John Lynn circumnavigates the world in Lav Diaz's MAGELLAN, a gorgeous, hypnotic, and contemplative epic about conquest, conversion, mythmaking, and family #NYFF63 buff.ly/L7XEATL

New York 2025 review: Escape (Masao Adachi) "A work of genuine conviction made by an artist who has lived his politics" "A sunflower, even when cut down, still stands upright." Escape, the latest

John Lynn finds something rare in Masao Adachi's ESCAPE, a film about the erosion of conviction under the weight of time, and one that insists revolution is not a historical event but a lifelong condition #NYFF63 buff.ly/1QOIfxb

New York 2025 review: The Currents (Milagros Mumenthaler) "Will surely grip with its Hitchcockian tension and its hypnotic, dream-like rhythm" Playing in this year’s New York Film Festival’s Main Slate is

John Lynn develops a fear of water in Milagros Mumenthaler's THE CURRENTS, a film with Hitchcockian tension and hypnotic, dream-like rhythm #NYFF63 buff.ly/pUfLdQy

New York 2025 review: Drunken Noodles (Lucio Castro) "Castro explores the realities of queer life with delicacy and honesty" In a festival with so much curation as the New York Film Festival, where each day

John Lynn explores the realities of queer life in Lucio Castro's DRUNKEN NOODLES, a film about the moments that don’t have closure, the friends and lovers who drift in and out of our lives, and about how memory holds them all #NYFF63 buff.ly/Sw407nF

Busan 2025 review: Without Permission (Hassan Nazer) "A film that doesn't yell, but hums with defiance" At the centre of Without Permission, Hassan Nazer's quietly radical piece of docu-fiction that

Milani Perera drives the backroads of Iran in Hassan Nazer's WITHOUT PERMISSION, a film that proves that when you're not allowed to speak, sometimes the only way forward is to film in secret and hope the world is listening #BIFF2025 buff.ly/t4qGRTJ

Matilda Hague sees masks slip in Hong Sang-soo's WHAT DOES THAT NATURE SAY TO YOU?, a film whose visual approach deliberately blurs cultural detail into something recognizably human: the comedy, and the terror, of being seen #NYFF63 buff.ly/QWWrlzL

Matthew Joseph Jenner is profoundly moved by Joachim Trier's SENTIMENTAL VALUE, a film that never abates in its willingness to challenge conventions through its subtle, poetic approach to the human condition #NYFF63 buff.ly/tYRNwbO

John Lynn kicks a ball in Alexandre Koberidze's singular DRY LEAF, a meditative, beautiful, and deeply moving film about the unpredictability of life, the changes of culture, and the persistence of play #NYFF63 buff.ly/QZGhH0y

Review: One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson) "One Battle After Another makes light of a serious issue, while lacking the satirical bite to make the audience look past the laughter. The question is if

Marc van de Klashorst enjoys the rollercoaster ride that is Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, a film that makes light of a serious issue, while lacking the satirical bite to make the audience look past the laughter buff.ly/ErxmKij

New York 2025 review: Bouchra (Orian Barki & Meriem Bennani) "One of the most intimate and political animations of the year" Playing in this year’s Currents section of the New York Film Festival is Bouchra, directed

John Lynn hangs with the animals in Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani's BOUCHRA, one of the most intimate and political animations of the year that insists on new forms and a new cinematic language #NYFF63 buff.ly/A1uOkUj

Matthew Joseph Jenner clucks his way through György Pálfi's HEN, the sincerity of which is the strongest reason why the film is so endearing #73SSIFF buff.ly/hZpbehq

Walter Neto goes to summer camp in Emilie Thalund's WEIGHTLESS, a film that circles around the idea that a body deemed undesirable is still a body full of desire #73SSIFF buff.ly/2idUcMd

Review: The Tree of Knowledge (Eugène Green) "Rigorously spiritual cinema that uses myth, history, and mannered framing to analyze the human soul" At first, Eugène Green’s The Tree of

John Lynn analyzes the human soul in Eugène Green's THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, premiering @fantasticfest, and says it's another essential chapter in one of contemporary cinema’s most spiritual and singular oeuvres buff.ly/MWJit0b

Toronto 2025 review: Our Father (Goran Stanković) "A work that grapples with addiction, punishment, faith, and the structures of control that promise salvation" The Toronto International Film Festival is

John Lynn wonders what happens when rehabilitation becomes indistinguishable from submission in Goran Stanković's OUR FATHER, an unsettling, provocative, and ambiguous film that lingers #TIFF50 buff.ly/rm3FuMB

Matthew Joseph Jenner balances on the boundary between passion and madness in John Skoog's REDOUBT, a quiet meditation on existence that is both intimate and sprawling in vision and execution #73SSIFF buff.ly/UCeP0Cy

Abby Laing goes to St. Tropez in Joachim Lafosse's latest, SIX DAYS IN SPRING, an amiable drama saved by its ensemble's naturalistic performances that give the film much of its charm #73SSIFF buff.ly/2TamSlg

Marc van de Klashorst finds out the grass isn't always greener on the other side in Frederik Sølberg's HANA KOREA, a muted Korean drama that tackles its subject matter with an almost touching sincerity #BIFF2025 buff.ly/W8hxYQf

