The New Boy (2025)

Direction: Warwick Thornton
Country: Australia

The Australian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer Warwick Thornton earned well-deserved attention, with engrossing dramas such as Samson and Delilah (2009) and Sweet Country (2017). His latest feature, The New Boy, centers on a nine-year-old orphaned Aboriginal boy (first-timer Aswan Reid) with mysterious healing powers. After being found in the desert, he is taken to a remote monastery run by the enigmatic Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett, also credited as co-producer). She is aided by two Aboriginal converts to Christianity: Sister Mum (Deborah Mailman), a woman burdened by the loss of her children, and the reserved George (Wayne Blair).

There’s a certain coyness to A New Boy that suggests the film needed another draft, and its conclusion becomes unfavorably literal. While the film may strike a welcome chord for some for its portrayal of faith as both solace and a struggle, it largely fails to construct a compelling narrative arc capable to surprise.

By walking a super-thin line between grim believability and curious insensitivity, the film underutilizes its rich premise, becoming tacky and all too easy in spots. Thornton, who did much better in previous features, sacrificed tone for something more systematic and formulaic, but passed a clear message: Christianity triumphs imperatively. It’s unfortunate that this message arrives in a visually polished but vacuous package.

Blanchett’s reliably committed performance couldn’t redeem the film, though the evocative score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis reinforces both the emotional and the unfathomable.

Black Bag (2025)

Direction: Steven Soderbergh
Country: USA 

Black Bag—a term referring to clandestine operations carried out by spies to steal secrets or sensitive documents—is a slow-burning thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring an ensemble cast spearheaded by Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett. Fassbender’s character, George Woodhouse, is loosely inspired by CIA legend James Jesus Angleton.

Set in London over a taut, fast-paced week, the film doesn’t skimp on suspense—and even less on bite. David Koepp’s sharp script guides us through an unflashy yet gripping narrative of secret agents—two of them bound by an unshakable marital bond—doubtful behaviors and motives, and slippery professional relationships. Micro-aggressions, overt confrontations, cynical exchanges, and provocative mind games abound, all delivered with the right mix of irresistible glamour and disdainful coldness.

Though a minor entry in Soderbergh’s filmography, Black Bag brews a sleek concoction of twisted love and espionage with classy images and perfectly written dialogue. It’s a methodical, disconcerting, and deceptively simplistic effort from the American filmmaker, whose restrained touch here proves unexpectedly enjoyable.

Tár (2022)

Direction: Todd Field
Country: USA 

Earnestly told and entirely convincing, Tár is a masterstroke by Todd Field, a director always on the lookout to take the viewer into breathtaking emotional whirlwinds. Inactive since 2006 (after masterful dramas such as In the Bedroom and Little Children), Field will make people wondering if the film was actually inspired by real events, such is the precision of detail and exactitude of information - the film starts with a marvelous interview with the New Yorker’s journalist Adam Gopnik, in which we learn Tar’s considerations about time in music, interpretation and feelings.

Elegantly mounted, his tale of intrigue works like a thriller, presenting us an intelligent post-pandemic journey, whose protagonist - an interesting yet desensitized avant-garde female conductor seriously inspired by Gustav Mahler - exerts abuse of power, tricky manipulation and favoritism. It's bursting with brainy tension, machinations and emotional turmoils, grabbing us from start to finish. The main reason for the film success is Cate Blanchett, who delivers a rock-solid, high-class performance, illuminating every single shot with her acting prowess. For now, I couldn’t think of any other actress than her for the Oscars. 

Just like the music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, the cruel learning story penetrates our soul with entrancing captivation and ravishing violence. The overall story arc is realistically complemented with surgical dialogues and striking visual compositions in a timeless contemporary drama to be remembered for its immense qualities. One can finally rejoice with what have been missing from the movies these days: authenticity and intelligence.