2017

ZAMA: New Beginnings, Old Myths
ZAMA: New Beginnings, Old Myths

Director Lucrecia Martel’s first film in a decade is an opaque and potentially challenging film that is best appreciated as a purely sensory experience.

HUMOR ME: Clement & Gould Carry This Light Comedy On Their Shoulders
HUMOR ME: Clement & Gould Carry This Light Comedy On Their Shoulders

Thanks to the funny and occasionally moving performances of Gould and Clement and a confident feature film debut from Hoffman, Humor Me qualifies as a passable entry into the midlife crisis sub-genre.

REDOUTABLE (GODARD MON AMOUR): The Emperor with No Clothes
REDOUTABLE (GODARD MON AMOUR): The Emperor With No Clothes

Redoutable is an irreverent take on the biopic that gleefully flips the bird at its subject, and takes delight in making him conform to a conventional narrative of the type he grew to detest leading to some of the finest moments of cringe comedy in recent memory.

GOLD (ORO): The Tedious Tale Of El Dorado

With undefined characters and a hesitation to commit to the violent realism of the story, Spanish historical epic Gold (Oro) proves to be something of a tedious slog.

FOXTROT: A Potent Family Tragedy That Bustles With Life
FOXTROT: A Potent Family Tragedy That Bustles With Life

Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot toys with our emotions, but that doesn’t mean it lacks any of its own. This is an energetic and structurally audacious jukebox of sensations, prioritising impulse over precision and thought over action.

CASTING: Fassbinder's Legacy Lives On In This Spirited German Film
CASTING: Fassbinder’s Legacy Lives On In This Spirited German Film

Casting, director Nicholas Wackerbarth’s meta tribute to Fassbinder’s 70’s masterpiece The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant, is a fantastically cringeworthy comedy in the same vein as Toni Erdmann.

MY FRIEND DAHMER: Home is Where The Heart Is - A Murderino's Take
MY FRIEND DAHMER: Home is Where The Heart Is – A Murderino’s Take

As I flip through my senior year high school yearbook, I see the familiar faces…

Take Two: Rebellion And Evolution In Ridley Scott's ALIEN: COVENANT
Take Two: Rebellion And Evolution In Ridley Scott’s ALIEN: COVENANT

In the latest of our Take Two series, we tackle Alien: Covenant, the Ridley Scott thriller that tried to balance science fiction with philosophical intrigue.

CLAIRE’S CAMERA: The Compelling Unfamiliarity Of Hong’s Honesty
CLAIRE’S CAMERA: The Compelling Unfamiliarity Of Hong’s Honesty

Watching Claire’s Camera feels like watching a film being made right in front of you with director Hong laying bare his cinematic style in that he doesn’t know where he’s taking us, but he’s just as interested to find out.

WHERE IS KYRA: Michelle Pfeiffer's First Lead Role in Nine Years Doesn't Disappoint
WHERE IS KYRA: Michelle Pfeiffer’s First Lead Role In Nine Years Doesn’t Disappoint

With an outstanding return performance from Michelle Pfeiffer, Where is Kyra? may have been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years, but the passage of time hasn’t diluted the sense of thematic urgency.

THE RIDER: Chloé Zhao's Haunting Masterpiece (SFIFF Review)
SFIFF Review – THE RIDER: Chloé Zhao’s Haunting Masterpiece

Director Chloe Zhao follows up her debut film with an outstanding sophomore feature, The Rider, that in a just world would see her get an Oscar nomination for her impactful direction.

BEAUTY AND THE DOGS: Brave Performances And Bravura Storytelling
BEAUTY AND THE DOGS: Brave Performances & Bravura Storytelling

Told in just nine powerful takes, this harrowing legal drama from director Kaouther Ben Hania uncompromisingly depicts one woman’s search for justice following a sexual assault in a corrupt, patriarchal society.

Miss Kiet's Children: Meet Your New Favorite Class
MISS KIET’S CHILDREN: Meet Your New Favorite Class

Prepare to be charmed by Peter Lataster and Petra Lataster-Czisch’s documentary Miss Kiet’s Children, a heartwarming ode to the power of education, and the reality of the refugee crisis on European shores.

FLOWER: Zoey Deutch Blossoms as a Teen Vigilante
FLOWER: Zoey Deutch Blossoms As A Teen Vigilante

While tiptoeing on the line of empowering and exploitative, Flower is an unconventional teen film for a new generation that finds its true strength in in its leading lady Zoey Deutch.

JOURNEYMAN: A Treacly And Unengaging Disability Drama
JOURNEYMAN: A Treacly & Unengaging Disability Drama

Paddy Considine’s long-awaited second film in the director’s chair is an emotionally manipulative disappointment, that has replaced the grit of his debut with a stale, maudlin predictability.