‘The Balconettes’ Review: Female Friendship Sizzles and Shines in Noémie Merlant’s Genre-Bending Second Feature
Merlant once again re-teams with Céline Sciamma (the film’s co-writer) to serve up an exceptionally feminist genre mashup centered around a trio of longtime girlfriends who rise against the men fighting to control them amid a midsummer heatwave in the South of France.
‘Sudan, Remember Us’ Review: Hind Meddeb Platforms the Poetry, Music, and Youthful Spirit That Motivate the Future of a War-Torn Nation
Taking her camera to the streets of Khartoum, Meddeb concentrates on the youthful spirits at the epicenter of the nation’s evolving situation, filming between 2019 and 2023 to bring a fully developed impression of the nation’s descent into upheaval to the silver screen through the experiences of its young adult subjects.
‘Diciannove’ Review: A Colorful, Kinetic, and Molto Italiano Coming-Of-Age Tale
Filled to the brim with clashing energies reflective of its youthful protagonist, Diciannove powerfully embodies the challenges we experience in the complex position between childhood and adulthood that most of us face at age nineteen.
‘Collective Monologue’ Review: Jessica Sarah Rinland’s Latest Is a Brilliantly Immersive Examination of Human-Animal Connections
For her latest cinematic experiment, multidisciplinary artist Jessica Sarah Rinland explores the tacit connections between animals and their keepers in several Argentine animal sanctuaries undergoing significant transformation. Enigmatic in form but moving in the sensations it so skillfully captures, Collective Monologue stands out as one of the year’s most mesmerizing documentaries.
‘Life After’ Review: Sundance-Winning Documentary Investigates the System’s Sinister Grip on the Disabled Community
A long-forgotten account from a disabled Californian woman is reborn in Life After, serving as the North Star in documentarian Reid Davenport’s latest socio-political exploration of the disabled community’s experiences within the modern world and the legal and healthcare system’s authority over their autonomy.
‘To a Land Unknown’ Review: A Train of Misfortune Pursues a Pair of Palestinian Refugees Seeking New Beginnings
The narrative feature debut from Danish-Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel, To a Land Unknown obliterates the remoteness of the migrant crisis to bring the viewer directly into the tribulations experienced by many refugees, delivering a gritty and affecting portrait of individuals desperate to achieve the safety and possibility we should all be entitled to in life.
‘Afternoons of Solitude’ Review: Albert Serra Examines the Savage Beauty of Spain’s Bullfighting Traditions
Far from operating with the glossy, sensationalized style that is becoming so prevalent in documentary cinema, Serra injects his unique examinations of time into his latest work while also probing the deep-rooted cultural ties that leave some still enamored with the barbaric traditions and practices of bullfighting.
‘Redlands’ Review: John Brian King's Feature Debut is Flawed and Unfeeling
While Redlands may scratch the surface of intriguing ideas surrounding alienation, masculinity, and creativity, its form and performances are unable to support these notions in ways that are particularly engaging.
‘The Damned’ Review: Soldiers Seek Faith at the Farthest Reaches of the American Civil War
A minimalist envisionment of the most Westward borders of the American Civil War, The Damned serves as a stark and eerie rumination on one of the country's most contentious junctures, merging the past and present through vaporous denunciations of war and its impact on the men who wage them.
‘Vulcanizadora’ Review: A Wild, Weird-Out Buddy Film That Travels in Shocking Directions
The latest movie from Michigan-based auteur Joel Potrykus, Vulcanizadora initially operates as an off-kilter and increasingly uneasy buddy film before recasting into another form altogether, with its two distinctive sections united by ideas built around a duo of fallen men and their disempowerment in the face of the modern world.
‘A Vanishing Fog’ Review: SXSW-Winning Eco-Parable Excavates the Fading Highlands of Colombia
For his latest feature, Colombian filmmaker Augusto Sandino channels the traditions of Magic Realism to assemble a dreamlike (or nightmarish) eco-parable that fictionalizes the annihilation of one of the country's last untamed landscapes and the tribulations of those who call it home.
‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Review: A Familiar Fairytale Reimagined with Gross Out Body Horror
For her feature debut, Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt channels her own feminine experiences to focus on a perspective in the iconic fairytale Cinderella that is typically skewed villainously, culminating with an entertaining work of body horror that oscillates between heartbreaking and disgusting.
‘The Teacher’ Review: Saleh Bakri Commands a Potent Social Realist Drama Set in Palestine’s West Bank
Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi's feature debut tracks a resistance fighter-turned-teacher who forms a deep connection with one of his students following a sudden tragedy.
‘Việt and Nam’ Review: Trương Minh Quý Exhumes the Perpetual Ghosts of His Home Country
Truong’s Cannes-premiering latest work uniquely explores the Vietnamese spirit and its modern history, working as a singular spin on a ghost story wrapped in a heartbreaking romantic drama.
‘Julie Keeps Quiet’ Review: Personal Agency Examined through a Sobering Tennis Drama
Belgian filmmaker Leonardo Van Dijl's Cannes-premiering debut feature stars non-professional actor/tennis player Tessa Van den Broek as a rising talent whose career is thrown into a tailspin when her favorite coach is accused of sexual misconduct.
‘Who by Fire’ Review: Resentments Ignite on Vacation in Philippe Lesage’s Enthralling New Movie
The latest work from the Quebecois filmmaker, Who by Fire utilizes the framework of a bad vacation to astutely deliver a coming-of-age tale that is both highly refined and refreshed in its approach to a tried and true concept.
‘The Empire’ Review: A Simultaneously Zany and Inert Reworking of the Sci-Fi Space Opera
French auteur Bruno Dumont’s Berlinale-winner The Empire is a genre-mashing comedy that is light on humor but heavy on impressive craftsmanship.
‘Special Operation’ Review: Kyiv-Based Filmmaker Oleksiy Radynski Pieces Together CCTV Footage to Document the Earliest Days of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Compiled entirely from surveillance footage from the security cameras at the Chornobyl Power Plant, Special Operation leans into the pure reality of imagery to remark on the ongoing Russian assault on Ukraine.
‘Lurker’ Review: Celebrity Obsession Reaches New Heights in the Modern Age
In his filmmaking debut, Alex Russell grapples with a blossoming fandom that turns into a twisted obsession, starring arthouse regular Théodore Pellerin and Saltburn breakout Archie Madekwe as a musician on the rise and his newfound groupie, who enter an increasingly psychological game of cat and mouse.
‘The Blue Trail’ Review: Gabriel Mascaro’s Latest Captures the Newness of Living Through a Journey Down the Amazon River
Mascaro’s Competition title at this year’s Berlinale is a vibrant spin on the road film genre that stars Denise Weinberg as a vivacious septuagenarian who refuses to be cast aside by the contemporary world.