Sleep With Your Eyes Open uses an elastic narrative form to paint an ironic portrait of Chinese migrant life in Brazil, to both its benefit and detriment.
Sleep With Your Eyes Open. Postcards from the Past
Redmond Bacon
Redmond is the editor-in-chief of Journey Into Cinema.
Brief History of a Family: Failson v. Social Climber
The problems with China’s one-child policy are laid bare in Jianjie Lin’s effective and creepy debut Brief History of a Family, live from Berlinale Panorama.
There’s Plenty of Fake News at The Editorial Office
Roman Bondarchuk takes us to a pre-invasion Southern Ukraine in his Forum satire The Editorial Office, filled with weighty topics while lacking cinematic bite.
Too Many Cooks Spoil La Cocina
La Cocina uses its kitchen-setting as a springboard for a grand Statement on America. But it ruins the main dish by adding too many flavours.
A Different Man, Sort Of
A Different Man has all the snarky hallmarks of another A24 provocation, but it’s saved by a screenplay that somehow evokes the best of Woody Allen.
Into the Panorama-Verse
The Panorama section of the Berlinale probes the limits of human sexuality, violence and capacity for connection. Here’s our master list of Panorama reviews.
Small Things Like These. Faux Terence Davies
Small Things Like These may highlight a vital decades-long human rights abuse but is sadly let down by its derivative imitation of Terence Davies’ best work.
Sisterhood Prevails Amongst 78 Days of NATO Bombs
78 Days by Emilija Gašić uses a documentary, found-footage approach to depict the trials of girlhood growing pains in the midst of NATO bombings.
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust Won’t Be a Hit. It’s Too Unique For That.
Using an Unreal Game Engine to bold and unsettling effect, Ishan Shukla’s Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust is a truly unique and strange sci-fi vision.
Eternal in Name. Eternal in Nature.
Science-fiction romance Eternal is pretty good for the first twenty minutes. Then it repeats the same point over and over again, to diminishing results.