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.
CREATION STORIES occasionally hits a good note, but after the cacophonous entropy it generates getting tuned up, it struggles to recover anything harmonious from its orchestra of creative talents.
In the end, BLACK BEAR is a bit of a Penrose triangle of a film. Viewed from certain angles, it may make little sense, but when considered from a new vantage point or spun around, it paradoxically comes together elegantly and beautifully.
MINARI is an emotionally graceful portrait of a family whose members are trying to find their way in the world and amongst each other. Lee Isaac Chung lays out the path for their story with skill and a beautifully light touch.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH doesn’t quite ascend to divine status, but it uses its lead actors’ bright performances to shine a new light on the infernal actions of intolerant institutions.
Alex Camilleri’s feature directorial debut is a melancholy lament on the decline of traditional ways of life. Without romanticising an often difficult daily life, his story of a Maltese fisherman is naturalistic but beautiful.
There is plenty to commend the technical and performance aspects of JOHN AND THE HOLE. Still, the storytelling choices and structure fill in the intriguing gaps with narrative quicksand, into which the film’s potential slowly sinks.
STARDUST isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t seem to strive for much more than that. The Bowie biopic lacks the cryptic charisma of its subject; something that might distract from a disjointed and inconsequential narrative.
TENET ends up something of a Rube Goldberg machine of a film: a wondrously complex set of mechanics that is fascinating, but also an incredibly convoluted way of masking what is, in essence, a thin and poorly executed story.
George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of the August Wilson play is a demonstration of captivating and powerful acting. Although it never seems to flourish visually, the chamber-piece story and powerful performance of the late Chadwick Boseman and the supporting ensemble carry it far.
