ATLANTICS [2019]

Mati Diop uses her first short, a documentary of the same name, as thematic inspiration for her first full length feature. Diop opts to write a fictional story that sits parallel to the first, which followed four young men attempting to cross the ocean to Spain. This is the case here in Diop’s genre-splicing,…
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (DA XIANG XI DI ER ZUO) [2019]

With a debut film that clocks in at 3 hours and 40 minutes, it is safe to say that Hu Bo was confident in his vision: a focused and calculated piece that creates an instantly noticeable visual statement. Bo doesn’t have much hope for his country, his perception and visual creation of modern China is…
PAIN AND GLORYU (Dolor y gloria) [2019]

Pain and Glory is more than the title of Pedro Almodóvar’s 2019 film, and more than a simple dichotomy; it is a consistent motif that in the film and is probably the most succinct way to describe human existence, not to mention the highs and lows of creating art. This concept runs through the film’s…
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (DI QIU ZUI HOU DE YE WAN) [2018]

Ghosts and fractured memories roam freely in this sprawling, two-part saga that tugs on the strings of time itself. We follow Hongwu Luo, a quiet, unassuming man who is looking for a lost lover and a lost friend. Puzzles pile upon puzzles in this cryptic narrative, one that occasionally approaches the line of the surreal…
THE TWO POPES [2019]

As always, many thanks to Courtney of Cinemaaxis.com. This story may revolve around Catholicism and its traditions and beliefs, but the film transcends this framework and, incredibly, manages to avoid any political bias. The airtight script creates a consistent, relaxed tone: the chemistry between Pryce and Hopkins – Pope Benedict and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio respectively…
IN FABRIC [2018]

There are several strands that make up In Fabric, some making perfect sense, others incredibly disturbing – the film uses nightmare logic, where the opposite of what makes sense is exactly what happens. To begin however, the world we see looks quite normal. A single mother in her 50’s is looking at ‘Lonely Hearts’ ads…