Criticism
Selected feature film reviews and festival dispatches.
“Totem” at RogerEbert.com
With palpable tenderness, Avilés has crafted a story that delicately materializes the complexity of grief in different stages, and at different ages, and packages it for safe keeping.
“Copa 71” at RogerEbert.com
“Copa 71” is stirring, exciting, and lively, a kinetic tale that finally spotlights the revolutionary event that didn’t quite turn the tide but certainly started the wave.
“How to Have Sex” at RogerEbert.com
Glimpses into a very specific corner of girlhood’s ups and downs and the unshakeable beams of sisterhood make Walker’s “How To Have Sex” unforgettably relatable.
“Drift” at RogerEbert.com
“Drift” implores you to notice how much effort it’s putting into making you feel, and by consequence, cheapens all of it.
Using her own background as an artist, Syms has taken artistic academia and the whiplash of exiting the comfort of school and churned it into a jungle juice of weed, ketamine, and self-discovery.
“The African Desperate” at RogerEbert.com
While Taylor-Johnson directs scenes that seem to shake their head at the oppressive paps that tail Amy’s every move, her film fails to do anything different. There’s a gross level of romanticization and infantilization that hemorrhages any hint of life force from this story.
“Back to Black” at RogerEbert.com
Utterly bewitching with the spirit of womanhood, the documentary is a step into female existence and a spirit-shaking catharsis. Every story, every emotion, and every connection in “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” supersedes culture, creed, and country.
“Smoke Sauna Sisterhood” at Cinema Femme
“Desert Angel” at Cinema Femme
The scale of Tin Chan’s cinematography sees the US-Mexico border as a looming, predatory expanse, a space so large and unforgiving that it subverts the learned romance of the American West. Instead, it embodies a character-like role as an antagonist in “Desert Angel.”
“Thelma” at Cinema Femme
With comedy as its platform, the film leaps off the precipice and becomes so much more mid-air, taking its viewers on a journey through each and every emotion, and landing gracefully with the ignition of the desire to hug your grandparents a little tighter next time.
“Paradise is Burning” at Cinema Femme
Despite a core of debutants, the film feels nothing like an amateur endeavor. Every sequence and performance pulses with feeling, and “Paradise is Burning” asserts its impact through every minute.