Return to Seoul (2023)

Direction: Davy Chou
Country: South Korea / France / other

Starring Park Ji-min, an immensely talented newcomer, Return to Seoul is a chronicle of disillusion and self-discovery that, avoiding clichés and character victimization, is both tough and tender as well as genuine and touching. The third feature from Davy Chou (Golden Slumbers, 2011; Diamond Island, 2016), who based himself on the life of a Korean friend, deals with two delicate subjects: the confrontation of cultures and the search for one's origins. 

The director, who was born in France to Cambodian parents, identified himself with part of the story as he only visited Cambodia at the age 25. Just like Frederique (Ji-min), the volatile protagonist of the film, who, at that same age, leaves France - where she was adopted as a baby - to visit her country of birth, South Korea. Even denying it at first, her conscious intention is to connect with their biological parents (Oh Kwang-rok, Choi Cho-woo).

Life sends her in different directions - from wild partygoer to intoxicated gothic to missile negotiator - but the fear of abandonment never leaves her. She can be spirited, aggressive, offensive, and even mean sometimes as she abruptly cuts ties with the ones she loves. All her unexpected behaviors come from the sadness of lacking an identity and fear of rejection. Will she ever have relief from this eternal quest? 

There’s total involvement from the cast, which gives rise to a stunning authenticity, yet it’s Ji-min, a visual artist, who carries the film on her shoulders. A few funny moments decompress the heaviness of deep emotional wounds that need courage and a long process to heal. Return to Seoul is a compellingly constructed, deeply felt drama.

No Bears (2022)

Direction: Jafar Panahi
Country: Iran

Filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was arrested in July 2022 for propaganda against the Iranian regime, releases another clandestine film that shows his tenacious resistance in the face of an outrageous governmental ban that impedes him from working normally and leaving the country. Even bounded and watched in his moves, his creativity and true passion for cinema are outstanding.

No Bears is a smartly scripted independent film that is as attractive in form as in substance. It’s a fiction-reality hybrid tragedy with a few subtle touches of comedy whose rewards are timeless.

Panahi stars as himself. He spends a number of days in a small Iranian village near the Turkish border, but is furtively directing a film in Tehran with the help of a small crew. They are attempting to stage the true story of Zara (Mina Kavani) and Bakhtiar (Bakhtiar Panjei), a married couple who strive to leave the country with fake passports. At the same time, in the village, he witnesses the tragedy of a young couple in love, betrayed by the severity of outdated ancient traditions. 

Standing near the border, the filmmaker is tempted to cross it. He’s observed closely by suspicious and superstitious locals, and learns that even taking a simple picture can cause him serious problems. 

The action tenses up by the end, and there’s a level of urgency and frustration that screams in every shot; it’s the pure magic of cinema versus the harsh pain of reality presented with simple scenarios and genuine characters. I’m amazed at how Panahi transforms the truth to tell the truth, creating situations with astringent emotion and sharp political commentary. When censors try to tie his hands, he responds with this: a new gem of Iranian cinema.

Chile '76 (2023)

Direction: Manuela Martelli
Country: Chile / Argentina

Chile ’76 is a slow-burning political drama thriller that shapes into a moody spying conspiracy. Actress-turned-director Manuela Martelli captures how it feels to live under the authoritarian regime of Augusto Pinochet, and how some privileged upper-middle class folks risk their lives to protect political resistants. She makes her directorial feature debut with this film.

Carmen (Aline Kuppenheim), the anxious wife of a renowned doctor in Santiago, takes a break from the city by spending a few days in the small village where she has a summer house, now under renovation. Not without surprise, the local priest, Father Sanchez (Hugo Medina), asks for her help with a severely wounded young man (Nicolás Sepúlveda), an opponent of the regime, whom he’s been sheltering in secret.

Growing fond of this sympathetic dissident, Carmen agrees to make the bridge between him and his group, so he can return safely. A scary and dangerous task that includes meeting points, signals and precise instructions to be followed. 

The film takes its time to build, advancing steadily and surely but never expanding outside its atmospheric cocoon. We have the perfect sense that eyes are everywhere, even where least expected, and Martinelli plays with that factor. However, she misses the opportunity to create that type of tension that makes us shiver and sweat with fear. Preferring the cold approach, the sharply observed Chile ’76 carries off a readable merge between the personal and the political.

