Just Mercy (2019)

Direction: Destin Daniel Cretton
Country: USA

In 2013, Destin Daniel Cretton surprised the world with his debut feature Short Term 12, a gem of a drama based on his own experiences. He made clear that he has a gift to genuinely depict true stories, infusing them with cinematic power. However, his sophomore picture, The Glass Castle (2017), wasn’t so successful. He returns this year with the straightforward Just Mercy, a well-intentioned legal drama that lays bare the multiple injustices and incongruity of the death row. 

The film tells the true story of Walter McMillan, an innocent African-American from Alabama, who, after being convicted for the murder of a white teen woman with no evidence, was able to escape the mortal punishment with the help of Brian Stevenson, a freshly graduated Harvard lawyer. By impersonating the latter, Michael B. Jordan was given the opportunity to showcase his versatility after memorable action-packed roles in Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015), and Black Panther (2018). In turn, Jamie Foxx impersonates the convict with a low-key posture. 

Cretton was able to capture the anguish that comes when fierce prejudice against black men erases every possibility of innocence. In parallel with this, one can observe the distinct case of Herbert Richardson (Rob Morgan). He was a former war-vet suffering from PTSD, who, involuntarily, killed a girl in the middle of a crisis. 

Never veering into excessive sentimentality, this absorbing courtroom drama denounces pure racial disdain and cynical manipulation of facts. It can be utterly uncomfortable.

Richard Jewell (2019)

Direction: Clint Eastwood
Country: USA

Once again (after J.Edgar, American Sniper, and Sully), reputable director Clint Eastwood got inspired by real events, putting out another biographical drama, this time centered on Richard Jewell, the security guard and police officer who, in the space of three days, went from national hero to main suspect of the bombing of the Centennial Olympic Park at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jewell, majestically embodied by Paul Walter Hauser, likes to state he’s a law enforcer. And that’s exactly what he is. Passionate about it and attentive to detail, this fast-food junkie is also a gun expert and a sharpshooter who believes in protecting people. He takes his job very seriously, and you can picture him as that sort of obsessive, overzealous guy whom everybody makes fun of. Yet, on the hot night of July 27, 1996, his suspicion about a green backpack lying underneath a bench in the cited park led to a partial evacuation of the place, avoiding hundreds of casualties and injuries in a terrorist attack.

With the manipulative FBI agent Tom Shaw (Jon Hamm) at the center of the investigation, Jewell is made a suspect with no reason other than his past and the sloppy assumption that he fits the profile of the lone bomber. The help comes from Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), a pragmatic lawyer who had briefly crossed paths with Jewell in 1986, time when the film's narrative begins.

Eastwood and his writer Billy Ray (Captain Phillips; The Hunger Games) faced fierce contestation from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution newspaper for the way they outlined the methods used by late reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) in order to obtain relevant information.

Polemics aside, the director, prompted by an immediate and fluid storytelling, mounted some scenes that not always feel authentic. However, he makes a clear-eyed look about the failings and transgressions of American law enforcement agencies in their urgency to find a culprit. Hauser fuels this uneven account with an excellent performance.

1917 (2019)

Direction: Sam Mendes
Country: USA

After two James Bond ventures - Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) -  English director Sam Mendes returns with an intense, schematic World War I drama, which he co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. The script of 1917 was partly based on a narrative fragment told by the director’s grandfather, the novelist and short-story writer Alfred H. Mendes, to whom the film was dedicated. 

The expeditious camera focuses on two British soldiers, Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and William Schofield (George MacKay), who, while stationed in the North of France, are entrusted with the mission of delivering a vital message to the 2nd battalion of the Devonshire Regiment. The message includes direct orders from the general to stop a longtime planned attack that will lead them into a deadly German ambush. If delivered on time, the lives of 1600 men will be spared, including Blake’s bigger brother. 

During their pedestrian course in enemy territory, the men face death in claustrophobic interiors, traverse slippery, muddy land loaded with semi-putrefied corpses, stop at sinister abandoned places, and rush through ruins on fire, where bullets fly from every direction. Both the intriguing score and stunning cinematography, composed by Thomas Newman and Roger Deakins, respectively, assure a valuable consolidation. 

There are some plot distentions - Schofield is virtually bullet-proof in the battlefield and even carries milk to feed a hungry baby - but the film also piles up moments of true fascination, especially when it comes to the visuals. It’s a terrifying, grim look at war, filled with devastating post-battle scenarios, pushing-forward energy and acute tension. By the end, you’ll feel as exhausted as the messenger.

