The Work (2017)

The Work (2017) is a documentary about a therapy program at Folsom Prison called Inside Circle, which focuses on those who are incarcerated. For a four day workshop, non-prisoners are invited to volunteer their time and participate in the treatment. Following three free men who have agreed to be part of Inside Circle, the film […]

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017)

Often good acting is equated to external tics and Denzel Washington’s performance in Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) is a barrage of choices. The glasses, the fro, the gap in his teeth, the bow-legged walk, and so on. There are a lot of choices to create this character but I thought they were deeply felt […]

Far From Men (2015)

Based on a short story by Albert Camus, Far From Men (2015; Loin des hommes) focuses on the inevitability of choice and of having to choose a side, particularly with its setting being the Algiers conflict in French-colonised North Africa during the 1950s. A former war veteran from World War 2, Daru (Viggo Mortensen) lives […]

Our Time (2018)

I took a chance on Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux mainly on the basis of the intriguing image of a red demon with horns moving through a living room. In the end, that was one surreal image included in a visually immersive arthouse drama about an upper class family and their workers in […]

Bacurau (2019)

This was one of the films I was looking forward to most this year and it’s a shame it’s not received a Perth or Australian release yet. For those who have a VPN, you could stream it from the Criterion Channel. I read up too much on the Brazilian-French co-production Bacurau (2019) and its narrative […]