Brett says: “THE INNOCENTS is a film that see-saws back and forth with character-driven family drama and shocking kid-fueled horror/fantasy. The film’s primary focus is on a group of four Norwegian children who—through their own sets of circumstantial conflicts—have by-passed
Chris says: “It feels too easy to label this as ‘Hawaiian Mumblecore’, even if that’s exactly what it is. The backstory is more interesting: Director Alika Tengan developed this around the real life circumstances of its star, Naz Kawakami, a
Diane says: “Jesse Plemons plays the opposite of his THE POWER OF THE DOG role—an obnoxious tech billionaire who lords it over his wife and staff. In this thriller, the couple is held hostage by a disgruntled average guy. Tone varies
Chris says: “Really cool production design does what it can to enhance a perfectly adequate narrative. Denis Lavant appears briefly (just call him ‘One Scene Denis’) because he can. 3 cats”
Michael says: “Apparently based on an uber-popular YA novel, the film is clumsy, beautiful, trite, and beautiful all at the same time. While it follows a formula that screams teen fiction there are some moments that work so perfectly, that
Chris says: “Historical melodrama that takes a while to get where it’s going, although it eventually arrives (e.g. the stowaway sequence) and then unpredictably goes a little batshit after that. Docked at least half a star for how clumsily it
Michael says: “Two insomniacs. Zach, finally gives up at 3:45am, after tossing, turning, exercising… then heading down to the neighborhood bodega where he lives in Brooklyn. For Sophia, it’s a cup of tea, some old Dick Van Dyke reruns, then down
Michael says: “SON OF MONARCHS is a challenging film to watch, as surely as it must have been a challenging film to make. Unfortunately, between the ambitiousness of its content, coupled with the splicing together of genetics, family trauma, and
Michael says; ‘What is basically a coming-of-age tale disguised as a war movie, MOFFIE is a South African film based on a popular apartheid-era memoir about a privileged, white, young man who is being sent off to this mandatory two
Diane says: “A 15-year-old with promise is dropped off—abandoned?—by her mother at a ski school in the Alps. As the coach’s strict methods and humiliations motivate her to win, they develop a one-to-one relationship, working and intimate. The film has