The Eight Mountains (2023)

Direction: Felix Van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch
Country: Italy / Belgium / other

This adaptation of Paolo Cognetti's book by the Belgian couple Felix Van Groeningen (The Misfortunates, 2009; The Broken Circle Breakdown, 2012) and Charlotte Vandermeersch reveals quality in both the writing and direction. It’s also convincingly acted by Luca Marinelli (Martin Eden, 2019) and Alessandro Borghi (The First King, 2019), who worked together prior to this film in Claudio Caligari’s Don’t Be Bad (2015).

The well-meaning attempt to depict an unfailing, genuine friendship between two men with very different personalities throughout the years drifts away from sloppiness and pettiness. The topics are treated objectively, bringing us valuable humane feelings. In a profusion of sensitivity, The Eight Mountains sneaks up on you, annotating the roots, visions, and choices of Pietro (Marinelli), a man from the city who is curious about the world, and Bruno (Borghi), a man born in and faithful to the mountains. They first met at a very young age in Grana, a tiny Northwestern Italian village near the Alps. 

Displaying a rare delicacy and sincerity, the film captures these childhood friends navigating the peaks and valleys of life. In their distinct paths, both find pleasant discoveries but also tremendous difficulties at some point. The Eight Mountains is a somewhat long saga that, nevertheless, is hard to forget. Imposing itself without flamboyance, this is powerful cinema one can compare to reading a good old novel. The narrative gains deeper meaning with the magnificent mountainous landscape of Aosta Valley, beautifully captured by the lens of cinematographer Ruben Impens, and a peaceful folk and country-flavored soundtrack by the Swedish singer-songwriter Daniel Norgren.

Sisu (2023)

Direction: Jalmari Helander
Country: Finland 

In its 90 minutes of butchery and greed, Sisu permeates the constant hyperbolic violent scenes with surprising comedic infusions. Told in seven chapters, the story - set during Finland’s Lapland War and about a lone, “immortal” former commando turned gold digger - is immoderate in tone and embellished with a lot of cartoonish Tarantino-like pulp. Although technically competent, we are pushed into the ridicule of overwrought action sequences and a notorious inability to aim higher than the basics. 

Jormi Tomilla, who worked with the Finnish director Jalmari Helander in his two previous features (Rare Exports, 2010; Big Game, 2014), was perfect for the role. Some of his scenes are painful to watch but one keeps interested in this scarred, silent old soldier whose wounds heal spectacularly fast - yes, like a superhero! That’s until the arrival of a terrible final chapter packed with such implausible situations that you can’t help feeling a bit dumb. 

The menacing goth score by Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä enhances the dehumanizing brutality of war in a film where any thoughtfulness that could still exist is rapidly washed away in blood. The film will likely make the day of those fond of violence, but should be superfluous for audiences expecting cleverer plots.

Inside (2023)

Direction: Vasilis Katsoupis
Country: USA

Slightly intriguing yet not particularly mind-blowing, Inside is a part artsy, part survival psychological thriller written by Ben Hopkins (The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz, 2000; The Market, 2008), directed by Vasilis Katsoupis (in his directorial debut), and almost exclusively starred by Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse, 2019; Tommaso, 2019). He plays a notorious art thief whose life becomes threatened when he gets trapped in a luxurious Manhattan penthouse.

Before we see this coordinated heist getting wrong, Nemo (Dafoe), the narrator-thief tells that, above anything else, art is for keeps. He also confesses he likes a challenge, but probably not one like he was about to describe. In search of valuable works by the expressionist Egon Schiele, this art maniac will have to fight for his life when locked in a fancy apartment with barely no food, no water, no cooking gas, and no landline phone service. If this was not enough, a broken thermostat gets him freezing cold and sweltering hot by turns. The discomfort goes even further as the fridge automatically plays that annoying “Macarena” song whenever its door remains open for more than a minute.

Inside is like Cube (1997) without the inventiveness of sci-fi. It’s too ponderous and controlled to provide any thrills, and the lack of rhythm makes any possible isolation-driven tension dissipate. 

A minimalistic piano score attempts to potentiate the solitude of a man on the verge of losing his mental sanity. There’s also this surreal side - introduced via eerie dreams - that doesn’t take us anywhere tangible. I found this unfinished nightmare to be more pretentious than gripping, yet kudos to Dafoe for the dedicated performance.

R.M.N. (2023)

Direction: Cristian Mungiu
Country: Romania 

R.M.N. is a dark, complex, sometimes strange work that attempts to open peoples’ eyes to real problems through the sociological and psychological description of its characters. This drama, written and directed by the ever-interesting Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, 2007; Graduation, 2016), is a powerful examination of European struggles and fragilities. The title is a Romanian acronym for nuclear magnetic resonance.

