indieWire

A lurid and soulless entertainment spectacle, boasting a giddily escalating kill count that's simply a blast to behold.

Posted Aug 13, 2020

C+

Spinster (2020)

She's just dead boring to be around, and even Peretti, a gifted natural comedian, can't breathe much life into such a purely unlikable character.

Posted Aug 7, 2020

Psychomagic, a Healing Art (Psychomagie, un art pour guérir) (2019)

Set to an ominous score by Jodorowsky's son Adan, the movie drifts into jarring new territory every few minutes.

Posted Aug 7, 2020

The Tax Collector (2020)

David's a family man who never asked to play a central role in this story. By the end of "The Tax Collector," it's hard to blame him.

Posted Aug 7, 2020

C+

Work It (2020)

Anyone who has seen even one film centered on high schoolers dancing it up and making their way in the world ("Step Up," "Bring It On," "Save the Last Dance," and the like) will know exactly where "Work It" is going.

Posted Aug 7, 2020

B-

The Secret Garden (2020)

This film is not the best representation of Burnett's works, which toed the line between the magical and the painfully - but in the moments when it succeeds, "The Secret Garden" blossoms into something beautiful.

Posted Aug 5, 2020

B-

An American Pickle (2020)

"An American Pickle" represents an attempt to give that impulse more accessible form, and Rogen takes it there.

Posted Aug 3, 2020

The Shadow of Violence (2020)

Despite the claustrophobic entrapment in a violent and hyper-masculine world, 'The Shadow of Violence' is an ultimately moving morality tale announcing a confident new voice in international cinema.

Posted Jul 31, 2020

A-

Black Is King (2020)

Jude Dry

Overflowing with stunning visuals, "Black Is King" blends imagery from the Pan-African movement, African art and Western portraiture of African bodies, as well as Beyoncé and Jay-Z's shared vision of Black excellence within Western culture.

Posted Jul 31, 2020

C+

The Weight of Gold (2020)

"The Weight of Gold" at least doesn't skimp on its most basic of messages. But by the time it pushes into its messy, often emotional second half, those messages become far less easy to follow.

Posted Jul 31, 2020

Unhinged (2020)

Kaleem Aftab

"Unhinged" plays less like an attempt to save the cinema than to burn it all down.

Posted Jul 31, 2020

B+

The Wolves (Los Lobos) (2019)

"Los Lobos" thrives as an intimate window into what it means to confront immigrant life in piecemeal.

Posted Jul 30, 2020

B-

Rebuilding Paradise (2020)

Howard untangles the knotted emotions of that awful predicament by focusing on the bureaucracy involved in starting over.

Posted Jul 30, 2020

B+

Nadia, Butterfly (2020)

From the very first shot, it's clear that "Nadia, Butterfly" is serious about its swimming; that the people behind and in front of the camera alike have spent a serious portion of their lives in the pool.

Posted Jul 30, 2020

B-

Seriously Single (2020)

For fans the genre, it's a pleasing new entry - one that should hopefully remind audiences of the power of its charms, from talented stars to an uncanny ability to make any kind of love story feel (seriously) worthy of exploration.

Posted Jul 30, 2020

Summerland (2020)

While much of what Swale has crafted here is familiar, the film's loving tone and Arterton's compelling performance recommend it, and the result is a warm drama never afraid of a little magic.

Posted Jul 30, 2020

Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful (2020)

The candid interviews and remembrances make for a hagiographic but vivid dive into the career of the 20th century most's iconoclastic fashion photographer.

Posted Jul 24, 2020

C+

The Kissing Booth 2 (2020)

While it offers some necessary growth for all of its characters, "The Kissing Booth 2" can never resist looking and acting like dozens of other offerings of its genre ilk, unable to grow beyond basic complications and done-to-death dramas.

Posted Jul 24, 2020

C+

A Nice Girl Like You (2020)

While that might hint at more salacious bits to come, "A Nice Girl Like You" is more concerned with turning their romance into a decidedly PG affair.

Posted Jul 23, 2020

B-

The Rental (2020)

Even in spite of its obvious nowness, this thing is such a lean, mean, and utterly merciless old school programmer that it might seem anachronistic if not for the fact that it's being released onto many of the same drive-in screens that would have shown.

Posted Jul 23, 2020

B-

Animal Crackers (2017)

If "Animal Crackers" never quite matches the mania of "Meet the Robinsons," nor the comic wit of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meetballs," it still moves so fast that less generic animation might have seemed like a waste.

Posted Jul 23, 2020

C+

The Room (2019)

While the film suffers from a screenplay as delusional as its characters, this thriller serves up some potent images and a juicy premise.

