Tár October 8, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen “Lydia Tár is many things,” exclaims New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself in one of many ways writer/director Todd Field grounds this purely fictional story within our reality) as he introduces the titular composer for an interview as part of a cultural festival. Listing off her various achievements, which include being the first person to lead each of the Big Five symphony orchestras and one of the few to reach EGOT status, Gopnik labels Tár as a revolutionary within the classical composing world, a sentiment the audience - likely filled with rich patrons of the arts - reflects as they hang on to her every word. In the hands of lesser filmmakers and leading stars, this opening 10-15 minute scene, which merely consists of a Q&A about Lydia’s position on some issues within the industry, would seem pedantic and expository as we’re meant to quickly understand why people would fall head over heels for the genius of this fictional character. But when you cast Cate Blanchett, who’s incapable of delivering a bad scene, let alone a bad performance, that task becomes as easy as breathing. And when you combine her with Todd Field, returning to the silver screen for the first time in sixteen years, that breath is one of the freshest ones you’ll take this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na6gA1RehsU From that scene, which brilliantly gives us the nudge needed to descend further into the rabbit hole that is this character’s psyche, Field takes us on a fascinating journey through the unraveling life of Lydia Tár. She has a personal assistant named Francesca (Noémie Merlant, one half of Portrait of a Lady on Fire ) who is by her at every stop, most notably a seminar at Juilliard where Lydia gets into an argument (all done in one long continuous take, one of many scenes that flow uneasily in real-time) with a student about how today’s generation has to separate the art from the artist and that “if you want to dance the mask, you must service the composer.” The controversy that emerges from that is only the tip of the iceberg for Tár. Along with unceremoniously pushing out her assistant composer and a burgeoning predator/prey dynamic with her lead cellist, there are also legal threats after Lydia’s former protégé committed suicide, with possible motives linked back to her. For all you completionists who demand films answer the questions they raise, both literally and metaphorically, TÁR will seem like an exercise in futility. Because if there’s one thing Field learned as the protégé of Stanley Kubrick (for which Field played the piano playing character Nick Nightingale in the master’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut ) aside from impeccably precise visuals and dread-filled drip editing (supplied here by Florian Hoffmeister and Monika Willi, respectively), it’s the ability to make the unsatisfying loose ends of a story seem so naturally satisfying. There are no easy answers within Field’s film as he meticulously studies his central character, for whom he shares no predisposed love or hatred. It’s for the audience to decide if Lydia’s fate, which is sealed with a visual setup and punchline so hilarious that it might as well have been ghost-directed by Mel Brooks, matches her “crimes.” Any post-screening conversation surrounding it will no doubt be as intellectually stimulating as the film itself. As our guide during that examination, Blanchett reaches another echelon in a career that has only marked. One could not be ridiculed for mistaking Lydia Tár as a real person, as the details and nuances Blanchett infuses the character with are ones usually found within Oscar-bait biopics, which she’s already conquered with The Aviator, Elizabeth (the less said about its sequel the better), and I’m Not There . Surrounding her is an impressive European supporting cast of Nina Hoss, Mark Strong, and Sophie Kauer. If TÁR is meant to mark the second coming of Todd Field’s career, then we should all be in for a lengthy treat for the mind, body, and soul. But if this was only a brief blip and we’re subjected to another sixteen-year absence, then I at least know what my most anticipated film of 2038 will be. Focus Features will release Tár in select theaters on October 07th, followed by a nationwide expansion on October 28th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Twin Cities Film Fest 2022 Preview October 19, 2022 By: Hunter Friesen After partaking in this year's Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto Film Festivals, I'm glad to be finishing off with one close to home. This year's edition of the Twin Cities Film Festival promises to be a great one with it's mixture of high-performing indie titles and awards hopeful studio projects. Here six films that I'll be seeing over the next week. Look forward to a review of each one shortly! Till Till is a profoundly emotional and cinematic film about the true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi. In Mamie’s poignant journey of grief turned to action, we see the universal power of a mother’s ability to change the world. My Policeman A tale of forbidden romance and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows the relationships between three people - policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin) and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson) - and their emotional journey spanning decades. Aftersun At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal). As a world of adolescence creeps into view, beyond her eye Calum struggles under the weight of life outside of fatherhood. Twenty years later, Sophie's tender recollections of their last holiday become a powerful and heartrending portrait of their relationship, as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't, in Charlotte Wells’ superb and searingly emotional debut film. She Said Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation— a story that helped propel the #Metoo movement, shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and altered American culture forever. Women Talking A group of women from a remote religious community deal with the aftermath of sexual assault perpetrated by the colony’s men. A film of ideas brought to life by Polley’s imaginative direction and a superb, fine-tuned ensemble cast—including Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw, and Judith Ivey— Women Talking is a deep and searching exploration of self-determination, group responsibility, faith and forgiveness, philosophically engaging and emotionally rich in equal measure. The Inspection In Elegance Bratton's deeply moving film inspired by his own story, a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. But even as he battles deep-seated prejudice and the grueling routines of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in this new community, giving him a hard-earned sense of belonging that will shape his identity and forever change his life. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Star Is Born October 8, 2018 By: Button Hunter Friesen A Star Is Born is one of those classic Hollywood films that has stayed close to each generation that has experienced it. Whether it be the original from 1937 or the remakes in 1954 and 1976, people have adored the timeless story that preaches the value of hope and perseverance in the face of adversity. Now in 2018, the film is being remade for the third time, this time with director, writer, and star Bradley Cooper teaming up with Lady Gaga to tell the classic tale to a modern audience. The film follows the relationship between music superstar Jackson Maine (Cooper) and aspiring singer Ally (Gaga). They quickly fall for each other after meeting and set out to share their love and music with the world. Because of this, Ally’s career starts to take off, while Jackson’s begins to crumble beneath his feet as he battles alcoholism and addiction. From this point, their lives begin to irreversibly change. They try to hold onto each other, but it becomes more and more difficult as they go down their own separate paths. Bradley Cooper is a natural director and, astonishingly, this is his debut feature. It probably helps that over the past decade, he’s had the opportunity to learn from veteran directors like Clint Eastwood and David O. Russell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSbzyEJ8X9E Cooper possesses a ton of confidence and a keen eye for great visuals. The concert scenes are the highlight of the film as they bloom with bright colors and original music. It feels like we’re right there on stage with the main characters as they profess their love to each other while pouring all their emotions into the songs. Cooper uses a high amount of close-ups of the characters’ faces in order to tell the story. He also does well at letting scenes play out in a natural order rather than cutting them up. This creates a feeling of authenticity and rawness as the characters are allowed to feel like real people rather than the fictional stars that have been seen so many times before. It’s well known that Cooper is the director and star, but what’s most surprising is that he also contributed to the script along with Eric Roth and Will Fetters. The dialogue between Cooper and Gaga is some of the most authentic speech you’ll find today. Every emotion possible is put on display as their contrasting journeys play out. They always feel like a real couple as they try to manage their relationship and the strain that fame has put on it. In addition to the main plot, there is also a subplot between Maine and his older brother Bobby, who has acted as Jackson’s caretaker all his life. The brothers share a strong bond as they look back on their rough childhoods and re-examine how their relationship has changed over the years. While the subplot provides a good break from the main story and packs an emotional punch, there just needs to be more of it. The interactions between the brothers are few and far between, and by the end, it feels like a lot more could have been explored. The legacy of A Star Is Born has been built on great acting from the leads. Cooper and Gaga more than live up to expectations and will surely be compared to the greats that have come before. Cooper probably gives his career-best performance as the country star fighting his own personal demons. With his lowered voice and grizzled face, Cooper’s character is a sad spectacle that exudes sympathy as his journey takes him lower and lower. He also lends his voice to some great music as he and Gaga light up the stage together. While Cooper is terrific, the show belongs to Lady Gaga as Ally. Even though she’s a superstar singer in the real world, Gaga hides all of that behind her transcendental performance as every girl trying to get ahead. She's the heart of the film as she delivers each line with perfection. Her chemistry with Cooper is second to none as they simultaneously explore the effects that fame has on a person. Lastly, Sam Elliott also gives a career-best as Bobby. He doesn’t get much screen time, but he makes every second count as he plays a character battling his past and the effects it has had on his life. A Star Is Born has everything going for it: great directing, a powerful story, amazing original songs, and two leads who couldn’t be closer. It’s the best film of the year (so far) and will become an instant classic, one that will be played and remembered by this generation for years to come. Warner Bros. Pictures will release A Star Is Born in theaters nationwide on October 05th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

