Bacurau
Genre-bending thriller about a tiny village in Brazil that suddenly begins to experience strange phenomena following the death of its elderly matriarch. Shortly after the funeral, residents of Bacurau notice that their village has vanished from the map. Meanwhile, the water truck arrives in town with a bullet hole in its side — not to mention the flying-saucer-shaped drone that has been spotted hovering over the roads leading in to the village. Co-writers/directors Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius) and Juliano Dornelles have made a film that is part Western, part mystery, part sci-fi — and it has all the unpredictable violence and WTF-is-happening bonkers energy of Parasite (to which this lost the Palme d’Or in 2019). As thematically rich as it is crazy fun: Mendonça and Dornelles concerned with ideas of communities sticking together and looking out for themselves in a world where every external force poses a threat — colonizers, local governments, Americans. Strong ensemble, including Brazilian legend Sonia Braga as the local doctor who is also a very messy drunk. So much to unpack and consider here, when you’re not too busy gasping out loud in shock. Certainly one of the very best films of the year.
Grade: A-
Beneath Us
Horror-thriller about a group of undocumented Latin American day workers in the U.S. who land a gig renovating a guest house for a wealthy white couple, only to find out that the latter do not intend to pay them — or let them leave. Fresh and playful debut by filmmaker Max Pachman, who has great fun lampooning the state of Trump-era right-wing America. Scariest part of this is how the extreme violence and cartoonish racism on display feel so... believable. Lynn Collins a supremely delicious villain, leaning eagerly into both the comedy and the evil of her bonkers character. Thematically rich, though many of the narrative turns and jump scares feel a tad familiar.
Grade: B-
The Burnt Orange Heresy
Crime thriller set in the art world, starring Danish actor Claes Bang (The Square) as a disgraced art critic hired by an art dealer (Mick Jagger) to steal a painting from a famously reclusive painter (Donald Sutherland). When a mysterious woman (Elizabeth Debicki) enters his life, things quickly spiral into chaos. With its slow pace, gorgeous location shooting in Italy, and self-indulgent monologues about art, this reminded me very much of those cerebral-erotic European art thrillers that were common in the ’90s. Unfortunately, as classy and well-designed as this is, it left me cold. There’s a reasonably engaging plot, with twists and intrigue and unexpected violence, but Academy Award nominated screenwriter Scott B. Smith and director Giuseppe Capotondi don’t appear to have much of a point of view once the movie goes off the deep end. Ultimately a straightforward thriller disguised as a high-brow character study — rich with mood and style, but very little substance.
Grade: C
Extra Ordinary.
Delightful horror comedy from Ireland about lonely driving instructor Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins), who (like her late dad before her) has the ability to communicate with ghosts. She hasn’t used her gift since a terrible accident years ago, but now that a washed-up one-hit-wonder singer (Will Forte) is planning to sacrifice a local teen to a demon in exchange for a career boost, it may be time for her to come out of retirement and save the girl. Higgins so charming in the lead role here — completely dead-pan and effortless and endlessly endearing, as if this film took the awkward best friend from a Hollywood comedy and made her the star of her own movie. Forte playing familiar, though still amusing, notes as a narcissistic, kinda-evil villain, and Claudia O’Doherty is a hoot as his vain wife. Lots of fun visual references to The Exorcist. First-time filmmakers Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman make the most of their surely limited budget — the visual effects here are modest but simply astounding. Not the deepest or most complex storytelling, to be frank, but the surface pleasures are so smart and entertaining that you’ll find this supernatural feast mighty rewarding.
