Dull visuals and an unengaging plot make Ukrainian village tale Stepne, playing in competition, an enervating watch — live from Locarno Film Festival.
Stepne Ploddingly Trudges Through Ukraine’s Tragic Past
Category: Festivals
Reviews and dispatches exploring the best new cinema premiering around the world.
All The Fires Flickers Weakly
Mexican LGBTQI+ coming-of-age drama All The Fires is well-meaning and well-acted, yet fails to leave much of a lasting impression — live from Locarno.
Once Bitten, Twice Enchanted
The Young Adult vampire tale is imbued with possibility and tenderness in breakout French debut Bitten from Romain de Saint-Blanquat – live from Locarno!
The Vanishing Soldier. Israel Smoulders.
The Vanishing Soldier uses its picarasque, free-wheeling form to investigate the complexities and paradoxes of modern Isreal — to mixed results.
Beautiful Summer Starts a Conversation That It Never Finishes
Promising a new look at female nudity in art and on-screen, Italian drama Beautiful Summer slowly gives into a panoply of clichés — live from Locarno.
Family Portrait Zooms In, Zooms Out, Hiding the Full Picture
The difficulties of ever seeing the full picture are acutely observed in Lucy Kerr’s arthouse debut Family Portrait, debuting at the Locarno Film Festival.
Animal Oozes with Summertime Sadness
The pitfalls of always providing entertainment are perfectly probed in Animal, Sofia Exarchou’s excellent sophomore film.
Filmmaking is Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano
A film goes into pre-production in Beirut the day after the infamous 2020 port explosion in Cyril Aris’ gripping doc Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano.
Keeping Mum. Keeping Schtum.
Keeping Mum investigates the difficulties of breaking generational trauma with open-heartedness and a willingness to embrace the cringe.
Empty Nets. Empty Catch.
Love fights the forces of economics and corruption in the underwhelming Iranian drama Empty Nets — live from Karlovy Vary Film Festival.