At times utterly delirious but also engages with its theme of sexual assault and vengeance with a sobering kind of dynamism, Fennell’s debut feature mostly works despite some moments of overwrought sensationalism.
The constant intercutting between two related storylines—that of a White and Black family living in Mississippi in the 1940s—seems to have spread its narrative more thinly than intended, but this is still a crucial look at the ills of racism.
Erdem’s new work may be borne out of filmmaking restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it finds pure comedy and pathos with an ingenious concept centering on a series of online interactions between naïve and conniving strangers.
The Korean immigrant experience in America, portrayed with intimacy and tenderness, and featuring two discoveries of the year— the promising child actor Alan Kim and Emile Mosseri’s ethereal score.
Perhaps unfairly regarded as a minor Ghibli, there’s something deeply charming about its portrayal of teenage infatuation and matters of the heart that are set against the context of high school life.
Even if you don’t give a hoot about the Olympics, this sensational Oscar-winning documentary about state-sanctioned sports doping in Russia is eye-opening and riveting.
Mattie Do’s third feature might feel convoluted at times, but it is conceptually a largely fascinating sci-fi horror drama that explores personal guilt and regrets across time.
Mattie Do somehow makes this Laotian drama with horror elements work despite a convoluted denouement.
Straightforward but effective feature debut that depicts the perils of social media virality in a post-truth world, through the eyes of a young boy suffering from an immeasurable injustice.
A tale about self-acceptance, this modest Studio Ghibli anime may take a while to get going, but it achieves some kind of emotional crescendo by its denouement.
Eternality Tan 