A Quiet Place: Day One June 27, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen A Quiet Place , the franchise that suffers the most from sound bleed within multiplexes, returns to nearly four thousand screens this weekend. Any fan needs to pray that they’re not seeing it in a room next to a showing of either Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga or Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire . A24’s newest little indie, Janet Planet , would actually be the perfect companion piece, with its sweet sounds of summer barely registering over a whisper. But the absolute silence that A Quiet Place: Day One dwells in may be a necessary method of cracking down on the loud talkers, creaky seats, and loud munching that goes on in today’s theatrical environment. A lost battle today may mean a victorious war later. That's probably wishful thinking, though. Taking over the reins from the previous writer/director/star, John Krasinski, who was busy with IF , is Michael Sarnoski, who burst onto the independent scene in 2021 with the incredibly unique Nicolas Cage vehicle, Pig . As par for the course, Sarnoski finds himself leading a film with a budget 20x that of his previous one, a task that many before him have crumbled from. But the sophomore director, who also pens the screenplay (story credit shared with Krasinski), doesn’t buckle under the pressure, finding a few paths to breathe life into this franchise, one that is further proving itself to be a one-trick pony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPY7J-flzE8 Those who have seen Pig will find it unsurprising that the best scene within this story of aliens and bloodshed comes relatively early on at a marionette show. A puppet blows up a balloon and dances around with it for a little while, Alexis Grapsas’ score twinkling as the stage light gives it a soft glow. It’s a scene that ranks relatively low in terms of significance, yet there’s something powerful about the stillness it creates just before fire starts raining down from the sky. From there, we pretty much go through the motions laid down by the previous two entities, as well as other creature features like Jurassic Park . Steven Spielberg’s 2005 remake of War of the Worlds came to mind a few times, with the fear of the unknown being just as spine-chilling as the ashy destruction. Sarnoski and his sound team make you see, or, in this case, hear, the world differently. The opening text states that the noise of New York City registers around 90 decibels at all times, which nearly equates to a constant scream. Everything that makes up that figure becomes a death sentence in this new apocalypse. A rip of a shirt or opening a briefcase too quickly is all that it takes to have the monsters descend on the skyscrapers. For all they pull off, this franchise still only pedals the same set piece for the monsters. It’s the one where the characters are walking quietly, someone accidentally knocks over a can or piece of glass, the monsters start chasing them, and then the characters sit in silence for a few moments until the monsters hear something else. We’ve seen it over a dozen times now, and the five to six times we experience it here are no different. While the story of Day One answers the “how” question of what happened to the world in the previous two entities, the characters within it answer the “why.” More specifically, they answer the question of why people try to exist in this world, why they’re clinging on when hell has taken over. Centering that is Lupita Nyong’o’s character Samira, who is terminally ill and already checked out on life. Nyong’o has already proved her masterful horror chops in Us a few years back, her facial expressions and body movements excellently developing the doppelganger premise. The minimalist dialogue here does her no harm, with her strengths as a performer being even more evident. The cat that accompanies her journey may as well be third billed just behind Joseph Quinn, who also puts in some good work. The world of A Quiet Place is not a place for dogs, that’s for sure. Paramount Pictures will release A Quiet Place: Day One in theaters nationwide on June 28th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Odyssey July 15, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen In a cast stacked with as much A-list talent as there are stars in the sky, who would you place a wager on to be the first to appear on screen in The Odyssey ? Would it be Matt Damon, the main character, Odysseus, whose journey spurs this epic tale? No, it takes a little bit of time for him to show up. What about Anne Hathaway, an Oscar winner who plays Penelope, queen to the missing king? No, not her either. What about any of the combinations of big names like Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, or Zendaya? Nope, and now we're getting colder in our search. The answer is actually Travis Scott, the rapper, continuing his odd partnership with writer/director Christopher Nolan after supplying an original song for Tenet . Here, he recites a thunderous poem about Odysseus' bravery at the Battle of Troy, a small moment where this very familiar feeling film zigs instead of zags. Stories like these are the only things the people of Ithaca have to remember their lost king. Some say he's dead, others say he's in prison, and those without hope say the gods have exiled him to wander the earth forever. For the successive prince Telemachus (Tom Holland) and queen Penelope, faith has become too slippery to continue blindly grasping at. A man does what he chooses, which is why Telemachus sets sail on a last-ditch rescue mission. A woman does what she can, with Penelope occupying the empty throne as she's pursued by power-hungry suitors, most notably the sniveling Antinous (Robert Pattinson). Captured in ultra-shallow focus with darkly lit banquet halls, this palace is a snake pit with danger looming in every corner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzw2ttJD2qQ For ten years, Odysseus was on the beaches of Troy fighting Agamemnon's war for Helen and the securitization of trade routes for his vast empire. His idea for the Trojan horse is what breaks the stalemate, soldiers packed like sardines for days as they wait to spring the trap. But like Robert Oppenheimer, Odysseus witnesses the price of his genius not being measured in honor, but in blood. A decade of empty bellies and pent-up rage is unleashed on the city's citizens in a single night, the only sights and sounds being the blaze atop each home and pleading screams just before the fall of a sword. To the gods, there are no victors. Within the four walls of the cinema, Nolan is our god. He can be quite vengeful, striking our senses with blistering fury. Odysseus and his men meet the wrath of Poseidon and Zeus during their arduous journey home. Lightning cracks and waves crash without any regard for audience safety, the volume cranked so loud that even Ludwig Göransson’s booming score is drowned out. Truly, I have never felt a film brute force its way through my entire body, the full effect of the IMAX experience clenching down like a vice grip. Warnings for those with predisposed medical conditions should be printed on each ticket. Despite favor eventually being granted to us, none is allowed for Odysseus. Sightings of land initially promise food and shelter, only to end up being fool’s gold. A cyclops traps the men in a cave and eats them one by one, a magical forest twists the pine trees into an endless maze as they're slaughtered by giant soldiers, and a witch's hospitality turns into a curse. As is new with Nolan, this is all depicted with a surprising amount of horror and fear, the same feeling that creeps down to the bone while also beckoning you to never look away. The answer is never who has the bigger sword, with wit and bravery being the driving force for survival. It's that clinical ingenuity that has made Nolan into the most famous filmmaker of his generation. While praised for his original ideas, many of his films are based on well-known stories with preconceived outcomes. Batman was always going to win in the Dark Knight trilogy, the Allied forces were always going to get off the beach in Dunkirk , and Robert was always going to complete the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer . With Nolan, it's always about the journey as much as the destination. And what better story to apply this logic to than the most epic one of them all? Odysseus is blessed and cursed with the foresight of the gods. He can see the path of downfall for others, yet can't stop them from still willingly going down it. Heavy is this crown of knowledge, unlocking survivor's guilt, exponentially amplified with the weight of responsibility as a leader. Damon is sheerly outstanding, perpetually instilling a layer of intimacy within the unparalleled grandness. There are no weak links within this cast, each member matching the wieldy expectations placed upon them. Standouts also include Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, the second-in-command; John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, the blind pig farmer of Ithaca; and Samantha Morton as the witch. Oppenheimer was Nolan's magnum opus, capturing lightning in a bottle at every level to deliver something that will likely never be replicated, both critically and commercially. Even with its expanded scope and scale, The Odyssey feels like a lateral move rather than the anticipated leveling up. Then again, how much higher can one go once they've already ascended to the top of their craft? Homer's epic has transcended oceans of time to be here today, and I believe this definitive retelling of it will endure for just as long. Universal Pictures will release The Odyssey in theaters nationwide on July 17th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Nosferatu December 20, 2024 By: Button Hunter Friesen The bloody tale of Nosferatu the Vampire is almost as old as cinema itself. F.W. Murnau’s 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was one of the medium's first rip-offs, liberally "borrowing" elements from the story of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula . A German court ordered that all prints of the film were to be destroyed on the grounds of copyright infringement. But just as you can never kill the darkness that births such bloodthirsty creatures, you can't kill a true work of art. Count Dracula and Count Orlok have been joined at the hip in the century since, receiving film adaptations from luminaries such as Tod Browning ( Dracula , 1931), Werner Herzog ( Nosferatu the Vampyre , 1979), and Francis Ford Coppola ( Bram Stoker's Dracula , 1992). Writer/director Robert Eggers combines all of those productions into his remake/readaptation, crafting what could/should become not just the definitive text for this specific story, but for all stories within the subgenre of vampirism. A literal deal with the devil is made in the film's cold opening. Both out of fear and desire, our young heroine, Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), beckons for a spirit to come to her. The silhouette of the creature projects through the billowing curtain of her bedroom, leading her to the lawn for a violent sexual encounter. Years pass, with nary a word spoken to anyone about what she experienced that night. Every day seems to be a dream, and every night contains a violently vivid nightmare. Those episodes, as well as her curse of foresight, are labeled as "melancholy" and "woman's sickness" by the male doctors in her German town. Her fiancé Thomas (Nicholas Hoult) is blankly compassionate, yet emotionally oblivious to her situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nulvWqYUM8k The character of Ellen is given more agency in Eggers' adaptation, something that Depp accepts with ease. She has the figure of a porcelain doll, perpetually in a state of cracking from the pressure that the demon exerts on her. And when she does finally break, it's into a million pieces, her body contorting, blood pouring out of her eyes and mouth, and vocal inflections taking on a sinister tone. Between the likes of Demi Moore, Naomi Scott, and Cailee Spaeny, the bar for horror performances has been continually raised throughout the year. But Depp has crashed the party and surpassed all of them in a turn that should finally shut the doubters up. Until that climax, Ellen is the voice of reason in a sea of "respectable" men all ready to stick up their noses and tell her to know her place. None of them sees the darkness that is swallowing them whole, that is, until it's right in front of them in the grotesque form that is Bill Skarsgård's Count Orlok. This vampire doesn't seduce with his looks, his skin a sickly grey, and fingers sharp as claws. His deep voice bellows throughout the auditorium, and his heavy Eastern European accent illustrates his century-spanning life. Thanks to his job as a real estate clerk requiring him to travel to Transylvania and meet the count, Thomas is the first of the men to realize what's really at stake. You can almost hear (and definitely feel) the ear-to-ear grin Eggers wore throughout the filming of these initial meeting scenes. The enthusiasm he has in recreating such iconic movie moments is infectious, the top-tier craftsmanship making sure the effort can't be simply excused as a pale imitation. Cinematographer Jarin Blashke, DP on all of Eggers' films, paints every frame in expressionistic shadows, instilling a ghoulish atmosphere that immediately communicates that no heart beats for too long in this place. The frequent lighting from a background fireplace means that much of the foreground is dimly lit, keeping the facts that would ease our fearfully wandering minds just out of reach. That level of authenticity to the production also extends to Eggers' take on this story, which is more deeply rooted in the mythology of vampirism rather than the Hollywood lore we've become accustomed to. The village buried deep in the woods below Orlok's castle regularly performs rituals and sacrifices to ward off the beast. Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz (Willem Dafoe, appearing in his third film for Eggers) is the expert on the situation back in Germany, although his methods are a bit unorthodox. Apart from those eccentricities, this is a very familiar story, with Eggers making no alterations to the story beats. One could wish that he had been a little more liberal with the details, treating them more as a jumping-off point rather than scripture. Then again, his unwavering devotion reminds us of the power that the classics still possess. How can you be mad at the chef when he makes the best possible version of a well-worn recipe? Focus Features will release Nosferatu in theaters nationwide on December 25th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Creator September 27, 2023 By: Button Hunter Friesen The Creator is the return of original science fiction on the big screen… but only if you’ve never seen a Star Wars film, Blade Runner, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Avatar, or A.I. Artificial Intelligence . Honestly, it wouldn’t be a shocking revelation to learn that The Creator was spawned from an early draft for director Gareth Edwards’ follow-up to his Star Wars entry Rogue One . It’s a disappointing fact given the hard road Edwards has been on since that 2016 galactic actioner, but it’s also not enough to derail this epic film, which offers enough doses of spectacle to keep it steady. “It’s not real, just programming” is a line said multiple times by Joshua (John David Washington). He’s part of the population that doesn’t see anything human inside the A.I. citizens within 2065 society. But there are others, most of them in Asia, that see these androids as the next step in evolution. Any robot that wears a hood to cover up the holes where its ears should be is indistinguishable from any meat-based lifeform. This difference in ideology reached a tipping point when a nuclear bomb was detonated in Los Angeles, an event the United States government blamed on the A.I. War soon broke out, with many of the androids fleeing to the refuge of New Asia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex3C1-5Dhb8 Joshua is part of a task force to find and terminate the A.I. leader, who has reportedly built a weapon great enough to destroy NOMAD, the American space station that fires a giant laser down on the planet (sound familiar?). But this weapon is not a thing; it’s a robot child that can control electronics with her mind. Joshua may disregard robot life, but he’s not monstrous enough to kill a child, which makes him a fugitive to his CO (Allison Janney) and the rest of the human military. If the plot summary of “grizzled man begrudgingly escorts kid who is special but slowly grows attached to them and has a change of heart” sounds familiar to you then that means you’ve watched/played any combination of Logan, The Mandalorian, The Last of Us, God of War , or The Witcher over the past few years. The Lone Wolf and Cub trope is barebones here as Joshua and Alfie (the name given to the child) don’t share a strong enough connection throughout much of their journey. Washington and newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles are delightful actors, but Edwards and co-writer Chris Weitz offer little camaraderie outside of poorly placed jokes and overly sentimental exchanges about what it means to be human. There’s also little introspection given to the subject of human vs. artificial intelligence. All the robots are noble and peaceful, and all humans are violent and selfish. The Vietnam War parallels aren’t subtle, only this time “Fortunate Son” has been replaced by “Everything In Its Right Place.” There isn’t much room for debate or fully compelling characters when everything is binary. Edwards remains an extreme talent as a director, crafting set pieces that incite realistic terror and spectacle within extraordinary events. He’s assembled much of the Dune team, including cinematographer Greig Fraser, editor Joe Walker, and composer Hans Zimmer, each of them adding gravitas to this vision of our future. The widescreen imagery is impressively grand, begging to be projected on the biggest IMAX screen possible. The fact that this only cost $80 million unofficially confirms that many Hollywood tentpoles that cost three times as much are money laundering schemes. The Creator is always on the verge of being a good movie, but just can’t ever string together the consistency needed to leap. One thing is certain: we can’t afford to let Edwards slip away into hibernation again. Somewhere out there is a killer script that needs a visionary captain. And when that time comes, blockbuster filmmaking will be forever changed for the better. 20th Century Studios will release The Creator in theaters nationwide on September 29th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Wake Up Dead Man September 7, 2025 By: Button Hunter Friesen Everything comes in threes for the Knives Out films. Three entries, three years between each of them, three central murders to solve, and three identical births on the first Saturday of the Toronto International Film Festival at the Princess of Wales theatre. It’s like clockwork, with writer/director Rian Johnson continually proving his dominance over a genre filled with so many imitators. But Johnson doesn’t think of his work in the shape of a clock. “The film should be a rollercoaster, not a crossword puzzle,” he said during the Q&A for Wake Up Dead Man , the currently announced final film in the series. It’s a strategy he’s only made tougher for himself with each successive film, the audience getting increasingly better trained at sniffing out each twist, striking out the red herrings, and picking up on the tiniest of clues. Every noun has importance, every opinion has a second side, and every innocent act has a much darker meaning lurking underneath. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hc8yz5-d5Y Wake Up Dead Man finds itself embracing the darkness, combining the trademark characteristics of Agatha Christie with the work of Edgar Allan Poe. After a COVID-19-imposed detour to a private Greek island in Glass Onion , the series returns to America, specifically upstate New York. “Young, dumb, and full of Christ,” preacher Jud Duplentis (Josh O’Connor) has been shipped there to revitalize a flailing parish under the dogmatic eye of Msgr. Jefferson Micks (Josh Brolin). Years of messages full of fire and brimstone, along with general antagonistic behavior, have transformed his ornate house of worship into a hollow Gothic tomb. The only members left in the congregation are those who are ceaselessly devoted to Wicks and his teachings: administrator Martha (Glenn Close), groundskeeper Samson (Thomas Haden Church), town doctor Nat (Jeremy Renner), redpilled author Lee (Andrew Scott), the sickly former cellist Simone (Cailee Spaeny), lawyer Vera (Kerry Washington), and her forcibly adopted son Cy (Daryl McCormack). As you assumed, one of these characters is murdered, and the fingers are all pointing at Jud, thanks to his differing views on the role of the church and his violent past, which includes killing one of his opponents in the boxing ring. And as you also assumed, the Kentucky Fried Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is here to uncover the real culprit and explain this seemingly impossible mystery. O’Connor is ostensibly the film’s lead, taking an ever larger role as the audience’s guide than Ana de Armas and Janelle Monáe did in their respective films. He’s sad, funny, and conflicted, wanting to put down his fists and open up his arms to the world. But the world we currently live in is not equipped for such compassion, trading in gossip and rumor rather than a heart-to-heart conversation. This could be lightly defined as Johnson’s version of Eddington , taking down both sides of the aisle with the groan-worthy buzzwords (MAGA, DOGE, etc.) and the kind of fanaticism that only breeds hatred for anything that seems unfamiliar. But while Ari Aster specializes in pushing our faces closer to the ugly mirror, Johnson prefers that everything be kept light and fun. The snappy editing, coupled with the long zoom-ins and heightened images by regular DP Steve Yedlin, keeps the intrigue chugging along on this slightly elongated 144-minute track. The surrounding forest is besieged by fog, and the moon is blood red, and the eyes of the gargoyles are piercing down on each of the suspects. Craig falls deeper into his Foghorn Leghorn routine, upping his comedic prowess as the proudly rational detective must come face-to-face with the realization that all the clues point to this murder being a miracle. With so much time devoted to O’Connor, the rest of the herd of cats run loose a little more than before. I’d like to say who gets better served than others, but that would get us flirting with spoiler territory. While Johnson would prefer we don’t think of these films as a puzzle, it’s still endlessly entertaining to see him lay out all the pieces and then rearrange them. His delicate sleight of hand will have you exclaiming that you knew a certain thing would happen all along, or that you never would have guessed that in a million years. Either way, the game is afoot for (supposedly) one last time, and the board is full of saints and sinners. This review was originally published from the world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix will release Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery in select theaters on November 26th, followed by its streaming premiere on December 12th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

The Son September 12, 2022 By: Button Hunter Friesen Esteemed playwright Florian Zeller returns to the silver screen with his sophomore feature after the Oscar-winning success of The Father . An adaptation of his French stage play, The Son , sees Zeller return to the familiar ground of mental health and family anguish, only this time it centers on a depressed teenage boy instead of an elderly man with looming Alzheimer’s. And instead of dealing with this sensitive issue with poise and ingenuity, Zeller rubs our faces in it while screaming “THIS IS IMPORTANT!” for two ungodly hours. Hugh Jackman stars as Peter, a middle-aged father who seems to be reaching his peak. He and his second wife, Beth (Vanessa Kirby), have just welcomed their new child and are living in an upscale apartment in New York City. Peter is also a budding prospect to manage a major new political campaign, one that may take him to the next level. Knocking on Peter’s door one night is his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern), who explains that their son, seventeen-year-old Nicholas (Zen McGrath), hasn’t been to school in over a month. Kate can’t seem to reach him on an emotional level, so she pleads with Peter to have Nicholas move in with him. Being the dutiful father, Peter agrees in the hopes that a change of scenery will snap Nicholas out of whatever funk he’s in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJWRY4DzoAQ The actors are not well served here, with screenwriters Zeller and Christopher Hampton opting for an emotional sledgehammer rather than the precise scalpel they used for The Father . Zeller stressed beforehand to the press that teenage mental health issues are an ever-complicated topic that can’t be easily explained. Although it may be true, that’s an odd statement because the film itself does the exact opposite. The reasoning behind Nicholas’ depression comes across as superficial and shallow, with his parents’ recent divorce being the culprit. There is no gray area for introspection, which McGrath’s one-note performance does no favors in exploring. There’s also a literal Checkov’s gun moment, deflating any suspense on how the movie will end, which is wretchedly executed. Both Kirby and Dern get little to do besides sitting around talking about how worried they are about Nicholas. Kirby does well with what she’s given, offering an outsider’s opinion on Nicholas’ state and imploring Peter not to let himself get sucked down the rabbit hole. Jackman and Anthony Hopkins, who appears in a cameo as Peter’s unloving father, are the only actors to make it out of this mess unscathed. Jackman’s performance runs the whole