film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Based-on-fact drama puts the focus where it rarely is onscreen: on women who are victims of male violence. Yet a terrific central performance and an abundance of empathy cannot overcome its clichés.
The sinister ambiance has a terrible grace, but its raw and honest portrait of grief and guilt is ultimately diminished by the supernatural horror that is also at play.
A fairly familiar romantic dramedy distinguishes itself because its awkward, immature nerd is a young woman, poignantly portrayed by the wonderful Bel Powley.
Yet another installment in the long-running series Dead Women Make Men Feel Things. Seething with unspoken emotions, all of which are elusive and abstruse.
A missed opportunity to tell what should be a captivating real-life disaster tale that is instead plodding, scattershot, and lacking in dramatic impetus.
A gloss of edgy noirish elegance cannot disguise the fact that this is yet one more tiresome example of the thriller subgenre that posits that the most interesting thing that a woman can be is out of her mind.
