Sick of Myself (2023)

Direction: Kristoffer Borgli
Country: Norway

Sick of Myself is a cruelly ironic and soulless dark comedy drama that flirts with the psychological horror genre. An uneasy, infectiously entertaining romp whose delirious story focuses on two obnoxious narcissists. 

Kristine Kujath Thorp (she delighted us two years ago with Ninjababy) and Eirik Sæther (in his feature debut) star as Signe and Thomas, respectively, two extreme narcissists who keep insanely competing for attention and fame while in a toxic relationship. However, their focuses diverge into distinct directions; whereas he obsesses with his career as a bogus avant-garde artist, she takes her madness further by sacrificing her body and general health in order to get the public’s eye on her. 

Expect to be struck by a mix of sad and funny feelings that, depending on your mood, can delight, depress or infuriate. The sarcastic humor spares no one in a film that aims right, with venom, and painfully hits the right spot in such a manner that we are ready to excuse its redundancies. 

Sadly terrifying and often repulsive, Sick of Myself is not a film I'm likely ever to revisit but is well directed, acted, and observed, even if it takes that observation to a deliberately disturbing satirical degree.

The Lost King (2023)

Direction: Stephen Frears
Country: UK 

Although historically interesting, The Lost King is academic in many aspects, which is upsetting since it comes from Stephen Frears, an experienced director whose major works include Philomena (2013), The Queen (2006), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Stumbling in a faulty staging, this classically crafted film inspired by an incredible true story, tries too hard to please the audience, but it shrieks as it aims for that middle bar that pushes everything into comedic context. 

This is the story of Philippa Langley (Sally Hawkins), a mother of two with chronic fatigue syndrome whose determination and subjective intuition lead her to the spot where the cursed King Richard III was buried. His body had never been found since his disappearance in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Guided by passion and obsession, and having fleeting dialogues with the ghost of the king (Harry Lloyd) while roaming through the streets of Edinburgh, she succeeded where many have failed.

Steve Coogan, who also stars as the protagonist’s supportive ex-husband, co-wrote this infinitely modest autobiographical drama with Jeff Pope, never missing an opportunity to adorn the situations with a dash of British humor. 

The dragging first half makes it harder for us to fully enjoy what comes next, and by the time the story reaches its climax, all my excitement has been drained away. All those cynical opportunists, tough sponsors, and difficult excavations don’t emanate enough tension, with Frears struggling to give a consistent rhythm to the storytelling as well as to find a distinctive style. One of those cases where the tedium outweighed the anticipation.

Before, Now & Then (2023)

Direction: Kamila Andini
Country: Indonesia 

The political and emotional observations in Before, Now & Then, in addition to a perfect staging and the floating sense of time of the story, prompt us to consider Kamila Andini a promising contemporary filmmaker. In her debut feature, the 37-year-old Indonesian director and co-writer delivers a sensitive portrait of a woman who, despite living comfortably, suddenly realizes she has not found her place yet. This is set in West Java in the late 1960’s, at the time of Indonesia’s political transition to the New Order of General Suharto.

The feelings are more demonstrated than told, and the film, closed in itself and enveloped in a dreamy aura at an early stage, gradually blossoms into clarity and resolution. The plot centers on Nana (Happy Salma) who, having lost sight of her first husband for 15 years due to political reasons, remarries with a wealthy older man (Arswendy Bening Swara) who cheats on her. Bored with domestic life and with no one to confide her unspoken worries, feelings and unresolved matters, she turns to the last person one could ever imagine: Ino (Laura Basuki), a local market butcher and her husband’s mistress. 

Being very cinematic - with excellent cinematography, image composition, production design, and musical score - and smartly structured, the film relies on a storytelling that envelops without stinging or shocking. Even the worst of the betrayals seems natural here, such is the grace of its proceedings. It’s a gentle hymn to friendship and a powerful feminist statement whose politeness and dreamlike intensity allude to Wong Kar-wai’s unforgettable cinema.