emotional gamut. He runs laps around McGrath during moments of emotional outbursts and competently handles the subtle moments with Kirby. Hans Zimmer’s orchestral score, guaranteed to become one of his most underrated pieces of work, does much of the heavy lifting. And Simon Bowle’s production design, complete with sleek interiors and harsh exteriors, traps the characters within the ungodly situation they find themselves in. If only Zeller were able to harness their powers for good. Instead, all we’re left with is an infuriatingly preachy film that possibly does more harm than any other film this year. There’s a scene midway through The Son that exemplifies my experience watching the film. Peter and Beth are having a bonding moment as they recreate the dance routine they did when they first met each other at a party years ago. Nicholas walks in on them and can’t help but join in on the fun. The three dance goofily, enjoying each other’s company for the first time in forever. After a while, the camera begins to swirl, losing sight of Nicholas as it focuses on the married couple. It then pans to the left, hard needle dropping to the most clichéd emo song imaginable as Nicholas expressionlessly stares directly into the camera. All the goodwill built up to that moment is immediately lost forever, and all I’m left with is an infuriatingly preachy film that possibly does more harm than good. This review was originally published from the North American premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics will release The Son in select theaters on November 25th, followed by a nationwide expansion on January 20th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Toy Story 5 June 15, 2026 By: Button Hunter Friesen After an extremely lucrative and universally acclaimed fifteen-year run that fittingly ended the franchise in 2010 with Toy Story 3 , Pixar and Disney decided to resurrect the gang of toys once more nine years later with Toy Story 4 . At the time, it seemed like a decision spurred more by commerce than creativity, with a string of less-than-stellar films raising the need for a guaranteed hit. Nothing could be more guaranteed than Woody and Buzz, even though none of the belated sequels ( Monsters University, Finding Dory, Cars 3 ) to their company-defining originals had lived up to expectations. Luckily, it worked wonderfully, with its story of growing up and finding a new purpose in life aligning perfectly with the audience who have aged with these films. Now, another seven years later, a new sequel emerges in the simply titled Toy Story 5 . A fourth entry was risky, but the bet paid off. Doubling down again just seems foolhardy. And yet, this one works even better than the last one, and could/should be in conversation in terms of quality with the rest of the series. Toy Story 2 is still my undisputed favorite, but you can’t go wrong with any of the initial three. It might not be something that they would like to be reminded of, but the kids who grew up watching the first Toy Story are likely now in their late twenties or early thirties. That means they’ve now reached the point in life where they start having kids of their own. However, kids today aren’t as interested in physical toys as previous generations. “The age of toys is over!” claims an abandoned one to Jessie (Joan Cusack), who’s still holding strong as Bonnie’s preferred method of playtime. Screens, specifically a tablet called Lilypad (Greta Lee), have invaded every home in the neighborhood. Friends are now made online, not on the playground or in someone’s yard like the old days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c51ND9Hdbw0 Co-writers/directors Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris (the former having directed or written the company’s biggest hits like Finding Nemo , WALL-E, and all previous entries in the Toy Story franchise) reach all ages within the audience. Taking a page out of Inside Out 2 ’s $1.6 billion box office gross playbook, feelings of anxiety and embarrassment emerge within Bonnie for the first time, unraveling her confidence and growth. Kids should be conflicted about their favorite color or flavor of ice cream, not where they rank on someone’s friend list in a mobile game. A whole generation has grown up too fast, robbed of the innocent pleasures of playing pretend games solely fueled by their imaginations. Supporting that notion is the use of an exaggerated, almost coloring-book art style for the sequences where Bonnie plays with the toys. The voice actors ham up their lines in self-parody, and there’s always a soap opera-level twist around the corner. For the parents in the audience, these sequences, apart from being laugh-out-loud hilarious, offer a reminder about the benefits of indulging your child’s creativity. All those silly, seemingly ludicrous moments where they make up stories should be cherished for their purity. It may just be a material item, most likely stemming from a merchandising line, but a toy can be anything a child wants it to be. Also for the parents is the appearance of Woody (Tom Hanks) sporting a bald spot, a midlife crisis fashion statement in the form of a poncho, and a bit of a gut. He’s been out rescuing toys that face neglect from kids who are gifted tablets. Eventually, Bonnie’s parents succumb to the pressure and buy one for her, which essentially pushes Jessie, Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of the cast one step closer to the donation bin. The central focus of this plot thread is Jessie, who went through a similar phase of abandonment decades earlier with her original owner. Once is heartbreaking, twice is enough to destroy one’s confidence in their ability to fulfill their intended purpose. Those voice actors might all be decades older (and a few have passed on), but none of them have lost a step. Aided by the stunning animation, they’re always able to get a laugh or cry out of us. Newly added to this cast is Conan O’Brien as Smarty Pants, a bulky potty training device seemingly from the mid-2000s. With its need for AA batteries and wired connections, his era of technology never posed a threat to physical toys. But for all their differences, both he and Jessie have been passed over by Lilypad. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, so the pair work together to bring Bonnie back to her former, happy self. On its face, Toy Story 5 is another sequel for Pixar, a growing trend where the milking of brands pays for the increasingly infrequent ventures into original storytelling. For as simultaneously cynical and accurate as that statement might be, it doesn’t consider the wealth of talent within the studio, both new and returning, that keep these materials fresh for worldwide audiences. You probably won’t find a better family film all year, or a franchise that consistently exceeds its already mighty expectations. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will release Toy Story 5 in theaters nationwide on June 19th. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 10 Films of 2020 February 18, 2021 By: Hunter Friesen For the past two years, I’ve led this article by saying how crummy the year has been. Well, 2020 doesn’t even deserve to be joked about as it was such a terrible year that I’m glad has passed, even though I don’t have much hope for 2021. Even with the pandemic shutting down theatres and several tentpole films being delayed indefinitely, there were still quite a few movies worth celebrating. In an effort to give praise to those that deserve it, here is my list of the ten best films of 2020. Honorable Mentions Possessor Tenet The Truth On the Rocks Let Them All Talk 10. Ammonite What can be considered dull to some is romantic to others. Set in 1840s England, writer/director Francis Lee tells the story of a forbidden lesbian romance between a lonely fossil hunter and a young woman burdened by a loveless marriage. Ammonite has all the tropes of the romantic drama genre, but none of its clichés. Lee avoids these traps by trusting his leads in Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, who are a winning combination as they give amazing performances with little dialogue. Everything comes from just a look or a glance, enough to describe a whole scene and carry a film. 9. One Night in Miami After many successful years in front of the camera, Regina King proves she’s just as skilled in the director’s chair. What could have been an overly stagey experience is turned into a fiery character drama featuring some of the most influential figures in history in Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke. Screenwriter Kemp Powers takes these four larger-than-life figures and brings them down to Earth and connects their lives to the present-day African-American experience. Special praise goes to the performances by British-born Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X and Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. as Cooke, as well as his contribution to the song “Speak Up." 8. The Prom The cinematic equivalent of a sugar rush, director Ryan Murphy assembled an all-star cast for his Netflix adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. The story of a lesbian teen who is denied the ability to tale her girlfriend to her conservative town’s prom is told exuberantly through flashy song & dance numbers. While it does have its cake and eat it too, the guilty pleasure that this film brings is in the wonderfully campy performances from its main troupe and its earworm-inducing tunes. 7. Wolfwalkers Hailing from Ireland, this fantasy adventure beat Pixar’s Soul to be the best-animated film of the year. Aspiring adventurer Robyn stars as our hero as she befriends a free-spirited “wolf walker” named Mebh, who has the power to become a wolf at night and defends the ever-shrinking forest. Beautifully animated in various styles and boasting a great lyrical soundtrack, Wolfwalkers also touches our minds with its authentic philosophical message about deforestation and the bridging of cultural differences. 6. The Nest Similar to the calculated and observational style of Stanley Kubrick and Yorgos Lanthimos, Sean Durkin’s newest feature is a drama/horror tale about the dangers of greed and ambition. Jude Law and Carrie Coon each give career-best performances as a couple that is forced to come to terms with their increasingly meaningless lives. With the gap between the haves and the have-nots becoming wider every day, this social critique is timely in the present and I suspect it will continue to be in the future. 5. First Cow First Cow is the most gentle “bro movie” out there. Writer/director Kelly Reichardt calmly guides us through this frontier-set story of friendship and opportunity. As unpredictable as it is gorgeous, Reichardt balances various genres as the film eventually spins itself into a heist film with high tension and stakes. Even with all these changing elements, Reichardt never loses the emotional connection with her characters. I’m still hoping Evie the Cow can get an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. 4. The Trial of the Chicago 7 The words “the whole world is watching!” still ring in my head even after six months since seeing Aaron Sorkin’s newest Netflix film. The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a nostalgic old-school courtroom drama bolstered by strong modern filmmaking and terrific performances from its cast. The timeliness and importance of its message make it a must-see as our nation faces a turbulent path of healing after a disastrous year. Full Review 3. Nomadland With Nomadland , writer/director/editor Chloé Zhao has crafted something special, something that pulls you in and never lets you go. Many times you catch yourself just basking in the imagery. The plains, the mountains, the natural landscapes. It doesn't feel like a movie, but a feeling that just carries you all the way through. With a lead terrific performance from the legendary Frances McDormand and a supporting turn from the reliable David Strathairn, Zhao combines so many complex things to create a true piece of art. 2. The Vast of Night Amazon’s The Vast of Night is a director's showcase for Andrew Patterson. With long takes and tracking shots that are near Cuarón level, Patterson fully immerses us in this 1950s-set small-town alien invasion mystery. Spookier than any conventional horror movie and brimming with an abundance of talent from its cast and crew, The Vast of Night is a startlingly well-made debut that will surely lead to fruitful careers for all those involved. 1. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Written and directed by indie-darling Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an authentic and upsetting coming-of-age story. Taking place over a trip to New York City to abort an unwanted pregnancy, Hittman did an impeccable job of exuding sympathy and connecting me to a process I am biologically unable to relate to. The title of the film comes full circle near the end in a scene that left me with no dry eyes. Newcomer Sydney Flanigan is a star in the making with her lead performance. Her career will be one to watch. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen

Top 50 Films of the 2020s February 23, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen With the 2020s heading into their second half, it’s time we take a temperature check on this decade in film. In only a few short years, the landscape of the movie industry has been forever transformed by a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing margins, increased competition from other forms of entertainment, and the inevitable threat of artificial intelligence. Still, through it all, many films have pushed past the struggle and defined our times. That last word, “time,” is the most important factor for my rankings. Time allows for reflection, with a film staying with you long past its initial two hours. Many films are on this list because of that, surging past contenders that were ranked higher in their original year of release. Of course, that puts 2025 films at a disadvantage, requiring them to make a more immediate impact. Then again, the films of 2020 and 2021 had to face their own set of logical nightmares. When I double this list at the end of the decade, I’m sure it will be completely different. Nickel Boys Every once in a while, a film comes along that breaks your preconceptions about how a story can be told. While video games and virtual reality have brought the first-person perspective to televisions for years, it's still a relative stranger to the silver screen. Ramell Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel folds the layers of time on top of each other, trapping us in a series of undefinable dreams and nightmares, each one crashing into the other without warning. There's a newfound sense of discovery in Nickel Boys as we witness the good and the bad through the eyes of protagonists Elwood and Turner. Their experiences create the dots that we connect through our history and understanding of the time period. We only remember bits and pieces of our past, but the feelings are carried with us to the end of time. This was one of the most important films of the year, both in terms of the substance it carries over from the pages of its source material and in how it elicits your emotional response to it. Napoleon With his vast historical drama background that includes the likes of The Duellists, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and The Last Duel , director Ridley Scott knows a thing or two about setting the stage for global conflicts. Even at the age of 85, he’s never taken a moment to slow down, crafting projects that seem to only get bigger the older he gets. Scott paints a wide canvas for each of the climactic battle scenes. It’s as close to a replica as one could get to the work of director Sergei Bondarchuk in the Soviet version of War and Peace, where literally thousands of extras marched across plains as hundreds of cannons engulfed them in carnage. The world still properly bemoans what could have been had Stanley Kubrick been allowed to make his Napoleon biopic. There are surely semblances of it in Scott’s Napoleon , which continues his string of blockbusters propelled by smart filmmaking and collaborative artistry. It’s timely and timeless in its craft and examination of history, ready to raise the bar just that much higher for later entries in the genre. The Tragedy of Macbeth From bloody beginning to bloody conclusion, Joel Coen's adaptation of The Scottish Play holds you in its talons with its impressive mood and visuals. Shot in stark black-and-white on a soundstage, the film had an otherworldly quality to it, which adds to the overall theatricality. Jump to any time stamp, and you will have yourself a new desktop wallpaper. As expected, Denzel Washington was utterly captivating as a man so ready to jump off the deep end, yet so unequipped to wade into those waters. His only hope for survival is through deceit and bloodshed, a plight that seemingly encapsulates the human experience once a modicum of power enters anyone's eyesight. Judas and the Black Messiah Directed and co-written by Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah meets both criteria of a biopic, which is to be entertaining and informative beyond the top-layer Wikipedia facts. We learn about Fred Hampton through William O’Neal as he ascends from the bottom to the top within the Black Panther Party. Daniel Kaluuya elevated his game even further as he channels both the powerfulness Hampton carried in public and the tenderness he had in private. LaKeith Stanfield rises close with a twitchy and layered performance that was nothing short of a career-best. King carries his film with great energy from beginning to end. Expertly filmed action is interspersed throughout, as well as sharply edited speeches that contain more action than the actual shootouts. He delivers an utterly spine-chilling and infuriating ending that properly uses the usual clichéd element of the postscript. Mank Mank is an out-and-out technical masterpiece from start to finish. Filmed in dreamy black-and-white, scored with period-accurate instruments, and recorded with the finest sound equipment 1930 could buy, David Fincher's COVID-released film was his version of a love letter to old-school Hollywood. The film talks the talk as much as it walks the walk, with a complex script that investigates the backrooms of power and manipulation that have perpetually conjoined Hollywood and politics at the hip. Gary Oldman's titular screenwriter is our court jester guide, with Amanda Seyfried along for the ride as famed actress Marion Davies. It may not be Citizen Kane for the modern age, but it's a richly layered of how such a masterpiece was able to sprout out of so much commotion. Dune: Part Two Although I was extremely disappointed by the first part of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the iconic sci-fi novel, the concluding chapter more than lived up to expectations. This was no longer a desert of humanity, but an oasis of philosophy and hard-earned emotion. Every moment, from the biggest of set pieces to the smallest of character moments, is given an incredible amount of weight and importance. The dialogue is just as action-packed as the action itself, with the introduction of a deeper roster of characters building to that feeling of grandiosity. For all its meditative qualities, there are still several moments for Villeneuve to show off his brawn as a filmmaker. Chaos is often met with chaos as the action is more bombastic this time around, with rockets, lasers, and tips of knives being readily exchanged. Just as he did with Blade Runner 2049 , Denis Villeneuve accomplished what has long been thought to be impossible with Dune: Part Two . Fear is the mind-killer to all those on Arrakis. But there is no fear for those of us on Earth, as one of the best films of the science fiction genre was bestowed upon us. The Worst Person in the World The Worst Person in the World packs a richly emotional story fitting to its hyperbolic title. Through a killer soundtrack and a spotlight performance from Renate Reinsve, director Joachim Trier and his dependable co-writer Eskil Vogt were able to balance tone and time to deliver something that rises way above the sum of its individual pieces. It’s a perfect piece for anyone dealing with the crisis of not knowing where they are in life. The Boy and the Heron Hayao Miyazaki's (supposedly) final film allowed him to explore rather mature themes, offering lessons on life applicable to all ages. The boy’s fantastical journey, slightly similar to Chihiro’s from Spirited Away , is full of danger and intrigue at every turn. Animation is a medium that allows for endless possibilities, and Miyazaki is a filmmaker who pushes it to its limits. The question I always want to ask during a film is “What’s going to happen next?” So many movies don’t incite enough wonder for that question, nor do their answers provide the necessary satisfaction. The Boy and the Heron made me ask that question out loud more times than I can count, and each answer was filled with more passion than I could have hoped for. There are animated films for children, and there are animated films for adults. This is an animated film for everyone, and the world is a much better place because of it. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, figures in animation history has provided us with his swan song, and now it’s time for us to continue his legacy with the pieces left behind. Asteroid City Sure, there may now be umpteen TikTok and AI-generated videos replicating Wes Anderson’s distinct style. But all of them contain just the window dressing of a Wes Anderson movie, and not the emotion. Just as his box of tricks has constantly evolved, so has Anderson’s ability to find the heart in his richly defined characters. While on their methodically placed tracks, each character veers off in different directions, exploring the fear of death, finding connections in a barren land, cutting through the messiness of life, and paying homage to those kitschy B-movies you grew up watching late at night on the public access channel. The term “this is the most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever made” has been used to describe nearly every new entry in his filmography. That cycle didn't stop with Asteroid City , as the traits you’ve come to love (or hate) are all here: symmetrical framing, varying aspect ratios, color and black & white cinematography, and steady camera movements. Anderson’s usual designer, Adam Stockhausen, once again creates a doll-house world filled with too many sights and sounds to be absorbed in one viewing. The Father A triumphant directorial debut by Florian Zeller, The Father puts us within the deteriorating mental state of the main character, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins). Conversations are repeated several times from different perspectives, adding another layer to the complex task of discerning fact from fiction. Anthony’s physical surroundings seem to be rearranging at impossible speeds, and the chronology of events is becoming increasingly muddled. It’s like watching a balloon being inflated and waiting for it to pop, yet it never does as your anxiety keeps building. With a nearly sixty-year career in the rearview, Hopkins’ performance here may be his very best. He is charismatic, fierce, and vulnerable, sometimes all at the same time. The subject matter may hit too close to home for some viewers or be an introduction for others. No matter your familiarity, the film’s take on dementia and the toll it places on everyone involved is so incredibly well done that it demands to be seen. The Taste of Things There’s little drama or stakes within The Taste of Things , which is one of its best features. There are plenty of movies ( Burnt ) and television shows ( The Bear ) that showcase the anxiety-inducing high-wire act that cooking can be. There is great skill under pressure here, but writer/director Tran Anh Hung is more interested in the slowly drawn method and how it all comes together when you are comfortable in your element. Time seems to stand still, your body and mind totally connected as one. It’s like a conductor guiding a symphony, every note being hit perfectly with reassuring calmness. There continues to be a need for stories that reflect the increasing bleakness of this world. But that means there’s more room for projects that remind us of the beauty in the timeless things we all experience and often take for granted. The Taste of Things is one of those films, as it illustrates both the simplicity and complexity of sustaining ourselves through food. Just make sure to plan your meals carefully before and after seeing it. You owe your stomach (and other senses) that much. Nitram Making a biopic about a country’s worst human offender brings with it a lot of trap doors. Director Justin Kurzel avoids those as he approaches the story of Tasmanian native Martin Bryant, who killed 36 people at Port Arthur in 1996, with a matter-of-fact style that lets the actors and simple camerawork tell the story. There is not a singular grand answer to why this happened and how it could have been stopped, simply because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all