Beanpole (2019)

Direction: Kantemir Balagov
Country: Russia

Beanpole, the third feature from young Russian director Kantemir Balagov, is cooked with a gut-wrenching Bergman-esque agitation. Achingly performed, this grimly believable and often suffocating psychodrama set in the post-war Leningrad, features two talented newcomer actresses, Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina. The former is Iya, a traumatized survivor turned nurse in a hospital unit, and the latter is Masha, an anguished, exhausted, somewhat cynical soldier who returns from the front to pick up her three-year-old son, Pashka (Timofey Glazkov). The kid had been entrusted to Iya’s care, but died accidentally when his guardian was experiencing one of her episodic PTSD crisis. 

The title, beanpole, arises from the fact that Iya is tall and thin. That’s her moniker. Consumed by guilt and nurturing a secret love for the barren Masha, Iya reluctantly accepts to become a surrogate mother for her friend. Masha had already planned everything and even picked the head of the hospital unit, Nikolay Ivanovych (Andrey Bykov), as the future father of her child.

Painful to watch, the film is permeated with angst, shallow hope, and an inner emptiness that is quite disturbing. It’s like if you, by observation of the two leads, could feel years of real misery and suffering. To reinforce this idea, the film includes a sad case of euthanasia.  

Balagov, who was awarded in Cannes with the Un Certain Regard prize for best director, relies on close ups to express the women’s deep feelings as well as claustrophobic medium shots saturated in color that serve to expose the general instability and emotional devastation caused by the war.

Waves (2019)

Direction: Trey Edward Shults
Country: USA

Trey Edward Shults surprised the world with his debut feature Krisha (2015), an achingly intense family drama that deserved all the acclaim it got. With his sophomore picture, It Comes at Night (2017), he stepped into the apocalyptic horror genre with positive assurance. In his newest work, Waves, he returns to the complex family topic, setting the mood with abundant dramatic flair. Deeply focused on relationships, this ruin-and-rebuild tale amasses death, guilt, forgiveness, and hope with variable depth. Set in Miami, the story centers on a middle-class African-American family that will have to overcome the tragic consequences of an involuntary murder.

Tyler (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a high school senior who is deeply committed to pursue a career in wrestling, but is advised by his doctor to stop any physical activity due to a serious, possibly irreversible problem in his shoulder. His domineering father, Ronald (Sterling K. Brown), is the one who trains him with an unhealthy competitive posture. He’s married to Catherine (Renée Elise Goldsberry), who, not being Tyler’s biological mother, raised him as her own child. And then there’s the sensitive Emily (Taylor Russell), the younger daughter of the couple. Frustrated with the impossibility to compete, Tyler sees his life spiraling into chaos after his pregnant girlfriend, Alexis (Alexa Demie), breaks up with him.

At the end of this first narrative segment, Shults dangerously embraces sentimentality, playing the scenes of a new chapter (involving Emily and her boyfriend) a bit too tight while stretching the roller coaster of emotions. With all its faults, Waves still provides incredible moments capable of freezing us in our chairs and pushing us into a hypnotic state. The ensemble cast does a wonderful job, and I see them as real champions whenever the script wibbles and wobbles. The score by Nine Inch Nails’ members Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is outstanding, while the varied soundtrack includes songs from Tame Impala, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, and Radiohead, among others.

Waves doesn't work in its entirety, but when it connects, it’s powerful and uncomfortable.

A Hidden Life (2019)

Direction: Terrence Malick
Country: USA

After a couple of trivial drifting practices (Knight of Cups; Song to Song), director Terrence Malick returns with A Hidden Life, a structurally solid WWII account based on the real-life story of Austrian pacifist farmer Franz Jägerstätter. Refusing to swear loyalty to the Nazi regime, whose principles go entirely against his Catholic and moral ideals, Franz (August Diehl) is incarcerated at Tegel prison in Berlin, tortured, and then sentenced to death. Unintentionally, he’s making the life of his beloved wife, Fani (Valerie Pachner), a living hell. It’s because the people of St. Radegund, their small Austrian village, not understanding why Franz rejects his duties to the fatherland, cease to assist Fani in the heavy work in the fields. Notwithstanding, the latter’s unconditional support of her husband’s cause is laudable.

