Asia Argento stars as a wealthy heiress returning to a scarred Venezuela in Jorge Thielen Armand’s entertaining yet vapid Death Has No Master.
Death Has No Master. A Vapid Colonial Drama.
Festivals
Reviews and dispatches exploring the best new cinema premiering around the world.
Her Private Hell? Absent Parents.
Told with his usual neon-heavy aesthetic, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell is a beguiling tale of absent parenthood, playing Out of Competition.
Avedon. Imagination and Reality.
Ron Howard’s tribute to Richard Avedon is a faithful exploration of how the famed photographer invented reality with his imaginative photographs.
Promised Spaces. Liminal Traces.
Angela Schnalec’s DOP travels to Cambodia for an intellectually rigorous, if slightly tedious docufiction about the rich-poor divide.
Simple Plans Are Never Simple
A simple plan goes fiendishly out of hand in Dying Twice, Living Thrice, Karim Lakzadeh’s existential critique of modern day Iran.
La Perra Woofs the Landing
With films about dogs easy to love — because after all, who doesn’t love dogs — it takes a special talent to make something as cynical and ugly as La Perra.
Another Unhappy Family, Excellently Portrayed
Valentina Maurel’s sophomore feature, Forever Your Maternal Animal, is a touching tale of familial bonds, mental illness and feminine sexuality.
Big Rigs. Even Bigger Feelings.
Flesh and Fuel rises above its euro-drama trappings by capturing a great sense of sweetness and vulnerability among the continent’s gay trucking community.
Shana. Chaos Under Pressure.
Anchored by an excellent performance by Eva Huault, Shana is a deeply entertaining Parisian-set tale of Jewish identity and feminine chaos.
Viva is Wonderfully Messy and Alive
Aina Clotet’s woman-in-crisis picture Viva is a thrilling tale of female reclamation — an easy standout from Cannes Critics’ Week.