response. All we can do is look back on what happened and see what can be done for the future, which Kurzel doesn’t seem to have much hope for, as his postscript explains how the gun laws enacted as a result of Bryant’s actions have not been properly enforced, opening the possibility of this happening again. American Caleb Landry Jones plays the titular character with brilliance, showcasing how far someone can go down the rabbit hole. In his first major leading role, he knocked it out of the park, producing the fear one gets from a horror movie villain while still bringing enough authenticity to fit the film’s grounded tone. While my body hated the experience of watching Nitram because of the stiff muscles I was left with due to the intensity, my mind was left with a better understanding of this dark chapter in human history. Train Dreams Impressionistically swaying between the past, present, and future, director Clint Bentley captures the life of Robert Grainier, a humble lumberjack who lived and died in the Pacific Northwest throughout the early to mid-20th century. His existence is a drop in the ocean of time, with exponential growth in technology pushing the world past the point of recognition. Years go by in the blink of an eye, yet we understand what took place between then and now. Like life itself, Train Dreams is a film that often sneaks up on you in its profundity. It may take days or weeks for you to realize just how much one image or piece of sound has stuck with you, offering a new outlook on the existence we carve out for ourselves. The Substance If there’s one thing writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s sophomore feature hates more than attached limbs and unspilled blood, it’s subtlety. The obsessive and borderline inhumane treatment Hollywood (and the public at large) has towards aging actresses is material that’s been mined several times before. Fargeat understands this and the assignment in front of her. If you’re not going to be first or the most insightful, then you might as well make damn sure you’re going to be the most audaciously unforgettable. The only thing bolder than the production is Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley’s dual performances as Elizabeth/Sue, later to become Monstro Elisasue. Moore maintains a headstrong presence even as things get increasingly deranged, fully trusting in Fargeat’s vision. Qualley balances her physical schoolgirl perfectionism with her demented inner self as Elizabeth tries to maintain control of the situation. With Julia Ducournau and Fargeat rising through the ranks of international cinema, the no-holds-barred corner that they occupy is looking like a mighty fine place to camp out for a while. The Batman At its core, The Batman is not much of a Batman movie, and that’s what makes it so great. Director Matt Reeves took all the familiar superhero trappings and gave them a fresh new look, finding inspiration from the grungy films of David Fincher. There’s a restless edge to his version of Batman, something that's been eating away at the character’s soul after years of sleepless nights. The Riddler may as well be the Zodiac killer, as Paul Dano’s performance channels the character’s brilliance and insanity. The tension he builds is unparalleled and makes you feel that you're witnessing someone who’s truly gone off the deep end. In those sleepless nights, DP Greig Fraser crafts some immaculate imagery. Silhouettes and shadows haunt the dark city streets, with the neon lights drenched in rain providing stark contrast. This is not just one of the best-looking comic-book movies; it’s one of the best-looking movies ever. Enys Men Enys Men is the kind of film you stumble upon late at night as a kid on a public access channel while you are staying over at your grandparents’ old summer house. That description may be too ultra-specific for most people to relate to, but watching this movie lovingly took me back to those youthful nights when you had no idea what you were watching and if it was any good, but you couldn’t help but be endlessly transfixed by it. Unsettling imagery and sounds slowly burn into your memory. There’s nothing purely horrifying about the hallucinations and strange events that fall upon our main character. Still, there is a heavy amount of discomfort and dread that they instill, keeping you in fearful excitement of what’s coming next. Just as he did with his 2019 debut feature Bait , Jenkin goes ultra-low tech by shooting on scratchy 16mm and recording all sound in post-production. It’s as if this were a lost film that had just been unearthed on an abandoned island, rotting away for years until being saved at the last minute. Sentimental Value You will not find a more emotionally intelligent film than Sentimental Value . Writer/director Jocahim Trier's follow-up to his decade-defining film The Worst Person in the World (also placed on this list) produces each tear, gasp, and laugh at exactly the right moment. Yet, it's never manipulative, always proudly wearing its heart on its sleeve. By the time the credits start rolling, you’ll have been on a journey with not just these characters, but also with yourself. And without making a single direct piece of commentary, Sentimental Value may be the best case study on why AI can't be the driving force of a film. Despite all of her good intentions and training, movie star Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) wasn't the right person for the part in Gustav's (Stellan Skarsgård) film because she hadn't experienced the emotions that the role entails. The same logic applies to Trier and his film, as something this rich could only be created by someone who has experienced the agony and ecstasy of life. The Fabelmans Through the opening scene of The Fabelmans , we get a thesis statement on Steven Spielberg’s approach to filmmaking. He’s a born storyteller, pouring his mother’s heart into every frame. And he’s also a master craftsman, leaning on his father’s engineering mindset to construct fantastic sequences that defy belief. The further the film progresses, the more the thesis becomes clear. We learn how one man could be attracted to making movies about a killer shark, a world-traveling archeologist, friendly and unfriendly aliens, the Holocaust, American presidents, World War II, and even modern-day dinosaurs. The Fabelmans is a collection of Spielberg's greatest hits, all delivered to their greatest effect. There’s laughter, tears, and wonder in this story that is much more than the sum of its parts. Gabriel LaBelle began his streak of greatness here, ensuring that this specific story contains a universal message about understanding your parents and finding your place in the world. Aftersun Aftersun is devastatingly powerful in the moment and long after. In comparison to standard films, it has no plot, no stakes, and no drama. It's all emotion, with wonderful direction by Charlotte Wells in her feature directorial debut. "Under Pressure" is recontextualized through her immense vision, which lies outside of the normal filmmaking grammar. Paul Mescal received one of the most pleasant, unexpected Oscar nominations for his powerful lead performance, and Frankie Corio displayed a depth of maturity beyond her years. This seemed destined to be a perennial entry in every "Best A24 Films You Haven't Seen" article, but I think the cult of appreciation has continued to grow exponentially in the years since. The Vast of Night The Vast of Night was a director's showcase for Andrew Patterson. With long takes and tracking shots that are near Cuarón's level, Patterson fully immerses us in this 1950s-set small-town alien invasion mystery. Spookier than any conventional horror movie and brimming with an abundance of talent from its cast and crew, it was a startlingly well-made debut that will surely lead to fruitful careers for all those involved. Never Rarely Sometimes Always Written and directed by indie darling Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is an authentic and upsetting coming-of-age story. Taking place over a trip to New York City to abort an unwanted pregnancy, Hittman did an impeccable job of exuding sympathy and connecting me to a process I am biologically unable to relate to. The title of the film comes full circle near the end in a scene that left me with no dry eyes. Annette From the visionary minds of The Sparks Brothers and director Leos Carax comes a rock musical of pure boldness. Stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard grab onto that boldness and run with it. creating several musical numbers that need to be seen to be believed, such as a puppet baby being the halftime performance at the Super Bowl. With Carax’s output being so irregular, each of his features is something to treasure, especially when they’re this good. “We Love Each Other So Much” is the recurring rendition throughout the film, a saying that illustrates the relationship this film and I share. Origin At times both a narrative feature film and a long-form visual essay, Ava DuVernay's film is the closest anyone has come to blending entertainment and academia. Her sprawling epic adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed novel investigates the ideology of racism in America. The connection between it and social caste systems throughout history sprawls across locations throughout Germany, India, and the United States. Each of them is blended for a story that spans time into a series of repeating lessons that humanity was unable to realize and learn from. DuVernay's formally ambitious direction is what made this patchwork of theories so compelling. It asked big questions, with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor capitalizing in her first solo lead performance. The film was unfairly handicapped during its initial release, and I think time will become its greatest asset. Evil Does Not Exist Drive My Car made writer/director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi an arthouse superstar. Made nearly in secret, his follow-up feature became his most outspoken work on the plights of contemporary society. The tranquility of a Japanese village is being threatened by the introduction of a “glamping” (glamorous + camping) site proposed by a talent agency. The site would negatively impact much of the environment around it, with many of the village residents’ livelihoods being forever altered. Despite being clear in his message, Hamaguchi never eviscerates the villains of this story. The extremely slow cinema approach will test the patience of many expecting a return to the leanness of Drive My Car . Those who embrace the molasses will find themselves powerfully transported, a task that becomes much simpler with the aid of Eiko Ishibashi’s magnificent score. West Side Story Leave it to Steven Spielberg to make his first outing into the musical genre, one that completely crushes the competition. The camera swoons and cranes in extended takes, capturing the incredibly choreographed dance numbers conceived by famed ballet dancer and director Justin Peck. The narrative about the immigrant experience has been made more profound, with the Spanish dialogue - accounting for nearly one-third of the total spoken lines - going unsubtitled in a move that Spielberg and Kushner described as an effort to respect the language. Perfectly melding the work of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim with the newfound talents of Ariana DeBose, Mike Faist, and Rachel Zegler, the new West Side Story made the case for why some remakes should be allowed to happen. Because sometimes, they can meet or surpass the original, such as how this one does by bringing classic cinema into the modern world. Monster Hirokazu Kore-eda brought Rashomon into the modern age with Monster , a movie that was both more gentle and deadly than its title implies. For the first time in his career, the revered Japanese auteur didn't write the script, deferring that duty to Yûji Sakamoto. Kore-eda crafts an endearing story about differing perspectives and the misconceptions we surround ourselves with. Ryuichi Sakamoto's posthumous score is mostly comprised of previous compositions, as he was unable to create a full body due to his terminal cancer. However, he did contribute two new piano pieces, both mournful and warm. Decision to Leave Phantom Thread meets Vertigo in Park Chan-wook’s deliciously twisted Decision to Leave . For many directors, that combination would come together as well as oil and water. But for the famed South Korean auteur, whose previous works of Oldboy and The Handmaiden have exemplified his unparalleled ability to combine the traditional with the gonzo, it’s