Depicting modern violence and irrational fears within a multiethnic village in the heart of Transylvania, the film is properly informed about rejection, division, machismo, fiery populism, frustration, and nationalism. Opposite values clash within an emotionally unbalanced community that brings xenophobia and violence to the fore. Everything’s toxic here, even the fear we breathe during long fixed takes.

The story follows Matthias (Marin Grigore), who returns to his home village after a failed work experience in Germany. He’s concerned with the education of his son, Rudi (Mark Blenyesi), who has been dealing with irrational anxieties lately to the point of stopping to speak, as well as with the health of his father, Otto (Andrei Finți). He's clearly not on good terms with his wife (Macrina Bârlădeanu) but remains smitten by an ex-girlfriend, Csilla (Judith State), who manages a bakery that just started hiring foreign workers. This triggers xenophobic and racist movements among the locals. 

In his recognizable style, Mungiu knows exactly where to pinch and call our attention to the unjustified anger of ignorant people and the powerlessness of those who care. The final shot may be a bit too off, but will make you think about the intentions of the author, whose clinical observations and intended unpredictability are reaffirmed.

Air (2023)

Direction: Ben Affleck
Country: USA 

Air marks the return of Ben Affleck as director, seven years after the disappointing Live by Night. Although he also stars here as Phil Knight, the billionaire CEO of Nike Inc., the central figure of this decent-enough sports biographical drama is played by Matt Damon. He is Sonny Vaccaro, a basketball scout and marketing executive who will trigger a unique historical shoe deal by approaching the young star Michael Jordan to sign with Nike - against his favorite Adidas. It’s the famous Air Jordan shoes we’re talking about here. The year is 1984, and the film brings plenty of nostalgia through music and some transient sequence of images.

Even so, you don’t have to be interested in basketball or Jordan, who doesn’t speak throughout the whole film, since the story is told with enough conviction and transparency to connect with people who are not into the NBA. Because more concerned with the characters and their personal goals than with the sport itself, everyone should be able to enjoy it. 

The film’s main strength is precisely that it's a great story. It’s also well acted by a cast that includes Viola Davis, Jason Bateman and Chris Messina in strong supporting roles. For his part, Affleck keeps the narrative moving at a nice pace. 

Narrative-wise, though, Air doesn't have an original bone in its body - the film falls into typical American standards of emotional tension - but, being entertaining and informative, it succeeds at bringing an usually forgotten part of sports history into the minds of today's audiences.

A Thousand and One (2023)

Direction: A.V. Rockwell
Country: USA 

In its modest package, A Thousand and One, a painfully realistic drama from debutant writer-director A.V. Rockwell, leaves us with a moral dilemma and the real anxieties of life. 

The story, set in New York in the mid-‘90s, follows Inez (Teyana Taylor), a venturous woman in her early twenties, who, days after being released from prison for stealing, kidnaps a six-year-old (Aaron Kingsley Adetola) from the foster care system. Although doing her best to be a good mom and staying out of sight, she struggles to find financial stability and keep her home safe from the abhorrent New York City gentrification. 

People grow emotionally and change with time. And that's the case with Lucky (Will Catlett), Inez’s boyfriend, whose posture toward the child redirects from indifferent to a helpful father figure. In a way, it serves as a moving reminder that there are people out there who can change the life of someone. 

One notes some dubious aspects to this story, which could have been better developed at some point. Yet, all in all, this is an engaging drama from a new filmmaker who dabbles in the themes more than explores them. It also provides a meaty role for the Harlem-born 32-year-old R&B singer/actress Teyana Taylor, who proved to have strong acting skills. 

Even dwindling in intensity in the last quarter, the film will leave you prostrated with its thoroughly wired reality, making for a heartfelt alternative to the more traditional documentary-style approach. Soundtrack and cinematography are added values.

Godland (2023)

Direction: Hlynur Pálmason
Country: Iceland

With Godland, Icelandic Hlynur Pálmason (A White, White Day, 2019) signs a sensory piece of cinema that bears some similarities with Ingmar Bergman and Carl Dreyer, not so much in the visuals but rather in the topic, severity of the mood, and depiction - both physical and emotional - of the main character. However, the sharp square-framed images recalling the photographic process known as daguerreotype and a masterful direction make Godland feel like an unexplored land in cinema.

