Falcon Lake
Dir. Charlotte Le Bon
The gorgeous grain of Falcon Lake’s lush 16mm cinematography instantly gives it an air of nostalgia, as if the movie…
Mambar Pierrette
Dir. Rosine Mbakam
If given the outline of this film, it might be easy to just call it poverty porn. But there’s a…
The Souvenir Part II
Dir. Joanna Hogg
After 2019’s The Souvenir—a drama about a toxic, suffocating relationship—director Joanna Hogg brings back her protagonist (played by a superb…
Song Without a Name
Dir. Melina León
At times of political strife, how can one seek justice? Song Without a Name could have presented its case in…
I Am Not a Witch
Dir. Rungano Nyoni
Remarkably for a movie about women being shunned and exploited by those more powerful than them, I Am Not A…
Birds of Passage
Dir. Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego
Organized crime and drug dealing has been a topic of many a film, sometimes even glamorizing the whole endeavor, but…
The Change
Initially, The Change’s premise might seem as eccentric as its kooky characters, but this comedy series set in ancient woods…
Love at First Sight
Dir. Vanessa Caswill
Watching Love at First Sight, there are times you catch it almost falling into eye-rolling clichés, like when Hadley loses…
Peppermint Candy
Dir. Lee Chang-dong
When depicting a person’s life, most films are chronological. They start from beginning to end, from the character’s birth to…
Werckmeister Harmonies
Dir. Béla Tarr
Werckmeister Harmonies is perplexing, to say the least. No one would expect that a circus would somehow disrupt a village…
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts
Dir. Mouly Surya
There is a lot to admire about this revenge film from director Mouly Surya—the breathtaking shots of rural Indonesia, the…
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Dir. Chantal Akerman
When the film publication Sight and Sound dubbed it “the greatest film of all time,” movie fans were quick to…
To Sleep with Anger
Dir. Charles Burnett
An old friend shows up on the doorstep of a happy family home and brings a whirlwind of trouble with…
Shadows in Paradise
Dir. Aki Kaurismäki
Grand gestures, over-the-top declarations of love, and elaborate gifts… These normal romcom acts can sometimes make it seem that romance…
Tu Dors Nicole
Dir. Stéphane Lafleur
Nicole is 22, just out of college, and adrift during her first summer as an “adult.” Tu Dors Nicole (“You’re…
Polytechnique
Dir. Denis Villeneuve
Polytechnique directed by Denis Villeneuve, is a dramatization of the 1989 Montreal massacre of multiple female engineering students. This film…
Fresh
Dir. Boaz Yakin
Filmed with a perfect blend of realism and embellished style, Fresh is a coming-of-age story set in the poverty of…
Beautiful Thing
Dir. Hettie Macdonald
A sweet and wholesome tale of two boys falling in love against the backdrop of 90s homophobia and social issues.…
Metropolitan
Dir. Whit Stillman
It’s very interesting, if not startling, to see an earnest movie made about the white upper class these days. Metropolitan…
Trees Lounge
Dir. Steve Buscemi
There’s no shortage of media depicting alcoholism, but many of them come across as preachy, sanctimonious, and coming from someone…
Lone Star
Dir. John Sayles
All kinds of lines — those separating good and bad, past and present, and even international borders — are blurred…
Sleep Tight
Dir. Jaume Balagueró
The isolation of modern life is a growing problem, but very rarely does it end up in the psychopathy displayed…
Muriel's Wedding
Dir. P.J. Hogan
Muriel is a young social outcast who spends her time obsessively planning a dream wedding without ever having been on…
The Brand New Testament
Dir. Jaco Van Dormael
Before anything else, your mileage of The Brand New Testament will likely depend on your beliefs. We would say, however,…
The Florida Project
Dir. Sean Baker
Every once in a while there are movies that expand the definition of quality film-making. This is one of those…
Mirai
Dir. Mamoru Hosoda
Fittingly, Mirai feels like the fading memories of childhood: loosely connected snippets strung together by the feeling rather than the…
A Hard Day
Dir. Kim Seong-hun
After accidentally hitting a homeless man with his car on the way to his mother’s wedding, Detective Ko Gun-su is…
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…
Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Dir. Chloé Zhao
This slow-burning drama is set in an Indigenous reservation in South Dakota, where Johnny is a teenager who dreams of…
Menace II Society
Dir. Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes
It’s hard to shake off the life you’ve grown into, but more so on the streets with a high crime…