Ondřej Provazník’s sophomore film is a slow-burn look at abuse featuring a brilliant performance from Juraj Loj as a manipulative choirmaster.
Broken Voices Makes The Right Choices
Tag: Competition
Divia Bears Witness to Ecocide
With careful drone footage and plenty of nature shots, Dmytro Hreshko creates a powerful portrait of how Russia has commited ecocide in Ukraine.
Action Item. Individual Anxiety Meets Collective Rage.
At once an abstract exploration of mental health and a potent political piece, Action Item is a fine mid-length essay doc from Paula Ďurinová.
What Remains from Cannes 2025?
Jafar Panahi’s Un Simple Accident Palme characterises a Cannes line-up that will be better known for its political potential than its aesthetic content.
The Phoenician Scheme. Wes Anderson’s Most Inessential Film.
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.
Dreams (Sex Love). Writing vs. Living
An unrequited love story powers Dreams, the final installment in Dag Johan Haugerud’s powerful Sex Love trilogy, playing in Competition.
Never Trust Guys Called Homer
A trip to a trauma retreat turns increasingly nightmarish in Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s Honey Bunch, playing in Berlinale Special.
Flying on A Wire is Not Real Flying
Vivian Qu’s gritty crime story Girls on Wire is a grim tale about the inevitability of fate that is weighed down by clichéd and stilted storytelling.
Not Another A24 Movie
The A24 formula works to fine effect in Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, starring the excellent Rose Byrne.
The Utter Horror of What Marielle Knows
Dark horse black comedy What Marielle Knows is the funniest film in the Berlinale Competition so far. A Hollywood remake can’t be far away.