Elliott Crosset Hove is Lucas, a Lutheran Danish priest who is sent to Iceland with the mission of building a church and photographing the population. The Nordic island was under the Danish crown rule in the late 19th century, when the story is set, and the clash of temperaments, habits and language is pretty evident. Taking the longest route in order to photograph the scenic views, Lucas feels the callousness of Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson), a somber Icelandic guide, right from the start.

Not only his body succumb to the harsh environment but do does his mind. It’s gradual but conclusive. The deeper he sinks into this unforgiving landscape, the more he falls into temptation and sin. 

Godland is filled with sensations that come from the physical world and from the soul. You’ll feel the poetic, sometimes magical realism on one side, and the fear, transgression and fatality on the other. This rare reflection on the colonization of the Far North deserves visibility.

Rye Lane (2023)

Direction: Raine Allen-Miller
Country: UK 

This heartwarming first film by Raine Allen-Miller is not a trifle. It’s a British romcom with a cool urban touch and modernly kitsch visuals that manages to deliver the requisite laughs and romantic heat. 

Dom (David Jonsson), a young accountant emotionally affected by the recent breakup with his girlfriend, exchanges a few words with the spirited Yas (Vivian Oparah) while in toilet partitions of a gallery. Minutes later, they meet in person and spontaneously decide to spend the day together. They will experience a few unexpected situations while walking leisurely through the Rye Lane Market - there's this weird lunch with Dom’s ex; a karaoke moment that starts embarrassingly regrettable and ends successfully motivating; a big quarrel whose apparent origin is the record The Low and Theory by A Tribe Called Quest; a scrumptious tortilla prepared and served by Colin Firth (a cameo appearance); and more. 

It’s easy to see there was no cut corners in the production values - customs, scenarios, props, and soundtrack are proper and appealing. Moreover, the two leads harmonize perfectly on screen, playing an endearingly light duet in tones of pink and violet. 

Sometimes Rye Lane wanders, almost with a carefree zeal, following a plot that, even sagging, has no decline in amusement. The viewers’ expectations are ultimately met, making us wonder what Allen-Miller is planning to do next.

Creed III (2023)

Direction: Michael B. Jordan
Country: USA 

Creed III is the third installment in the Creed boxing film series and the ninth in the Rocky franchise. Actor Michael B. Jordan, here promoted to director, tries to impose his own style but couldn’t eradicate some of the exhausted formulas that marked the Rocky saga. 

In this chapter - without Sylvester Stallone in the cast - Adonis Creed (Jordan) retires from boxing in glory, dedicating his time to family and the boxing academy he runs with Tony ‘Little Duke’ (Wood Harris). They keep busy preparing and promoting their undefeated world champion, Felix Chavez (played by the former welterweight champion José Benavidez in his debut acting role). Life is good until Adonis’ ambitious childhood friend, ‘Diamond Dame’ Anderson (Jonathan Majors), is released from prison after 18 years. Surprisingly, and despite his age, he asks for a chance to fight for the title. 

Even with some adrenaline rush occurring inside the ring, there’s no attribute that stands out from the common lot. Repeated clichés and melodramatic bait are found in a plot that slowly unravels with each implausible turn, making Creed III excessively artificial. 

Many of Jordan’s options in the plot and direction are questionable. Take for example his decision to mute the sound and make the audience disappear during the final clash. It just removed all the energy built before, curbing the enthusiasm for the rest of the fight. What really concerned me was his inability to set this work apart from the better films that inspired it.

Nothing really motivates us, both emotionally and scenario-wise, and many will throw in the towel. Adonis, maybe it’s time to really hang up the gloves!

Robe of Gems (2023)

Direction: Natalia López
Country: Mexico

This visually intriguing, harshly told, and drastically sad tale directed by Bolivian-born Natalia López (the wife of Mexican director Carlos Reygadas and editor of two of his most known films - Silent Light and Post Tenebras Lux) is infected with dark tones, baffling connections, and a tragic cruelty that makes hard for viewers to follow it in the first place. 

Robe of Gems tells us about three women - the wealthy and emotionally unstable Isabel (Nailea Norvind), her housekeeper Maria (Antonia Olivares), and a defeated police chief, Roberta (Aida Roa) - whose paths connect and unfold within a rural Mexican community that is passive in the face of crime, violence, and systemic corruption. They are condemn to eternal misery in a somber film that causes anguish at all times, a fact reinforced by its laconic narrative form and glacially slow sequences. 

