The American West seems as expansive and inclusive as ever in Luke Gilford’s queer Western romance National Anthem — live from TIFF.
National Anthem. The Land of The LGBTQI+.
Festivals
Reviews and dispatches exploring the best new cinema premiering around the world.
Paradise is Burning. Exquisite Teenage Yearning.
The careers of three excellent actresses are launched in Mika Gustafson’s sensitive ode to the travails and beauty of youth — live from Venice Film Festival.
For Night Will Come. The Vampire Genre (Partially) Undone.
The perils of being a vampire in a regular-old world are subtly investigated in For Night Will Come — beating away clichés before eventually succumbing to them.
The Dreamer. Bittersweet Truth Through Sculpture.
Sculpture unlocks the essence of a man in Anaïs Tellenne’s tender, enigmatic debut The Dreamer — live from Venice Film Festival.
Behind The Mountains. Dull Magic Thriller-isms
Behind the Mountains mixes thriller themes with the supernatural genre, to mixed, often underwhelming effect — live from Venice Film Festival.
The Outpost. A Frustrating Study in Folly.
One man’s quixotic dream to host a Pink Floyd concert in the Amazon rainforest is frustratingly explored in The Outpost — live from Venice Film Festival.
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Lives Up To Its Goofy Title
The practicalities and pitfalls of vampire life are warmly investigated in the mostly enjoyable Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person.
The Freewheeling Spirit of Bolaño Is Excellently Channelled in Foremost By Night
A free-wheeling, three-part riot of formal invention, Víctor Iriarte’s excellent debut is at once aesthetically rigorous and politically pointed.
Sidonie In Japan. Translation, Adrift
Sidonie In Japan is a classic example of a fine actress phoning it in, wasting Huppert’s talents in a generic, unconvincing cross-cultural examination of grief.
Life Is Not a Competition, But I’m Winning. Mostly Winning.
Life Is Not a Competition, But I’m Winning imagines the future of queer and intersex people in sport in a variety of spirited and thoughtful means.