"Burning": Lee Chang-Dong's Brilliant, Brooding Enigma
In Lee Chang-dong’s brilliant brooding enigma, aspiring working-class writer Lee Jong-su is struggling to come up with his first novel...
Cinema Holds a Harsh Mirror to Reality in Xavier Legrand's "Jusqu'Ã la garde"
In this unconventional custody-battle film, Miriam struggles to definitively sever her ties from her abusive ex-husband, who demands...
Sun-Drenched Revenge: Coralie Fargeat's Undaunted Debut
In this ruthlessly original rape-revenge film, Jen is on a weekend getaway in a remote desert resort with her married lover, Richard, and...
"Beauty and the Dogs" Reveals a Labyrinth of Indifference Around Sexual Violence
In this accomplished debut feature by Kaouther Ben Hania, Miriem is a college student in Tunisia who is raped by three police officers...
Twisted Ritual and Artistic Process in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread"
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s gothically-titled Phantom Thread (2017), Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man as famously exacting as himself: a...
The Beast of Isolation in Hlyner Pálmason's "Winter Brothers"
Set in the dark bowels of Denmark’s rural limestone mines, Winter Brothers is a deeply weird and unsettling film about the beast of...
Art Meets Life in "On the Beach at Night Alone"
Art and life have overlapped in the cinema many a time, but rarely do they achieve the proximity one finds in Hong Sang-soo’s latest work...
Rungano Nyoni's "I Am Not a Witch"
Recently released in theaters, I Am Not a Witch bears all the marks of a promising auteur. The debut feature of 35-year-old Zambian...
The Transcendent Power of Communication in "The Shape of Water"
A fairytale about the transcendent power of communication, The Shape of Water is the eloquent gem that Guillermo Del Toro fans have been...
Sean Baker Focuses on the Hidden Homeless in "The Florida Project"
Vibrant, daring, and emotionally devastating, The Florida Project will completely capture your heart before it breaks it. Its...