Grade: B
First Cow
Oregon territory, 1820s. Cookie (John Magaro), a trained chef from the East Coast, travels with a group of fur trappers for whom he finds and prepares meals, and from whom he must endure constant bullying. King-Lu (Orion Lee), a Chinese immigrant seeking riches in America, is naked and alone and on the run from a group of men who want to kill him. One night, the two cross paths, and what follows is the gorgeous, poetic, and hope-filled story of their friendship. Director Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff) is no stranger to compassionate character studies set in the American West, and her latest film is without question one of her very best. D.P. Christopher Blauvelt’s ever-patient camera contributes so much to the storytelling. Detailed world-building as well by production designer Anthony Gasparro, whose stunning sets are among the loveliest and most memorable of the year — that cozy shack the two men call home isn’t much, but it’s also everything for them: the one place where they can find peace. A film about the American Dream, about the birth of capitalism, about male friendship. Slow-moving and soulful, except for when it’s an unexpectedly stressful thriller. A story about being an outsider on the frontier — and indeed the intimate nature of the two men’s friendship suggests that they are outsiders in more ways than one.
Grade: B+
Hope Gap
When Jamie (Josh O’Connor) returns home to the English seaside one weekend to visit his parents Grace (Annette Bening) and Edward (Bill Nighy), he finds out that his father is planning to leave his mother and move in with another woman. A lot of talking ensues. Sadly, this film really didn’t work for me, and I’ve been trying to figure out why. Perhaps writer-director William Nicholson’s words (this is based on his Tony-nominated play The Retreat from Moscow) just don’t translate well to the big screen — the characters’ frequent grandiose speeches definitely don’t play the same in close-up as they would on the stage. Perhaps it’s that Bening gets kinda lost under her accent; she comes across as an actress doing some very important acting, rather than as a believable human woman. Perhaps it’s that Nicholson tries to compensate for the stagey origins of this work by having D.P. Anna Valdez Hanks take the cast outside and shoot many of their intimate conversations bizarrely against the picturesque ocean backdrop — cliff porn disguised as heavy marital drama.
Grade: C
Inside the Rain
Ben Glass (Aaron Fisher) is a young college student living with bipolar disorder. When a misunderstanding on campus leads to his unfair expulsion from the university, he decides to make a film dramatizing exactly what really happened in order to vindicate himself. Such a sweet, endearing story, and clearly a meaningful one for Fisher (also the film’s writer, director, and co-editor), who has bipolar disorder himself. His performance, however, is rather wooden — and combined with the rawness of the filmmaking, this feels like a student film at times. Supporting characters underwritten as well, though Rosie Perez brings so much intelligence and personality as Ben’s psychiatrist. Eric Roberts, meanwhile, delivers an inspired, wacky performance as the man Ben brings on to produce his film. I watched this film only a week ago, but already the details are fading from memory. I wish I liked this more, because I really do appreciate the important work Fisher is doing here to humanize people with bipolar disorder and educate the wider public about an illness that so many of us just don’t understand. There are not nearly enough opportunities for neurodiverse artists to tell stories about their own lives and experience; may this film open doors for Fisher to continue, and pave the way for others to follow.
Grade: B-
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
A few days in the life of 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), who works at a supermarket in her rural Pennsylvania hometown alongside Skylar (Talia Ryder), her cousin and best friend. When Autumn finds out that she’s pregnant — and that conservative local laws will prevent her from obtaining an abortion — she and Skylar take a secret trip to New York City in search of a solution to her problem. Newcomers Flanigan and Ryder are sensational discoveries, committed to the earnest naturalism of their unshowy performances, their eyes betraying so much unspoken pain. Brilliant screenplay from writer-director Eliza Hittman (Beach Rats), who finds staggering subtlety and character insight each step of the way. These are young women who must endure constant casual abuse (from the manager at the supermarket, from Autumn’s jerk of a stepdad, from the sketchy young man in New York who might help them financially) because they understand that playing along is less dangerous than resisting. But no scene is more devastating, more illuminating, than the one where Autumn sits in front of a social worker in unbroken closeup prior to her abortion and answers a series of questions about her sexual history. Hittman is wise enough to step back and allow Flanigan’s face to do the storytelling here, and it’s revelatory work from both actress and screenwriter.
