A harrowing portrait of innocence, bureaucracy, and the human cost of war The recent war in Gaza was bound to spark art attempting to grapple with the horrors and devastating loss it has caused. One of the most potent stories to emerge from the unimaginable civilian death toll was that of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl whose call to first responders after an Israeli military attack was heard around the world. Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania has chosen to dramatize this

A somber Knives Out trades clever twists for faith and fatigue After creating a new charismatic detective to join the ranks of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes with the Southern-drawling Benoit Blanc, the unlikely franchise of  Knives Out  has now reached its third film. After the electric first film,  Knives Out (2019), the follow-up  Glass Onion  (2022) proved more convoluted and satirical; this is somewhat overcorrected in the latest installment,  Wake Up Dead Man: A Kni

A compelling yet cautious portrait of the men behind recent history’s atrocities The Nuremberg trials of Nazis were a monumental moment in the collective digestion of the horrors perpetrated in World War II, and set the stage for a new international world order, which, while shaky, remains to this day. The events of those trials have been dramatized in the past as courtroom dramas, most famously in the Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster film  Judgment at Nuremberg  (1961), or m

A haunting study of how homes remember—and how families try to forget The poetic question of whether spaces have memory is an intriguing one, and one that spiritually accrues many added layers regarding the trauma or unsettled nature that certain objects or locations retain. Yet from an emotional standpoint, spaces—especially a home—can become symbols of the tangled web of relationships, families, and inner demons that one fights within them. These spaces can also carry liter

Bigger and busier, this sequel can’t recapture the original’s spark After the return of Bob Iger as Disney CEO, a pivot was made to make less quantity of content for the streamer Disney +,  which had partially doomed his chosen successor Bob Chapek, and instead play it safe with sequels to beloved franchises. Thus, a greenlight was given for Moana 2 (2024), Toy Story 5 (2026), and Frozen 3 (2027). Among the anointed sequels to previous hits is Zootopia 2 (2025), which just hi

A bold new cyberpunk vision held back by tonal whiplash and a muted leading man Edgar Wright is a beloved director for many film nerds, known for a winking style and frenetic editing, the Brit has delivered some modern classics such as Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Scott Pilgrim vs. World (2010). Yet Wright has hit a ceiling, remaining within fun yet immature movies, instead of branching out. This constraint is put to the test with his largest budget ever in the remake: The Ru