Hustle (2022)

Direction: Jeremiah Zagar
Country: USA

Co-produced by NBA star LeBron James and actor Adam Sandler, Hustle plays like a smooth, aerodynamic sports drama film that, failing to inspire me completely, managed to retain a certain surface-level charm. The film stars Sandler in a sober role alongside real NBA players, including Juancho Hernangómez from the Utah Jazz and Anthony Edwards from the Minnesota Timberwolves.  

The script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters (A Star is Born, 2018) is not particularly innovative, and the film, competently directed by Jeremiah Zagar - who put out the wonderful indie drama We the Animals four years ago - systematically falls into stale formulas. However, it was great to see Sandler stepping out of his comfort zone and carrying an unrestrained, totally convincing passion into his role, which is both refreshing and invigorating to watch. He is Stan Sugarman, a former player turned scout turned assistant director, and then demoted to scout again by Vince Merrick (Ben Foster), the stuck-up co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers. Stan has been in the business for 30 years, refusing to give up on his newfound talent Bo Cruz (Hernangómez), a constructor worker and single father from Mallorca, Spain, who delights the crowd at every street basketball court he enters. 

Taken to the US, it is revealed that the Visa bureaucracy involved in the process is not the main problem but rather Bo’s lack of concentration and temper each time he’s provoked or insulted in the field. The film is basically divided into two aspects: the flourishing friendship between Cruz and Sugarman, and the exciting moments of basketball. Forgoing cheap shots, Hustle is fairly entertaining and possibly something more for the fans of the sport.

Murina (2022)

Direction: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Country: Croatia

Murina is a fish, also known as Mediterranean moray, that commonly bites its own flesh in a desperate attempt to set itself free from the fishermen’s hooks. The parallel with the 16-year-old Julija, the main character of this tense psychological Croatian drama filled with toxic masculinity and an urge for freedom, is blatant. 

Julija (Gracija Filipović) lives with her rude, authoritarian father, Ante (Leon Lucev), and disenchanted mother, Nela (Danica Curcic), on a small island in Croatia, a deceiving paradise where the summer heat is part of the uncomfortable setting. The arrival of Javi (New Zealander Cliff Curtis), a wealthy foreigner and friend of the family, not only awakens her rebellious and femininity sides but also makes her fight fiercely for her unvoiced dreams. 

Whereas the moody father is a punisher whose rudeness and aggressiveness is far greater than his care for the family, the visitor’s cultivation offers a different vision of life, an unthinkable hope, and a new meaning in terms of human relationships. Humiliation and desperate situations lead to desperate measures and, therefore, confrontation is inevitable. 

With the clear and crisp tone evinced here, it’s clear that director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic is a force to follow. This solid first feature, based on her 2017 short film Into the Blue, was executive produced by Martin Scorsese and was crowned with the Camera D’Or at Cannes. In conclusion, Murina is an impressive story of emancipation carried by convincing performances and well-drawn characters that bring authenticity to it.

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes (2022)

Direction: Kevin Kopacka
Country: Germany

With a retro European style from the ’60s, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes is a witty play of shadows, an unscary yet darkly funny experience, which occasionally stumbles across its tonal tightrope of comedy and horror. It’s not implausible to describe it as a cheerfully energetic horror film that, alternating silly and intriguing elements at the outset, ultimately comes away as a shamelessly entertaining mess.

Co-written and directed by Austrian-Sri Lankan Kevin Kopacka, the film follows the disappointed Margot (Luisa Taraz) and her critical husband Dieter (Frederik von Lüttichau working with the director for the second time). Soon after their arrival at the abandoned old castle she inherited from her wealthy family, they sense ghostly presences and experience strange episodes charged with voluptuousness. A different reality unfolds in the second part of the film, taking us to a psychedelic collective trip involving a film crew. 

Stylishly prurient and slightly anarchic, this little genre film is easy to watch, but lacks new blood and real scares, stuttering in its outrageous dreaminess. By giving the film a running time of 74 minutes, Kopacka is never at risk of making us exhausted, but not all the scenes hit the right notes in spite of the constant attention to detail. Nevertheless, the film demonstrates passion for mood and style while aiming more for the eyes than for the mind.

Cocoon (2022)

Direction: Leonie Krippendorff
Country: Germany 

In Leonie Krippendorff’s debut feature, Cocoon, particular stages of youth that lead to sexual and emotional maturity are compared to the dragging caterpillar that slowly transforms and soon will be able to fly in freedom. The backdrop for the sensitive awakening brought by this coming-of-age drama is Berlin, where the timid 14-year-old Nora (Lena Urzendowsky) lives with her big sister, Jule (Lena Klenke). They often hang at parties, at school, and a bit everywhere around the vibrant Kreuzberg district, and their alcoholic mother, Vivienne (Anja Schneider) is more absent than present in their lives.

