An 11-minute standing ovation at Cannes can’t be called a total disaster. Nevertheless, Alpha arrived at the 2025 London Film Festival trailing a, shall we…
Two Pianos In an old interview with David Ehrlich, filmmaker and critic Kent Jones recalls a conversation with Arnaud Desplechin in which the great French director told him “a script is a very small thing. The movie is the thing.” It's a wonderfully succinct summation of Desplechin's interests as an artist; there's always a story,
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In an old interview with David Ehrlich, filmmaker and critic Kent Jones recalls a conversation with Arnaud Desplechin in which the great French director told…
At first glance, Dominik Moll’s Case 137 looks a lot like his last film, the César-winning The Night of the 12th. That film was a…
A suspicious disappearance of a teenage girl in a small town on the Côte d’Azur sends a young woman searching and spiraling in the Cartesian…
Valerie Donzelli’s At Work has proven divisive since its festival premiere last year; a film about an artist’s existential ennui while searching for his authentic…
“Listen Mr. Mersault, You’re not the first nor last to kill an Arab. You won’t be faulted for that. Trust me, I know the French…
Robert Zucchini — with a nom de plume that simultaneously signifies an Italian origin and mitigates any self-seriousness — loves Victor Hugo. He’s a writer,…
Perhaps more well-known as a former Cahiers du Cinéma critic and the frequent co-screenwriter with the likes of Jacques Rivette, André Techiné, and Chantal Akerman,…
There’s comfort on familiar terrain. The coming-of-age story has been a mainstay in storytelling across all media for as long as stories have been told;…
Claire Simon’s new documentary portrait Writing Life – Annie Ernaux Through the Eyes of High School Students is, for the most part, strikingly straightforward. Clocking…
More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and over a decade after the annexation of Crimea, a desire to put the inner…
Given the muted critical response and prolonged time period between its festival premiere and eventual (limited) distribution, the new Olivier Assayas film has apparently been…
It’s rather rare for debut features to world premiere in Competition at Cannes. The second-tier lineup, Un Certain Regard, is the festival’s typical launchpad for…
It’s been over a decade now since I caught Rithy Panh’s The Missing Picture at the Vancouver Film Festival. The director’s chronicle of his memories…
War stains the soul. It can haunt its victims like a specter, and the appropriately titled Ghost Trail centers on a scarred man who hovers…
“I’ve got to start something,” Nino, the eponymous protagonist of Pauline Loquès’ feature debut, announces early in the film to his mother at the kitchen…
There’s a remarkable kind of alchemy at work in Hubert Charuel’s Meteors, an addiction story that transcends the typically staid strictures of the genre to…
Actor-turned-filmmakers seem to be the highlight of the 2025 edition of Cannes, but Official Competition newcomer Hafsia Herzi — already with two feature films under…
The titular girl of The Girl in the Snow, director Louise Hémon’s debut feature, appears repeatedly as a dark silhouette. Clad in a black cloak…
Suspended Time Given the muted critical response and prolonged time period between its festival premiere and eventual (limited) distribution, the new Olivier Assayas film has…