A Savina Petkova25 June 2021 After Love grieves the crisis of identity: marital, religious, and transnational After Love (Aleem Khan, 2021, UK)
C David G. Hughes20 June 2021 Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 is a unique meditation on violence, heroism, and aesthetics Crazy Samurai: 400 vs. 1 (Yûji Shimomura, 2020, Japan)
T Ruairí McCann12 June 2021 The Amusement Park: Romero’s metamorphosis The Amusement Park (George A. Romero, 2019)
T David G. Hughes6 December 2020 Toxic masculinity, intoxicating: psychosexual gym drama Muscle understands spiritual impoverishment in Britain today Muscle (Gerard Johnson, 2019, UK)
A David G. Hughes25 October 2020 Another Round is a spirited examination of midlife crisis on the European continent Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020, Denmark)
N Savina Petkova23 October 2020 Nomadland entwines a lyrical American West with the corroding effects of capitalism and age Nomadland (Chloé Zhao, 2020, US)
R John McKeown20 October 2020 Rebecca is light entertainment with something to savour Rebecca (Ben Wheatley, 2020, UK)
B Patrick Preziosi17 October 2020 Beguiling Berlin fairytale Undine smoulders in erotic and emotional hunger Undine (Christian Petzold, 2020, Germany)
T Patrick Preziosi3 October 2020 The Salt of Tears interrogates the callowness of male youth with clear-eyed filmmaking The Salt of Tears (Philippe Garrel, 2020, France)
R Patrick Preziosi3 October 2020 Rigorous and free-flowing, Days locates tenderness in duration Days (Tsai Ming-liang, 2020, Taiwan)
M Patrick Preziosi20 September 2020 Malmkrog transcends the conventions of both the period drama and the conversation piece Malmkrog (Cristi Puiu, 2020, Romania)
M Edward Weech20 September 2020 Making and unmaking a cinematic icon in True History of the Kelly Gang True History of the Kelly Gang (Justin Kurzel, 2019, Australia)
S Ruairí McCann20 September 2020 Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue is a literary documentary bound for the fields, the seacoast, and the vicissitudes of time Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue (Jia Zhangke, 2020, China)
S Patrick Preziosi16 September 2020 Schemers is a music autobiography with a a touch of fun and a heap of self-satisfaction Schemers (David McLean, 2019, UK)
A Savina Petkova28 August 2020 Absurdist thriller She Dies Tomorrow channels today’s existential dread She Dies Tomorrow (Amy Seimetz, 2020, US)
T Patrick Preziosi21 August 2020 Tesla is a biopic of the mystery-shrouded inventor that revels in the anachronistic appeal of cinema Tesla (Michael Almereyda, 2020, US)
R David G. Hughes20 August 2020 Road rage thriller Unhinged follows its pulp convictions to a satisfying conclusion Unhinged (Derrick Borte, 2020, US)
M Ruairí McCann25 July 2020 Mafia epic The Traitor examines theatrical machismo and Italian identity The Traitor (Marco Bellocchio, 2019, Italy)
B Patrick Preziosi20 July 2020 Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a boozy last call for the documentary film as we know it Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Bill Ross & Turner Ross, 2020, US)
C John McKeown18 July 2020 Canadian psychological thriller Disappearance at Clifton Hill cites David Lynch but falls short Disappearance at Clifton Hill (Albert Shin, 2019, Canada)
G David G. Hughes15 July 2020 Gentlemen prefer righteous wars: Greyhound is Tom Hanks’ impressionistic tribute to values-driven warfare Greyhound (Aaron Schneider, 2020, US)
T Patrick Preziosi30 June 2020 The King of Staten Island sees Pete Davidson given the signature Apatow treatment and the jokes transpire organically The King of Staten Island (Judd Apatow, 2020, US)
T Grayson Lazarus20 June 2020 The Wretched shows solid horror craft on a small budget The Wretched (Brett Pierce & Drew Pierce, 2019, US)
M David G. Hughes14 June 2020 Madness and civilisation: Austrian drama The Ground Beneath My Feet finds neurosis at the core of late-capitalist society The Ground Beneath My Feet (Marie Kreutzer, 2019, Austria)
A John McKeown1 June 2020 A Rainy Day in New York is a sensuous ode to rainswept chance encounters A Rainy Day in New York (Woody Allen, 2019, US)
A John McKeown23 May 2020 A cast of veteran actors can’t elevate saccharine war drama The Last Full Measure The Last Full Measure (Todd Robinson, 2019, US)
C Patrick Preziosi20 May 2020 Capone hedges its bets on a signature Tom Hardy performance Capone (Josh Trank, 2020, US)
T Ruairí McCann19 May 2020 Throw Down is a formally adventurous judo musical in salute of Kurosawa Throw Down (Johnnie To, 2004, Hong Kong)
P David G. Hughes18 May 2020 Polished British gangster flick Villain hits with surprising emotional depth Villain (Philip Barantini, 2020, UK)
L Patrick Preziosi6 May 2020 Liberté pushes cinematic limits but the results fall short of intended subversion Liberté (Albert Serra, 2019, France)
E Patrick Preziosi4 May 2020 Ema couches conventionality in otherwise vibrant cinematic tricks Ema (Pablo Larraín, 2019, Chile)
R Ruairí McCann3 May 2020 Rote direction and extraneous world-building hampers dystopian heist movie Time to Hint Time to Hunt (Yoon Sung-hyun, 2020, South Korea)
H Grayson Lazarus2 May 2020 Ham-fisted messaging doesn’t take away the dark and playful subversion of We Summon the Darkness We Summon the Darkness (Marc Meyers, 2019, US)
C Patrick Preziosi28 April 2020 Camino Skies is a polite travelogue that fails both its setting and subjects Camino Skies (Fergus Grady & Noel Smyth, 2019, New Zealand)
K Ruairí McCann26 April 2020 Kwaidan is an uncanny anthology of Japanese ghost tales that mixes experimental with traditional forms Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1964)
B David G. Hughes25 April 2020 Bombastic action thriller Extraction isn’t as slick as it thinks it is Extraction (Sam Hargrave, 2020, US)
P David G. Hughes22 April 2020 Planet of the Humans exposes the hypocrisy and fallacy of the green movement Planet of the Humans (Jeff Gibbs, 2020, US)
A Grayson Lazarus13 April 2020 All trick but no treat in slasher fare that misunderstands the joys of genre All trick but no treat in slasher fare that misunderstands the joys of genre
N Patrick Preziosi10 April 2020 Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a startling and empathetic feature that channels its importance within the smallest gestures Eliza Hittman’s startling empathetic feature is one of rigorous restraint, channeling its importance within the smallest gestures
I Ruairí McCann9 April 2020 INVENTING THE FUTURE Isiah Medina’s long-awaited second feature brings a new vision for the future, and for cinema
S Patrick Preziosi23 March 2020 SYSTEM CRASHER Combustible, if predictable, Nora Fingscheidt anchors her debut in one truly nerve-shredding child performance
T Grayson Lazarus22 March 2020 The Rest of Us is a propulsive but emotionally unconvincing Canadian drama A propulsive but emotionally unconvincing Canadian drama
B Ruairí McCann21 March 2020 BACURAU Colonial violence finds new form in this fresh Brazilian Western
S David G. Hughes13 March 2020 Shallow Culture War Satire ‘The Hunt’ Has Plenty of Bark but No Bite On 'The Hunt' (Craig Zobel, 2020), US
V David G. Hughes8 March 2020 Veterans Rage Against Millennials and the Opioid Epidemic in Retrograde Splatter-Fest ‘VFW’ On 'VFW' (Joe Begos, 2020), US
