Owing Largely to Sod’s Law
Villain by Rachel Willis With a tense opening scene, Villain starts off strong. Unfortunately, it’s downhill from there. When Eddie Frank (Craig Fairbrass) is released from prison after a long…read more →
independent films
Dovidl the Conservatory Boy
Song of Names by Matt Weiner A Holocaust movie where the central tragedy haunts the characters just offscreen like a specter, anchored by two forceful leads and a mystery that…read more →
Secret Garden
The Garden Left Behind by Hope Madden Newcomer Charlie Guevara charms in Flavio Alves’s drama The Garden Left Behind with a bittersweet performance as Tina, an undocumented Mexican trans woman…read more →
Don’t Judge It By the Cover
The Bookshop by Rachel Willis The Bookshop is not what you might imagine. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Penelope Fitzgerald, one might expect a sentimental, feel-good…read more →
Cowboy Up
The Rider by Hope Madden The classic western, the cowboy story, sings a song of bruised manliness. Chasing destiny, sacrificing family and love for a solitary life, building a relationship…read more →
Three’s Company
In Between by Rachel Willis For women stuck between tradition and modernity, the choices presented to them can mean happiness or alienation from friends, family, and society. In Between explores…read more →
There Will Be Stickpins
Phantom Thread by Hope Madden Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) sews little treasures into the gowns he makes for the most upper of crusts in 1950s London: little notes, wishes, secrets.…read more →
Moving Violations
The Road Movie by Hope Madden This movie is nuts. Russian documentarian Dmitrii Kalashnikov has gathered dashcam footage and assembled it into something fresh, wild and intriguing. Dashcams are apparently…read more →
Delicious Dish
Raw by Hope Madden Much has been made of barf bags and fainting during screenings of writer/director Julia Ducournau’s feature debut, Raw. A festival favorite, the film has been plagued…read more →
The Saddest Lines
Neruda by Hope Madden Pablo Larraín is having quite a year. In theaters already with his insightful vision of grief, celebrity and politics, Jackie, the Chilean filmmaker returns with a…read more →