On the Count of Three (2022)

Direction: Jerrod Carmichael
Country: USA 

In actor-director Jerrod Carmichael’s suicidal black comedy, On the Count of Three, Kevin (Christopher Abbott) and Val (Carmichael) are best buddies, both heavily depressed and on the verge of pulling the trigger of their guns pointed at each other’s heads. This agreed double suicide would put an end to their infinite sadness, severe traumas, and general hopelessness in life. Yet, before ending it all, the plan suddenly changes to homicide when they decide to fix some stuff related to their past. 

The style, redolent of some works by Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley, is pretty effective, while the story, thrilling and unpredictable, comes from the pens of Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch. The incredible chemistry between the acting duo also contributed to the amazing results. This crazy-killer fun is no effort to watch, and besides delivering sly social commentary, it poses pertinent questions that are worth asking, even when clear answers are not possible. For instance, how hard is it to talk about racial stuff in an appropriate way? How much does it hurt to be ignored? Why most health professionals deal with mental illness so ineffectively?. 

Abbott’s performance is counterpointed nicely by Carmichael. This is your chance to see them going nuts. Madness and reason play cat and mouse in a gratifying mess with the ability to extract ‘inappropriate’ humor from tragic situations.

Hatching (2022)

Direction: Hanna Bergholm
Country: Finland

Neither a masterpiece nor a revolution, this Finnish body horror exercise is a darkly toned, sarcastically humorous modern-day fairy tale that blends dysfunctional family dynamics, gruesome circumstances, and arthouse superficiality. Hatching is the feature debut of Hanna Bergholm, who, working from a clever script by Ilja Rautsi, shows admirable skills as she creates an atmosphere both padded and disturbing. There’s a poisonous sophistication here that is not necessarily unpleasant to watch, making it satisfying on the terms established for each interrelated topics. It’s burning like love, chilling like death.

The story follows a 12-year-old gymnast (Siiri Solalinna), who, after a harrowing encounter with a bird in the woods, brings its egg into her bedroom to hatch. The latter grows to unexpected proportions and a strange, ever-changing creature comes out of it. Its abnormal physiognomy is left unexplained, but, by turning into its rescuer's doppelgänger, revealed to have a metaphorical connection with the fragile girl, who is inflicted tormenting psychological pressure by her strong-willed kitsch-blogger mother (Sophia Heikkilä). 

At specific spots, the film loses some balance without ever really affecting the terrorizing heart of the story This is thanks to Heikkilä’ gradually more unhinged performance, as well as to the director’s emphasis on sarcasm and atmosphere. Great work by the animatronic Gustav Hoegen, whose portfolio includes Ex Machina (2014), Prometheus (2012), and Rogue One: a Star War Story (2016).

This is Not a Burial, it's a Resurrection (2022)

Direction: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Country: Lesotho / South Africa / other

41-year-old filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese was born in Lesotho, a small country entirely landlocked in the territory of South Africa. Being the first representative of his country in terms of cinema, he stands out with This is Not a Burial, it’s a Resurrection, a remarkable work in which he directs a mix of professional and non-professional actors. The heroine of this poignant meditation on the new and the old, tradition and capitalism, birth and death, is the 83-year-old South African actress Mary Twala, who commands the screen with authenticity and simplicity.

She is the forever-mournful Mantoa, the oldest person in Nasaretha, a small remote village nestled in the mountains of Lesotho. When the construction of a dam threatens to submerge the valley and the graves of her ancestors, Mantoa takes the lead, becoming a fierce symbol of resistance in her community. The poetic and moving portrait of this woman and her people is enhanced here by the beautiful natural settings. Judge the magnificent shots for yourself. Some of them feel almost biblical, like the one with the old woman surrounded by sheep in the ruins of a house consumed by fire; or the one she dresses up with clothes given to her by her late husband, waiting and praying for her day to come. 

Hypnotic and haunting from start to finish, the film is ultimately so genuine it's hard to resist. The tragic story it holds deeply shakes, provoking a deep feeling of injustice and helplessness. We feel we are seeing a fair attempt to deal with real facts, a world ready to collapse at any moment. All my heart was with Mantoa, an admirable fighter whose courage is unforgettable. This is a lucid and rare survival cry.

