Aftermath movie review: a series of unfortunate events
Deeply uninvolving, often weirdly stilted and amateurish, and emotionally inert, which is pretty unforgivable given its subject matter of grief and despair.
drama
Snowden movie review: the system’s self-correction
A gripping précis of what Edward Snowden learned at the CIA and NSA, why he went public, and why it matters. Entertaining yet also deeply unsettling.
Bokeh movie review: blurry, lonely lives at the end of the world
A pretty blur of an apocalypse happens to pretty, blurry people in this dull SF drama. This end of the world brought to you by the Reykjavik Tourist Board.
Another Mother’s Son movie review: punching Nazis, mom style
Not alt-history but a true story from a Nazi-occupied English-speaking place, a hugely relevant reminder that resistance to injustice is an absolute imperative.
Mean Dreams movie review: Paxton et justitia
Tepid teen romance turned implausible thriller is just about saved by a powerful, and unusually disturbing, performance from Bill Paxton (one of his last).
Personal Shopper movie review: shadows of sorrow
Strange and melancholy, this genre-defying portrait of grief and loneliness puts Kristen Stewart’s onscreen persona of restive reluctance to very effective use.
The Ottoman Lieutenant movie review: erasing the past with sleight of cinematic hand
Odious propagandistic attempt to enshrine Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide of World War I into cinematic history via a tepid and unconvincing romance.
The Chamber movie review: hell and high water
A wonder of low-budget suspense, this is a horror movie with no monsters, only people in an impossible situation. Intense, claustrophobic, totally gripping.
My Life as a Zucchini (aka My Life as a Courgette) movie review: nutritious, filling, and delicious
Simply a lovely film, with some of the most striking — and haunting — animation I’ve ever seen, and full of a remarkable and palpable warmth and humanity.
Viceroy’s House movie review: are we condemned to repeat this?
Snappy, snappish historical drama about the partition of India rings with sly humor, dry cynicism, and a smack of relevance for today’s divisive politics.