Toronto 2025 review: Forastera () "One of the most impressive debuts of the year" "You look just like her." Most people will have heard this phrase or something similar while being

Marc van de Klashorst shifts between identities in Lucía Aleñar Iglesias' impressive debut FORASTERA, a blend between coming-of-age drama and ghost story that goes in unexpected and exciting directions once it has ensnared you #TIFF50 buff.ly/PFehbez

Toronto 2025 review: To the Victory! (Valentyn Vasyanovych) "For those attuned to its rhythms, it will resonate as another chapter in Vasyanovych’s ongoing chronicle of war and aftermath" After Atlantis (2019),

John Lynn tries to get into the rhythm of Valentyn Vasyanovych's TO THE VICTORY!, a film of ambition, complexity, and cultural commentary that is diluted by its insistence on stretching every gesture #TIFF50 buff.ly/QsidLkM

Toronto 2025 review: Unidentified (Haifaa Al Mansour) "A lack of lived-in feeling undermines the very social realism the story demands" Haifaa Al Mansour broke through in 2012 with Wadjda, a film celebrated

John Lynn goes sleuthing in Haifaa Al Mansour's UNIDENTIFIED, a film that feels trapped between wanting to be political and wanting to be a glossy crowd-pleasing thriller. In the end, it is neither #TIFF50 buff.ly/lG3qrLJ

Toronto 2025 review: I Swear (Kirk Jones) "A film about what it means to live in a world that would rather deny you than understand you" Kirk Jones may not be a director one expects to find on a

John Lynn sees that Kirk Jones' I SWEAR is not just a film about Tourette's, but also about dignity, about difference, about what it means to live in a world that would rather deny you than understand you #TIFF50 buff.ly/JPs54az

Toronto 2025 review: Lovely Day (Philippe Falardeau) "An amusing portrayal of a day in the life of a groom" Your wedding day is meant to be one of the most joyous occasions of your life, as you look forward

Latoya Austin attends a tumultuous wedding in Philippe Falardeau's LOVELY DAY, an amusing portrayal of a day in the life of a groom that also tackles the pressure faced by Lebanese migrants to Canada #TIFF50 buff.ly/YSZfBoF

John Lynn hits all the right keys in Arnaud Desplechin's TWO PIANOS, a film whose complexity, beauty, and emotional depth make it one of Desplechin’s most affecting works #TIFF50 icsfilm.org/festivals/to...

Toronto 2025 review: Sink (Zain Duraie) "An empathetic and moving film that builds itself around a delicate balance of raw, deeply human drama and intense, complex sociocultural commentary"

Matthew Joseph Jenner see a mother trying to do what she can to protect her son in Zain Duraie's SINK, an empathetic and moving film that builds itself around a delicate balance of deeply human drama and complex sociocultural commentary #TIFF50 buff.ly/jE3Fx7z

Toronto 2025 review: The Cost of Heaven (Mathieu Denis) "Denis crafts an intimate, slow thriller, building equity through thrift" "Elon Musk Could Become First Trillionaire Under New Tesla Pay Plan" - The New

Douglas Johnson trades political backrooms and financial corridors for an analysis of a steadfast man at the threshold of ruin in Mathieu Denis' THE COST OF HEAVEN, an intimate, slow thriller that builds equity through thrift #TIFF50 buff.ly/Gs11kUY

Toronto 2025 review: Steve (Tim Mielants) "Not only a moving film but an essential one for the rights of differently abled people" “I hate myself sometimes,” says Shy, one of the main characters.

John Lynn finds something deeply personal in Tim Mielants' STEVE, which is not only a moving film but an essential one for the rights of differently abled people #TIFF50 buff.ly/rwjj4uF

John Lynn is fenced in by Claire Denis' THE FENCE, a chamber piece bound by space but expansive in theme, and a sensuous, riveting, and deeply political work #TIFF50 buff.ly/PXpPQp1

Toronto 2025 review: Levers (Rhayne Vermette) "There is something beguiling about Levers that makes you not want to look away" Somewhere in Manitoba's Red River Valley, a crowd witness the unveiling

Marc van de Klashorst is groping in the dark in Rhayne Vermette's singular LEVERS, an enigmatic work from a singular director with a sensual touch to her visual style #TIFF50 buff.ly/vzdLx6J

Venice 2025 review: Chien 51 (Cédric Jimenez) "Clean, solid direction and a strong cast anchor the film" The fears that artificial intelligence is going to take over society and wreak havoc to the

Matthew Joseph Jenner caps off our #Venezia82 coverage with the closing film, Cédric Jimenez's CHIEN 51, in which clean, solid direction and a strong cast anchor the film buff.ly/nahugCI

Venice 2025 review: Un film fatto per Bene (Franco Maresco) "A strong entry in the body of work of Italy's most irreverent director" Franco Maresco is missing. After a disastrous shoot for his new film went kaput,

Marc van de Klashorst goes looking for Franco Maresco in his mockumentary UN FILM FATTOR PER BENE, a strong entry in the body of work of Italy's most irreverent director #Venezia82 buff.ly/ng0VFLF