Miracle (2022)

Direction: Bogdan George Apetri
Country: Romania

This revenge cop drama film written and directed by Bogdan George Apetri (Outbound, 2010; Unidentified, 2020) consists of two different parts which, in spots, are well capable of surprising you. The story, unfolds gradually and intriguingly, as an afflicted 19-year-old novice, Cristina Tofan (Ioana Bugarin), asks a special permission to leave the monastery in secrecy.

A known local taxi driver, Albu (Valeriu Andriuta), takes her to the hospital because of frequent headaches, but we get to know the truth when she enters the obstetrics ward. Sadly, Cristina never returns to the monastery again, and the second part of the film renders an unorthodox police investigation led by a bad-tempered inspector, Marius Preda (Emanuel Parvu), whose unusual commitment to solving the case keeps us wondering. Notoriously brutal, the first part is as realistic as the unflinching idea of revenge that follows it.

In the middle of so much sadness and misfortune, Apetri finds a way through funny dialogues and itchy frictions. He doesn’t shy away from exposing the problems of Romanian society whenever he has a chance. The representation of the police is caricatural, and you won’t get bored with the tension surrounding each scene. 

The script is strong and its only sin is the unnecessary tail, which should have been cut out in order to let the retaliation speak louder. Miracle is an uncompromising howl of righteous fury anchored by stark performances and a competent direction.

Reflection (2022)

Direction: Valentyn Vasyanovych
Country: Ukraine

Reflection, the third feature from Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych, is a slow ride on the ugliness of war and comes slightly punctuated with traces of omens and superstition. Being a little long and directed with formal beauty, the film is subtler than the filmmaker’s previous drama, Atlantis, which also deals with dead bodies and war crimes. It’s not superior, though. Certain moments put me off and I was disappointed with the finale, yet on occasion, it manages to immerse you in a quiet miasma of trauma and reconciliation.

The exhausted Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy (Roman Lutskyi) is ambushed, captured and tortured by the Russian military. His medical qualifications save him from death as he pronounces his agonized fellow prisoners dead or alive after hours of torture. He then takes their bodies to a mobile cremation machine. This involuntary cooperation makes him a free man again under a false confession. But is he completely free after what he saw? The permanent scar inflicted by a traumatic war experience provokes an awakening of conscience that makes him want to re-approach his 12-year-old daughter, Polina (Nika Myslytska), and his ex-wife, Olha (Nadiya Levchenko). 

Vasyanovych reveals a strange appeal as a storyteller. Sometimes he doesn’t give us too much, preferring long shots with a purpose. Other times, he surprises us by fragmenting the narrative flow with offbeat occurrences that do not always work. It's a demanding sit, a film both conscientious and indulgent, hopeful and exasperating. There are no high points to be found since the film excludes any sentimentality to better bring out the complexity of feelings.

Anais in Love (2022)

Direction: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
Country: France 

The first feature from writer-director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet is a funnily satirized bubble of joy and pleasure delivered with a personal tone and the witty observation of Marivaux. It’s a fiction about the 30-year-old Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier), a whimsical, hyperactive, claustrophobic, and carefree character who is free from the constraints of judgement, modesty, or any other. 

She just broke up with her boyfriend, and now lives alone in a big apartment in Paris. Broke, she’s two months behind in rent, which forces her to sublet, but she's not willing to give up on her impulses and curiosities. Following her first encounter with Daniel (Denis Podalydès), a fifty-something book publisher, she sleeps with him. But then she suddenly becomes more interested in his wife, Emilie (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), a versatile and experienced writer. The latter is working on an essay about curiosity, and Anais would be an interesting object of study. I found more here than a mere love triangle. There’s ongoing learning, ardent desire, and peculiar personalities that make it distinct from other French romantic comedies. 

The central character is tailor-made for Demoustier, who embodies this unbridled heroine with absolute grace, charm, and intense vibrancy. She pulls off some really wonderful moments with her hedonistic existence. In opposition to this wild, obsessed nature, Tedeschi exudes restraint, lucidity and maturity, without sacrificing sensuality. All this is formidably detailed under the astringent direction of Bourgeois-Tacquet, who also sets an effective pace for her fun-to-watch story.

Maixabel (2022)

Direction: Iciar Bollaín
Country: Spain

Based on the true story of Maixabel Lasa, this well-rounded political drama, which never moves into giddy thriller territory, stars Blanca Portillo as the title character. This is a woman who, eleven years after the assassination of her husband - the former civil governor of Guipúzcoa - decides to meet with two of the three men who killed him. They are Luis Carrasco (Urko Olazabal) and Ibon Etxezarreta (Luis Tosar), former ETA terrorists who now live miserably with guilt and remorse. 

