With hints of Zodiac and Seven, Fabrice du Welz’s new thriller Maldoror — charting the real-life murders of Belgian serial killer Marc Dutroux — aims for that nasty, slow burn.
Maldoror Brings Fincher Energy to a Horrific Moment in Belgian History
Jared Abbott
Jared loves movies and lives with Kiki in Berlin.
Familia Provides a Nuanced Portrayal of Cyclical Bonehead Violence
Fascist bonehead study Familia refreshingly avoids clichéd redemption arcs in favour of a more nuanced take on the cyclical nature of toxic masculinity.
The Imhumane Perils of a Quiet Life
The dehumanisation of seeking asylum is piercingly explored in Alexandros Avranas’ horror-but-not-horror Quiet Life. Live from Venice Film Festival!
Mond Offers a Nuanced Cross-Cultural Tale of Female Solidarity
A washed-up Austrian MMA fighter finds herself immersed in a strange Jordanian family in Kurdwin Ayub’s Mond, her much-anticipated follow-up to Sonne.
Plastic Guns. A Perfect Shitpost.
Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s Plastic Guns doubles down on the provocations of Bloody Oranges in an off-kilter, hilarious and deeply nasty farce.
Baby Works His Way Out of a Corner
Marcelo Caetano’s Baby might combine reliable and clichéd tropes, but Caetano’s sex work study succeeds thanks to its keen observation of queer communities.
Block Pass. A Tyred Vintage.
Antoine Chevrollier’s Block Pass captures its working-class milieu well but suffers due to its tired secondhand framing of queer suffering.
Sauna Day. Intimate Masculinity on Display.
Sauna Day, Anna Hints follow-up to Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, trades female intimacy for male suppression, to eroticised and compelling results.
“This is a story of becoming” – Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer and Susanne Heuer on The Teaches of Peaches
Near the 25th anniversary of Peaches’ explosive second album, The Teaches of Peaches gives gret insight into her life. We talked with the team behind the film.
Foreign Language: Sex, Lies and Chocolate Mushrooms
As messy as its synopsis is understated, Claire Burger’s Foreign Language is a heady mix of teenage sexuality and muddled political engagement.