Lanthimos’ weakest work since ‘Alps’ is an uneven if morbid triptych of stories that operate as playful, nihilistic exercises at best, led by Cannes Best Actor winner Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone.
A disappointment from Kaurismaki in this way too simplistic and monotonous tribute to silent era filmmaking about a young and naïve wife of a farmer husband who is lured away by a rich old man promising a better life.
Trials and tribulations beset a Taiwanese family of four in Chung Mong-hong’s intimate and grounded work, one that is blessed with exceptional performances throughout.
A political statement of intent by Panahi – one that is imbued with a sense of loss and frustration, yet shines brightly as a courageous beacon of hope for change.
McElwee’s intended docu-travelogue about General Sherman’s American Civil War campaign turns into a narcissistic look at his faltering romantic exploits with the Southern women around him, yet its unabashed subjectivity feels surprisingly fresh and compelling.
One of the holy grails of world cinema, there is an elusive, mythic halo cast over Erice’s ‘incomplete’ film, a memory piece about a daughter’s melancholy reflection of her secretive father during her post-Spanish Civil War days of childhood.
Stunningly shot in black-and-white, Tseden shows immaculate control over his long take, slow cinema-style as a Tibetan sheep herder becomes stuck in a Kafka-esque scenario making his identity card, but an encounter with a hairdresser suggests the possibility of a new life.
One of 2024’s most beguiling films as the relationship woes of a European couple bring us all over colonised Asia, but the always deceptive Gomes plays with time as an artificial construct, celebrating modern Asia and traditional Asian arts with hints of Jia Zhangke and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
We can already witness a crystalline vision in Zanussi’s debut feature as he gives us an existential take on what makes one continue to live the life that one now lives, as two physicist friends deliberate on their vastly different life paths.
There is enough time-ticking tension to make the age-old formula work to some extent, though it can also feel emptily spectacular but still somewhat entertaining in this half-decent entry to the ‘Alien’ franchise.
Eternality Tan 