Despite an unnecessary coda that contributes nil to the outcome, Before, Now & Then is a lingeringly rich and unsentimental period drama that expresses more with looks and gestures than with words.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023)

Direction: Daniel Goldhaber
Country: USA 

Marked by radical activism, the action thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a relatively successful adaptation of the book of the same name by Swedish author/researcher Andreas Malm. For the screenplay of his sophomore feature, director Daniel Goldhaber teamed up with Ariela Barer, who also stars, and Jordan Sjol, opting for a handheld camera to intensify the most stressful scenes. 

The plot follows a group of extreme environmental activists who decide to sabotage an oil pipeline in Western Texas, causing severe damage without harming people. All members of this group have their own motives and beliefs, which are further clarified by flashbacks. Their grounds for protesting are strong, but the question persists: is it justifiable to fight back with violence? Moral consciousness opens the debate on the acceptable limits of ecological activism. 

Blending French new wave and Hollywood elements of the ’80s, the film, shot in 16mm, puts on airs while drawing from western and heist film genres. You kind of know how it will play out, but it's an elucidative close-up of destructive behavior in the name of a good cause. Terrorists or saviors of the world? 

Regardless the answer, the film would need more narrative development, a stronger staging, and deeper character insight to fully satisfy. The tension builds up right from the start, and the story flies at full speed, electrifying everything around its path. And yet, this subversive audacity gives way to different feelings as the events unfold in a low-key manner. In the end, it falls short of the expectations, getting a few holes below Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves (2013), which tackles the same topic with a higher level of competence.

Limbo (2023)

Direction: Ivan Sen
Country: Australia 

Limbo is a haunting neo-noir slow burner written, directed, edited, co-produced, photographed, and scored by the multifaceted Ivan Sen (Mystery Road, 2013; Goldstone, 2016). The film offers a captivating re-examination of an unsolved murder case that victimized a young Aboriginal woman two decades ago. Travis Hurley (Simon Baker), a benumbed cop with a violent past and a heavy drug addiction, arrives in a small, barren mining town in outback Australia to investigate deeper. He contacts the victim’s depressed family members - half-siblings Charlie Hayes (Rob Collins) and Emma (Natasha Wanganeen) - as well as Joseph (Nicholas Hope), the brother of the main suspect at the time. All of them seem to know more than what they say.

Building up slowly but with a hypnotic spell, the film looks like a canvas painted in monochrome style - the unique arid landscape and compelling black-and-white photography make a wonderful match. It exposes not only the current existential emptiness but also the lack of opportunities and injustices endured by the indigenous Australians. 

Carrying all the ingredients of a solid film noir, Limbo has a startlingly unusual climax, shrouded in thick mystery and a sulfurous tone that, at the end, suddenly veers to bittersweet. Despite the shattering suggestions, the film ends on an optimistic note that is both quite surprising and welcoming. With no sensational scenes or thrills, Limbo penetrates our minds with a piercing lethargy.

Palm Trees and Power Lines (2023)

Direction: Jamie Dack
Country: USA 

The first feature from writer-director Jamie Dack, an uncomfortable coming-of-age drama cutely called Palm Trees and Power Lines, takes its time to compellingly tell the story of a 17-year-old girl who begins a treacherous relationship with a man twice her age. The script, co-written with Audrey Findlay, is an expansion of Dack’s 2018 short film of the same name.

Lea (Lily McInerny), 17, can’t really open up to her distant single mother (Gretchen Mol), spending the summertime hanging out with friends of her age. But not even occasional sex can pull her out of boredom. This is until, she meets Tom (Jonathan Tucker), a 34-year-old man who acts shifty but seems to understand her problems. What are the real intentions of this stranger? 

