The premise of Criminal involves an ex-con being used as a vessel to contribute to an ongoing investigation by the CIA. Information and memories are transferred via a scientific procedure from a recently murdered agent to the agency’s newly hired hand. This set-up is bonkers, but the cast sells it as best as they can.
Closet Monster is not only another case of a filmmaker who has taken the leap to long-form filmmaking after establishing themselves with short films, but it’s also a satisfying example of a storyteller succeeding under new guidelines.
Though it certainly has its charms, Captain Fantastic’s sweet moments and eccentricity fails to mask the serious flaws that begin to surface in the film’s second half.
There’s not much that can be said about recurring themes in Nicolas Winding Refn’s films that hasn’t been said before, but here’s a recap: self-indulgent, hyper violent, misogynist, pretentious, shallow.
9 Days with Cambria is sold as an experiment in character development and storytelling. It tells the story of a young woman by the name of Cambria, who was once raped by her boyfriend-at-the-time which led to their breakup and her worsened mental state. In more competent hands, this could have been an inquisitive work, but in the hands of directors Mike Klassen (Abolition) and Jason Armstrong, the final product is at best inconsequential and at…
Free State of Jones is inspired by real events that took place in Jones County, Mississippi following the United States’ civil war. As expected, Matthew McConaughey (Interstellar, Dallas Buyers Club) is impressive as Newton Knight, a former army medic who lead an armed rebellion against the confederate army. The film also features strong performances by Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a freedwoman named Rachel, and Mahershala Ali as a former slave named Moses who joins Knight’s movement.
I remember interviewing filmmaker Igor Drljaca in 2012 when his feature film debut Krivina was a selection at TIFF. Even though his slow-burning drama Krivina left me lukewarm, I walked away from our one-on-one with a movie goer’s gratification, knowing that Drljaca – with his confident opinions – was going to have an interesting career ahead of him.
Misconduct is a soap opera fuelled by star power. However, the film doesn’t aspire to anything more than cheap scandalous thrills.