With tension underlying each scene, this is a restless cinematic experience that ends brutally shocking, leaving us with a bitter taste in our mouths. There’s no innocence in this picture, where the the images - multiple medium close-up shots are used - can make an impact but the dialogues are often uninteresting. Obscurity and pain are part of the scheme in a film incapable of offering a small  glimpse of happiness whatsoever. Yet, there is some point and truth in what it tries to say, and that will probably reflect in the way you think about the film after the credits roll. A hard one to watch; some mixed feelings.

Of an Age (2023)

Direction: Goran Stolevski
Country: Australia

Directed by Goran Stolevski - who stunned us last year with You Won’t Be Alone - Of an Age tells the love story of two young men who meet up in uncommon circumstances. When Kol Denic (Elias Anton), a Serbian living in Australia, receives a call from his best friend and ballroom dance partner, Ebony (Hattie Hook), saying she woke up in a distant beach after a night party with no recollection of what happened, he resorts to her brother, Adam (Thom Green), to drive him there. On their way to the coastal side, the two share music, film, and book interests, but also a physical attraction that ends up in a 24-hour romance.

Of an Age is as elusive as the remarks about Borges and Kafka during the protagonists’ awkward conversation. It’s also visually bland to the point of making us wonder what happened to the director since the release of his abovementioned debut feature, whose images truly haunt. The eclectic soundtrack, in opposition, sounds great, including Cesária Évora, Cardigans, and French singer Barbara. 

After a lukewarm yet tolerable first part, the second - depicting the reunion of the two men a decade later - fails to succeed. It loses not only the subtle naivety but also soul, and never bothers to recover it. The predominant wistfulness in Stolevski’s film is curdled underneath, resulting in a stunted effort with plenty of lachrymose regrets and a few other problems. What started off promising ended melancholically pointless.

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (2023)

Direction: Austin Bragg, Meredith Bragg
Country: USA 

Considered a game of chance in the 1970’s, pinball was banned for 35 years in New York. Roger Sharpe was the man who managed to overturn that drastic measure when he moved to the city with the intent of becoming a writer. This true story is at the center of the Bragg Brothers’ biopic Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.

Active since the mid 2000’s, the pair of directors finally make their debut feature with a biographical comedy that, following traditional narrative procedures, gains momentum with enchanting well-written dialogues and a smart structure. It’s also romantic in its own way, and an optimistic confection, sometimes frothy, sometimes exceptional, that feels like it might have sprung from the era it portrays. 

Creatively told, the story acquires a dazzling motion while purposely exaggerating the documentary within the film versus the facts, realistically expressed by Mr. Sharpe of our days (Dennis Boutsikaris). The young Sharpe, owner of a peculiar mustache and vivid manners, is played by Mike Faist (West Side Story, 2021), who makes a wonderful pair with Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf: The Movie, 2023), the love of his life. 

The Braggs inject a few drops of acid into what would be a simple story, turning it somewhat cartoonish but seductively amusing. Pinball won’t be among your standard biopics but rather a favorably low-key portrait whose well-oiled mechanisms intend to divert as much as inform.

Revoir Paris (2022)

Direction: Alice Winocour
Country: France 

In her newest film, writer-director Alice Winocour (Augustine, 2012; Disorder, 2015) offers a modestly engaging account of severe PTSD and a possible path to recovery. Revoir Paris is a fictionalized story about a terrorist attack and the profound marks left on those who survived, undeniably bringing to mind the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks in the French capital.

Three months after experiencing the attack in a Paris bistro, Mia (Virginie Efira) remains in limbo, a stranger to herself and to the city. By returning to the place where all happened and where she was hidden for nearly two hours, this Russian translator makes an effort to remember the details that will allow her to heal and move forward. The taciturn accumulation of emotions finds some illumination in the optimism of Thomas (Benoit Magimel), another survivor who, on that grievous night, was celebrating his birthday. 

Circumspectly shot, this heartbreaking yet timid description of how to overcome trauma is centered on the victims, not the murderers. The images are poignant, the sound is effective, and Efira is striking, but after some truly frightening scenes, the film falls into a kind of torpor that has its reason to exist. Each character is assigned a function that works within the dramatic construction.

By turns moving and horrifying, Revoir Paris might not be a massive hit but manages to carve out an identity.

The Innocent (2023)

Direction: Louis Garrel
Country: France

Louis Garrel, the son of esteemed director Philippe Garrel for whom he has acted several times over the years (Regular Lovers, 2005; Jealousy, 2013; Le Grand Chariot, 2023), wrote, directed and starred in The Innocent, his fourth feature and most rewarding film so far. This project took five years to mature and bears a very personal stamp as it was inspired by his mother, the actress Brigitte Sy, who actually married a prisoner in the penitentiary where she was giving theater workshops. Louis was 18 when that occurred.