Franz asks the bishop of Salzburg (Michael Nyqvist): “If leaders are evil, what do we do?”. Considered a traitor, this man and his brave wife will endure years of solitude, emptiness, and misery. Their existential questions - “God, why am I here? Why did you create us?” - are articulated with that inner-centered, melancholic voice-off so typical of Malick’s deliberate style, while the visuals, preserving some of the oneiric aura of his previous works, offer something new in the hands of camera operator-turned-cinematographer, Jorg Vidmer. However, clocking in at nearly three hours, the film is exhaustingly overlong, with Malick taking too much time detailing a canvas that could have been painted with less brushstrokes. This setback is somewhat compensated with an accessible, less subjective script.

Opting for a non-exploitative presentation, Malick gets it right in the end, but at the expense of a lot of patience from the viewers. A Hidden Life is disconcerting both for the right and the wrong reasons.

Little Women (2019)

Direction: Greta Gerwig
Country: USA

Greta Gerwig’s sophomore directorial feature, Little Women, is an inspired adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, doing what few movies based on great books can do. The director adopts a flowing, leisurely style, preferring a breezy warmth and humor to the usual boring details and sentimental baits that, most of the times, inundate these period dramas.

This heartfelt, coming-of-age story, set in post Civil-War America, allows us to keep pace with the growth of the four March sisters, from childhood to womanhood. The brave, hot tempered, and independent Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is a talented writer and teacher in New York who refuses to comply with the established conventions regarding the role of women in the society; the slightly rebellious painter-wannabe Amy (Florence Pugh) competes with Jo for attention; the ambitious eldest sister, Meg (Emma Watson), is tired of being poor and just aims at a good marriage; and the quiet Beth (Eliza Scanlen), the shyest of the sisters, has in music her main interest in life.

Raised by their kind-hearted mother, Marmee (Laura Dern), they are all so different in nature, but also extremely united. Episodes of jealousy are frequently depicted with humor and involve the sisters' wealthy neighbor, Theodore "Laurie" Laurence (Timothée Chalamet), whose charms conquer Amy’s heart but not his best friend Jo, with whom he’s in love. Meryl Streep plays the sisters’ aunt marvelously, the family’s spinster who just wants to see the girls well married.

The pace is set to perfection and you won’t find one single dull moment here. Gerwig masterfully builds up this story with appealing ease and self-assurance, planting it over a solid structure that doesn’t shrivel at any stage. The camera lens captures everything that’s relevant with curiosity and spirit, and both director and cast fuel the proceedings with the more delightful of the touches.

This refreshingly smart take on Little Women reaches the dimensions of a new classic. It’s undoubtedly one of the greatest movies of 2019.

Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Direction: Craig Brewer
Country: USA

Completely free of inhibitions and set to work at fast speeds, Dolemite is My Name is a facetious representation of the Blaxploitation cinema that emerged in the United States in the 1970’s. The biographical comedy stars an alive-and-kicking Eddie Murphy as the real-life title character, a comedian and ambitious go-getter whose real name was Rudy Ray Moore. Having exchanged his native Arkansas for L.A. to become a successful artist, Moore is not so thrilled with his big plans turned small life. That’s when a big idea comes up: to steal the rhyming Afro-American folklore material of the roofless Ricco (Ron Cephas Jones), polish it, and then create his own show.

Still feeling unfulfilled after the commercial success of his comedy records, Moore looks further and extends his ambitions to cinema. He acts for the very first time alongside his protégée Lady Reed (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) and under the direction of actor D'Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), a stoned dude whose i-don’t-give-a-shit attitude has never discouraged him from pursuing his goals. The pimp character Dolemite is all about titties, wild action, and maladroit kung fu. Snoop Dogg and Chris Rock also appear in the film, playing small parts.

Director Craig Brewer possessed the right mindset to make this work, even when pushing the film into the excesses of its bravado. He creates a colorful frappé of successful gags and funny situations, and often employs Murphy’s black vernacular as a laugh inducer, pulling punchy satirical notes to the point of almost reaching the absurdity. The writing credits go to the team Scott Alexander/Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood; The People vs. Larry Flint).

One can’t pretend that this Dolemite doesn't incorporates clichés, but we also can’t deny it’s an extremely entertaining exercise and an uplifting reference to this particular side of the African-American filmmaking culture.

