Barton Fink (1991)
Within the spectacle, symbolism, and absurd formal patterns of Barton Fink, the Coen Brothers expose one aspiring screenwriter’s intellectual hypocrisy, trapping him in a hellishly elusive puzzle box beyond comprehension.
We Live in Time (2024)
There is a strange comfort in the grieving process that We Live in Time’s non-linear narrative prematurely initiates, looming the threat of terminal illness over a pair of devoted lovers, while savouring every celebration, argument, and tender reconciliation which ever defined their relationship.
Sing Sing (2024)
Through Sing Sing prison’s rehabilitative theatre program, Divine G and his fellow inmates find realer versions of themselves beyond guilt and anger, as Greg Kwedar’s casting of the real men that this story is based on uncovers a raw, vulnerable authenticity.
Blitz (2024)
What hope there is for a culture under attack from foreign enemies and its own internal prejudices seems meagre in Blitz, yet the bond between a lonely mother and her lost child perseveres, as Steve McQueen tenderly illuminates humanity’s darkest hour with a loving, maternal radiance.
The Apprentice (2024)
Between Donald Trump’s rising star and his overshadowed mentor Roy Cohn, there is an almost Shakespearean dynamic to the dual character arcs in The Apprentice, transcending mere parody and painting a surprisingly fresh portrait of a culturally dominant, larger-than-life figure.
All We Imagine as Light (2024)
There is a soothing liberation in the setting of Mumbai’s sun, allowing love to flourish without judgement, yet the creeping loneliness and social pressures which split two female flatmates in All We Imagine as Light also imbues Payal Kapadia’s drama with a tender, dreamy melancholy.
The Wild Robot (2024)
By turning a shipwrecked service android into the world’s most unlikely mother, The Wild Robot considers parenthood as a conflict of instinct and adaptation in its delicately animated eco-fable, revealing the communal self-growth that such a journey of profound responsibility can nurture.
Flow (2024)
The journey that one nameless black cat and its assorted companions set out on through flood waters makes for a minimalist narrative in Flow, yet within Gints Zilbalodis’ immersive, fluid animation, the organic cycles of this ever-changing ecosystem fall into soothing harmony.
Nickel Boys (2024)
RaMell Ross’ avant-garde instincts come fully formed in the first-person camerawork and impressionistic montages of Nickel Boys, explicitly adopting the perspectives of two friends living in a 1960s reform school, and internalising a shared resilience that leads communities into the fight for civil rights.
Mickey 17 (2025)
True to Bong Joon-ho’s savage class critiques, the endless cloning of expendable workers in Mickey 17 examines the fragility of identity in a capitalist system, aiming its broad satire at the repackaging of exploitation and colonisation as economic progress.