The well-meaning Yugo-Danish drama Home offers a nuanced portrait of migration and integration, but never really takes off dramatically.
Home Can’t Find Where the Art Is
Rotterdam
Located in the busiest port city in Europe, Rotterdam Film Festival traditionally kicks off the European Film Festival circuit.
Freeze Frames
A broken fridge-freezer becomes a metaphor for the breakdown of a family — and perhaps society itself — in uneven comedy Complaint No. 713317.
Why Do I See Hybrids In Everything?
Why Do I See You in Everything? surveys the notion of home amid living in exile, but feels unfocussed while tending towards the tedious.
White Lies. Painful Truths.
Bright Future entry White Lies is a remarkable non-fiction debut about the lingering effects of living in a cult upon an ordinary Italian family.
Mickey & Richard. The Person Behind the Porn Performer.
Richard Bernstein and his alter porn ego Mickey Squires are explored in loving detail in Rotterdam documentary Mickey & Richard.
Conrad & Crab – Idiotic Gems. A Charming Cosy Mystery.
Conrad & Crab – Idiotic Gems by Claude Schmitz is a cosy French mystery movie that scratched an itch I didn’t even know I had. Sequels please!
Love is Art in Tell Me What You Feel
Despite, or perhaps because of, its cringe characters, Tell Me What You Feel is a heartfelt exploration of whether art and love can really understand trauma.
Butterfly Leaves No Effect
Sentimental Value star Renate Reinsve returns in a much more forgettable drama: the absolutely dire Gran Canaria set comedy-drama Butterfly.
Blind Love. Tunnel Vision.
References to Alfred Hitchock and Edward Yang does the paper-thin queer Taiwanese love story Blind Love no favours.
Screen Rotterdam
Rotterdam Film Festival has more films in its 2025 edition than days in the year. We tried to hold its offerings, like collecting water in a sieve.