The story attains a sinister emotional vortex after Dack, never heavy-handed in her observations, portrays the blithe excitement of a rose-colored romantic discovery. There are two distinct halves: a more casual one that defines the characters and their milieus, and a tenser, grim last fraction that leads to a sad conclusion. The rawest scenes are stretched out with no music score, reaching a serious level of verisimilitude.

The well-acted Palm Trees and Power Lines is not perfect but frankly impressive. It succeeds in plunging us into the psyche of a teenager, and does it with captivating introspection. Being a movie of an invisible violence and loneliness, it not only packs a punch, but made me actively want to punch the movie characters, whether for their startling naivety or creepy perversion.

Madeleine Collins (2023)

Direction: Antoine Barraud
Country: France

Madeleine Collins, the latest feature by French director Antoine Barraud (Portrait of the Artist, 2014), is an ambitious psychological drama that borders on Hitchcockian thriller. It was co-written with Héléna Klotz (Atomic Age, 2012), and stars Virginie Efira (Benedetta, 2021; Revoir Paris, 2022), who couldn’t have been a better choice for the leading role. With great talent, she embodies Judith, a fragile woman - more generous than treacherous - whose double life gradually disintegrates as her multiple identities are unveiled.

The film involves the viewer in a labyrinth of pitfalls and pretenses that misleads before eventually shedding some light on a story that keeps throbbing with twists. They progressively explain the confusion of its earlier parts, which make you search incessantly for logical grounds. The success, however, comes partially from Barraud, who keeps the pace moving and manages to disconcert at regular intervals while directing with a skillful sense of suspense. 

Elevated by a great performance, this tale only seems possible on screen, but the uncanny undertones of humanity and perversity infused by the protagonist keep us centered on her self-created nightmare. With that said, the whole thing feels familiar, moodwise, without ever veering into cliché.

Earth Mama (2023)

Direction: Savanah Leaf
Country: USA 

Savanah Leaf’s directorial feature debut is based on the documentary short The Heart Still Hums, which she co-directed in 2020 with Taylor Russell. It’s a spare bleak drama that, despite a few moments of genuine pathos, plunges into monotone melodramatic waters as the story moves forward. 

The plot focuses on the 24-year-old Gia (Tia Nomore), a single mother and former addict in recovery, who is expecting a third child while having the other two in foster care. In constant financial struggle, Gia considers giving her baby for adoption, meeting with a potential foster family that could give her child the stability she cannot. However, her indecision is considerably augmented by her conservative best friend (Doechii), who is also pregnant. 

We’ve seen this topic many times, which sets a high bar for the director. Her efforts end up being unsubstantial as the possibilities of the story become narrow. The script feels thoroughly scattershot at times, especially in dealing with its characters, and lacks the subtlety that might have made them more interesting. In addition to a quite impersonal staging, there’s this sluggish pace impeding the narrative flow.

Some moments of emotional truth within the uneven parts don’t avoid a forgettable whole that translates into a minimalist procession of despair with an overall mediocre payoff. There’s simply not enough material for a feature here.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Direction: Christopher McQuarrie
Country: USA

Awesomely scripted, the seventh installment of Mission Impossible franchise, is neither unworthy nor mind-blowing. It features its star, Tom Cruise, in top form, as super-spy Ethan Hunt, who, this time around, fights a ghost from his past - the terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales) - and a metaphysical Entity that, as a destructive AI parasite, undermines digital communications and threats humanity. The secret to avoiding its propagation is to find the other half of a cruciform key with the help of old IMF teammates, Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), and an unexpected new partner and incorrigible thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell).

Director Christopher McQuarrie directs this well-calibrated, fast-paced action romp with panache, taking in typical car and motorcycle chases, and extending them to an uncontrolled train - the famous Orient Express - crammed with enemies. Although every threatening occurrence is solved last minute with an excess of coincidence and implausibility, the good outweighs the bad via its sense of adventure, ranging motion and thrilling tone. It is escapist entertainment with no fainting spells. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Meeting the canons of the saga while taking the form of an artful spectacle, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was the most expensive and longest film of the series, but is far from being an extraordinary achievement. Fans can expect Part Two to arrive in 2024.

