Hard Truths
Dir. Mike Leigh
Hurt people hurt people, the saying goes, and nowhere is that more evident than in Hard Truths. Directed by Mike…
A Different Man
Dir. Aaron Schimberg
“Inner beauty is what counts” is a cliche many films have tried and failed to tackle, but A Different Man…
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…
My Old Ass
Dir. Megan Park
My Old Ass has a very simple premise, one it doesn’t even take the effort of explaining. For whatever reason,…
A Thousand and One
Dir. A.V. Rockwell
At once intimate and sweeping, A Thousand and One seamlessly weaves Inez’s personal turmoil and familial troubles with the systemic…
Earth Mama
Dir. Savanah Leaf
Based on the documentary short she helmed with actor Taylor Russell, Savannah Leaf’s Earth Mama is an intimate, unabashedly political,…
Old Henry
Dir. Potsy Ponciroli
It’s not easy to abandon the past. Even if you want to shed your new identity, the memory of what…
Saint Frances
Dir. Alex Thompson
This fun comedy-drama is about Bridget, a 34-year-old who hasn’t quite got it all figured out, but at least she’s…
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Dir. Eliza Hittman
This difficult movie is about a seventeen-year-old from the U.S. underclass who has to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. Autumn…
We the Animals
Dir. Jeremiah Zagar
Three half-Puerto-Rican, half-white boys grow up in suburban New York in this personal movie shot on stunning 16mm film. This…
Bring Her Back
Dir. Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
At the heart of Bring Her Back is grief. It’s already painful to lose a family member, but this supernatural…
The Inspection
Dir. Elegance Bratton
Based on the real-life experience of director Elegance Bratton, who was himself a Black gay marine soldier during the “don’t…
Mid90s
Dir. Jonah Hill
It wouldn’t be too far of a reach to evoke Kids (1995) while diving into Mid90s. But instead of taking…
Sorry to Bother You
Dir. Boots Riley
In the year of the Netflix TV Show Maniac, another absurdist title stole critics’ hearts. Sorry to Bother You is…
The Death of Stalin
Dir. Armando Iannucci
This is a hilarious political comedy starring the ever-great Steve Buscemi. Set in the last days before Stalin’s death and…
Lean on Pete
Dir. Andrew Haigh
A24 + Steve Buscemi = ?. In “Lean on Pete,” Buscemi plays a guy called Del Montgomery (of course), who…
You Were Never Really Here
Dir. Lynne Ramsay
The performance of a pot-bellied Joaquin Phoenix is nothing short of perfection. He brilliantly portrays a hitman down on his…
Saint Frances
Dir. Alex Thompson
At the start of the summer, Bridget has an abortion just as she lands a much-needed job in affluent Evanston,…
Snowpiercer
More than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually-moving…
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Dir. Woody Allen
Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom…
Snowpiercer
Dir. Bong Joon-ho
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard…
Snowpiercer
Dir. Bong Joon-ho
Snowpiercer is an under-the-rader post-apocalyptic thriller that offers the grittiness that many times only Asian cinema may achieve. South Korean…