At its best, the film offers the clear-eyed objectivity of a healing program, while still establishing a moral outrage. It’s a tough topic tackled with open-hearted sincerity by director and co-writer Iciar Bollaín (Take My Eyes, 2003). Yet, the film shows some limitations in the insight offered about ETA. The very ordinary staging will not impress enthusiasts of sophisticated aesthetics or trendy techniques, but that’s not the director’s intention either. The more strangulated the plot gets, the more we lose adherence to a story that will appeal more to those interested in the recent Spanish history.

Maixabel is depicted as a woman with heart and courage, a true image of dialogue and reconciliation. “Everyone deserves a second chance”, she says. The healing is for both sides.

Ali & Ava (2022)

Direction: Clio Barnard
Country: UK

Ali & Ava grants a low-key captivation, specifically British, which blends romantic comedy and social film. Written and directed by Clio Barnard, who shot once again in the English city of Bradford, the story was inspired by two people she met on the set of her two previous works, The Selfish Giant (2013) and Dark River (2017). Nevertheless, and despite not being as intense and aggressive in posture, it’s inevitable not to think of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul as a possible source of motivation. 

This is basically a love story between two different people with a considerable age gap, opposite family dynamics, and disparate cultural backgrounds. They bear their own life crosses - he goes through a painful recent separation while she deals with a tough past of abuse. And still, they find an indescribable joy when in the presence of each other. Ava appreciates Ali’s humor and complexity; and he feels comfortable with her warmth and kindness. This harmonious relationship is bolstered through music in a curious way; even though he likes the punk rock of Buzzcocks, psychedelic pop and rap, whereas she fancies country and folk songs. 

Constantly juggling with emotions, the film never feels exploitative or icky but rather believable and sympathetic. It arrives in a familiar form that is brought up to date by some scenes of rare tenderness and a script infused with the romantic highs and lows of hundreds of folk songs. The chemistry between the two leads, Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook, is remarkable.

All the Old Knives (2022)

Direction: Janus Metz Pedersen
Country: USA

All the Old Knives, an ill-fated love story in the guise of a neo-noir espionage thriller, doesn’t rank high within the genre. Danish director Janus Metz Pedersen worked from a script by Olen Steinhauer, who adapted his own novel of the same name. Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton take the main roles, playing former lovers and CIA agents who reconnect in a nearly empty restaurant eight years after the tragic case that tore them apart. Out of nowhere, it was found that a terrorist plane highjacking in Vienna ended catastrophically because of a wrong move of one of the CIA operatives involved. No one is above suspicion.

Applying warm tones, the film adheres firmly to its formula, bringing to life an apparent fascinating idea that quickly turns hollow by a narrative that stutters more than articulates. There's an insistently dark atmosphere that never comes to a real peak. In point of fact, most of the tension is created by the foreboding score composed by Jon Ekstrand and Rebekka Karijord, which comes in waves. While surfing the story’s murky waters with some lethargy, it came to me that this film is like a quick recycling product - we’ve already seen it and can even anticipate it.

Pine's ability to carry a sad weight on his shoulders isn't entirely lost here, but the film is nothing special. Even the resolution is simply not exciting enough.

Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom (2022)

Direction: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Country: Bhutan / China

Bhutanese screenwriter, photographer and director Pawo Choyning Dorji discovered the world of cinema in 2012 while working as an assistant on Khyentse Norbu's drama film Vara: A Blessing. He couldn’t have had a better first directorial experience with the Academy nominated drama, Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom. It stars Sherab Dorji as Ugyen Dorji, a slightly arrogant teacher from Thimphu whose dreams and vision of life change completely when he is assigned by the government to lecture in Lunana, the most remote village of Bhutan, located on the slopes of the Himalayas at more than 11,000 feet above the sea level.

Ugyen not only falls in love with a local singer, Sandon (Tshering Dorji), but is also moved by the joyous spirit and purity of soul of this small community of yak herders. If the story is simple and straightforward, then the process of making the film was extremely hard. A year of preparation was necessary, and the shooting took place during the two months of the year when it doesn’t snow. Moreover, no road leads to Lunana. The team took eight days to climb there with all the gear, including solar collectors and batteries.  

