REVIEW: To the Stars (2019)
The version of To the Stars that is widely available on demand to rent is in colour, but director Martha Stephens’ original vision for the film was in black and white (and a black and white version was shown at Sundance 2019 as well as…
REVIEW: Hail Satan? (2019)
Satanism probably conjures up images of virgin sacrifices, drinking goat blood and other fiendish demonic behaviours. Some of us remember the ‘Satanic Panic’ of the 80s and 90s (more of which later), which bled into popular culture through films such as The ‘Burbs and Dragnet…
REVIEW: The Farewell (Sundance 2019)
In Lulu Wang’s The Farewell a family prepares to say goodbye to their wonderful matriarch who’s been diagnosed with lung cancer, a little detail the family intends to keep unbeknownst to her. They organize a spontaneous wedding in the family so they can have a…
SUNDANCE 2019: Dolce Fine Giornata
Civil life, love, and politics don’t tend to coexist so harmoniously in Jacek Borcuch’s wonderfully crafted film Dolce Fine Giornata. Enrobed in decadent layers of family drama and metaphors of the times, Borcuch’s film quietly flourishes as both a love letter and critique of a…
SUNDANCE 2019: Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements
Irene Taylor Brodsky is a documentary filmmaker whose career speaks for itself, layered with human connection and illuminated by the way she brings warmth and truth to the surface. It’s a testament to that natural ability that her new doc Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three…
SUNDANCE 2019: Sonja – The White Swan
Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky is known by fans of European cinema for her films Sykt Lykkelig and De Nærmeste, the latter of which stars Ine Marie Wilmann. Sewitsky has now re-teamed with Wilmann to tell the story of one of Norway’s most famous stars. An…
REVIEW: Judy & Punch (Sundance 2019)
Judy and Punch was the second of three Australian films I saw at Sundance (the other two being The Nightingale and Little Monsters) and has a surprisingly similar subject matter to The Nightingale – a woman seeking revenge against a violent and abusive man. Tonally, however,…
REVIEW: The Nightingale (Sundance 2019)
Director Jennifer Kent has gone in a somewhat unexpected direction as a follow up to her cult hit, The Babadook. Mining the uncomfortable corners of her country’s past, Kent has conjured a work full of relentless brutality, which will definitely prove too much for some,…
REVIEW: Honey Boy (Sundance 2019)
Honey Boy plays like a therapeutic passion project penned by Shia LaBeouf and thoughtfully directed by Alma Har’el. It’s a devastating confrontation of abuse, alcoholism, and the effects of waiting so long before you can find solace for yourself and the need to forgive those…
REVIEW: Animals (Sundance 2019)
Adapting her own 2014 novel of the same name, screenwriter Emma Jane Unsworth has teamed with director Sophie Hyde to tell the tale of two hedonistic women in their early thirties who are struggling with the concept of settling down and ‘acting their age.’ Starring…
REVIEW: Love, Antosha (Sundance 2019)
If a more beautiful, heart-shattering film is released this year, I will be surprised.. The second a five year old Anton Yelchin appears on screen, the tears start and they won’t stop for a long time after the credits roll. This film is about more…
SUNDANCE 2019: Greener Grass
Directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe have a tight, twisted grasp of society because they scrutinize and indulge it so effortlessly in their debut feature film Greener Grass. It’s absolutely bonkers. There’s no way around that and you’ll find yourself laughing obnoxiously at every cringe…
SUNDANCE 2019: Interview with Anne Sewitsky director of ‘Sonja – The White Swan’
Director of acclaimed Norwegian films Sykt Lykkelig and De Nærmeste, Anne Sewitsky returns to Sundance with her latest work – a biopic of one of Norway’s biggest stars. Sonja Henie was an Olympic ice skater who went to Hollywood and became a movie star. I…
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