Posted Jul 21, 2020

B-

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme (2020)

Watching a movie that's so at peace with its own infinitesimal stakes, we really only feel robbed of seeing anything below the surface in the rare instances when Fried acknowledges trouble in the water.

Posted Jul 16, 2020

C+

The Painted Bird (2020)

The rest of the time it's more like a vulture picking at the carcass of history, and there's only so much meat on those bones.

Posted Jul 16, 2020

C-

Fatal Affair (2020)

A fatal affair? Only if you're liable to die from boredom.

Posted Jul 16, 2020

C-

The Tobacconist (Der trafikant) (2018)

While "The Tobacconist" is always watchable, its inability to find meaning in a mess of uncooked symbolism prevents the movie from being worthy of Freud, and from doing justice to his parting words.

Posted Jul 10, 2020

B+

We Are Little Zombies (2020)

Whatever demented game its characters are playing, Nagahisa's live-action Twitch-fest is delightful for how it lets us watch along.

Posted Jul 10, 2020

C-

Greyhound (2020)

When a torpedo careens right off the side of the Keeling at one point, the action beat stands out from the shapeless cacophony of screams and explosions that "Greyhound" substitutes in lieu of coherent naval warfare.

Posted Jul 10, 2020

B+

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020)

Jude Dry

The film is a wild ride and a loving portrait, providing a vital record of this outsized figure who was so ahead of his time it seemed as though he transcended the laws of the universe.

Posted Jul 9, 2020

B+

Relic (2020)

It's safe to say that James' film now owns the corner on the market of horror movies about women watching their mothers come hideously undone.

Posted Jul 9, 2020

B+

The Old Guard (2020)

Being a superhero isn't easy, but "The Old Guard" reminds us that it - and the entertainment it can inspire - might be the best way to explore what it means to be a person.

Posted Jul 3, 2020

C-

Desperados (2020)

As the senseless gags pile up, it becomes harder and harder to untangle what any of this is about (and if it was, at any point, amusing).

Posted Jul 3, 2020

B-

Skyman (2020)

Before its messy climax, "Skyman" works well as a tragicomic look at the nature of extraterrestrial obsessives.

Posted Jul 2, 2020

Denise Ho: Becoming the Song (2020)

Jude Dry

Even for those just learning about Ho, her rise to fame is a fun and unusual one to observe.

Posted Jul 2, 2020

The Outpost (2020)

For all of its heart-in-your-throat excitement, "The Outpost" resonates as a cautionary tale more than anything else.

Posted Jul 2, 2020

A-

Hamilton (2020)

This is "Hamilton" as you always wanted to see it, and it always will be.

Posted Jun 30, 2020

B+

Slalom (2020)

If Lyz can find a way to be proud of herself, that might prove to be the most lasting victory of all.

Posted Jun 29, 2020

B+

House of Hummingbird (Beolsae) (2020)

Sensitive and lived-in and strong in ways that a more forceful version of this story could never have been, Bora's debut sketches a portrait of a girl coming into her own strength.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

9to5: The Story of A Movement (2020)

Veering from the well-assembled focus of its first half doesn't diminish the power of the group's story, but it does end a vital film on a weaker note.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

B+

Sweat (2020)

Kolesnik is such a magnetic screen presence it's a wonder that this movie marks her first leading role.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

Gagarine (2020)

It crafts a sweet and sentimental story about one inhabitant for whose entire existence has been beholden to that drama.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

Love Affair(s) (2020)

"Love Affairs" still manages to end in an unexpected way that feels just right - unwilling to settle on a tidy outcome, and open to the possibilities of what could happen next.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

Beats (2020)

If "Beats" slows down on its way to the rave, it makes up for that and then some when it finally gets there.

Posted Jun 26, 2020

Nobody Knows I'm Here (Nadie Sabe que estoy Aquí) (2020)

It all comes down to a mournful gaze, and the simmering rage visible just beneath it.

Posted Jun 25, 2020

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020)

One way or the other, the biggest issue with "The Story of Fire Saga" is that most of it is just too limp and anodyne to register.

Posted Jun 24, 2020

A-

Athlete A (2020)

Through even-handed reporting and a series of emotional first-person accounts, "Athlete A" excavates one of modern sports' most horrific abusers and systems.

Posted Jun 23, 2020

The Ghost of Peter Sellers (2020)

In the grand tradition of "Jodoworsky's Dune" and "Lost in La Mancha," the lighthearted behind-the-scenes documentary recounts a tortuous production and the fascinating ways in which it went awry from every possible direction.

Posted Jun 23, 2020

Irresistible (2020)

Not fable-esque enough to be this divorced from the reality of our political systems, but too pointed against the reality of our political systems to feel like this much of a fable, "Irresistible" only winds up feeling like it's resisting itself.

Posted Jun 22, 2020

John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020)