This is a charming and thoroughly sweet movie that creates a desire in us to know more about this culture. It’s particularly worth seeing for the untouched nature of Bhutan (there’s no shortage of visual poetry in its richly observed local detail) as well as the honest depiction of the village life and the karmic connection established between hosts and guest. In terms of plot, on the other hand, it’s more than predictable what we see here, yet there's no lying or condescending from the director. He seems in love with these characters; and by the end, so is the audience.

The Survivor (2022)

Direction: Barry Levinson
Country: USA

Veteran director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, 1988; Bugsy, 1991; Good Morning Vietnam, 1987) tells the true story of an Auschwitz survivor who challenges top boxers with no chance of winning, only to be featured in the newspapers. With that, he hopes to find the lost love of his youth. The entirely formal classicism of this dramatic effort constitutes both its quality and limit. The black-and-white depiction of the past is much more attractive than the color of the present, and the narrative back-and-forth seems to have Levinson trapped by the overflow of emotion he wants to convey. Hence, an impersonal direction is what he delivers.

Notwithstanding, The Survivor is a touching testimony of the relentless, fierce survivalism of Harry Haft (Ben Foster), a Polish Jew whose ability for boxing served both as the amusement and the profit of a supercilious Nazi officer (Billy Magnussen). What the film does good is this constant search for a peace of mind that was once taken from our hero, when he was forced to kill his own people and fellow inmates with his bare fists. 

By swinging between melodrama and heaviness, the film made a bit difficult for me to connect with a story that, being interesting, could have worked better. The performance of Ben Foster is convincing, but this well-intended biopic borders on the watchable.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Direction: Sam Raimi
Country: USA 

Despite the relative success of his Spider-Man triplet (2002, 2004, 2007), director Sam Raimi seems more tailored to craft horror movies (The Evil Dead, 1981; Drag me to Hell, 2009) than superhero adventures. His Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is pelted with references to other Marvel flicks and looks like an animated movie on arrival. We realize it was a dream but then the parody keeps going with a visually overwhelming one-eyed octopus attack followed by a series of stone-heavy action scenes loaded with too many colors and overcrowded with special effects. It’s coarse in the texture and maladroit in the storytelling when it should have been stylish and creative, respectively. A grossly handled debauchery of computer-generated images makes it a throwaway feature with a lot of manic surface activity but no particular style.

The enigmatic sorcerer Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), who was portrayed with much more craft in the latest Spider Man installment (directed by Jon Watts), feels compelled to protect the young America Sanchez (Xochitl Gomez), who has the uncontrollable power of moving from a universe to another. For that, she’s wanted by evil forces.

The multiverse is packed with uninteresting characters, strained parallel realities, a bunch of foolish situations, and long action sequences that fail to thrill… There is only the mess, without the fun. And we are bored!

You Won't Be Alone (2022)

Direction: Goran Stolevski
Country: Australia / UK

Sharply crafted with a fabulous style and hair-rising tone, You Won’t Be Alone is the impressive feature debut from Australian-Macedonian writer-director Goran Stolevski, who shows high quality in the way he handles the story. And because of that, his future works will automatically be put on my watch list. More interested in deepening the ominous vibes of chilling folklore than startling us through wild scenes, Stolevski signs one of the most striking films about witchery of the last decade. 

The film thrives with impeccable acting, accuracy in the settings, intelligence in the script, and powerful social commentary. It comes with pleasures big and small. Set in a mountainous Macedonian village in the 19th century, the story starts with the kidnapping of a baby girl by an ancient spirit (Anamaria Marinca). Marked to be a witch, she grows up in the depths of the earth, fated to follow the evil being that took her away from her real mother. When the time comes, this now-adult woman learns about her bloody necessities, the art of shapeshifting, and how to dress in corpses. However, an exceptional curiosity about what it feels to be human makes her choose societal ‘prison’ instead of merely killing for blood. 

The production values are outstanding, starting with the first-class cinematography by Matthew Chuang (he gives us wonderful fields of depth and close ups) and ending with the outstanding score by Mark Bradshaw. The fascinating You Won’t Be Alone grabbed me and didn't let go until the very last minute. It’s absorbing, enigmatic and satisfying in ways that are out of the ordinary.

We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)

Direction: Jane Schoenbrun
Country: USA

Jane Schoenbrun’s coming-of-age horror experience, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, is a psychological, sleep-inducing manipulation where technology addiction, extreme loneliness, and mental illness go together. However, and despite the interesting combination, the film is as exciting as watching grass grow.

