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…
Godland
Dir. Hlynur Palmason
On the one hand, Godland is a film about nature’s unforgiving beauty. Like the photographs the priest Lucas (Elliott Crosset…
The Promised Land
Dir. Nikolaj Arcel
In The Promised Land, director Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) and Mads Mikkelsen reunite to create another intense, enjoyable drama…
The Ugly Stepsister
Dir. Emilie Blichfeldt & Emilie Kristine Blichfeldt
There are plenty of versions of the Cinderella story, but none as brutal and nauseating as The Ugly Stepsister. For…
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…
Sick of Myself
Dir. Kristoffer Borgli
One woman’s main character syndrome reaches shocking lows in this vicious Norwegian satire of social-media-era narcissists. Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp)…
Cairo Conspiracy
Dir. Tarik Saleh
When he’s accepted into the prestigious Islamic university Al-Azhar, fisherman’s son Adam (Tawfeek Barhom) gets an eye-opening education — but…
Beautiful Beings
Dir. Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
There are many ways through which a friendship can form, but sometimes, it’s due to compassion for someone who needs…
The Innocents
Dir. Eskil Vogt
The Innocents is a Norweigan thriller that follows four kids who discover they have supernatural powers over the summer. They…
Little Girl
Dir. Sébastien Lifshitz
It would be understandable if it only occurs to you midway through that Little Girl isn’t actually a narrative feature…
Held for Ransom
Dir. Niels Arden Oplev
The real life situation behind this harrowing drama is quite extraordinary, so adapting Daniel Rye’s captivity straightforwardly would already intrigue…
The Apprentice
Dir. Ali Abbasi
The Apprentice is as much about Roy Cohn as it is about the titular mentee, a very green Donald Trump.…
The Kingmaker
Dir. Lauren Greenfield
There is no shortage of resources—be it books, films, articles, or interviews—about the atrocities Ferdinand Marcos unleashed on the Philippines.…
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…
Queen of Hearts
Dir. May el-Toukhy
This Danish film which was the country’s submission to the Oscars is about a delicate subject. A lawyer who specializes…
Becoming Astrid
Dir. Pernille Fischer Christensen
This Swedish movie is the story of Astrid Lindgren, one of the most translated children book writers of all time.…
Sami Blood
Dir. Amanda Kernell
This coming-of-age story starts in the present time, where Elle Marja, now a grandmother, reluctantly goes to her sister’s funeral…
Evil
This thriller is about a modern-day Catholic “assessor” who investigates supernatural cases to see if an exorcism is needed. Don’t…
The Blue Caftan
Dir. Maryam Touzani
Set in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas, Blue Caftan is a tender portrayal of pure love and the different forms…
Show Me Love
Dir. Lukas Moodysson
Set in the small town of Åmål, western Sweden, the debut feature by Lukas Moodysson (We Are the Best), is…
A House Made of Splinters
Dir. Simon Lereng Wilmont
Somewhere near the border between Russia and Ukraine lies a shelter for kids coming from unstable homes. Their parents, either…
Border
Dir. Ali Abbasi
If you like: weird movies and / or Scandinavian mythology, this movie is for you. It’s about unusual looking border…