Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
The Secrets We Keep | Review
The Forgiveness of Blood: Rapace Shines in a Loose Regurgitation of Dorfman Play
The strangest aspect of The Secrets We Keep, the third feature from...
The Devil All the Time | Review
Devil May Care: Campos Composes Heady Southern Gothic
For his fourth feature film The Devil All the Time, based on the 2011 novel by Donald...
I’m Thinking of Ending Things | Review
In Search of Lost Time Regained: Kaufman Mutates Memory and Meaning
“The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new lands but seeing...
Centigrade | Review
Cold Comfort Car: Walsh Gets Wound Up in Perfunctory Trauma Reenactment
Survival thrillers which reenact harrowing experiences documented by those who lived through unthinkable trauma...
Lingua Franca | Review
Love Language: Sandoval Paints Subtle Portrait of Tenuous Lives on the Periphery
Eventually, the third film from Isabel Sandoval, Lingua Franca, should eventually serve as...
Tesla | Review
Sugar Pop Electric: Almereyda Gets Inventive with Curio Biopic
If one is familiar with the filmography of Michael Almereyda, one should already know when approaching...
Cut Throat City | Review
Yolo in NOLA: RZA Battles Corruption Post-Katrina in Stifled Neo-Noir
The multi-faceted artist RZA returns to the director’s seat for the third time with Cut...
Spree | Review
Click it or Ticket: Joe Keery Slays in Uber-Dark-Satire
Eugene Kotlyarenko’s fifth feature film is an outrageously satirical indictment of influencer culture with a commanding...
She Dies Tomorrow | Review
Bet Your Bottom Dollar: Seimetz Circles Existential Dread in Lowkey Genre
“Your deepest fear is spreading,” reads the tagline for Amy Seimetz’s sophomore directorial effort,...
I Used to Go Here | Review
Going, Going, Gone: Rey Finds Solace in Regression with Idle Dramedy
As a framing device, nostalgia has the slant of a moral lesson gleaned from...
The Tax Collector | Review
Taxation without Representation: Ayer Gets Absurd in L.A. Crime Noir
The most interesting element of David Ayer’s latest crime thriller The Tax Collector is how...
Yes, God, Yes | Review
Obvious Teen: Maine Finds Nostalgia in a Hopeless Place
Of the many aspects particular to the late 1990s and early 2000s, where cell phones were...
The Rental | Review
This Property is Condemned: Franco Mines Interesting Ideas in Faulty Debut
Egregiously annoying characters can be either a blessing or a curse to a...
Fatal Affair | Review
Temptation Machination: Sullivan Explores Ills of Infidelity in Extramarital Thriller
“The house is new but the man is not,” jests the unfortunate protagonist in Peter...
Palm Springs | Review
Quantum Leap: Barbakow Recycles Tropes for Amusing Romantic Comedy Debut
The idea of being stuck in an endless time loop, being forced to endure the...
The Beach House | Review
And the Sea Will Kill: Brown’s Blends Menace with Familiar Tropes in Eco-Horror Debut
Horror films have often benefitted from man vs. nature themes, and...
Irresistible | Review
Elephant Walk: Stewart Dulls the Sting of Political Campaigning Hypocrisy with Broad Satire
The trick of a successful satire is to highlight stupidity or hypocrisy...
Miss Juneteenth | Review
Queens Without a Crown: Peoples Mines Strength and Resilience in Quiet Drama
“I learned the truth at seventeen/That love was meant for beauty queens,” Janis...
The Surrogate | Review
She’s Having a Baby: Hersh Mines Moral Dilemma in Compelling Melodrama
Melodrama as a genre, especially narratives centered deliberately on moral or ethical dilemmas,...
Aviva | Review
You Can Dance If You Wanna: Akin Returns with Experimental Dance Romance
Perhaps the most interesting elements of Aviva rest in its origins and its...
Becky | Review
But When She Was Bad, She Was Awful: Milott & Murnion Subvert Allegiances in Violent Thriller
The innocuously titled Becky is the third feature...
The Vast of Night | Review
Blast from the Vast: Patterson Impresses with Lo-Fi Sci-Fi
Occasionally, an innovative debut manages to come along which accomplishes a formidable mise en scene...
The High Note | Review
Do You Know Where You’re Going To?: Ganatra Gets Off-key with Recycled Formula
Same shit, different day could have been a potential tagline for The...
Lucky Grandma | Review
Rob the Mob: Sealy Pushes a Grandmother into a Gang War in Enjoyable, Slight Debut
Geriatrics involved in criminal activities have become something of a...
Inheritance | Review
Sins of the Father: Stein Mines Elitism in Absurd Melodrama
“Does any daughter every really know her father?” is one of several wilting lines of...