One Cut of the Dead (2019)

Direction: Shinichiro Ueda
Country: Japan

Shinichiro Ueda’s low-budget One Cut of the Dead is an uneven, cunning, and riotous zombie parody conceived with obsession and commitment. It's possibly a new cult movie for the gorehounds,  These characteristics are also shared by the director within the film, Mr. Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu), and his family: actress wife Harumi (Harumi Shuhama) and perfectionist daughter Mao (herself). 

I confess I almost stopped watching the film during its nonsense 37-minute opening sequence. Yet, after that bloody B-movie premise shot with a dizzying handheld camera, the hysterical horror farce started to make sense, following a clever structure and displaying occasional hilarious situations.  

A brand new TV channel dedicated to zombies hires Hirugashi to create a one-take-only episode to be broadcasted live. He can only use one single camera and his personality suddenly transfigures from kind-hearted to iron-handed. With limitations in both resources and time, he then goes into the process of gathering the possible cast and crew, including the actor Mr. Hosoda (Manabu Hosoi), who has an alcohol problem and lives in a happy-sad state, and sound technician Mr. Yamago (Shuntaro Yamazaki), who struggles with severe intestinal disorders.

Starring unknown actors, One Cut of the Dead is progressively enjoyable and it works, in part, because it doesn’t. After all, the whole movie is built on failure.

A Rainy Day in New York (2019)

Direction: Woody Allen
Country: USA

Once heralded as an inventive filmmaker, Woody Allen now definitely needs a break. It’s been a while since the prolific American director presented something original and fully consistent.

A Rainy Day in New York is another New York-inspired trifle, whose plot is not as shiny as its images. Made of coincidences, encounters, and imbroglios, the story is excessively fabricated to convince. Moreover, the film was discarded by its distributor, Amazon Studios, after Allen’s name has been involved in a sexual assault allegation and most of the actors had given their salaries to anti-harassment organizations.

Apart from the controversy, Allen pictured a young couple arriving in New York to spend an agitated weekend. He is Gatsby Wells (Timothée Chalamet), a clever New Yorker who wins at poker and smokes like a chimney. She is Ashleigh Enright (Elle Fanning), a not-very-bright journalism student from Tucson, Arizona, who gets hysterical with the opportunity to interview Roland Pollard (Liev Schreiber), an uninteresting indie filmmaker. While Gatsby ends up turning down the advances of a childhood friend, and now actress, Shannon Tyrell (Selena Gomez is just way out of line here), Ashleigh bumps into the celebrated actor Francisco Vega (Diego Luna), to whom she literally denies to have a boyfriend. 

The immature A Rainy in New York drags with boring developments that only make the film look duller and duller. Even if you’re into romantic comedies, you'll find a too contrived plot, incapable to provide a satisfying experience. The sharp and glowing cinematography by Italian Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now; Last Tango in Paris) seems to be one of the few things that escape banality.   

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Direction: Céline Sciamma
Country: France

It’s the end of the 18th century. A talented Parisian painter, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), gets into a boat to a remote island in Brittany. She was hired to draw a portrait of a young aristocrat, Heloise (Adèle Haenel), who refused to pose for former painters. The portrait will serve to attract potential suitors, but Heloise has no interest in getting married whatsoever. Yet, by the will of the Contessa, her mother (Valeria Golino), it seems she has no way to dodge that destiny. The resistance/passivity duality that emerges from the situation naturally aggravates after painter and subject fall for each other.

With a quasi-literary essence, Portrait of a Lady on Fire emerges as a slow-burning period piece, perfectly cast and combusting with aesthetic sophistication. The simple, intimate plot is handled with authenticity by writer/director Céline Sciamma, who has here a major triumph after the positive impressions left with former works, Tomboy (2011) and Girlhood (2014). Behind the camera, she doesn’t wobble not for a second, demonstrating how confidently and stylishly she handles the material. There’s a smart parallel story involving abortion and stupefying moments of music. 

The painter’s recollection may be bittersweet, but for us is unforgettable such is the magnetic emotional resonance of Merlant and Haenel’s performances. They are extraordinary actresses.

I don’t remember the last time I was pulled into a quiet film this arrestingly. Hence, this is one of those cinematic treats to be remembered, not regretted. 

Atlantics (2019)

Direction: Mati Diop
Country: Senegal / France / Belgium

Set in a suburban coastal town of Dakar, Senegal, Atlantics is a downhearted love story turned into revenge ghost tale. Starring a fine cast of newcomers led by Name Bineta Sane, Ibrahim Traore and Amadou Mbow, the film marks the directorial debut of French-Senegalese actress Mati Diop (35 Shots of Rum; Simon Killer), who co-wrote the script with Olivier Demangel.

