The Receptionist movie review: unpretty woman
Gloomy, authentic, essential: this auspicious feature debut from writer-director Jenny Lu is an anti–fairy tale of forgotten women and the false promises of end-stage capitalism.
non-English-language
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms movie review: the tragedy of the immortal
Epic yet intimate, this is a visually gorgeous and emotionally lush fantasy drama about love and hope set in a violent but beautifully realized invented world.
1945 movie review: a reckoning for the collaborators
A quiet horror movie about grief and regret as spiritual possession, about rationalization and denial as immorality. We don’t tell ourselves stories that whisper, as this one does, The Nazis had help. We need to.
Jeune Femme (aka Montparnasse Bienvenüe) movie review: the heroine of her own life
Laetitia Dosch burns with a passionate anxiety in French writer-director Léonor Serraille’s debut, a clever, wise, wildly unsentimental portrait of a woman learning how to be herself.
Revenge movie review: better served unhot
This rape-revenge action horror is solid as pure grindhouse exploitation. But the rendering of its rage-fueled female protagonist is too salacious for this to ever be considered feminist.
The Judge documentary review: social (and legal) justice warrior
A portrait as delightful as its subject: Kholoud Al-Faqih, a pioneer of Islamic jurisprudence and as fiery as any Western feminist. Essential viewing for its smashing of stereotypes.
Let the Sunshine In (Un beau soleil intérieur) movie review: her own worst enemy
Juliette Binoche’s search for midlife love is drenched in ennui and punctuated by weary philosophizing. There’s not a lot of satisfaction in it, nor much by way of resolution. Very French.
Custody (Jusqu’à la garde) movie review: family ties, slashered
Transforms a straightforward story of domestic violence into something like a horror movie, and it’s so harrowing and so incredibly tense that I’m not sure that it’s not exploitive.
Even When I Fall documentary review: a big enough tent for all
An incredibly inspiring story about two young women who come back from dehumanizing experiences to advocate for change. A film of great grace, dignity, beauty, and power.
Borg vs McEnroe movie review: they get served
Excruciatingly suspenseful and unexpectedly moving portrait of the on-court rivalry between the two great tennis players… and the intriguing secret layer to the public dynamic between them.