Love Life (2023)

Direction: Koji Fukada
Country: Japan 

Shot with the intimacy and formality that is many times associated with Japanese cinema, Love Life is an emotionally complex melodrama rooted in grief, trauma and patriarchy, but branching out into insecurities, reconnections and family subtleties.

Writer, director and editor Koji Fukada (Harmonium, 2016; The Real Thing, 2020) brings us the story of Taeko (Fumino Kimura), and her husband Jiro (Kento Nagayama). The couple works together at the local social service center and is happily married despite Jiro’s father has never approved of their relationship. Taeko has a bright six-year-old son, Keita, from a previous marriage. A shocking tragedy suddenly shakes this family without warning. All of them will have to adapt to the new reality. Keita’s estranged biological father, a homeless Korean man (Atom Sunada), resurfaces shortly after Taeko finds out that Jiro had a fiancée before her, who happens to be their coworker.

Coping with grief and the role of women in the patriarchal Japanese society are not the only central topics here. Loneliness is also very present, clashing with the constant communication - in three different languages - that occurs among the characters. These people are wounded inside and vacillate in several ways when disoriented. We feel them as they breathe the discomfort of their lives in search of love and resilience. 

Melancholy infiltrates an acerbic story that employs too much composure for a plot that, even fairly unpredictable, is meandering and not as moving as the director would have intended it to be. Yet, the beautiful image composition comes with extraordinary sharpness and is to be praised - director of photography Hideo Yamamoto worked extensively with Takashi Miike and contributed to Takeshi Kitano’s Fireworks look great.

Fukada signs a drama punctuated with strong sequences of muted disenchantment and discreet humanism. They warn us about the impossibility of controlling life as well as the time required to overcome difficult phases.

Barbie (2023)

Direction: Greta Gerwig
Country: USA

The pink bubble surrounding the world-famous 11-inch plastic doll Barbie, which made its first appearance in 1959 in New York by the hand of creator and Mattel co-founder Ruth Handel, is hard to recreate, even in modern cinema. Yet, and despite the dominant sense of goofiness, the talented filmmaker Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, 2017; Little Women, 2019) demonstrates she’s capable of surprising the viewer with clever takes on several important topics - from patriarchy to identity to consumerism and capitalism. Fresh ideas co-orchestrated with partner Noah Baumbach transpire throughout a film that jolts with jubilant humor, music, dance, and a few truths about real-world men and women.

In this artificial Hollywood fantasy, Barbie (Margot Robbie, who also produced) struggles with thoughts of death, and inexplicably gets flat feet and cellulite. These malfunctions prompt her to see Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) for advice. The latter urges her to leave Barbieland and go to the real world where she will connect with the unsatisfied Mattel-designer Gloria (America Ferrera), and her brash daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). Whereas Barbie becomes aware of her depressive state, her forever boyfriend, Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling), makes a move to transform Barbieland into a patriarchal Kenland by brainwashing the remaining versions of Barbie. A pink revolution, not devoid of sweet reasonableness, is needed to reestablish peace and justice.

Benefitting from Helen Mirren’s effective narration, this feminist film hovers over the topics with wittiness, enjoyment and critical thinking. The result is cheerily upbeat. Great energy and creativity went into the construction, production and direction of this movie, which, as good as it is at times, still misses the heart. With that said, that final scene was simply brilliant, leaving me no other option than surrender myself to Gerwig’s intelligent humor. This Barbie movie might be too candied and flamboyant but is certainly not silly.

Lola (2023)

Direction: Andrew Legge
Country: Ireland, UK

Nobody can deny that Lola, an avant-garde sci-fi drama in the style of a docu-fiction, is inventive and bold. This experimental Guy Maddin-esque effort by first-time director Andrew Legge is invested in an enigmatic world of found footage, the ability to see the future, controversial decisions in wartime, and a bit of self-discovery. It plays like a feverish funhouse with eclectic music - from art-rock to electronic to the classical music of Elgar - and retro visuals that authenticate the power of film as a medium. 