a heavenly pair that you immediately want more of. Much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s film, the characters within Decision to Leave can’t be tied down with simple explanations. Manipulation and intrigue are the names of the game, with the unspoken sexual tension tinging the edges of every scene. As the playfully dangerous duo, Park Hae-il and Tang Wei are more than up to the task, with their unmatched chemistry doing wonders for the film’s emotional themes. Resurrection As beautiful as it is incomprehensible, Bi Gan’s magnum opus operates on a different plane of logic. In a future where humanity has lost the capacity to dream, a woman enters the six different dreams of a monster, representing one of the five senses and the mind. Each dream illustrates a piece of 20th-century Chinese and cinematic history, told in the style of the time. The opening segment is reminiscent of silent German expressionistic monster movies, while the final chapter is captured in a single long take, telling the story of a vampiric romance on the last night of the millennium. How these puzzle pieces logically coalesce is nearly impossible to understand. But to focus on the science of dreams is the wrong way to experience them, as their unexplained majesty is what lures us into a deep sleep each night. A Complete Unknown What Mozart is to classical music in Amadeus , Dylan is to folk music in A Complete Unknown . Co-writer/director James Mangold learned a thing or two about the musician biopic subgenre since his first foray with Walk the Line . He trusted his audience a little more and painted around his protagonists just as much as he does within the lines. Those brushstrokes are big and broad, creating a rich experience that soothes our eyes and ears. The constant pouring of musical genius from Dylan lends itself to nearly fifty music sequences, all of them featuring star Timothée Chalamet's vocals and hands on the guitar. Mangold never lets us forget that fact, keeping his camera steady on the target and the editing to a minimum. It allows the performances to breathe, matching the more mellow wavelength that folk songs operate on. In a time where more than one of these ventures down the Wikipedia page landed with a sour note, there's a comforting feeling to seeing the old reliable go off without a hitch. The Girl with the Needle An ultra-grim fairy tale comes to life in writer/director Magnus von Horn’s loose retelling of Denmark’s most heinous and prolific serial killer. The depressing gloom of post-WWI Copenhagen is lensed in claustrophobic black-and-white, and the dread drip-fed through abstract visuals and a deeply haunting score. Vic Carmen Stone and Trine Dyrholm are standouts in their lead roles, guiding not just through this literal story, but also the universal lesson of the nightmares women have endured throughout history. The Last Duel Bolstered by spectacle and substance, The Last Duel is one of Ridley Scott’s finest films. It’s one of the few blockbusters of the modern age to be propelled by collaborative artistry, rather than preconceived properties and overblown budgets. Broken up into three chapters, the film follows the unique perspectives of the central individuals as it tracks the events that led to the titular duel. This Rashomon -inspired structure is where Scott, along with screenwriters Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Nicole Holofcener, show off their brilliance. The greatness of the film’s structure is that it creates a puzzle where the pieces are constantly shifting in size and placement. Even a simple act, such as a handshake, is seen from three angles, each eliciting a different response. It’s fascinating to watch as the web of lies and truth becomes increasingly difficult to parse, with Scott supplying the necessary inertia to keep the film moving at a great pace. And the final duel more than lives up to expectations, especially when compared to the high bar Scott has set for himself within his filmography. There have been only a handful of final battles that weren’t already decided by the plot before they begin, and this is one of them. There’s an exciting amount of tension as the knight's exchange blows in agonizing brutality. Frankenstein Guillermo del Toro, the filmmaker most in love with monsters, finally got the chance to adapt the story of the most famous one of all. Mary Shelley and, by extension, del Toro, share great sympathy for The Creature, his plight being a reflection of humanity's cruel backwardness. Already a star in the making, Jacob Elordi cemented himself as one of his generation's best actors with a performance that instilled enormous emotional depth beyond just the pounds of makeup and effects. Surrounding him and the rest of the cast are sumptuous sets and costumes, with del Toro's roaming camera soaking up each pristine detail. With a lifespan recently crossing over into two centuries, Shelley’s Frankenstein has long suffered the plague of becoming a copy of a copy of a copy. Endless adaptations and inspirations have taken only the elements that are deemed the most commercially muscular, leaving out the heart and mind. Del Toro has picked up those discarded pieces and made it whole again, reminding us why stories like these have and will withstand the test of time. The End Even in the darkest depths of the Earth at the end of humanity, you can still find a reason to sing and dance. Co-writer/director Joshua Oppenheimer, famed for his one-two documentary punch of The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence , makes sure his fiction feature debut is as bold and audacious as one would expect. The Golden Age influences of Jacques Demy and Vincent Minnelli supply the bravura; the cast's confidence is more important than their physical abilities. The joys and guilt of still being alive merge through the dozen-ish musical numbers, all of them allowing the characters to momentarily express the deep feelings they perpetually repress. The End could have so easily been an “eat the rich” satire in the same vein as Triangle of Sadness . There are several opportunities where Oppenheimer could have taken a cheap shot at these characters, putting them through the wringer while having us point and laugh at them. This is an absurdist concept with humorous moments, but it’s also so deftly sincere that you can’t simply excuse it. These are rich characters, both emotionally and financially, with their inner delusions offering a complex lesson on how we handle the horrors that are right in front of us. Broker As is tradition within his impeccable filmography, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker tells a touching story about families forming in the most unlikely of circumstances. A baby has been left in a deposit box used by mothers who can’t, or won’t, keep their babies. Two of the employees at the facility, Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho) and Dong-soo (Gang Dong-won), have formed a partnership to circumvent the rules of the establishment by taking the babies into their protection and selling them under the table to needy couples. Purely based on this introductory premise, Kore-eda has laid a field filled with moral quandaries. Is it right to break the law and sell a child if it means they will potentially have a better life? Who is worse, the mother who disposes of the baby, or the people who sell the child? Who’s responsible for the child once the mother has disowned them? Similar to his magnum opus, Shoplifters , Kore-eda makes plenty of time to instill lessons on how we don’t often get to choose the family we have. A direct reference to Paul Thomas Anderson’s mosaic, Magnolia , reminds us how the best-laid plans never truly turn out the way we envision. Even though each character may have their agenda behind the act, their shared journey is what binds them together. Blonde Is this film's placement near the top of this list meant to provoke a reaction? Perhaps. But it's that exact spirit that makes Blonde so memorable, a hard-edged rebuke of the sanitized biopics we've increasingly been served. They're merely brand extensions, with more loyalty to the central figure than the creatives telling the story. Andrew Dominik's only loyalty is to himself as an artist. Facts can be found on Wikipedia, but the emotional truth can only be found on the silver screen. It's a nightmarish and surreal experience that highlights the beautiful tragedy that was the life of Norma Jeane, channeled through a spectacular performance by Ana de Armas. Marty Supreme Marty Supreme is as exhausting as it is exhilarating, the kind of movie where you let out a huge sigh of relief once you leave the theater. With this film added to his oeuvre of Good Time and Uncut Gems , director Josh Safdie became a master of depicting addiction, the agony and ecstasy of gambling everything for the chance to win anything. Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Mauser is the John McEnroe of table tennis, his mouth moving as fast as his backhand volleys. Lucky for him, his money is where his mouth is. The kineticism and composure he displays during those scenes of athleticism are thrilling to watch. The thing I wanted most of all from this film was for it to never end. The two and a half hours both do and don’t fly by. You feel every minute of it, yet I was never thinking about when this would be over. It’s what I love about long movies, as there’s a certain amount of belief and ambition a filmmaker must have in themselves to warrant trapping an audience for that long. An even more extended runtime would probably put people in the hospital from stress/anxiety. Still, it would have been well worth it for those who survived. Killers of the Flower Moon What is surprising about a blockbuster like Killers of the Flower Moon is Martin Scorsese’s ability to bring in the qualities of his lesser-known films, which is the capacity to take a step back and observe a culture. There’s a delicate balance between getting in the thick of the action and letting it wash over from a distance. For every street race and moment of shocking violence, there’s a chance to witness a piece of this land and its people. There are key moments where an Osage wedding or ceremonial tradition is recreated, shedding light on what’s ultimately at stake. Excess is the name of the game within Scorsese’s filmography, and Killers of the Flower Moon has that in spades. But it’s not the flashy kind of excess that we’re used to seeing; it’s an excess that overwhelms your soul just as much as your senses. As the debate over what is and isn’t cinema rages on (and I pray to God it ends soon), let this be a clear illustration of what it can be: something powerful enough to enrapture you in the present and pleasantly linger with you long into the future. The Brutalist The Brutalist is a full-course cinema meal, requiring an afternoon to consume and much longer to digest. It’s easy to savor every moment of it in real-time because of its boundless beauty, and just as easy over time, thanks to its long lingering themes on the ideals that modern America convinced itself it was built upon. With a record-breaking runtime of 215 minutes (including an intermission!), each scene flows with more freedom and weight, all of them simultaneously epic and intimate as the camera glacially passes through the years. One could imagine director Brady Corbet employing the persuasiveness of Toth’s design and vision in the pitch meetings for the film as a whole. Nothing about The Brutalist screams commerciality. But like László Toth and his indescribable monument, every dollar that Corbet’s behemoth sacrificed at the box office was used to better the art form. The only currency that matters in cinema is the experience you carry with you long after the viewing. Conclave Saints and sinners live among us, even in the holiest of places. A cardinal asks if he can keep the deceased pope’s chessboard as a memento, a bold signifier of the game of succession that’s about to be played. No sane man would desire the papacy, and no man who seeks it deserves it. Director Edward Berger has a great command of the literary material he inherited. The tension is wound tight enough to cut through steel, with sequences of backdoor politics and revelations of long-buried secrets maintaining a slow-burning, yet propulsive energy. Longstanding acting royalty fill the cast, with the highest laurels going to Ralph Fiennes, who maintains a quiet dignity as a web of lies and deceit begins to unspool right in front of him. The balance between thrills and social critique is kept just as pristine as it was in Robert Harris’ novel. Conclave is a soap opera with as