The introverted Casey (Anna Cobb) is a reclusive teen who spends her lonely days in an attic bedroom, completely immersed in the Internet. Fascinated by horror movies and the paranormal, she decides to participate in an obscure online game known for causing unexpected symptoms and reactions. They may as well have access to her dreams. One day, she receives a message from JLB (Michael J. Rogers), a former gamer who warns her of the danger. 

World’s Fair is the type of horror avatar for our times - deceptive, darkly conspiratorial, infinitely tedious; its atmosphere should be scary but remains inert. Hence, whatever the big secret would be with this role-playing game, I was quickly itched by the desire to go surfing on other screens. The idea is not bad, but Schoenbrun lacks cinematic arguments, approaching the topic with a minimalistic style in need of a stronger grip and more captivating scenarios. With no hesitation: “I DON’T want to go to the World’s Fair!”.

Bad Roads (2022)

Direction: Natalya Vorozhbit
Country: Ukraine 

Bad Roads consists of four disturbing episodes that take place in the dangerous roads and corners of the war-torn Donbass region in Eastern Ukraine. They barely connect, but the most attentive will find a thin, almost invisible thread bridging the stories. A tipsy school headmaster (Igor Koltovskyy) tries to cross a Russian checkpoint with no passport and a dummy Kalashnikov in the trunk; a worried grandmother (Yuliya Matrosova) tries to convince her teen granddaughter (Anna Zhurakovskaya) to return home as she keeps waiting for her missing soldier boyfriend outside at night; a captive journalist (Maryna Klimova) is taken by Russian soldiers to an abandoned spa to spend the night; and a young woman (Zoya Baranovskaya) pays a high price for having run over a hen while driving. 

This bleak film unfolds with undiminished broodiness and an overall sadness that pierces. Humiliation is the world of order here in a desperate multi-layered odyssey where madness takes over sanity. First time director Natalya Vorozhbit turns her focus to the traumatic happenings, capturing the insanity of war with brutal clarity. The acting is strong and the images pretty capable, suitably obscured to bring about the right atmosphere. 

And to think that the harshness found on these Ukrainian roads became unbearable today with this magnified, inglorious war in East Europe, is even more painful. The apprehension and heaviness in Bad Roads may put you off, but it won’t leave you indifferent.

Ambulance (2022)

Direction: Michael Bay
Country: USA 

Ambulance, an American remake of the 2005 Danish film of the same name, has director Michael Bay at the helm, who adopts the same artificial restlessness of his other actioners such as The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), and Transformers (2007). It’s all cooked with stale ingredients, and the film fails to convince. This low-grade heist movie exhibits an apparent yet constant verve that makes us tired, especially if we consider that the intended twists are devoid of brilliance.

The eruptive yet unproductive dialogue and oft-repeated strain are maintained throughout, mostly involving the three protagonists: Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal), an experienced bank robber; his adoptive brother Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who joins him in a desperate attempt to collect the amount needed for his wife's surgery; and Camille Thompson (Eiza González), a coldly efficient paramedic made hostage by the other two in a highjacked emergency ambulance.

Playing with a fast editing, the film follows this car racing through the streets of L.A. with the SIS and the FBI right on its heels. All the floodgates to escape them revealed problems, and the director never backed down from any melodramatic string. Any possibility to create suspense became thwarted by a series of unsavory scenes delivered at nauseating breakneck speed. It’s just about pulling the wool over your eyes. 

This is a very conventional cat-and-mouse thriller that doesn't go anywhere. Now and then, the mischievous eloquence of its characters can still feed a few smiles among the long list of regrets, but this Ambulance quickly got its engine flooded and conked out. You'd have to tie me to a chair to make me see it again.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

Direction: Tom Gormican
Country: USA 

In this flamboyant farce, in which Nicolas Cage plays Nicolas Cage in a crisis of confidence, spreads out quick-fire situations laced with some fair moments of humor. Lively, slightly trippy, and with notes of self-mockery, the film references the actor’s real career in a few scenes, and even shows him kissing a younger and successful version of himself - an imaginary Cage likely from the ‘80s. This idea came out spontaneously from the actor while filming.

Indeed, his self-centric character feeds from the glory of the past, but is totally aware of the state of his declining career. In debt, he decides to accept a paid gig proposed by a longtime fan, the Mexican billionaire Javi Gutierrez (Pedro Pascal). All he has to do is to take a flight to Spain and join him at his birthday party. They get along pretty quickly and even make plans for a future character-driven drama film about their relationship, but everything is compromised when Cage is recruited by the CIA to spy on his new friend. 

