‘Songs of Forgotten Trees’ Lives in Mumbai’s Cramped Corners
Songs of Forgotten Trees explores India’s long hours and work-from-home culture, where many white-collar workers’ worlds have shrunk to their four walls.
drama
‘Artificial’ Is a Horror Film of Our Horrific Times
Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, which premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, uncovers the rot at the heart of the American dream with help from a diabolical Andrew Garfield.
Music, Murder, and Boris Karloff fill Saucy pre-Code ‘Night World’
Hollywood crime musical Night World was almost forgotten, but the saucy pre-Code gem gets renewed appreciation on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.
Prejudice Is Masked as Protection in Cristian Mungiu’s ‘Fjord’
Cristian Mungiu’s hot-button legal drama Fjord wraps messy arguments about religion and secularism into a provocative but too-tidy package.
‘Tuner’ Recalibrates the Disability Narrative
Tuner illustrates a critical paradox within the disability narrative: the condition of being inherently valuable yet socially devalued.
‘Late Fame’ Makes Clear That Dreams of Ambition are Just Dreams
The “old, obscure artist” drama Late Fame shows you’re never too old to be delusional about your youth, or too young to be delusional about your future.
‘Digger’ Clings to Life Like Grim Death
Digger breaches like an apocalyptic iceberg, blowing its premise to bits with metacinematic bombs that unleash a ferocious horde of ideas at our late-capitalist brains.
Narcisa’s Will and the Fear of Becoming One’s Mother
Between grief and memory, the recent film Narcisa’s Will finds horror in what we inherit from our parents and how we use that inheritance.
Bill Gunn’s ‘Personal Problems’ Is a Milestone in American Indie Filmmaking
With its rough framing, shaky handheld shots, and available light, Bill Gunn’s Personal Problems anticipates the documentary aesthetic of 21st-century vérité-lite TV shows.
Satyajit Ray’s Lovely ‘Days and Nights in the Forest’ Almost Escapes the World
Satyajit Ray’s Days and Nights in the Forest deepens as you wander further into its bucolic details, where things aren’t as serene and picturesque as they seem.
The Nazi Indoctrination of Otto Gebühr’s Frederick the Great
German actor Otto Gebühr’s story shows how consistent artistic work can soften propaganda and shape historical memory more powerfully than a political system.
Hirokazu Koreeda’s ‘Sheep in the Box’ Embraces AI Unquestioningly
Hirokazu Koreeda’s unsettling Sheep in the Box confuses love with imitation and embraces AI unquestioningly.