Like Water for Chocolate
With the gorgeous period costumes, the romance, and the familial dynamics, you would think that Like Water for Chocolate’s latest…
All We Imagine as Light
Dir. Payal Kapadia
All We Imagine as Light is a political film that has many smart and moving things to say about the…
20 Days in Mariupol
Dir. Mstyslav Chernov
Formally speaking, 20 Days in Mariupol is little more than a compilation of footage bravely collected by Mstyslav Chernov in…
Decision to Leave
Dir. Park Chan-wook
A twitchy, uncomfortable noir film for the digital age, Decision to Leave blends the trappings of a restless police procedural…
Minari
Dir. Lee Isaac Chung
Minari is a film written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung, about a Korean-American family in search of the so-called…
Fitzcarraldo
Dir. Werner Herzog
There are plenty of films about dreamers, but none as wild and wacky as Fitzcarraldo. The film follows the titular…
Theeb
Dir. Naji Abu Nowar
Theeb is set in the Hejaz (now part of Saudi Arabia) on the eve of the Great Arab Revolt against…
Europa Europa
Dir. Agnieszka Holland
In war, sometimes, what stands between life and death is convenient papers, passable acting, and a buttload of luck. That…
Force Majeure
Dir. Ruben Östlund
A seemingly well-adjusted Scandinavian Family vacationing in the French Alps experiences a frightening avalanche scare near the beginning of Force…
Live Flesh
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
It won’t be surprising to hear that a film called Live Flesh would be all about the body. There are,…
Devdas
Dir. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
The Bengali novel Devdas has undeniably captivated the entire Indian subcontinent with its tragic love triangle, spawning numerous adaptations, but…
Quo Vadis Aida?
Dir. Jasmila Žbanić
This Oscar-nominated drama tells the story of the events leading up to the Srebrenica massacre, in which 8372 Bosnian Muslims…
Mustang
Dir. Deniz Gamze Ergüven & Female director
Five orphaned sisters are put under house arrest by their uncle and grandmother after they are seen horsing around with…
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
Break-ups aren’t the easiest thing to overcome, but how we deal with them usually doesn’t get as ludicrous as the…
Two Days, One Night
Dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne
This movie originally caught my eye for all the attention it got at the Cannes festival, but I assure you,…
Waltz with Bashir
Dir. Ari Folman
In Waltz with Bashir, director Ari Folman grapples with the trauma and dehumanization of war by examining the role he…
Joyeux Noel
Dir. Christian Carion
Christmas isn’t usually the best time to watch a tense war drama, but there were some Christmases where war was…
Like Water for Chocolate
Dir. Alfonso Arau
Food can warm you, can nourish you, and can make you feel so much better. Food is also the way…
Eat Drink Man Woman
Dir. Ang Lee
Eat Drink Man Woman takes place in Taipei, Taiwan in the mid-1990s. It tells the story of an aging father…
Rust and Bone
Dir. Jacques Audiard
This is the type of movie I completely fell in love with but cannot articulate exactly why. Maybe it’s the…
Broken Embraces
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar
Is there any other filmmaker more suited to the melodrama than Pedro Almodóvar? Broken Embraces holds many of the themes…