Shot with several cameras and period lenses, and dreamt in black and white, Lola is the story of two orphaned sisters, Thomasina (Emma Appleton) and Martha (Stefanie Martini), who created LOLA, an advanced machine that can see into the future and intercept its messages. The year is 1949, but the sisters are already enthusiastic fans of David Bowie and Bob Dylan (the music of the future). Almost without notice, they became the secret weapon of the British military intelligence in the war against Germany, but not without a few predicaments that could change the course of history as we know it. 

Story-wise, there’s not much to be happy about it, but even self-indulgent at times, the film has a strange appeal, developing with imagination at an irregular rhythm. These emphatic montages can be very artistic but also gimmicky in its dramatic time travel hallucination. Lola is an unusual picture, insanely evocative and hard to predict.

Passages (2023)

Direction: Ira Sachs
Country: USA

Ira Sachs, the director of Love is Strange (2014) and Little Men (2016), follows up with Passages, an intense drama film that’s neither kitschy nor unrealistic. The film’s Paris is a place where lust and artistic ambition can coexist; and that city atmosphere seems to suit Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a German filmmaker who abandons his longtime English husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw), to have an affair with a woman, Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). 

Propelled by desiring forces and emotional ebbs and flows, the film marks a tough period of transition in the lives of these three characters. There’s this cumulative toxicity spread by an electric narcissist who lives according to his own pleasures, without taking others into consideration. Tomas’ unsettling ego is harmed when his dominance fails. Conveying exactly that, Rogowski elevates a story that, although meandering on occasion, is implacably lucid. It’s a painful view of the failures, doubts and losses of love.

Sachs is proficient in capturing the push-and-pull of relationships, and we can feel the jealousy, frustration and tension oozing from the scenes co-written with Mauricio Zacharias, who teams up with the director for the fifth time. In the case of the female character, the screenwriters understood that quiet desperation is often more moving than noisy suffering, and we do feel commiseration for her.

Passages has the ability to be simultaneously disciplined and unpredictable. Even if it doesn’t come with the power of Sachs’ previous works, this is still a lavish and opulent story that ends pungently at the sound of free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler’s “Rejoice Spirit”.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Direction: Christopher Nolan
Country: USA 

Oppenheimer marks the sixth collaboration between the singularly original writer-director Christopher Nolan and the Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who, given the leading role here, works diligently under the guise of the physicist who created the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Populated with lightning-fast dialogues, oppressive music and artificial tension, the film differs from Nolan’s previous moves as there’s no emphasis on action. In a way, the type of narrative adopted by Nolan curbs the inventiveness that made Memento, Inception and Dunkirk instant classics.

As a cerebral biopic, it tries to get our attention through scientific fascination, political repression, international espionage, and the moral dilemma faced by the title character, who struggles with his own creation: a massive weapon that poses an existential threat to the humankind. Oppenheimer’s guilt is well expressed, as well as the cynicism of some of his associates, like Dr. Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr. is excellent) and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie). Even president Truman (Gary Oldman) disregarded his torment and did nothing to prevent his political persecution. 

It’s an interesting, if formal, film that manages to captivate intermittently. Shot statically in black-and-white and color, it follows a transparent narrative strategy, being structured as a series of slow-moving scenes that require you to dive into meticulous dialogue with tenacity. On one side it’s an opportunity to get a history lesson on the matter, but the film only really shines on a few scattered powerful moments. It all came up more informative than fun.

The Blue Caftan (2023)

Direction: Maryam Touzani
Country: Morocco / France / other

It’s a beautiful and noble film, this drama directed by Maryam Touzani, who looks at the taboo of homosexuality in Moroccan society with honesty, elegance and courage. Co-written with producer Nail Ayouch, The Blue Caftan is Touzani’s sophomore feature, following up to the well-received Adam (2019). Both works star Lubna Azabal, who, in this latest, emerges in the company of Saleh Bakri and debutant Ayoub Missioui. Their performances are flawless.

