movie reviews
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‘The Mad Women’s Ball’ Film Review: Mélanie Laurent Explores Asylum Life Through a Feminist Lens
Toronto 2021: Lou de Laâge sees dead people in a film that examines madhouses as a tool of the patriarchy
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‘Language Lessons’ Film Review: Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales Zoom Into a Platonic Love Story
The actors and co-writers use online communication as a metaphor for imperfect human connections
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‘Malignant’ Film Review: James Wan Breaks All the Horror Rules, With Gusto
The “Conjuring” director sucks viewers into his mad monster vortex of sketchy ideas and viscera
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‘The Card Counter’ Film Review: Oscar Isaac’s Gambler Is Haunted by His Torturous Past
Paul Schrader once again plumbs the themes that typify his screen output, but he finds new grace notes along the way
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‘Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali’ Film Review: Civil Rights Doc Examines the Personal and the Political
This blisteringly honest account provides background for the friendship between these two icons and a context for their roles in the ongoing struggles for Black freedom
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‘The Year of the Everlasting Storm’ Film Review: Bold Anthology Examines Life in the Pandemic
Seven directors offer wildly different perspectives in this disquieting snapshot of our time
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‘Come From Away’ Film Review: 9/11 Musical Finds Hope for Humanity Amid Horror and Heartbreak
This recording of the Broadway hit is stirring, moving and funny, without ever resorting to mawkishness
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‘The Capote Tapes’ Film Review: Truman Capote’s Friends and Frenemies Speak for Themselves in New Doc
George Plimpton’s recordings for his bio of Capote made it into print, but the film shows that hearing people speak packs more punch than reading them being quoted
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‘Small Engine Repair’ Film Review: Bromantic Hangout Tale Works Better as Comedy Than Drama
Playwright-director-costar John Pollono brings his work to the big screen, and it’s most effective when he and Jon Bernthal and Shea Whigham get to bust each other’s chops
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‘The Lost Daughter’ Film Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal Captures the Secret Life of Mothers
Venice 2021: Her debut as a writer-director (adapting Elena Ferrante’s novel) is a masterpiece of mood and subtlety
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‘Worth’ Movie Review: Michael Keaton’s 9/11 Drama Walks an Uneasy Tightrope Between Sentimentality and Cynicism
The film feels torn between being a triumph of the human spirit and a triumph of corporations who convinced survivor families not to sue them into oblivion
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‘Bernstein’s Wall’ Film Review: Leonard Bernstein Doc Manages to Be Both Revelatory and Enigmatic
Telluride 2021: Douglas Tirola tells us plenty we didn’t know but still leaves some questions naggingly unanswered
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‘Who You Think I Am’ Film Review: Juliette Binoche Signs On and Seduces in Sexy Thriller
A catfishing scenario provides a mostly enticing display of the French star’s sharp allure
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‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Film Review: Marvel’s Martial-Arts Saga Nails the Characters and the Kicks
Tony Leung delivers what might be the superhero genre’s best performance yet in a film that blends dazzling fight choreography and dramatic depth
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‘Karen’ Film Review: Ridiculous Thriller Tackles Racism With the Depth of a Meme
The oddly cast Taryn Manning can’t find a character within the stereotype