The Lovebirds | Review
Murder Was the Case That They Gave Them: Showalter Gets Silly with Derivative Slapstick
Director Michael Showalter reteams with Kumail Nanjiani after the success...
Capone | Review
Gonzo Fonzo: Trank Returns with Tone Poem Portrait of a Monster
The figure of Chicago mobster Al Capone has long been a mythical figure resurrected...
South Mountain | Review
A Family Affair: Brougher Does Some Marital Maneuvering in Piercing and Personal Drama
Chronicling the implosion of a Catskills couple in micro details, Hilary Brougher...
How to Build a Girl | Review
The Girl Most Likely To…: Giedroyc Returns with Novel Coming-of-Age Dramedy
In several respects, the trajectory of How to Build a Girl isn’t inherently new---a...
Arkansas | Review
Deal of Fortune: Duke Attempts Neo-noir in Passionless Debut
Drug running is generally an unromantic career choice, at least up until the inevitable thrills to...
Driveways | Review
This Small Town: Ahn Aims for the Heart in Soulful Suburban Drama
Death acts as impetus in cinema, and in some cases characters must deal...
The Wretched | Review
Something Derivative This Way Comes: The Pierce Bros. More Wicker than Wicked in Witchy Thriller
The dead aren’t so much evil in The Wretched, the...
Bull | Review
If There Be Horns: Silverstein Succeeds with Discerning Debut of Rural Desperation
Likely to be compared to Chloe Zhao’s 2017 breakout The Rider, director Annie...
1BR | Review
Cult Gestalt: Marmor Explores Urban Horrors in Efficient Debut
There’s apparently more than one way to define rent control, at least as suggested by David...
Bad Education | Review
A Touch of Class: Finley Explores Famed Embezzlement Scandal
Director Cory Finley revisits one of the education system’s most notorious scandals in Bad Education, an...
The Quarry | Review
Steeple People: Teems Gets Spiritual in Rough-hewn Sophomore Film
It’s been over a decade since director Scott Teems delivered his warmly received debut, That Evening...
Sergio (2020) | Review
The Last Thing He Wanted: Barker Resurrects Martyred Diplomat in Feature Debut
Documentarian Greg Barker returns to the subject of U.N. High Commissioner for Human...
Selah and The Spades | Review
School for Scoundrels: Poe Preens a Teen Queen with Curious, Benign Debut
Director Tayarisha Poe fashions her debut Selah and The Spades, a YA drama...
Endings, Beginnings | Review
Some Other Beginning’s End: Doremus Continues on the Battlefield of Love
Love is hardly a many splendored thing in the filmography of Drake Doremus, who...
Behind You | Review
The Mirror Crack’d: Mecham and Whedon Wax Derivative in Debut
Bearing all the marks of a strained production is Behind You, the directorial debut of...
Tigertail | Review
Tiger, Tiger Burning Dim: Yang Unveils a No-frills Yarn on Relationships, Regret
Producer Alan Yang (“Parks and Recreation,” “Master of None”) presents a highly personal,...
We Summon the Darkness | Review
Heaven and Earth: Meyers Tackles Organized Religion with Droll Thriller
Director Marc Meyers returns to the isolating terrors of the rural Midwest in a different...
Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Review
The Story of Women: Hittman Hits Home Run with Stellar, Topical Abortion Drama
How often have you seen an abortion drama, in any language, which...
Coffee & Kareem | Review
Fecal Weapon: Dowse Gets Derivative with (Another) Odd Couple Comedy
The odd couple dynamic in comedy is as old as the genre itself, and thus,...
Butt Boy | Review
Butt, I Won’t Do That: Cornack Redefines Anal Retentive in Crass Comedy
Although it requires a healthy suspension of disbelief in order for it...
Human Capital (2020) | Review
It’s Easier for a Camel…: Meyers and Moverman Craft Serviceable, Familiar Remake
Although it pulls no punches in its re-working of Paolo Virzi’s 2013 title...
The Postcard Killings | Review
Postcards from the Dredge: Tanovic’s English Language Debut a Major Misfire
Films presenting serial killers who desire to make like The Police and turn murder...
Straight Up | Review
Is It Gonna Be You and Me Forever?: Sweeney Sparks Romance in Loquacious Debut
James Sweeney makes his directorial debut with Straight Up, an odd-couple...
First Cow | Review
Viva La Vache: Reichardt Paints A Surprising Portrait Of Friendship
Kelly Reichardt conjures up an unlikely buddy-movie out of 19th-century fledging America: a tender, no-frills ode...
Swallow | Review
On Body and Soul: Mirabella-Davis Gets Squeamish with Formidable Debut
As much as it speaks to contemporary understandings of female agency, Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ astute directorial...
