Sound of Falling
Dir. Mascha Schilinski
Previous depictions of provincial living tend to paint the pastoral experience as idyllic, simple, and much more innocent compared to…
It Was Just an Accident
Dir. Jafar Panahi
You can probably predict from the title that an accident starts this thriller but what happens after is totally unexpected.…
Bird
Dir. Andrea Arnold
Given the genre being centered on a child protagonist, many coming-of-age stories sideline parents in the narrative, sometimes to the…
Holy Spider
Dir. Ali Abbasi
As a crime thriller, Holy Spider is taut and terrifying, a modern noir that manages to unnerve despite the familiar…
Martin Eden
Dir. Pietro Marcello
Loosely based on the 1909 novel, Martin Eden is a stunning film about the hollow success of individualism. The plot…
Blancanieves
Dir. Pablo Berger
As a popular fairytale, Snow White has been depicted many, many times, but never quite like the 2012 Spanish film…
All or Nothing
Dir. Mike Leigh
Grounded by Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall’s powerhouse performances, this gut-wrenching family drama from Mike Leigh is an acting juggernaut.…
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…
Russian Ark
Dir. Aleksandr Sokurov
Before Birdman and 1917 popularized the technique, this experimental film was shot entirely in one take, requiring four attempts before…
Human Capital
Dir. Paolo Virzì
Human Capital is a rich and absorbing tale of two families tied together by love, money and a hit-and-run accident.…
In the House
Dir. François Ozon
Frankly, the characters of In The House are in dire need for some therapy after the events of the film.…
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…
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Dir. Ken Loach
You might expect a movie about the Irish struggle for independence from the British Empire during the 1920s to be…
The Edge of Heaven
Dir. Fatih Akin
This is a hard movie to describe, but I’ll do my best without giving too much away. The movie takes…
The Other Side of Hope
Dir. Aki Kaurismäki & Aki Kaurismäki
Finnish director and megastar Aki Kaurismäki hits with yet another absurd but poignant movie. The Other Side of Hope is…
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
This is a really weird movie starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. They play a wholesome and well-off couple where…
The Class
Dir. Laurent Cantet
Taking place almost entirely in a single classroom, the two-hour-plus runtime of this French drama breezes past thanks to its…
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…
The Best Offer
Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore
A riveting take on one of the most prestigious forms of modern art, The Best Offer is a film laced…
The Substance
Dir. Coralie Fargeat
There is nothing quite like The Substance right now. It’s unsubtle, it’s provocative, and its satirical humor can be a…
Sweet Sixteen
Dir. Ken Loach
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough…