much page-turning substance as it has a prestige-like style, perfect for both the faithful and skeptics alike. Maestro There is nothing cookie-cutter about Maestro , which is its absolute greatest strength. Writer/director/producer/star Bradley Cooper is like a high school theater kid who’s just landed the role he’s always dreamed of, so giddy and overstimulated that he’s almost leaping off the screen. It’s how he sees himself tethered to Leonard Bernstein: two geniuses who often became overwhelmed with passionate joy in their craft. Cooper’s filmmaking is just as confident and classical as Bernstein’s musical arrangements. It possesses great power to evoke a film made during the 1940s, complete with stark black-and-white and Technicolor-infused Academy ratio cinematography. It all crescendos at the Ely Cathedral in 1973 when Bernstein famously conducted Mahler’s Second Symphony, “Resurrection.” It’s spiritually transcendent, the camera capturing every enrapturing moment as it weaves its way through the choir and orchestra. This moment isn’t all about Bernstein, though, as the final camera movement during the impressive long take pans to reveal his wife Felicia Montealerge (Carey Mulligan) standing off to the side, ready for Lenny to walk over and embrace her after his performance. It’s emblematic of how Cooper frames this entire biopic, the music and their relationship forever intertwined. April The beauty of the cinema is not just in the sheer size of the speakers and screen, but the opportunity it gives us to break away from our world and be transported to a different one. Georgian writer/director Dea Kulumbegashvili crafted a film where absolute patience and concentration are a prerequisite. Between the unsettling abstract visuals and the brutal real-life truths about female bodily autonomy through abortion, it's one of the most bone-chilling films of the decade, anchored by an iron-willed performance by Ia Sukhitashvili. Unlike many films on this list, Kulumbegashvili was not bestowed with the laurels that she so richly deserved beyond the Special Jury Prize at the film's premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. The film was banned in its home country and barely released in the United States due to the dissolution of its distributor. It was a great shame, as one of the most important and prescient films of the decade was kept hidden from the people who might need it the most. The Beast Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi epic was the clear wire-to-wire winner of its respective year. Bonello displays a mastery of tone and vision across his 146-minute adaptation of Henry James’ genre-defying novella. There’s passion, fear, humor, drama, and everything in between as Léa Seydoux and George MacKay play characters in three different periods – 1910, 2014, 2044 – as they navigate the unknowable connection they feel for each other. It’s a greatly demanding work exploring the fear of opening oneself up to risk and the unknown, something that all audiences will have to conquer if they want to claim the reward that this film offers. The Killer The Killer is a descent into bloody madness told by a director in complete control of their craft. Every frame is perfectly lit, every cut perfectly placed and executed, and every piece of sound is perfectly engineered to rattle your bones. It’s a pulpy, uncomplicated story about revenge being a dish best served cold. For anyone who enjoys the Hitman video game series and laments the two laughably bad movie adaptations, this is the answer to all your prayers. This is Fincher at his most surface level, playfully cutting loose from ambition and delivering his best film to date. Don’t expect to learn any life lessons or have your perspective changed on an issue. Just sit back and be entertained. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a straightforward process being executed with pinpoint precision, and both our protagonist and Fincher accomplish their mission with outstanding results. Hamnet The story of the death of William Shakespeare's young child may be a tear-jerker (it was the most I’ve cried during a movie in years), but there isn’t a single moment where it's cloying at those ducts. Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet depicted an honest collision course of pain, featuring two of the best actors working today. Jessie Buckley was nothing short of transcendent, encapsulating the entire human experience, what it means to be your true self, and then producing an extension of that through children. It was heartbreakingly cathartic to witness Mescal channel his torment into his work, recontextualizing the most celebrated works of the English language for those who were previously uninitiated. By staging “Hamlet,” Shakespeare preserved his child. His body may have only been a part of this for a mere eleven years, but his spirit has lived on for over half a millennium, adapting to serve different cultures and contexts. Zhao’s film is a single drop in an ocean; the mightiest one that pushes the waves in a bold new direction. TÁR For all you completionists who demand films answer the questions they raise, both literally and metaphorically, TÁR will seem like an exercise in futility. Because if there’s one thing Field learned as the protégé of Stanley Kubrick (for which Field played the piano-playing character Nick Nightingale in the master’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut ), aside from impeccably precise visuals and dread-filled drip editing, it’s the ability to make the unsatisfying loose ends of a story seem so naturally satisfying. There are no easy answers within Field’s film as he meticulously studies his central character, for whom he shares no predisposed love or hatred. It’s for the audience to decide if Lydia’s fate, which is sealed with a visual setup and punchline so hilarious that it might as well have been ghost-directed by Mel Brooks, matches her “crimes.” As our guide during that examination, Cate Blanchett reaches another echelon in a career that has only been marked by peaks. One could not be ridiculed for mistaking Lydia Tár as a real person, as the details and nuances Blanchett infuses the character with are ones usually found within Oscar-bait biopics. At the moment, it does not seem that the film was meant to mark the second coming of Todd Field’s career. But if we’re subjected to another sixteen-year absence, then I at least know what my most anticipated film of 2038 will be. All Quiet on the Western Front By combining many elements from some of the best films within the genre, director Edward Berger's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the few anti-war films, something that French New Wave film critic and director François Truffaut famously declared to be impossible. The large-scale and gruesomely detailed battles harken back to Saving Private Ryan . We see more mud than blood as the soldiers fight for nothing more than to survive another second. As a slight departure from the source material, writers Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell juxtapose the scenes of carnage with those of the “fat pigs” that wield power. Going back and forth between this and Paul’s storyline on the battlefield, we get the sense that this war did not involve winners and losers. Everybody was a loser as they lost something mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. And in the end, there was no point to any of it. In the film’s harrowing opening sequence, we follow a coat worn by a German soldier. The man dies in battle, and the coat is plucked off his corpse. It’s then shipped back to a factory to be washed of the blood, mended, and given to a recruit. It’s moments like this, of which there are many, where Berger masterfully illustrates the futile self-fulfilling cycle of death that war creates. The Zone of Interest There isn’t a single moment in The Zone of Interest that takes place within Auschwitz, but its presence is always felt. The family will be sunbathing in the garden when a faint gunshot goes off on the other side of the wall. Both you and the characters know what that sound means, but only you care about the implications of it. For the family, those gunshots are just as much a part of everyday life as the birds chirping in the trees above. They go about their daily lives without a hitch, leaving you stranded in the fear of your imagination. Sickening in the most calculated way possible, this is Jonathan Glazer's ode to Stanley Kubrick. He answers the question of how evil can exist unchecked, holding all of your senses in a sterilized vice. Be sure to soak it all in during your first watch, because I doubt you'll ever want to view the world this way again. Babylon With dashes of Singin’ in the Rain, Boogie Nights, The Wolf of Wall Street, Uncut Gems , and Mulholland Drive , Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a true auteurist epic in every sense of the word. It’s a 188-minute deconstruction of Old Hollywood mythology, complete with cocaine, fast cars, projectile vomit, glitzy actors, underground sex dungeons, and buckets of style. There wasn't anything like it the year of its release, or any year for that matter. Five characters have their stories cross paths on several occasions, featured in some of the biggest moments of the Silent Era as it hurtles towards its downfall. The rise of talkies will bring about a new style of filmmaking, one that’ll benefit some and destroy others. But through it all, they found a way to create a legacy that lives beyond their mortal lives. Chazelle may have made his generation's Heaven's Gate : an overly ambitious epic that proved to be too much for audiences and critics. But born out of that chaos was a passionate cult fanbase, a Babylon Hive that has embraced this grand slam of self-indulgence and outrageousness. Oppenheimer With each passing second since I walked out of the 70mm presentation of Christopher Nolan's biopic on the American Prometheus, I became more and more convinced that I had witnessed something extraordinary. Oppenheimer is as entertaining as it is enlightening, emboldened by Nolan’s unparalleled vision and craftsmanship. It’s his magnum opus, grabbing hold of history with fiery conviction, never letting you go until you’ve experienced all that cinema has to offer. Kenneth Branagh plays Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who gives a sturdy piece of advice to Cillian Murphy's titular character early in his career: “It’s not important that you can read music, only that you can hear it.” Even if I couldn’t read all that was being presented right in front of me, I could definitely feel it. Ludwig Göransson’s tremendous score does a lot to convey the spectacle and terror within these moments of history. There are palpable feelings of anxiety and suspense, despite already knowing the outcome. You feel both a sense of patriotism in seeing this American achievement, and also a deep sense of guilt as a weapon without a defense was unleashed upon an untrustworthy world. The French Dispatch With each subsequent entry into his distinct filmography, Wes Anderson seems to make it a mission to make the most Wes Anderson-iest film. His tenth feature film - also referred to as The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun - towers over all of his works with its masterful production qualities and international ensemble cast. While there is no central story to fully move the film from start to finish, the anthology-style structure still allows Anderson to explore several of the themes found within his previous works, such as human curiosity and the ironic relationship we share with the world and its other characters. There are no small parts, only small actors, with a robust cast given their individual moments to shine amidst the dazzlingly symmetrical production design. I've seen this film a dozen times since the initial screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, even pausing this write-up for another rewatch. That's love that money can't buy, and a loving testament to what Louis B. Mayer crassly said about the movies being a business where "the buyer gets nothing for his money but a memory." Anderson will probably always live in the shadow of this film for me, but I'll still be thankful that something this magical is allowed to exist in a world that only seems to get bleaker. More Reviews Primetime September 22, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Unabomber September 24, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Look Back September 16, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Elsinore September 14, 2026 By: Hunter Friesen Hunter Friesen