Dheepan (2015)

I was compelled to watch Dheepan (2015) after hearing M.I.A. discuss it in the Criterion Closet. Opening with its title character (played by Antonythasan Jesuthasan in an excellent performance) burning his uniform as a Tamil Tiger in a bonfire where the bodies of his fallen comrades have been collected. He needs a make-shift family to […]

God’s Own Country (2017)

At the film discussion event we held at Blue Room Theatre’s Winter Nights, I asked the special guests to recommend films in response to a question. One of the questions was “What film would you watch as the world ends?” For academic and writer Janice Loreck, one of her answers was God’s Own Country (2017), […]

Uncut Gems (2019)

The morning after I watched Uncut Gems (2019) on Netflix (where it’s been released for international audiences), I felt like I had a hangover: agitated, restless, but also euphoric over having finally seen something I was so hyped for. When we first see jeweller and gambler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) in his shop at the […]

The Lighthouse (2019)

On the basis of two films, Robert Eggers is cementing himself as a horror auteur interested in myth, folklore and a kind of New England turn of the century American horror. The Lighthouse (2019) is his second film after his critically acclaimed The VVitch. It will be challenging for some viewers – it’s black and […]

Thelma (2017)

The common comparison that Thelma (2017) gets is that it’s an arthouse Carrie. And it is about a young woman, Thelma (Eili Harboe), who discovers she has psychic powers while being torn between her religious upbringing and sexual desires. However, Norwegian director Joachim Trier still carries through his past work in empathetic character-based dramas (like […]