The embrace of artificial intelligence in mainstream cinema has been the most depressing sight the medium has ever seen. It’s a total abdication of creativity at every turn as high-profile filmmakers use a technology built on theft to “craft” images that are both unappealing and emotionally hollow. Many might say that “X movie feels like it was made by AI,” but
Read MoreJavier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra is a lot to take in. The decade-spanning epic tracks three queer characters at distinct moments in history. The film often feels grand and emotive, simply by looking at the succession of visual (and thematic) juxtapositions thrillingly brought to life by cinematographer Gris Jordana’s eye for painterly, almost God-like, compositions. It can also
Read MoreAnimol lifts the lid on the behind-closed doors mystery of the process of youth rehabilitation within a young offender’s institute. This is Ashley Walters‘ directorial debut, as he switches sides to be behind the camera but permits his personal lived experience from those So Solid days to create a gritty, compelling incisive drama that is difficult to look away from! What
Read MoreThe murder mystery is being reinvented in the wake of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out trilogy, though that doesn’t mean every film in the genre will be worthwhile. However, you can see how Johnson’s film served as the blueprint for Anton Corbijn’s A Talent for Murder. Patricia Highsmith’s psychological thriller is refraimed within the trappings of a whodunit, though its conclusion may be
Read MoreHow far can our mistrust of one another take us? That’s the question at the center of Kevin Hamedani’s The Saviors, a paranoid comedy-thriller hybrid that enjoyed its world premiere back in March at the 2026 South by Southwest Festival and a recent showing at Sitges Film Festival. Starring Adam Scott, Danielle Deadwyler, Theo Rossi, and Nazanin Boniadi, The Saviors might
Read MoreClarissa is the eponymous character, played by a luminous Sophie Okendo, who is transplanted to modern-day Lagos in this tale of societal interaction interspersed with class dynamics, loosely based on Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway novel from 1925. Sensuous and slow-paced, Clarissa embraces the Nigerian landscape to make it a central character amongst a stellar cast. However, the subtle direction and restraint
Read MoreI have no idea what the inside of a sperm whale looks like, and I have no intention of finding out. For all I know, the squishy, claustrophobic confines in the 2026 film Whalefall could be a far cry from reality. That’s the benefit of telling a story like this. No living person has experienced it. It’s a situation that has
Read MoreAnyone who thinks image-making matters less than “the story” (whatever that means) should watch David Fincher’s The Social Network and Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning side by side. Shot by the same cinematographer, Jeff Cronenweth, it won’t be long before you realize why Fincher’s film stands the test of time as one of the most impactful masterpieces of the 2010s. But
Read MoreThe one good thing about Michael Showalter’s Verity is that it has more verve than previous adaptations of Colleen Hoover’s work. It’s not very good, but at least Showalter has fun with compositions that recall the oeuvres of Brian De Palma and Paul Verhoeven. Plenty of split-diopters and superimpositions create a quasi-campy quality as cinematographer Jim Frohna captures Lowen Ashleigh’s (Dakota
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