Review: Pitch-black romcom ‘The Drama’ leaves you guffawing and gutted
Kristoffer Borgli’s follow-up to Dream Scenario is a provocative use of the rom-com format that tries to see how far the genre can be stretched, walking right up to the limit before it breaks.
Review: ‘Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt’ kicks ass
Tom Stern’s new documentary on cult noise-rock acid-trip group The Butthole Surfers is an exhilarating experience.
Review: ‘Dead Lover’ is alive with ‘80s-style zany horror insanity
The second feature film by Canadian director, writer, and actress Grace Glowicki brought me back to that feeling of being a kid looking at the horror section at Blockbuster, full of movies with outrageous covers I wasn’t allowed to check out.
Review: ‘Mermaid’ wades into transgender life with a light touch
Using familiar narrative tropes to tell a purposeful story about trans kids and their parents, Fia Perera’s Mermaid succeeds thanks to its touching central relationship.
Review: ‘The Forbidden City’ takes a swing at cross-cultural martial arts melodrama
This is an ambitious take on the kung fu martial arts film, made by an Italian team with character-driven drama that feels grand within the scope of a relatively modest budget.
Review: ‘Undertone’ is an unnerving, slow-burning audio horror experience
Ian Tuason’s debut feature was made for just $500,000 and succeeds by using its budget limitations to its advantage.
Review: Deeply strange ‘Gunfighter Paradise’ reckons with the modern American South
Written, directed, scored, photographed, edited, and starring Jethro Waters, this deeply strange microbudget tale will definitely appeal to fans of quirky cult movies.
Review: ‘Project Hail Mary’ is a fantastic feat of sci-fi storytelling
Truly a crowd pleaser, there’s something for everyone to love in Lord & Miller’s adaptation of the Andy Weir novel.
Review: ‘The Bride!’ is alive with audacious energy and post-#MeToo outrage
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s second feature as director is a deeply strange, out-there film that curb-stomps every Frankenstein adaptation to a bloody pulp with an outpouring of style and ideas.
Review: ‘A Body to Live In’ is a piercing portrait of a body modification pioneer
This posthumous documentary spotlights the body modification and alternative BDSM queer culture from the 1950s onward, with performance artist Fakir Musafar at the center.
Review: ‘Dolly’ wants to play
Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly may not reinvent the slasher horror movie, but its grindhouse feel, captivating villain, and tough-as-nails protagonist offer enough twists on the formula make for a very fun ride.
Review: Raving on the road to hell in ‘Sirāt’
Get ready for one of the most unexpectedly tense and horrifying cinematic journeys in recent memory.
Review: ‘Blades of the Guardians’ brings Wuxia to the Fury Road
With a massive cast and grand desert vistas, Yuen Woo-ping’s latest showcases the wuxia genre on an epic scale and should deliver anything a fan wants.
Review: ‘How to Make a Killing’ takes a nibble out of the rich
John Patton Ford’s follow-up to Emily the Criminal is an enjoyable, often funny flick riding the current wave of late-stage capitalism cinema. Just don’t expect any real social commentary or airtight logic.
Review: ‘Pillion’ shows the power, joy, and hilarity of submission
This is a smart, clever, well-crafted movie that offers a true representation of a highly stereotyped and often dismissed queer subculture and so much more.
Review: ‘Wuthering Heights’ should have gone even further
The visual storytelling, quirky details, and vibrant energy of Emerald Fennell’s enjoyable adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel are held back when the script veers too closely into tradition.
Review: Charli XCX sells out Brat Summer in ‘The Moment’
While there are quite a few funny moments and scenarios in The Moment, this mockumentary is conceptually more interesting to think about than to watch.
Review: ‘If I Go Will They Miss Me’ is an achingly beautiful portrait of fatherhood
Gorgeously photographed, each frame of Walter Thompson-Hernández’s If I Go Will They Miss Me is stunning and elevates an often-told story to mythic proportions.
Review: ‘Lady’ takes a cab through the neon nightlife of Lagos
Set against one of the many economic protests in Nigeria, a tough-as-nails cab driver tries to make ends meet and squirrel enough away to escape.
Review: ‘Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!’ is a messy grief dramedy with fantastical ballroom dancing
Sure to be a crowd pleaser, the cheekily tilted Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! depicts the chaotic interior and exterior life of a fanciful woman after the death of her husband and ballroom dance partner.