Souleiman (Traore) is an indebted young man who works long hours in construction. It’s been three months since he doesn’t get a paycheck. Desperate, Souleiman and his friends get into a small boat with the risky mission to cross the Atlantic Ocean and reach Spain. He does this in secrecy, without saying anything to his better half, Ada (Sane), who, despite madly in love with him, has an arranged wedding with the wealthy Omar (Babacar Sylla) scheduled within a few days. With no news from Souleiman, Ada is found impassive and disconsolate at her wedding party, a celebration marked by an inexplicable bizarre occurrence. The investigation of the mystery is entrusted to the rising young police inspector Issa Diop (Mbow), whose tenacity is disturbed by what looks like a virus.

With tranquil assertiveness, Ms. Diop sets a haunting, feverish atmosphere to immerse us in a story of life and death. The simplistic yet powerful plot emphasizes work exploitation and greediness, tragic relationships, immigration, cultural and religious traditions, and brings a very particular vision about things left unresolved in this world. Filmed with an astute sense of aesthetic and well acted, Atlantics is never scary in its phantasmagoria, but the message… the message is too strong to ignore. 

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2019)

Direction: Issa Lopez
Country: Mexico

Mexican writer/director Issa López has in Tigers Are Not Afraid her most compelling work. Having a hard time to fully engage during the initial low-key dramatic realism, Lopez gives the story a strange path and makes it evolve into a crescendo. In truth, the tale plays a much better game after transfiguring into an eerie ghost story. It also boasts this baffling mix of surrealism and symbolism throughout, like in a dark fairytale, without compromising the director’s sort of sneaky self-confidence in aiming at the unbearable, widening violence in Mexico.

With a devastated Mexico City as a backdrop, the film centers on the sensitive 10-year-old Estrella (Paola Lara), who joins a group of orphaned kids led by El Shine (Juan Ramón López). After their parents have disappeared and some houses destroyed, they live on the streets, looking out for food and finding shelter at abandoned places. During a cartel-related shooting outside her school, Estrella was conceded three pieces of chalk, each of them representing a magical wish, but they only seem to trigger unsettling stuff such as haunting visions of her dead mother, creepy augurs, and fantastic metaphoric signals.

The process of finding a proper balance between drama, surrealism and horror was a tremendous challenge, but Lopez, even if not really exceptional in that mission, was able to create an entertaining tale, deeply unnerving in concept and featuring a few decent chills.

The Two Popes (2019)

Direction: Fernando Meirelles
Country: UK / Italy / Other

In the agreeably conversational The Two Popes, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles does a much quieter and static job than when portraying the slums of Rio de Janeiro in his masterpiece City of God (2002). However, his notable directorial work in this biographical dramatization bears no less responsibility since the film exclusively relies on the dialogue between two very different men of faith. Quick flashbacks also exist, yet they were never an added value to the impeccable writing material provided by Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything; Darkest Hour), who adapted his own 2017 play The Pope.

With the capacity of conquering more and more our interest as it moves forward, The Two Popes relies on outstanding performances from Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis. Despite their discrepant personalities and vision, these men were able to open up with each other and discuss complex topics related to the Church as an institution, including some well-known Vatican scandals. They do it with honorable mutual respect and deep understanding. This posture should serve as an example for all the narrow-minded rulers of our tumultuous times. 

The picture reconstructs not only how the most recent papal succession took place, but also the beautiful and solid friendship established between the two popes. It was lovely to see how the visibly tired and lonely German-born Benedict, far more conservative in his approach to life and consequently lacking the openness and clarity the Catholic Church needs today, became receptive to the candid ideals of Bergoglio, a popular Argentine ecclesiastic with a casual, friendly posture, wide sense of humor, and love for soccer, pizza and tango. 

The confessions are the most powerful moments of the film, the trust is unbreakable, and I like to think that a divine hand was involved in this succession, ensuring a better future for the Catholic Church.

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Daniel Isn't Real (2019)

Direction: Adam Egypt Mortimer
Country: USA

For a low-budget film, Daniel Isn’t Real did a lot, revealing some refreshing originality when compared to other horror movies with more financial possibilities. Second-time director Adam Egypt Mortimer made some conceptual and technical advances since his 2015 debut Some Kind of Hate, sharing writing credits once again with Brian DeLeeuw. The latter is the author of This Way I Was Saved, the novel that served as inspiration for the film.

