As I watched Chloé Zhao’s delightfully slow-born Nomadland, I quickly reminisced about British filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s 2016 film American Honey. A film that spoke about counterculture in the nation, it was an innately American story narrated deftly by a non-native filmmaker. This is also the case with Nomadland, a film […]
Read Time : 6 Minutes
‘Another Round’ review – Gallons of alcohol fuel Thomas Vinterberg’s intoxicating drama
Thomas Vinterberg’s cinema is one-of-a-kind. If we happen to observe his short yet vivid filmography, the Dogme95-founding filmmaker’s style is distinctively auteurial, even when the stories happen to be adaptations or are based on real events. Vinterberg is known to marry dark themes onto deeply emotional templates without veering into […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Promising Young Woman’ review – Feminist, fiery, and wildly entertaining
Promising Young Woman kicks off in an amusingly campy fashion. The setting is that of an uptown bar. An attractive young woman is in an inebriated state with a batch of leery men itching to take her home. Surprisingly, the woman is not what she appears to be. She does […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Soorarai Pottru’ review – Suriya’s rousing aviation drama lands straight into your heart
I have always wondered why Suriya never received the hype that he duly deserved. Not that popularity is a barometer to an actor’s histrionic merits but it is a measure of any artist’s perceived value. Suriya is (arguably) the best-looking actor working in Tamil cinema today. Irrespective of the quality […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Ludo’ review – Anurag Basu sprinkles emotions in a chaotic dark comedy
I never thought a day would come when Anurag Basu, of all filmmakers, would attempt a dark comedy. One of my personal favourites in contemporary Hindi cinema, Basu always brought to us complex human stories. They contained tinges of innocence, soul-stirring music, high voltage drama, and oodles of smiles. In […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘Cowboys’ review – Anna Kerrigan’s genre-bending debut is all about raising a queer child
There is something alarmingly earnest about Anna Kerrigan’s debut feature outing Cowboys. How would one, a conservative parent, react when his/her child turns out to be gender-nonconforming. We are talking about a child, not a teenager facing the so-called hormonal fluctuations. The mom is in denial and the dad attempts […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘Breaking Fast’ review – a refreshing cross-cultural romance
Not very often do we come across films that are specific about their causes and cultures. This particularity (which has numerous layers to it) makes director Mike Mosallam’s Breaking Fast a unique film to come by. The subject of the story Mo (a super-efficient Haaz Sleiman). He is Muslim and […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Summer of 85’ review – François Ozon’s queer romance leaves a distinct sense of déjà vu
Seconds into François Ozon’s Summer of 85, the cat is let out of the bag. Teenager Alexis alias Alex (Félix Lefebvre) – the protagonist and the narrator – is in trouble linking to the death of someone close, presumably his lover. New to Normandy, Alex is capsized while sailing in […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘The Strong Ones’ review – a romantic sojourn to Chilean countryside
I love it when gay romances are not set in an urban setup. It is even more alluring if they are surrounded by sea or an equivalent water body. The lushness of landscapes, the mystery of the sea, and the conservation of the society around are bound to generate a […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Cicada’ review – a personal story that lovingly embraces its characters
It is fascinating when cinema dares to emotionally bare its protagonists. In directors Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare independent fare Cicada, we are invited to the broken world of Ben (Fifer). The young queer Caucasian man with dreamboat looks by his side might look as regular as any person with […]