indieWire

"Jackass Forever" inevitably benefits from a stronger emotional undertow than any of the series' previous films.

Posted Feb 2, 2022

B+

All That Breathes (2022)

There is so much life in All That Breathes that you won't be left clamoring for more personality.

Posted Jan 29, 2022

B+

The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future (2022)

Rafael Motamayor

Thankfully, Francisca Alegría's feature debut manages to be hauntingly moving and hopeful instead of angry and pessimistic.

Posted Jan 29, 2022

Girl Picture (2022)

Haapasalo clearly understands that, when you're young, desire can feel confusing or gratifying, thrilling or overwhelming. In her snapshot of contemporary girlhood, Haapasalo contains all of the above.

Posted Jan 29, 2022

A-

Sirens (2022)

Jude Dry

With the band's headstrong co-founders leading their tale, Sirens is a powerful reminder that punk isn't dead if you know where to look.

Posted Jan 28, 2022

B-

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022)

The film's shrugged-off aesthetic is also what makes it a fitting vessel for the impotent rage it leaves behind.

Posted Jan 28, 2022

C+

Framing Agnes (2022)

Jude Dry

Unfortunately, Framing Agnes gets too wrapped up in the questions surrounding storytelling to do any actual storytelling.

Posted Jan 28, 2022

Nothing Compares (2022)

Jude Dry

Nothing Compares is a bold re-examination of O'Connor's all-too-brief window of wider influence, and a searing critique of the sexist and conservative backlash that led to her retreat from public life.

Posted Jan 28, 2022

Babysitter (2022)

A riotous comedy in the body of a Technicolor nightmare, the film arrives with thunderous, uncompromising energy that only lets up when Chorkri decides to veer into the phantasmagorical.

Posted Jan 27, 2022

B-

Jihad Rehab (2022)

An undeniably vital film that is made less convincing because of its assumption that viewers will need more of a reason to be convinced.

Posted Jan 26, 2022

Navalny (2022)

Navalny may not resonate with the same power as something like The Great Dictator, but -- in its timely 21st century context - this documentary evinces a similar understanding of what power fears the most.

Posted Jan 26, 2022

B+

Dos Estaciones (2022)

Mexican actress Teresa Sánchez was gifted with a face made for the cinema, as is evidenced during a tight and long close-up late in director Juan Pablo González's starkly subdued drama Dos Estaciones.

Posted Jan 25, 2022

A-

Happening (2021)

Happening is an authentic and earnest work, and though it declines to polemicize, it is inarguably pro-choice.

Posted Jan 25, 2022

B+

The Janes (2022)

Many of the stories and subjects that round out the film could easily spawn their own documentaries and series, but The Janes stands as a compelling look at their work that should educate and enthrall curious audiences.

Posted Jan 25, 2022

C+

2nd Chance (2022)

A rich film that nevertheless calls regular attention to any of the even richer (if perhaps less entertaining) films it might have been.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

A-

Emily the Criminal (2022)

In Emily the Criminal, Plaza goes to her darkest territory to date, seamlessly blending the edges of an "unlikable" character with her own persona. She's got an edge, but dammit if you can't root for her.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

Am I OK? (2022)

Aided by Johnson's very charming comedic turn and Mizuno gamely taking on a prickly role, Am I OK? joins a growing body of female-focused friendship films without backing down from its interest in exploring sexuality, pleasure, and identity.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

The Territory (2022)

With images that are as powerful as they are unexpected, "The Territory" is a work crafted both by its director Alex Pritz, and by the indigenous community whose story it tells.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

Utama (2022)

Utama is embellished with a few sublime touches of magical realism and Bárbara Alvarez's gorgeously precise cinematography.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

A-

Mija (2022)

A tribute to those children of immigrants, especially those in families divided across borders... Mija beams with the knowledge that in its specificity it speaks to millions.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B-

The Exiles (2022)

Shanghai-born filmmaker Christine Choy is a character so incandescent that she's every bit as powerful in front of the camera as she is behind it -- a fact that Violet Columbus and Ben Klein's The Exiles seizes upon from the moment it starts.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

Fresh (2022)

Fresh is sleek and nimble, a worthy new entry into the feminist revenge thriller genre.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

C+

Living (2022)

True to Ikiru, this is a low-key tale that hinges on a humble act, and Living honors the sense of discovery engendered by its structure