Gently woven with impressionistic gestures and profound humanity, the film tells the story of Halim (Bakri), an admired maalem (masterful seamster), and his gravely ill wife, Mina (Azabal). They run a traditional caftan business in the Medina of Salé that urgently needs a pair of helping hands since the demand is high and the process time-consuming. The hard-working Youssef (Missioui), a gentle soul, is their new apprentice. Yet, at the center of this drama lies the hidden homosexuality and guilt of Halim.

There are wise words and decipherable silences throughout, and both the sensitivity and audacity of the director, who obtains the right nuances from the actors, are very much appreciated as it give us time to absorb and breathe lightly. The characters demonstrate superior feelings while treating one another with the utmost respect, consideration and love. When you have an optimum balance between actors in a state of grace, unblemished scenarios, complexity of feelings, spontaneous slices of humor, and quiet voluptuousness, then you know you are in good hands.

The Beasts (2023)

Direction: Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Country: Spain 

This oppressive and often disturbing rural thriller set in the mountains of Galicia is cold as ice, and comes packed with a nerve-wracking tension that will take your breath away. The Beasts is a powerful work of nightmarish force by Rodrigo Sorogoyen (The Candidate, 2018), who, inspired by the uncomfortable atmosphere of Carlos Saura’s movies (The Hunt, 1966; Cria Cuervos, 1976), excels by reaching mastery dimensions in the direction, storytelling, editing, and staging. 

A French couple, Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs), has been living their dream as ecological farmers in a small village in Galicia for a few years. They also have another business on the side, restoring abandoned houses to facilitate repopulation. However, rough peasant neighbors - brothers Xan (Luis Zahera) and Lorenzo (Diego Anido) - who have their own reasons for being frustrated with life, resolve minor conflicts with provocation and confrontation, both physical and verbal.

These characters are very easy to decipher but hard to digest. There’s a major shift of focus in the story line that caught me by surprise and whose resolution left me speechless. This is a rigorous, terrifying and implacable portrait of neighborhood harassment; and its topics - eco farms, renewable energy opportunities, resentment, xenophobia - are very current.

Benefitting from incredibly sincere performances from the four leads, Sorogoyen doles out a dark, shattering piece of filmmaking that is as brutal as it is essential.

Linoleum (2023)

Direction: Colin West
Country: USA 

The labyrinthine Linoleum happens to be the most ambitious and accomplished movie by writer-director Colin West (Double Walker, 2021). The unconventional screenplay examines repressed dreams, family issues and brain clogging with some caricatural undertones and a layered surrealism that serves well its narrative purpose.

Set in Dayton, Ohio, this mildly profound comedy drama puts the focus on Cameron Edwin (Jim Gaffigan), the longtime host of a children’s science TV show, who, at middle age, still wants to do something fantastic with his life. However, he’s going through a tough phase. He’s about to divorce his wife, Erin (Rhea Seehorn), and is forced to abandon his home when a rocket crashes into his backyard. His wealthy and antipathetic new neighbor, Kent (Gaffigan in a double role), who looks a lot like him, steals his job. And to complicate things even more, the latter’s son, Marc (Gabriel Rush), starts dating his daughter, Nora (Katelyn Nacon). 

The first half of the story maintains a modest charm while the second is more emotional and progressively clarifying. Linoleum is a lesson in how movies can escape stereotype and penetrate the hearts of rare characters. Cleverly acted by a cast that truly believes in the material, the film is complex, lacerating and self-revelatory. Its quirky tone and bold structure are the movie's greatest strengths, which keep the film's plot events from ever feeling melodramatic. Even with a solid emotional center, this is not for all tastes.

