Touzani’s sophomore feature, a Moroccan queer drama, continues her penchant for a cinema of delicateness, centering on a middle-aged couple whose lives are subtly reinvigorated when a young apprentice joins their tailor shop.
A somewhat oblique and unconventional courtroom drama about the intersections of legality, spectres of neocolonialism and the plight of immigrant mothers which will require some patience, but Diop shows that she is not afraid to take narrative and stylistic risks.
With typical dark vibes set against the spectre of war and fascism, this stop-motion animated take on ‘Pinocchio’ from Del Toro impresses most with its strong writing and characterisations.
No doubt ahead of its predecessor both visually and technically, with compelling stretches of action and world immersion, but its storytelling depth and character development are unexpectedly shallow.
You would expect no less than a meta-filmic experience from Panahi where he slyly—and sometimes angrily—comments on the shackles of traditions and laws in relation to freedom, but for once he overreaches with his creative approach.
Aronofsky puts his lead character (this time Brendan Fraser in an extraordinary performance) through the wringer again in this superb chamber piece about a severely obese man hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
This exceptional documentary deals with the threat of ugly eco-politics in the most personal and risk-taking way—by following a group of brave Filipinos who volunteer to be ‘land defenders’ trying to protect the environment despite facing death threats from corrupt authorities.
An unwanted man and woman brought together in an arranged marriage must support each other as they toil as farmers in rural China in this beautifully-shot drama bogged down somewhat by its simplistic, drawn-out storytelling.
Guadagnino’s latest is a mild disappointment, a coming-of-age road movie featuring two cannibal lovers that rarely comes close to breaking out of its conceptual conceit.
There is nothing very cinematic about this standard-fare investigative journalism piece, but it tackles the exposé of Harvey Weinstein and the topic of sexual assault effectively and without fuss.
Eternality Tan 