Posted Jan 24, 2022

A-

Riotsville, USA (2022)

Susannah Gruder

This unique framework succeeds in turning history on its head, forcing us to question how these violent tactics from the past have led to the increasingly armed present we're witnessing today.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

C-

Summering (2022)

As is, "Summering" is too scattered and silly for us to really care.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

God's Country (2022)

Christian Zilko

Higgins' excellent film constantly dangles redemption in front of our faces, begging us to imagine a better world, but ultimately delivers a stark reminder of how bitterly divided the country is.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

C+

Alice (2022)

Does it look badass? Sure. Does it say anything new? No.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

TikTok, Boom. (2022)

"TikTok, Boom." may be chock-full of disquieting information, but it's rarely more than a list of bullet-points.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

Cha Cha Real Smooth (2022)

Raiff scales up the disarming earnestness of his debut without losing any of its DIY intimacy.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B-

Something In The Dirt (2022)

"Something in the Dirt" functions as a disturbing and acerbically comedic riddle of a movie where finding the answers is a secondary, mostly unfruitful goal.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

B+

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (2022)

A winning combination of the divine and the horrific, a takedown of not just fervent religiosity but our own worst human impulses.

Posted Jan 24, 2022

C-

Breaking (2022)

It has so many things it wants to say about the state of modern America, but it finds no suitable or impactful way to say them.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

Hatching (2021)

Bergholm is skilled at keeping the tension high while finding amusing pockets of pure comedy...

Posted Jan 23, 2022

B+

Resurrection (2022)

The movie first gets under the skin because its jaw-dropping backstory is just plausible enough to belong to you or someone you love...

Posted Jan 23, 2022

Sharp Stick (2022)

Attempts to ride the film through its own uncomfortable wavelength do offer some treats, even if they all come with caveats.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

B+

Dual (2022)

"Dual" adds a fresh sprinkle of doom to the already savage deadpan of Stearns' previous work, and bitterly crystallizes the existential anxieties that have crushed down on so many of us with new weight since the pandemic started.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

A touching little two-hander that does right by its title character...

Posted Jan 23, 2022

B-

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (2022)

Everything from composition to framing to lighting is discussed, and Menkes' patient monologue is eager to introduce, explain, and clarify.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

Speak No Evil (2022)

Susannah Gruder

Tafdrup's vision of human beings feels inherited from Haneke as he callously illustrates the banality of evil.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

B-

Nanny (2022)

The first-time filmmaker may be attempting to fit too many ideas into one sleek package, but that doesn't mitigate the truth of "Nanny": All of it haunts.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

B+

Descendant (2022)

Robert Daniels

Brown's must-watch filling of a historical gap, a blow against white-led Black erasure, "Descendent," explains to audiences how storytelling can be a revolutionary act.

Posted Jan 22, 2022

A-

Master (2022)

Robert Daniels

A testament to this filmmaker's shrewd craftsmanship: The final twenty minutes... unpacks so many secrets involving colorism, passing, white paternalism, and so forth, that you wonder how Diallo kept it all together

Posted Jan 22, 2022

C+

Watcher (2022)

Susannah Gruder

"Watcher" fails to live up to its inspirations, ending up a heavy-handed, predictable trip through genre tropes with a rather lifeless cast at its core.

Posted Jan 22, 2022

B-

Call Jane (2022)

Banks is asked to do a lot to portray Joy, tracking her through major changes in a minimum of time, and the actress delivers.

Posted Jan 22, 2022

C-

A Love Song (2022)

Robert Daniels

Both Dickey and Studi shoulder the lesser material through a charming naturalism that papers over the script's artificiality.

Posted Jan 21, 2022

B+

Emergency (2022)

Every interaction is rip-roaringly funny - even the more disquieting ones - resulting in a film where you can't help but laugh at the riveting absurdity.

Posted Jan 21, 2022

A-

The Princess (2022)

In retrospect, knowing all that we know about Diana - and, as the film reminds us from the very start, knowing how it all ends - it's impossible not to attempt to contextualize what we are seeing.

Posted Jan 21, 2022

La Guerra Civil (2022)

There's a frisson of excitement to watching these complex men exchange punches, but it would have been more thrilling still to watch them exchange words.

Posted Jan 21, 2022

B+

When You Finish Saving the World (2022)