The central character is Luke (Miles Robbins), a college freshman experiencing mental problems. In his sad, solitary childhood, Luke often experienced abandonment, growing up with no father and worrying with his schizoid mother, Clare (Mary Stuart Masterson). His only company is Daniel (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a sinister imaginary friend who addresses him with authority, often pushing him to wrongdoing. Frightened of what his mind can do, Luke gets rid of Daniel for a certain period of time, but years later, following the suggestion of his unconventional psychiatrist, Dr. Cornelius Braun (Chukwudi Iwuji), he gives Daniel permission to follow him everywhere. This makes his mind spin out of control, threatening the relationship with his girlfriend, Cassie (Sasha Lane). Is Daniel a product of Luke’s mind or a supernatural demon looking for a weak host?

This violent, gloomy film got some deserved media attention thanks to the guts and gore, haunting atmospheres, and fine special effects. Whether this is your cup of tea or not, one must admire DeLeeuw for the mystic-induced creativity and Mortimer for the capably execution.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Direction: Josh and Benny Safdie
Country: USA

Uncut Gems generates a propulsive energy throughout that will make you invigorated. Kinetically shot and packed with restless, breathtaking sequences, the film is anything you’ve seen before. It’s also a showcase for Adam Sandler, who squeezing a lot out of the narrative, delivers his most dazzling performance since Punch Drunk Love.

Steeped in a busy, high-end New York atmosphere, the film marks another well-told chapter in the admirable filmography of the Safdie Brothers, authors of excellent indies about never-to-be-forgotten people - Daddy Longlegs (2009), Heaven Knows What (2014), and Good Time (2017). Once again, they teamed up with Ronald Bronstein for a brilliant screenplay.

The story centers on Howard Ratner (Sandler), a Jewish-American jewelry store owner whose hectic life feels like riding an ultra-rapid rollercoaster. Not even us, the viewers, have time to breathe when peeking at Howard’s tense affairs and inextricable predicaments. Because of his gambling addiction, rough debt collectors, who work for loan sharks, frequently stop by his office and give him a hard time. Moreover, most of his employees are unsatisfied for having to deal with his financial imbroglios on a daily basis; his wife, Dinah (Idina Menzel), sees him as an irresponsible imbecile, while his lover and store collaborator, Julia (Julia Fox), was found on the verge of cheating on him with the R&B singer The Weekend (himself) at the latter’s party. On top of that, he embarks on a risky business with the NBA player Kevin Garnett (himself), who got obsessed with an uncut Ethiopian opal.

Bursting with inventiveness and vibrancy, Uncut Gems is simultaneously nerve, guts, passion, and brain. A triumphant exercise in cinematic storytelling, stirred by the main character’s mercurial ups and downs. Very few recent films can boast this intensity, humor, and unpredictability. And the Safdies attained glory.

Knives Out (2019)

Direction: Rian Johnson
Country: USA

With titles such as Brick (2005), Looper (2012), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) as references, American writer/director Rian Johnson has proved to have a knack for action thrillers and sci-fi adventures. With Knives Out, he probes the crime-mystery genre with relatively good results. The film, admirable in its narrative construction and bearing some significant parallels with Agatha Christie’s detective stories, features a dream cast spearheaded by Daniel Craig, who, with a heavy accent, gives life to detective Benoit Blanc, a passive observer of the truth. This calm, patient man is hired by an anonymous person to solve the mysterious death of Harlan Thrombey (veteran Christopher Plummer), a wealthy crime novelist who supposedly committed suicide on the night of his 85th birthday.

The closest members of the family are automatically considered suspects and no exceptions are made. Among them are the defunct's avid children, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), Joni (Toni Collette), and Walt (Michael Shannon); the apparently indifferent grandchildren, Ransom (Chris Evans) and Meg (Katherine Langford), and his presumptuous son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson). In addition to minor personal conflicts with the patriarch, all of them had his large inheritance in mind.

Nonetheless, a key element for the enigma happens to be Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Harlan’s faithful nurse and confidante, who pukes every single time she lies. This factor can be both incriminatory and intimidating. The point is: everyone lies at some point.

Finely calibrated in tone, the film announces the culprit way too early, and the filmmaker tries to mend faults by delivering some fast-paced moves by the end. He totally misses the humor, though. Everything is familiar yet everything is amusing in Rian Johnson’s composed puzzle.

