The Phoenician Scheme is a spy caper that feels like a glorified cameo-fest, and is the first Wes Anderson film that feels completely inessential.
The Phoenician Scheme. Wes Anderson’s Most Inessential Film.
Festivals
Reviews and dispatches exploring the best new cinema premiering around the world.
Nino Messily Navigates the Storm
A messy weekend following a life-changing diagnosis characterises Pauline Loquès’ Nino, a touching drama about trying to pull yourself together.
Wild Foxes Bobs and Weaves Through the Minefields of Toxic Masculinity
Valery Carnoy’s boxing drama Wild Foxes boasts a standout performance from Samuel Kircher as a teenage boy navigating the mindfields of masculinity.
Of Mice and Meteors
A friendship without familiarity characterises the deeply annoying Meteors, inexplicably playing in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.
Once Upon A Time in Gaza Lacks A Coherent Viewpoint
Un Certain Regard entry Once Upon a Time in Gaza is a topical film, yet unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like its helping anything.
Peak Everything. Love and Climate Change.
A depressed kennel owner falls in love with a phone technician in Quebecois comedy Peak Everything, the rare fest film with crossover appeal.
I Only Rest in the Storm. A Complicated Neo-Colonial Picture.
I Only Rest in the Storm is an epic exploration of the relationship between Africa and the West that fiendishly complicates stereotypical portrayals.
Love Letters. Look Who’s Writing Too.
The pitfalls of lesbian parenting as well as the messy realities of modern-day relationships are expertly navigated in Critics’ Week film Love Letters.
A Useful Ghost’s House of Haunted Hoovers
Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s debut feature A Useful Ghost is a remarkably profound — and silly — reverie on love, loss and assimilation.
Le Brutaliste
The construction of the Grande Arche de la Défense is recreated in loving detail in Stéphane Demoustier’s crowdpleasing, yet underwhelming The Great Arch.