Alcohol and drugs among the school friends are frequent and considered normal, but what gets Nora confused is the sexual attraction she feels for girls and not for boys. She’s clearly into girls, but the process of learning through romantic relationships is not without pain and disappointment. The early crush on Romy (Jella Haase), an approachable new girl from another class, will help her track down and solidify the sense of identity she keeps looking for. 

This summer lesbian romance is an immersive daydream of teenage girlhood into adulthood with all its highs and lows, and  ends up more tactful than the usual fabrications of the genre. Yet, sometimes the film could have used a certain glow of poetry to enhance the protagonist’s perspective and candidness. Fortunately, the process of self-discovery depicted here is saved from sentimentality.

Montana Story (2022)

Direction: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Country: USA

The pair of writers/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel has not been consistent in their filmography. What Maisie Knew (2012) and The Deep End (2001) remain their best efforts to date, but they stumble again with Montana Story, an inaptly executed and lazily paced indie drama whose fair story deserved a bit more grittiness.  

As disclosures of their past mount, estranged siblings Cal (Owen Teague) and Erin (Haley Lu Richardson) act uncomfortably after reuniting in the old ranch of their terminally ill father. They spent seven years apart, without talking to each other. Their gradual disclosures send us back, and we have our own perception of the family and its relationships. However, one experiences more apathy than empathy along the way, in a family settle of past traumatic experiences that rounds off the angles a little too much to go straight to the heart. 

The remaining characters are underdeveloped - including the Kenyan private nurse Ace (Gilbert Owuor) and the longstanding housekeeper Valentina (Kimberly Guerrero) - and they only seem to be there to add a few more unnecessary minutes to the film. I also identified a bunch of redundant shots. Like, who needs to see Erin killing a chicken with her bare hands to believe she was a cook in New York? This is a fallacious attempt to create something deep.

If the conventional plot is not particularly memorable, then the gorgeous cinematography that sharpens the scenic countryside of Montana becomes the real attraction of the film.

Men (2022)

Direction: Alex Garland
Country: UK

Following two successful sci-fi thrillers (Ex Machina, 2014; Annihilation, 2018), The British writer-director Alex Garland shifts his focus to the folk horror genre with Men, a vertiginously styled pic with a lot to admire and think about. The film is loaded with dark mysticism, hair-raising choral music, haunting images, and a negative energy that puts you alert at all times. 

The disturbing story, which opens and closes with Lesley Duncan’s beautiful “Love Song”, follows Harper (Jessie Buckley), a haunted woman seeking peace and some spiritual healing after the death of her husband, James (Paapa Essiedu). Crushed by painful memories, she decides to travel solo and rent an old manor in the Southwest rural region of England. Once arrived, she finds a group of weird men (brilliantly performed by Rory Kinnear), each of them embodying a perfectly identifiable male archetype. They all seem to want a piece of her soul, and scary visions succeed one after another, making us restless.

Metaphor and symbology - most of it related to rebirth/reproduction - are present everywhere in a work of immense and intense emotional vigor that opposes misogyny with Spartan sturdiness. The film takes you to really creepy places but the inscrutable, deranged denouement, despite being suffused with grotesque and creative imagery, leaves you in a sort of suspended state; a sort of agonizing and exciting enigma. I experienced the same feeling with films by David Lynch, Peter Strickland and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The logic of things is left open to debate, but I would add that Garland missed the very final note of a grandiose symphony. He wanted so badly to take the film to certain extremes that he impaired it at the last minute by not giving a plausible resolution to the story. 

However, the qualities we find here - the score/sound design by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury (a combination of eerie, ethereal and penetrating sounds) is absolutely phenomenal - easily overcome the quibbles. Whether this cryptic nightmare is your cup of tea or not, it’s very hard to ignore it.

Emergency (2022)

Direction: Carey Williams
Country: USA

The main topic of the comedy-thriller Emergency, the sophomore feature from Carey Williams (R#J, 2021), centers on racial prejudice but also addresses class gaps, friendship, and alcohol drinking, all from a youthful perspective.

Working from a script by K.D. Dávila, Williams directs Donald Elise Watkins, RJ Cyler and Sebastian Chacon with verve and purpose. They are college roommates - two black and one Latino - who spend a stressful night after finding an unconscious, intoxicated white girl (Maddie Nichols) on the floor of their apartment. Fearing the reaction of the police, known for their wrong assumptions, they decide not to call 911 but rather devise a plan of their own to get the medical attention she needs.

