REVIEWS
Post-film thoughts.
Vertiginous: This Is a Simulation
While this film doesn’t introduce any new angles or particularly groundbreaking perspectives on the theory, it embraces the purposely awkward and intentionally artificial design of its world to tell a deeper story. Its commentary on society’s readiness to accept new technology without question is highlighted by the contrast between the complex idea of “visiting” the other side of the simulation using new technology and the raw feel of the world and character design.
La Gradiva: Always Forever
Versions of these teenagers existed centuries before they were ever born, they exist now as they are, and they will continue to be reincarnated as the centuries go by, worrying about the same things, stressed about school, trying to fit in with their peers, wondering who they are or where they come from.
Lucy Lost: The Journey to Belonging
Lucy and Milly care for each other with an affection and understanding of the other’s struggles that can only make you invested in their bond from the very first scene they share.
Iron Boy: A Charming Portrait of Childhood
Every step of the process reflects the director’s loyalty to his hometown. Voice recordings were done with non-professional actors—including Clichy’s son—in a farm in Beauce, location scouting was conducted in the same place, and one of the only songs used in the film was chosen in honor of his sisters. As a result, Iron Boy feels like an immersion into Clichy's childhood, comforting in the nostalgia it brings but also disarming in its complexity.
Sukkwan Island: Love Out in the Cold
After a long career with supporting roles, Arlaud’s talents are finally omnipresent on screen. Shifting seamlessly between a chilling anger and a playful energy, his performance as Tom leaves the audience feeling like we should be walking on eggshells.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo: Queerness in All Its Grandeur
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo is a reinvented Western, in which the sad and lonely cowboy is replaced with a vengeful teenage girl, and the luxuriant mountains with the scorching plains.
It Was Just an Accident: Panahi’s Suffering Seeks No Answers
Screened at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival, Jafar Panahi’s latest film It Was Just an Accident directly references the elusive tones of his torturers.
The Balconettes: The Truth in a Woman
Noémie Merlant’s The Balconettes is a femme-powered comedy/thriller/drama that met some of my hopes and expectations, fell short of others, and surpassed my imagination, leaving me in awe at times and horror in others.
Como Si La Tierra Se Las Hubiera Tragado: Being a Woman
The short opens to Olivia sitting in a bus surrounded by the ambient sounds of traffic. The greyscale switches to a warm palette with a flashback of a memory from her childhood—her mom braiding her hair and telling her, “A pretty girl like you, they’ll eat you up.”
Santosh: Power Corrupts
The bones of Santosh could very easily have told the story of a young woman succeeding against all odds, rising into higher ranks within a powerfully patriarchal system—a tale of female empowerment. But life is rarely that simple.
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent: What Would You Do?
The film’s strength comes from its ability to transcend timelines and its characters. It asks a question that is applicable in any era: to speak, or not to speak. The film resurfaces a situation that has been asking for 30 years if you’d do the same and put up a fight.
All We Imagine As Light: Beauty in the Ordinary
Kapadia demands your attention with the slow pace of the film and rewards those who give it. It is a deeply honest representation of what it feels like to live and to learn from the people you don’t realize you can learn from.
Beautiful Men: You Must Have Hair
Themes of healthy versus toxic masculinity, aging, emotional and physical insecurity, and how they all relate to one another percolate consistently in the back of this charming family dramedy, occasionally flowing into the foreground along with surprising but welcome elements of surrealism.
Au 8ème Jour: A Threaded World Undone
Agathe Sénéchal and Alicia Massez’s ‘Au 8ème Jour’ finds root in the symbolism of threads as mediums of connection and life, using a truly unique animation style that stitches this story together.
La Perra: Mother Knows Best?
La Perra is a captivating, clever, and erotic film that lets the audience come to their own conclusions, providing an open debate on womanhood and relationships.