“It’s apparently fun to drown,” says sixteen-year-old Chloé, the droll, moody teen at the heart of Charlotte Le Bon’s debut feature, “Falcon Lake.” It’s a pithy line that echoes Cecilia Lisbon’s response (“Obviously, Doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl”) when she’s asked why she tried to harm herself in Sofia Coppola‘s “The Virgin Suicides.” Unlike Cecilia and her sisters, Chloé only plays at being dead, seeing how long she can float in the lake near her family’s cabin or lie in the road like a deer hit by a passing car.

Continue reading ‘Falcon Lake’ Review: Charlotte Le Bon’s Debut Is A Bold, Haunting Coming-Of-Age Story [Cannes] at The Playlist.

As industry guests enjoy the Berlinale from home this year, eagle-eyed viewers will take pleasure in spotting a familiar location in the latest film from South Korean auteur and festival-regular Hong Sang-soo. If we can’t stroll around Potsdamer Platz this year, at least the characters in “Introduction“ can share a moment there. 

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2021

At 66 minutes long, and like many of the director’s other works, the film is an exercise in frugality.

Continue reading ‘Introduction’: A Smaller, Quieter Addition To Hong Sang-soo’s Already Intimate & Delicate Touch [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

There is an unavoidable distance in life between ourselves and those who came before. Parents, grandparents; no matter how open and honest they are with their children or younger relatives, there is a sense that their pasts remain partial enigmas. The young were not there to experience the personalities, the joys, the fears, the relationships of the old. What if you could, however, meet your mother’s younger self and spend afternoons building huts from tree branches and twine, or make pancakes in her childhood home?

Continue reading ‘Petite Maman’:Céline Sciamma Delivers An Intimate Tale Of Grief And Parenthood [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

It’s always interesting to see what an actor will deliver as they make the step towards directing, and for “Next Door” director and star Daniel Brühl has not shied away from a premise that closely parallels, yet distorts, his own life. It’s a film that explores a space of conversation highlighted to great effect in Bong Joon-ho’s recent towering success, “Parasite,” toying with societal dichotomies and opening up discussions around wealth, class, gentrification, and spatial divides.

Continue reading ‘Next Door’: Daniel Brühl’s Directorial Debut Interrogates His Own Life Doesn’t Dig Deep Enough [Berlin Review] at The Playlist.

Tufted greybeards, warm flannel shirts, woven knits, a candlelit glow to weathered faces. Autumnal warmth spreads throughout this deeply tender film like a gentle hand to a tired cheek. In “Supernova“, partners Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker (Stanley Tucci) are beginning a trip up to the Lake District, setting off in a cozy motorhome to visit relatives and enjoy a holiday together.

Continue reading ‘Supernova’: A Couple Faces Dementia In This Warm, Devastating Drama [BFI London Review] at The Playlist.