Close (2023)

Direction: Lukas Dhont
Country: Belgium / France / Netherlands

Lukas Dhont’s sophomore feature, Close, is an unheralded gem of a motion picture, and one of the most authentic depictions of teenage tragedy in memory. If the 31-year-old Belgian director, a specialized artisan in filming adolescence and the quest for identity, had made a name for himself with Girl (2018), he now takes a huge leap forward with a deeply moving drama about two inseparable 13-year-old friends, whose special connection is suddenly disrupted in the face of the quick judgment shown by their schoolmates. Tragedy leads to guilt, whose corrosiveness is deterrent to a normal life. 

It’s impossible not to be taken in by this devastating and powerful film marked by standout nuanced performances from the two young leads, Eden Dambrine and Gustav De Waele. One simply finds perfection in their acting debuts.

Finely framed and tightly constructed, the film deals with emotions that swell significantly in non-flashy ways. Every occasion is clearly expressed, including the beautiful scenes between mothers and sons. I found the payoff considerably higher here than in the majority of movies about the same topic. One thing is certain: after watching Close, you won't forget its protagonists such is the intimacy and pain associated with their interactions. 

While working on the thoughtful screenplay, Dhont drew inspiration from the book Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection by psychology professor Niobe Way. His formidable film was the recipient of Cannes Grand Prix and lingers in my head since I’ve watched it.

The Starling Girl (2023)

Direction: Laura Parmet
Country: USA 

The Starling Girl focuses on the negative impact of fanatic religious communities on young women's lives who are still searching for an identity. The drama, written and directed by debutant Laura Parmet, stars Australian-born actress Eliza Scanlen (Babyteeth, 2019), who, strong in her role, oscillates between uncontrollable desire and intense guilt.

In an ultra-conservative Christian small-town in Kentucky, the 17-year old Jem Starling (Scanlen) slowly  awakes to sexuality and love when the local pastor’s elder son, Owen Taylor (Lewis Pullman), 28, returns from Puerto Rico. But Owen, a youth pastor himself, is married, and it’s his tedious brother, Ben (Austin Abrams), who asks her family permission to court her (a community tradition), with a clear intention to marry her in the future.

Although the film seems more likable than incisive or original, the patchy romance at the center is not stale. There’s also family problems, oodles of hypocrisy and public humiliation, while the slowness of the staging is commensurate with the labor of a story that overwhelms. But, in the end, does the film reach the depth expected? Just about. Disregarding the flat, unsatisfying ending, there are a few disturbing and dramatic moments of quiet power.

The themes, emphasizing the clash between feelings and values, will resonate with free spirited individuals as much as it will upset fanatical religious devotees.

Pamfir (2023)

Direction: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
Country: Ukraine 

Pamfir, the feature debut by Ukrainian writer-director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, flirts with the aggressiveness of Guy Ritchie’s early films and the bleakness of Sergei Loznitsa’s tales of hopelessness. The film, rudimentary but not excessively violent, follows Leonid a.k.a. Pamfir (Oleksandr Yatsentyuk), a former smuggler who returns to his tiny rural village in West Ukraine - located on the border with Romania - after several months working in Poland. Although happy to stay with his family - wife Olena (Solomiya Kyrylova) and son Nazar (Stanislav Potiak) - the monolithic Leonid falls into the same traps of the past to mend his son’s imprudent actions. 

Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk paints a dark and desperate portrait of a crumbling Ukraine marked by crime lords, the loss of values, traditional folklore (Malanka holiday), and the generalized corruption of public authorities. With a heavy atmosphere, Greek stoicism, and unmerited misfortune, this is an aesthetically strong picture lit by the magnificent work of director of photography, Nikita Kuzmenko. 

Pamfir finds limited options to deal with unexpected predicaments in a contemporary tragedy that is pretty decent but harsh. In his debut, and due to the script’s nature, Yatsentyuk conveys more action than emotion. His professionalism is never in question though.