Here, he impersonates the taciturn Abel, who freaks out when informed about what his mother (Anouk Grinberg) is planning to do. In panic, he starts to investigate all the moves of his suspicious father-in-law (Roschdy Zem) with the help of his best friend, Clemence (Noémie Merlant). 

This romantic comedy drama, brilliantly served with a slice of heist thriller on the side, takes a somewhat familiar concept and applies it to the story of mother and son. The well-crafted plot entertains without upsetting, and the film is carried out with remarkable ease. It's all very charming (thanks to the fantastic ensemble cast and some decent chemistry between them), gloriously dramatic (the scene at the restaurant is memorable) and, at some point, thrilling. Garrel ultimately finds the perfect equilibrium between genres, guaranteeing narrative fluidity at all times.

Narrative cleverness and adroit editing sustain us through a story that, being irremediably elemental, simple and light, succeeds in its efforts as it is also graced with a typically super performance by Merlant and an effective direction by Garrel. Delivering that pure pleasure of cinema we thought already lost, they will put a smile on your face.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Direction: James Cameron
Country: USA

Avatar: the Way of Water, the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment of a series of five, was again co-written and directed by James Cameron (The Terminator, 1984; Titanic, 1997). The events in this episode occur more than a decade after the first story, and tells how Jake Sulli (Sam Worthington) and his united family work collectively to beat an eternal human rival, the recombinant Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). 

The film goes for a broader canvas - with a lot of technology - and adopts a Star Wars side that isn’t always favorable. Even with a strong dramatic center rooted in family, survival and environment, this is a blatant example where the visual spectacle (it can dazzle but also fatigue) swallows up an unexceptional story.

The sequel starts awfully, charged with artificial visuals and heavy content, but gains some tract along the way, becoming slightly more compelling when the action moves to the sea. This particularity offers Cameron a new playground and visual exploration from the point of view of colors, textures and fluidity of the scenes. The beautiful friendship between Jake’s younger son, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Payakan, an outcast Tulkun, brings the best moments to the screen. All the rest of it is more of the same in a tiresome film that suffers from an extended duration, repetitive messages, and clichéd dialogues.

Cadejo Blanco (2022)

Direction: Justin Lerner
Country: Guatemala / Mexico / other

Cadejo Blanco works more or less in the way it's supposed to, but in its grave meditation on the banality of evil and gang insensitivity, it reflects excessive mechanical behaviors. I felt a bit detached because the narrative was never stimulating.

The story revolves around the disappearance of a teenager who never returned home after a night out in Guatemala City. Sarita (Karen Martínez), the missing girl’s courageous sister, is certain that her disappearance is related to Andrés (Rudy Rodriguez), a gang boy who was dating her. Through him, she manages to infiltrate the gang in the coastal town of Puerto Barrios in order to get some answers. Yet, the acts of violence she’s forced to commit and the oppression she endures will change her life forever. 

Wallowing in the mire of an innocent infiltrated that seeks revenge, the film displays a simple, adequate scenario, but the episodes are not quite believable. Martínez reveals excessive emotional control and a chilly coldness when acting. Although she might not be worthy of our sympathy, it’s not just revenge she’s eager for but also survival that is in question. 

It’s easy to say that writer-director Justin Lerner - this is his third feature, following Girlfriend (2010) and The Automatic Hate (2015) - and the pair of young actors showed dedication to the material, but it’s unfortunate that the tactlessness of most of the scenes hinders the final product.

Lord of the Ants (2022)

Direction: Gianni Amelio
Country: Italy

With Lord of the Ants, Italian director Gianni Amelio is far from his glory days, built on the basis of films such as Lamerica (1994) and Il Ladro di Bambini (1992). His newest effort is a biopic of the Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. He was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of duress against an 18-year-old student who would become the love of his life. 

The cast is not outstanding, apart from Luigi Lo Cascio (he made his debut in 2000 with Tullio Giordana’s One Hundred Steps) who plays the title character with intellectual superiority. The relationships between the characters seem contrived or detached from emotion in a somewhat cold, chewy film that doesn’t get better with time, not even when the camera is turned to a courtroom. 

Amelio simply chronicles the facts and lets naivety take control of things. The dialogue goes from philosophical and poetic to sloppy and banal, while the characters don’t pull enough truth from a story that really happened but surely with a lot more intensity than it’s presented here. Lamentably, Lord of the Ants, even demonstrating solid values at its core, loses its voice to torpidity.