The Apprentice (2024)

Direction: Ali Abbasi
Country: USA 

After the lukewarm reception of Holy Spider (2022), Iranian-born Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi finds his stride with The Apprentice, his first English-language film. This biopic, penned by journalist and author Gabriel Sherman, employs artful dramatization to delve into the dark, tension-filled world of political intrigue. The film focuses on a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) and his mentor Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), a ruthless and influential lawyer whose teachings shape Trump’s infamous playbook for success: attack relentlessly, deny all accusations, and never admit defeat.

Set against the backdrop of 1970s New York, the narrative explores Trump's rise from financial turmoil to prominence, emphasizing his morally ambiguous dealings and relationships. Key figures in his life, including his cold father (Martin Donovan), his first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova), and his troubled brother Fred (Charlie Carrick), an airline pilot grappling with alcoholism and depression, add depth to the character study. 

The Apprentice is an ugly story with its quibbles and flaws, but I watched it with interest from start to finish. There are a few controversial scenes—it’s hard to determine how much of each is true and how much is false—but the personifications are remarkable, the pace is exciting, and the real ambition felt throughout is an aspect that intrigues. The film, elevated by its two lead actors and the compelling cinematography by Kasper Tuxen (Beginners, 2010; The Worst Person in the World, 2021), is a complex and scary portrait of a man whose thirst for power can have a major impact on our world.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)

Direction: Mohammad Rasoulof
Country: Iran

Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is renowned for his fearless critique of Iran's authoritarian regime and the oppression, injustice, and restrictions that haunt his homeland. His acclaimed films — The White Meadows (2009), Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013), A Man of Integrity (2017), and the Golden Berlin Bear-winner There Is No Evil (2020) — have been deemed ‘propaganda against the system’, leading to his imprisonment twice before he ultimately fled to Germany. Rasoulof’s new film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, an outstanding family drama and political thriller, follows in this brave tradition, winning both the Jury Special Prize and the FIPRESCI Award at Cannes. The idea for the story first came to Rasoulof while in jail, inspired by the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran.

The film, a tense closed-door family drama that surprisingly veers into paranoia-fueled thriller, was entirely shot in secret. With taut precision and anchored by riveting performances, this nearly three-hour epic keeps viewers on edge as it dissects both patriarchal and societal authoritarianism with sharp insight, highlighting the powerful struggle of young women and students for freedom. Rasoulof’s unflinching camera captures so well this clash between the parents' rigid conservatism and the children’s pragmatic visions for change. 

Offering content that is frightening on a deep and dark level, The Seed of the Sacred Fig packs an absolute cinematic punch that draws viewers into its mesmerizing spell of madness, obsession, and resistance.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Direction: Christopher Nolan
Country: USA 

Oppenheimer marks the sixth collaboration between the singularly original writer-director Christopher Nolan and the Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who, given the leading role here, works diligently under the guise of the physicist who created the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Populated with lightning-fast dialogues, oppressive music and artificial tension, the film differs from Nolan’s previous moves as there’s no emphasis on action. In a way, the type of narrative adopted by Nolan curbs the inventiveness that made Memento, Inception and Dunkirk instant classics.

As a cerebral biopic, it tries to get our attention through scientific fascination, political repression, international espionage, and the moral dilemma faced by the title character, who struggles with his own creation: a massive weapon that poses an existential threat to the humankind. Oppenheimer’s guilt is well expressed, as well as the cynicism of some of his associates, like Dr. Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr. is excellent) and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie). Even president Truman (Gary Oldman) disregarded his torment and did nothing to prevent his political persecution. 

It’s an interesting, if formal, film that manages to captivate intermittently. Shot statically in black-and-white and color, it follows a transparent narrative strategy, being structured as a series of slow-moving scenes that require you to dive into meticulous dialogue with tenacity. On one side it’s an opportunity to get a history lesson on the matter, but the film only really shines on a few scattered powerful moments. It all came up more informative than fun.

Reality (2023)

Direction: Tina Satter
Country: USA 

Previously staged as an Off Broadway play with the title Is This a Room, Reality puts the focus on a real episode involving Reality Winner, a former member of the United States Air Force, a Farsi translator, and a yoga and CrossFit instructor whose home in Augusta, Georgia, was searched by the FBI on June 3, 2017. A warrant was issued on the basis of mishandling of classified information. 

Winner, compellingly embodied by Sydney Sweeney (Nocturne, 2020), had leaked an intelligence report on Russian interference in the 2016 US election. The two agents that approached her, Taylor (Marchánt Davis) and Garrick (Josh Hamilton), conducted a tense interrogation, but also created wry humor on several occasions - the scene involving the unlocking of Winner's cellphone is hilarious. The story moves forward in static bursts that are contained by the simple, unobtrusive direction of Tina Satter. She signs her debut feature film with promises of future quality work. 

Reality is well-made but depends almost entirely on the acting. And neither the lead nor the supporting actors let it down, providing merciless authenticity through crisp performances. The hard part is to realize that the truth is not what matters here. Winner spent four years in jail and remains under tight vigilance until November 2024. The Senate used the document leaked as evidence of Russian interference. Where does patriotism lie?