Category: Film Festivals

Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s They Will Be Dust (Polvo serán) is the euthanasia musical I did not know I needed. Ángela Molina and Alfredo Castro are brilliant as the elderly couple who cannot imagine living without one another. The vocal and percussion driven music and the modern dance choreography are out of this world. Lively, yet heartbreaking, […]

U Are the Universe from director Pavlo Ostrikov is one of the most romantic sci-fi movies you’ll ever see. Shot partly under the Russian occupation of Ukraine, the space scenes look as good as any Hollywood blockbuster despite having a fraction of their budgets. It is about longing for human connection and finding love under the most […]

Ali Samadi Ahadi’s SEVEN DAYS is the heart-rending journey of human rights activist Maryam from Tehran to the Turkish border in an attempt to reunite with her family.  It is written by The Seed of the Sacred Fig director Mohammad Rasoulof. While it has similarities to his own story, it is inspired by Nobel Peace […]

Elena Manrique’s debut THE PARTY’S OVER is a unique eat-the-rich comedy built around an immigrant story. Wealthy divorcée Carmina would not feel out of place in Triangle of Sadness. She allows 19-year-old Senegalese immigrant Bilal, who is trying not to get caught by the police, to stay in her manor house, but makes Bilal her […]

Mathyas leaves his corporate job in Montreal and heads to French Alps to become a shepherd. If the idea of a rural life appeals to you, then you’ll likely enjoy Sophie Deraspe’s pastoral drama SHEPHERDS.  The visuals, the orchestral score, and the performances are all first-rate. The story was engaging enough, but I found it […]

Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is one effed up, gory trip through our obsession with beauty that is excessive in the best possible ways. Demi Moore has never been better. Margaret Qualley continues to prove she is one of the most exciting actresses of her generation. And Dennis Quaid was a hoot.  There have been comparisons […]

Fabrice Du Welz’s latest, loosely based on serial killer, rapist, and pedophile Marc Dutroux’s case, is David Fincher meets John Frankenheimer with some added Tarantino revisionism. It is set in the 90s, but the feel is pure 70s and fans of crime films from that era should definitely keep the film on their radars.  Anthony […]

Francesco Costabile’s FAMILIA mixes melodrama and horror elements to great effect in telling the story of a family torn apart by an abusive father.  We first witness the violence Licia and her two sons Gigi and Alessandro have to endure when they were children. Later as a 20 year old, Gigi joins a group of […]

Ciro De Caro’s TAXI MONAMOUR is a brief encounter film that is about friendship rather than romance. Anna is dealing with her illness and Cristi wants to go back home to Ukraine. They meet late at night at a bus stop by chance and start hitting it off after hanging out a few times.  De […]

Halina Reijn’s Babygirl is juicy and entertaining. Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson are both sensational. Even though it is a very different film than Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, one similarity is their use of music to great effect including a montage set to Never Tear Us Apart by Inxs and a hotel room scene with […]