Tom Gormican’s sophomore feature reveals audacity in its conception and releases a certain energy, but sins by letting things down gradually. The last portion of the film results in a jarring collision of cheesy friendship and action-packed scenes mounted with panache, which only curbs the more attractive offbeat impulses offered at an early stage. However, it’s great to see an enthusiastic Cage returning to the right track with three decent films - Sion Sono’s Prisoners of Ghostland, Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, and this one - delivered over the course of one year. After having refused this ‘self’ role a few times, he just made his massive talent heavier and more conspicuous by accepting it.

The Good Boss (2022)

Direction: Fernando León de Aranoa
Country: Spain 

The keen sense of observation demonstrated by Spanish writer/director Fernando León de Aranoa (better known for the sympathetic working-class dramedy Mondays in the Sun, 2002) is on full display in The Good Boss, a timeless, biting comedy with Javier Bardem at the center. This film, an amusing caricature of the so-called corporate values and their politically incorrect behavior, marks the third collaboration between the actor and the director. Their last work together was in 2017, a mediocre biopic about the Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar titled Loving Pablo. 

Unlike the latter, the screenplay of this one was well driven, offering a dark yet funny portrait of Julio Blanco (Bardem), the manipulative heir and owner of an industrial scale manufacturing business. This well-spoken charmer appears to employ perfection and equilibrium in everything he does. But, at the very bottom, he’s completely alienated by his materialistic ambition; a sly opportunist who uses and abuses his employees whenever it’s convenient. 

While expecting the visit of a local committee that could give him a prestigious and financially advantageous business award, he deals with a series of problems: a recently fired middle-aged employee (Óscar de la Fuente) decided to camp outside the factory and protest vehemently against the unjust measure; a long-time production manager and childhood friend (Manolo Solo) can no longer be trusted at work since his wife is cheating on him; and an irresistible young intern (Almudena Amor) wants more of the boss's attention. 

The rapture of The Good Boss is fed by Bardem’s charisma, the smart and humorous lines, and the fluidity of the story. What we have here is playful cinema at its breeziest, one that combines incisive social commentary and a fierce, funny sneer.

Bull (2022)

Direction: Paul Andrew Williams
Country: UK 

Writer-director Paul Andrew Williams made his directorial debut in 2016 with London to Brighton, releasing now Bull, his fifth theatrical feature and finest offer so far. Dark hues and brutal violence dominate the screen, and most of the dread is coldly served by Neil Maskell (Kill List, 2011; The Football Factory, 2004), who embodies the title character - a ruthless fixer - with a minimalist yet intense performance.

Bull is the type of guy that hurts first and only then asks the questions. He returns home after a mysterious 10-year absence, seeking revenge on his former gang, led by his ruthless father-in-law, Norman (David Hayman). At the same time, he tries to find the whereabouts of his son (Henri Charles), taken away in those days by his erratic, heroin-addict wife (Lois Brabin-Platt). 

This brooding, monstrously barbarous thriller doesn't languish in the graphic, but makes sure to expose it to view, scene after scene. With a devilishly intelligent move toward the end, the film shows the evil that contaminates the hearts of these criminals. It will hook the viewers without sparing them.

Petrov's Flu (2022)

Direction: Kirill Serebrennikov
Country: Russia

Petrov’s Flu is a trippy comedy-drama that depicts a surreal day in the life of a Russian family. The script, based on Alexey Salnikov's 2018 novel The Petrovs In and Around the Flu, was written by director Kirill Serebrennikov (The Student, 2016; Leto, 2018) while he was under house arrest in today’s decadent and hopeless Russia.

This satire aims at a society where unworkable relationships with normalcy are pretty much in evidence - we have demonic possessions, violent murderous impulses, alien rescues, alcohol intoxication, governmental incompetence, racism, moral degradation, and more -  but the story is abstruse to the point of near-absurdity, being an accumulation of endless drama and fantasy that either doesn’t know where to go or how to properly take us to places.

The inarticulation between sections makes it structurally defiant a priori, and the vagueness in the dialogue only increases it. A zestful camera work never makes it less derivative, just like some of its most dynamic moments never lead to practical results. “Are you real or imaginary?” A kid asks the Snow Maiden at a New Year’s party… He struggles with confusion, and so are we.

Too many elements get lost in the sauce because it’s easier to denounce than construct something clear. Despite the prevailing dark tones, the awarded cinematography of Vladislav Opelyants revealed distinctness.