Tag: U.S. Indie Film Review
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...
Saint Frances | Review
Au Pair Affair: Thompson and O’Sullivan Present Warm Debut with Body Positive Dramedy
There’s much to be said for an authentic, well-calibrated scenario, whether or...
The Assistant | 2020 Berlin Intl. Film Festival Review
Executive Suite: Green Metes Modern Monsters in Narrative Debut
Documentarian Kitty Green (last on hand with her unique memory tapestry Casting JonBenet, 2017) moves into...
The Night Clerk | Review
Spy Hard: Cristofer Returns with Faulty Noir
It’s been nearly twenty years since Pulitzer Prize winning scribe Michael Cristofer has developed a theatrical feature, last...
Troop Zero | Review
Feeling Like a Number One: Bert & Bertie Get Glossy with Good Intentions
For those who prefer to view the world through rosy-tinted glasses, there’s...
The Wolf Hour | Review
Watts the Matter with Naomi?: Griffin Mines Madness in All-Consuming Character Study
Director Alistair Banks Griffin revisits one helluva hot summer in the city with...
Mickey and the Bear | Review
A Bear to Care: Attanasio Scores Modest, Sincere Debut
Although lacking in originality and narrative energy, director Annabelle Attanasio more often than not makes up...
Dark Waters | Review
Far From Heaven: Haynes Mounts Modest Environmental Drama
In the oft-prestigious subgenre of environmental thrillers, particularly those detailing the grossly inhuman actions of powerful...
Honey Boy | Review
Tears of a Clown: Har’el and LaBoeuf Exorcise Demons
Honey Boy is a shockingly personal movie where Shia LaBoeuf plays his own dad. If that...
Harriet | Review
A Road Less Traveled: Lemmons Lionizes Historical Icon Harriet Tubman in Safe Biopic
As the arrival of the first theatrical feature to properly pay homage...
Frankie | Review
A Death in the Family: Sachs Sacks Huppert in Sun Dappled Soap Opera
The latest film from American director Ira Sachs is set in the...
The Lighthouse | Review
I Can Hear the Mermaids Singing: Eggers Unleashes a Hyper-Stylized Portrait of Nautical Madness
Virginia Woolf (who, having known something about the subject and its...
Lucy in the Sky | Review
Loosey Goosey: Hawley Gets Histrionic with Uneven Melodrama
At the end of Now, Voyager (1942) the chain-smoking Bette Davis delivers her iconic line to Paul...
Sister Aimee | Review
If You Seek Aimee: Buck & Schlingmann Resurrect a Fallen Angel
Directors Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann succeed with one overarching point in their indie-ensconced...
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? | Review
Fox and Her Friends: Linklater Falters on the Architecture of Blanchett in Bizarre, Uneven Dramedy
The boldest move made by Richard Linklater in his latest...
After the Wedding | Review
Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Freundlich Updates Danish Drama with Gender Bending Twist
Just as Danish director Susanne Bier masters the art of cult filmmaker with...
The Peanut Butter Falcon | Review
Falcon Shows His Moves: Sincerity Sails Past Expectations
Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s The Peanut Butter Falcon is a refreshingly sincere, unexpectedly funny raft-trip movie...
Light of My Life | Review
If You’re a Boy or a Girl: Affleck Explores Gender in the Post-Apocalypse
Nearly a decade after his stunt documentary I’m Not Here (2010), actor...
The Nightingale | Review
Bloody White People: Kent Hits Hard with Brutal Revenge Trip
Jennifer Kent follows up her formidable debut The Babadook with a less inventive, but decidedly...
The Mountain | Review
Who’s Wally?: Alverson Goes Retro with Punishing, Complex Period Drama
Always intent on making his audience do some of the work, American indie helmer Rick Alverson...
Adam | 2019 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival Video Review
Trans Substantiate: Ernst Turns Back Time in Sincere, Flawed Trans Rom-Com
“Lying is stupid and lonely,” says Margaret Qualley, a wearied queer woman towards the...
Midsommar | Review
Secret Ceremony: Aster Gets Cruel for the Summer with Wicked Rituals
Director Ari Aster, who revitalized the potential of psychological horror with his phenomenal 2018...
The Dead Don’t Die | Review
Fear the Mocking Dead: Jarmusch’s Zombie Sketch is DOA
“The world is perfect. Appreciate the details,” says deliveryman RZA (in one of the film’s many...
Swallow | 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Review
Tough to Swallow, in a Good Way: Davis Offers Big Gulp Feminist Thriller
Carlo Mirabella Davis’ debut feature Swallow is a haunting study in gender politics in...
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile | Review
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me: Berlinger Tackles Ted Bundy in Narrative Form
Revered documentarian Joe Berlinger, best known for his Paradise Lost trilogy, makes...
Under the Silver Lake | Review
Under the Sun of Satan: Mitchell’s Messy Neo Noir Revels in Elitist Superficiality
Look no further than David Robert Mitchell’s third feature, the labored neo...
Wild Nights With Emily | Review
The Exorcism of Emily D: Olnek Goes ‘Rowing in Eden’ with Affectionate Glance at Emily Dickinson
Her carriage apparently held more than just the morbid...
Native Son | Review
(Not So) Good Times: Johnson Stumbles with Modern Homage to Richard Wright
Marrying historical contexts to modern aesthetics is often an arresting avenue for consideration,...
The Beach Bum | Review
Tales of Ordinary Madness: Korine Courts Cutesy in Outlandish Stoner Comedy
It’s no fun being the designated driver, which is the position the audience of...
The Mustang | Review
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?: de Clermont-Tonnerre Leads Us to Water with Minimalist Melodrama
Animal love is at the heart of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s directorial...
Gloria Bell | Review
I Think They Know Her Alias: Lelio Revisits His Breakout Title with English Language Remake
Chilean auteur Sebastian Lelio, who recently took home an Academy...
Mapplethorpe | Review
NY & Leather pants – Timoner Delivers by-the-numbers Biopic of Iconoclastic
With her seventh feature film, Ondi Timoner offers an effervescent biopic of iconic queer photographer. From the...
The Lodge | 2019 Sundance Film Festival Review
You Gotta Have Faith: Severin & Fiala Mine Familial Madness in Warped Psychodrama
Reexamining similar themes of the inherent madness of isolation and the potential...
Hala | 2019 Sundance Film Festival Review
A Way with Words: Baig Tests the Limits in Sophomore Feature
Minhal Baig’s sophomore feature is an important film: a winsome coming-of-age story that will...
Destroyer | Review
Sabotage Triage: Kusama and Kidman Break the Bank in Riveting Revenge Thriller
Robert Burns’ eternal line “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men/Gang aft...
If Beale Street Could Talk | Review
I Can Feel the Beale: Jenkins Does Justice to Classic Baldwin Novel
Following his history making Best Picture winner Moonlight, stakes are set high for...
Vox Lux | Review
A Star is Worn: Corbet Confirms his Talent with Daring Sophomore Effort
2015’s The Childhood of a Leader (review) was a surprising debut in many ways,...