Grade: B+
The Roads Not Taken
Javier Bardem as Leo, a writer living with dementia in New York City. As daughter Molly (Elle Fanning) takes him to various appointments around the city, Leo disappears into his own mind, imagining different lives that he might have led had he made different choices in the past. Tremendous performances from both lead actors — especially Fanning, who conjures astonishing emotional depth, happy to be the devoted daughter despite the enormous consequences to her career. Salma Hayek and Laura Linney memorable as well in supporting roles. So much of this is affecting, but alas writer-director Sally Potter gets in her own way with a deeply flawed screenplay that leaves the viewer perplexed as to what the point of this all is. Not to mention Molly’s refusal to inform people that anything is the matter with her dad when he struggles with mundane tasks like answering an optometrist’s questions or when he injures himself leaping out of a moving taxi — she repeatedly gets angry when anyone dares to suggest that something might be wrong with him, which frankly strikes me as detrimental to everyone involved.
Grade: C+
Sorry We Missed You
Latest from Ken Loach, the king of British social realism, is a gut punch of a film. Ricky (Kris Hitchen) and Abbie (Debbie Honeywood) both work as self-employed gig workers in Newcastle upon Tyne — he delivers parcels; she’s a home caregiver — fighting hard to raise their two kids and keep their family above the poverty line. Both leads superb, bursting with insight and feeling — and Loach’s casting of unknown actors makes their performances extra credible: I absolutely believed that this was an actual average family in Northern England. Teen actors playing their children strong as well, especially Katie Proctor as youngest Liza Jane, responsible for one of the film’s most devastating scenes. Masterful work by D.P. Robbie Ryan; unlike his big, bold photography of The Favourite, which earned him his first Oscar nomination, he remains entirely minimalist here, finding every ounce of emotion in these characters’ everyday mundanity. Light on plot, with Loach offering fly-on-the-wall observations of the daily challenges and hardships this family faces. Ultimately a grim condemnation of modern-day capitalism, showing the ways in which gig economies ruin people’s lives. This movie crawled under my skin and continues to haunt me. That perfect ending, a knife in the heart.
Grade: A-
Swallow
Hunter (Haley Bennett) is the young wife of the wealthy Richie Conrad (Austin Stowell), whose parents are important players in business and society. Stifled and ignored, Hunter becomes obsessed with swallowing dangerous objects — a marble, a battery, a thumbtack (!) — as she begins to grapple with a traumatic family secret. Bennett an absolute revelation here, a portrait of repression and despair that cuts deep, a perfect housewife disintegrating. First-time filmmaker Carlo Mirabella-Davis plays tricky, masterful games with tone and audience expectation — premise suggests a horror movie, but this remains a tightly focused and deeply felt character study. Perfect production design by Erin Magill: a big beautiful house that never stops feeling like the horrific prison it is, elegant decor but lacking humanity. D.P. Katelin Arizmendi as essential to Hunter’s character development as Bennett’s performance; pay attention to the way she transitions from framing Hunter in the loneliest wide shots to intimate, unflinching closeups as Hunter begins to assert control over her own body — Bennett's wordless reaction as she struggles to swallow that thumbtack and then succeeds is simultaneously horrifying, heartbreaking, disturbingly beautiful. A film about power, about forgiving oneself. A sad, often infuriating, film — but one of the most empowering I’ve seen all year.
Grade: B+
The Wild Goose Lake
Stylish Chinese neo-noir from award-winning filmmaker Diao Yinan. Zhou Zenong (Hu Ge) is a crime boss in Wuhan. After he accidentally kills a police officer one night, a bounty is placed on his head, and he must flee to the titular lake to evade law enforcement — as well as forces from the criminal underworld looking to cash in. Looks cool as hell, largely thanks to the gorgeous work by D.P. Dong Jingsong, his breathtaking nighttime visuals amplified by perfectly placed car headlights and pops of colourful neon lighting. Strong performances by Hu, and especially Gwei Lun Mei as a mysterious woman assisting Zenong for murky reasons that will be gradually revealed. Boy was this ever dull, though. I admit that crime thrillers often leave me cold, and this was no exception. Narratively speaking, Diao’s film could not be more generic — it’s populated by underdeveloped characters with sparse backstories and filled with the usual twists and double crosses. Everything happens on the surface here; there’s no one to care about, nothing to make you think. Great sound and stunt work, but ultimately quite disappointing.
Grade: C+