There’s a feverish anticipation of who's going to crack first under the delicate circumstances, but all ended up lukewarm, with limited novelty. Not fascinated by it, I found as many pathetic situations as funny lines - the lighthearted, funny dialogues between Sean (Cyler) and Kunle (Watkins) are the film’s best offering - in this tenuous dramatization of a serious episode. There’s a sentiment of truth marked by misunderstanding, fear and suspicion, but like the vibes of a crazy party, you leave before it leaves you.

Ahed's Knee (2022)

Direction: Nadav Lapid
Country: Israel 

Awkwardly shot, Ahed’s Knee is the fifth film from Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid (Synonyms, 2019; The Kindergarten Teacher, 2014). The fact that it's his most disruptive work to date, doesn’t mean it was effective or even likable. In truth, the idea behind the story is brilliant, but the result is meek. Vacillating between empathy and cynicism, this is a brave political statement rather than an artistic film, even if it boasts a somewhat experimental Godard-kind of appeal. It ultimately suffers from excessively staged scenes and a flirting posture that feels contrived. The direction, insisting on obscene camera stunts, is far from impressive either.

The story follows a celebrated filmmaker named Y (Avshalom Pollak) - Lapid’s alter ego - who left his terminally ill mother in Tel Aviv and travels to the remote small village of Sapir, in the deserted Arava region. There, one of his films is going to be screened, followed by a Q&A session. He immediately feels a special connection with Yahalom (Nur Fibak), the young deputy director for the Ministry of Culture, who is responsible for this opportunity. However, he gets pissed off when a form is given to him, confirming he won’t address certain ‘unwelcome’ topics in public. He righteously sees this mandatory procedure as domestic censorship.

The director’s disenchantment with today’s Israel methods is valid, but Nadip lets the clear message overrule the material. It sure builds some tension, and yet the film fails emotionally, morphing from a complacent, sleep-inducing narrative to utter sentimentality, especially in the last segment. I felt distant. Moreover, the soundtrack, just like the eloquent prolixity, has no impact at all in the context presented. Overall, this is all too dramatic and obtuse to fully satisfy.

Official Competition (2022)

Direction: Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn 
Country: Spain / Argentina 

The pair of Argentinean directors, Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, made ten films together, with the heavily awarded The Distinguished Citizen (2016) as a standout. Their newest work, Official Competition, is a satirical spoof structured around the rehearsals for the shooting of a film financed by a bored stiff billionaire businessman. 

Even if not always surprising, and playing a bit too long for my taste, the film revealed to be more engaging than I was expecting. A very confident Penelope Cruz appears in top form as a lesbian avant-garde director who knows what she wants. Her investment in the film is matched by Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez, who play talented awarded actors with huge egos and different levels of ambition. 

The film delves into complex relationships in cinema, usually hidden from the public, as they happen behind the scenes. And because we have fine experienced actors playing actors and directors, the whole thing makes even more sense, and some truth lurks from behind the wild and funny absurdity of the scenes.

The directors, borrowing the minimalist scenarios of Lars Von Trier’s Dogville and Manderlay for a bit, openly address rivalries, hypocrisy, banalities, and occasionally improper behavior during the process of an artistic creation. This Competition is a pitch-perfect joke that, at times, breaks up the vibes with unevenly inspired sketches. However, it never runs totally out of steam.

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Direction: Joseph Kosinski 
Country: USA

The return of Top Gun, again with the forever-young Tom Cruise at the center, takes a coherent, sober treatment in the hands of director Joseph Kosinski (Only the Brave, 2017; Oblivion, 2013). Dedicated to the late Tony Scott, who directed the original in 1986, this sequel replaces Kelly McGinnis with Jennifer Connelly as the new love interest of Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise), a subversive US Navy ace pilot who is told to teach and prepare 12 Top Guns graduates for a nearly impossible special mission.

All skillful pilots show absolute respect for what he is and what he has achieved, but one of them, Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), expresses resentment about a situation from the past. He is the son of Maverick’s deceased best friend, Goose, who was played by Anthony Edwards in the first installment. 

Even not hitting a single beat you don't expect, the film is actually well-paced, fun to watch, and genuinely tense at times. It packs heart and visual flair within a good old fashioned storytelling that often feels nostalgic. It might be schematic and simplistic in its dramatic framework but the action is bracing and it never shortchanges the human scale or the heroic scope.

Kosinski, who understood how to equalize the romance, the drama and the action in the film, is not interested in dazzling us with mind bending ideas or twisty plots. Instead, he sticks with a stylistically coherence that becomes all the more powerful as the film advances. CGI technology was refused in order to deliver the most authentic experience possible, and the spectacular aerial maneuvers of the third act are breathtaking. Top Gun: Maverick is high quality Hollywood entertainment for all generations.

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.