The scandal at the centre of Britain’s dark comedy Wicked Little Letters – mail addressed from an anonymous source that uses risqué language – seems petty in comparison to the waves of crime procedurals at-home audiences educate themselves on weekly. But as naïve as the crime may appear to be, the controversy spoke to the times and ignited much needed awareness around inequality.
They Shot the Piano Player is an animated docdrama that, ultimately, failed to connect with me. But, to credit filmmakers Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba (co-directors of the Oscar-nominated animated film Chico & Rita), the movie’s efforts are certainly not wasted.
By: Trevor Chartrand Thomas Cailley’s The Animal Kingdom is a modern-day fairy tale. A compelling and imaginative film that combines fantastical whimsy with an ominous, satiric edge.
With The Peasants, filmmakers DK Welchman and Hugh Welchman return to a similar animation style that previously earned them an Academy Award nomination for 2017’s Loving Vincent. Loving Vincent was a tribute to artist Vincent van Gogh, both in spirit and in visual flare. The Peasants adapts Wladyslaw Reymont’s novel of the same name, and channels the artistry of various painters from the 19th and 20th century. While I can’t confidently comment on how faithful…
The Promised Land presents itself as an epic period drama about a former soldier, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen of Casino Royale and Another Round), dedicating his remaining lifetime to mend a troubled Danish heath and build a settlement. The challenges he faces include the environmental barrenness of the land, outsiders who doubt Kahlen’s ambitions, and the breaching interruptions by selfish and wealthy Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg).
How to Have Sex is either a cautionary tale or a party movie with a heart or, maybe, it’s both.
The Seeding may be the first great horror movie of the year and, yet, it’s a tough recommendation.
Tunisia’s harrowing Oscar nominated documentary Four Daughters is a trip in the sense that you never know what to expect from it. It’s a sympathetic filmmaking experiment that aims to work as closure for its subjects but, along the way, rediscovers old family wounds that also need to be addressed.
By: Jolie Featherstone Ilker Çatak’s award-winning feature The Teachers’ Lounge is a scintillating, modern-day fable.
