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…
La Grazia
Dir. Paolo Sorrentino
In his last few months as president, Mariano de Santis has a few loose ends to tie up. This includes…
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.…
The Girl with the Needle
Dir. Magnus von Horn
Given the original real-life story behind it, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that The Girl with the Needle was so…
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…
Beyond the Hills
Dir. Cristian Mungiu
In modern day Europe, demonic possession seems to be a thing of the past, something most likely to be attributed…
Read My Lips
Dir. Jacques Audiard
In my own wished-for parallel universe, French actors Vincent Cassell and Emanuelle Devos are voted the sexiest actors alive. I…
Frantz
Dir. François Ozon
It’s always fun to watch something that makes you second guess each move, that shifts seamlessly from one thing to…
45 Years
Dir. Andrew Haigh
Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay both won Berlinale Best Actress and Best Actor for this movie. They play a couple…
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…
Dirty Pretty Things
Dir. Stephen Frears
Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as a disgraced doctor-turned-immigrant cab driver who inadvertently stumbles upon London’s black market organ trade. Audrey Tatou…
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…
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…
Belfast
Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Belfast stars Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe as the mother of a working-class Northern Irish family during The Troubles. Religious tension and…
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…
Bloody Sunday
Dir. Paul Greengrass
Filmed in Paul Greengrass’ signature documentary style, Bloody Sunday captures one of the worst tragedies in Northern Ireland’s recent history…
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…
Mid-August Lunch
Dir. Gianni Di Gregorio
Director Gianni Di Gregorio’s gorgeous debut is an understated masterpiece about a bachelor who is his mother’s caregiver. The movie…
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…
Quo Vadis, Aida?
Dir. Jasmila Žbanić
Bosnia, July 1995. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army…