Penguin Bloom’s bland adaptation of one paralysed athlete’s companionship with an injured magpie is far more a sentimental tribute than a cinematic portrait, edging towards inspiration through its overworked animal metaphor, yet never quite taking flight.
Though the episodic storytelling of We Are Who We Are leads to some shagginess in Luca Guadagnino’s narrative, its wandering pace offers his complex characters all the time they need to explore questions of sexuality, gender identity, and grief, foregrounding the vague but sweet relationship between two teenagers living on a U.S. military base in Italy.
Emerald Fennell never falters in her tonal balancing act of weaving harsh depictions of trauma around gentle nostalgia and humour, thereby creating a moving, thrilling, and darkly incisive black comedy in Promising Young Woman.
