dry perhaps ends too tidily, but it remains a welcomingly straightforward and visceral thriller that plays fair with its audience. Robert Connolly’s The Dry begins…
Monday is a derivative, dull, and altogether flat effort that captures none of the carefree spirit it partially peddles. With an overly familiar and…
Moffie is a visually striking film but one which suffers for failing to fully commit to the ugliness inherent to its narrative. Moffie is…
My Salinger Year is a gently romantic, old-fashioned love letter to literature and those irrevocably shaped by it. Philippe Falardeau’s My Salinger Year is the…
The Vigil isn’t without its minor grievances, but its willingness to navigate new horror territory is most welcome. Since the birth of the horror genre,…
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…
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…
The timely and harrowing MLK/FBI explores a particular American history that isn’t so safely in the past. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.…
Dear Santa succeeds in encouraging an emotional response, but does in the most manipulative of fashions. Documentary filmmaker Dana Nachman strikes again. Her latest effort,…
Farewell Amor resembles, in shape, less accomplished recent indie efforts, but it eschews much of their patness in creating something altogether more complex and affecting.…
Shithouse marks a promising debut from writer-director Cooper Raiff, effectively capturing the awkwardness and insecurity of the collegiate experience. One’s reaction to the coming-of-age…
Laura Gabbert has a knack for pairing gastronomy and film — as in her 2016 documentary, City of Gold, which profiles Jonathan Gold, the…
The Nest is a deeply obvious, under-cooked attempt at horror-flecked domestic portraiture. The Nest, writer-director Sean Durkin’s long-awaited follow-up to his remarkably assured debut feature,…
Almereyda’s Experimenter-style mode is not as organic of a fit for the often compelling but ultimately overburdened Tesla. Having risen to renewed prominence on the…
The Rental is a serviceable if predictable thriller, but immediately situates Dave as the better director of the Franco brothers. Dave Franco must have taken…
Hirokazu Kore-eda feels distinctly uninterested in his own material here, a sentiment sure to be echoed by audiences. Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda has consistently shown an…