The Good Liar (2019)

Direction: Bill Condon
Country: UK

Bill Condon’s The Good Liar is a colorless, shallow thriller that completely collapses in its attempt to combine con-artist entertainment and serious revenge tale.

Screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher worked in the adaptation of Nicholas Searle's novel of the same name. Still, even with the leading roles in very good hands - Ian McKellen, in his fourth collaboration with the director, and Helen Mirren, were the elected ones - the film doesn’t break new ground and sort of freezes with limitations. In truth, the troubling twists of the plot feel more insecure than exciting, creating an off-putting distance between viewers and characters.

The story mostly concentrates on Roy Courtnay (McKellen), a perennial con artist who finds the perfect person to swindle. She is Betty McLeish (Mirren), a wealthy widow that incautiously opens the door of her house for him after a single date. Clearly, Roy is not the man he claims he is, but my inevitable curiosity went to the unsuspicious Betty. Is she completely transparent and as naive as she seems to be?

Torpid dialogues, an intrusive solemn score, an unsustainable crime without repercussions, a pointless trip to Berlin with staged developments, and a rushed revival of past occurrences are all aspects that help The Good Liar sinking deeper in the mud. Playing like a stage farce, this is one of those films where even the cast loses faith in a better outcome. 

Varda by Agnes (2019)

Direction: Agnès Varda
Country: France

In addition to an insightful posthumous documentary, Varda by Agnès is a compelling self-portrait of a singular filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist.

Agnès Varda, who passed away last March at the age 90, explains her points of view to a small crowd in a theater, complementing the verbal elucidation of her artistic processes with still photographs, archival footage and film excerpts. With genuine charisma and clarity, she remarks the triptych principle that always followed her work: inspiration, creation, and sharing. 

As an important figure of the French New Wave and a feminist visionary with progressive ideas, Varda makes a retrospective of her work, focusing on unforgettable fictional films such as Cléo From 5 to 7, Vagabond, Le Bonheur, and Jacquot de Nantes, as well as highly regarded documentaries like The Gleaners and I, The Beaches of Agnes (another mandatory autobiographical essay), and Faces Places, a recent activist endeavor made in collaboration with French photographer and street artist JR. 

This is a dignified farewell to a compulsively creative artist with a keen eye to capture the things of our world and the brain to produce relevant art from many different sources. If you’re already a fan, you’ll have guaranteed good time; if not, this might impel you to start digging Varda’s world.

Bacurau (2019)

Direction: Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
Country: Brazil

Acclaimed cineaste Kleber Mendonça Filho, the mastermind behind treasures such as Neighboring Sounds (2012) and Aquarium (2016) and one of the most important representatives of modern Brazilian cinema, teams up with co-writer/director Juliano Dornelles in Bacurau, a wildly entertaining and psychedelic Western crammed with snappy dialogue, permanent tension, and often brash, brutal situations.

The title of the film refers to the fictional remote village planted in a parched rural area of Northeast Brazil, whose small yet united population follows organized strategies to fight a bunch of American psychopaths led by the ruthless German-born Michael (Udo Kier). This group of invaders is secretly backed up by a greedy politician, Tony Junior (Thardelly Lima), who had fallen in disgrace in Bacurau.  

I should say that the characters are underexplored, but the fusion of gory Western a-la Jodorowsky, violent and witty thriller in the line of Tarantino, and poignant drama with a strong message of resistance to social issues, is enough to enjoy this fun ride from start to finish. Notwithstanding, two characters stand out: Domingas (Sonia Braga), a reliable, if bitter, doctor who becomes virulent under the effect of alcohol, and Lunga (Silvero Pereira), a ferocious warrior who promptly returns to the town where he grew up to protect its people from the evil foreigners.

Less offbeat and more fabricated than Filho’s previous directorial efforts, Bacurau still thrums with puzzlement and energy, relying on delicious and often mysterious details to succeed - the town’s disappearance from all maps, a drone with the shape of a vintage UFO patrolling the skies, a police car inexplicably abandoned, a puzzling deadly sport whose practice expands beyond the local, a bullet-holed water truck, and the capacity of response from a village that instantly morphs from lively active to ghostly to sanguinary. All of this comes bolstered with a tasteful soundtrack and an invulnerable belief in the power of the collective, which, in a way, serves as encouragement for the people to rebuff today's tyrannical Brazilian politics.