Image Source: London Film Festival Set in the early 1900s in Northern Italy, Laura Samani’s debut feature SMALL BODY (Piccolo Corpo), follows the journey of a woman, Agata (Celeste Cescutti), as she gives birth to a stillborn baby, who is then condemned to limbo. In her coastal village, one of the locals mentions a ‘breathing … Continue reading Interview with Laura Samani on Small Body
PASSING’s sumptuousness frequently tips toward a visual and auditory fussiness that distracts from the flow between and within scenes and the contemporary echoes of Nella Larsen’s source novella.
BANTÚ MAMA is a film that never entirely gives its audience the complete picture painted in the mind of its characters. However, by allowing relationships to develop without over-laden dialogue and instead relying on the team’s visual craft and acting skills to sketch out this story, the film sets a touching and engaging tale in … Continue reading Bantú Mama
Perry Blackshear’s WHEN I CONSUME YOU leads its viewership down a winding tunnel of despair and depravity – making the horrors bubbling under the surface expected but still unrelentingly devastating.
Though the big tent film festivals are the ones that hoover up the most attention, discussion, and coverage, it’s the specialist festivals that harbour the best surprises. Marc Nelson on Open City Docs 2021.
Too little is established in Jake Gyllenhaal’s main character for the tension to pierce or upend our understanding of him, and the focus on him in THE GUILTY is so intense that any broader metaphors or statements fail to emerge from that dense wildfire smoke.
Justine Bateman’s feature film debut is full of ideas but desperately needs to triage them to let the best of them – and Olivia Munn’s excellent performance – breathe.
An awkward narrative transition, combined with a plurality of readings, could indicate a messy and unfocused story, but Riz Ahmed’s performance and the consistent tone created by director Michael Pearce ensure ENCOUNTER remains a captivating experience.
BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES takes a clever sci-fi concept and fully explores its limits to the edge of complexity while never losing sight of the people at the heart of this time anomaly.
While not devoid of interesting characters or engaging relationships, AGNES is too disjointed to use them fully and not focused enough to explore them. Instead of employing a sudden narrative shift halfway through, AGNES would have been better served by having a little faith in its original premise. Early on, AGNES hits all the marks … Continue reading Agnes
