Laurie Babin and Juliette Gariépy in Pascal Plante’s RED ROOMS — PHOTO: Entract Films (Still image from trailers).
Directed by Pascal Plante — Screenplay by Pascal Plante.
Pascal Plante’s Red Rooms (original title: Les Chambres Rouges) is a dark psychological thriller that follows a Montreal-based model named Kelly-Anne (played by Juliette Gariépy), who has an unhealthy interest in the trial of Ludovic Chevalier (played by Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), a man accused of having murdered three young women. The trial, which has become somewhat of a media circus, has attracted different kinds of people, including Clémentine (played by Laurie Babin), a woman who is portrayed as a fan of Chevalier and who believes he is innocent. As the trial moves forward, Kelly-Anne, who has an interest in computer technology, and Clémentine form a friendship, but their intentions don’t seem to align.
Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult in JUROR #2 — Photograph by Claire Folger/Warner Bros.
Directed by Clint Eastwood — Screenplay by Jonathan Abrams.
Movie-star-turned-filmmaker Clint Eastwood is a 94-year-old four-time Oscar winner who is still working with some of the industry’s best actors and studios. Although we’d all love for him to keep making films forever, this could theoretically be the final film from one of the very few stars of Hollywood of which adults of all ages will have had some kind of knowledge. It could even, given his status and talent as a filmmaker, have been a genuine Oscar contender. You would think, then, that this film — which stars actors like Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, and others — would be a film that Warner Bros. would proudly release in theaters as prestigious cinema for grown-ups. And yet, that’s not exactly what happened. Eastwood’s potentially final film was released in fewer than 50 theaters across the United States, as well as modest theatrical releases in only a select few territories around the world. Instead, it was prioritized as a holiday streaming release as a ‘Max Original’. It sounds like a headscratcher even before you see the film, and, frankly, it’s still a headscratcher after you see it because, well, Juror #2 is a gripping legal thriller that shows that Clint Eastwood, even at 94 years old, still has what it takes to make compelling films.
The family that Yan Shuo (played by Sun Xilun) tries to insert himself into in BRIEF HISTORY OF A FAMILY — PHOTO: Films Boutique (Still image from trailers).
Directed by Lin Jianjie — Screenplay by Lin Jianjie.
Lin Jianjie’s Brief History of a Family (or ‘Blood and Water‘ as it is called in my region) is a Chinese mystery thriller flick that follows a young man, Yan Shuo (played by Sun Xilun), as he attempts to ingratiate himself with the wealthy parents of a classmate. This all happens after said classmate, Wei (played by Lin Muran), deliberately chucked a basketball at Shuo, while the latter was doing a pull-up exercise. When Shuo is injured, Wei takes pity on his classmate and invites him back to his parents’ apartment to play video games. When Shuo tells Wei’s family about his bleak daily life, they, too, take pity on him and begin to admire him for being everything Wei isn’t. As Shuo gradually becomes more and more a part of their family, Wei becomes jealous, while his parents’ past insecurities are revealed.
Directed by Celine Held and Logan George — Screenplay by Celine Held and Logan George.
Every once in a while, you encounter a film that completely blindsides you in the best way possible for a variety of reasons including you not really having the highest of expectations for it. Why didn’t I have high expectations? Well, I think the fact that it was being unceremoniously dumped onto a streaming service, in this case, Max, certainly didn’t prepare me for something particularly great. But, and I mean this wholeheartedly, Celine Held and Logan George’s Caddo Lake is one of the better feature-length surprises of the year thus far — not necessarily because it’s one of the best films of the year (it isn’t and it almost definitely won’t be regarded as such), but more so because of how much this captivating and relatively strong film came out of nowhere.
Aaron Pierre in Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge — PHOTO: Netflix (Still image from trailer).
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier — Screenplay by Jeremy Saulnier.
Over the course of more than a decade, Rebel Ridge writer-editor-director Jeremy Saulnier (who, even, sometimes serves as cinematographer on some of his other projects) has made a name for himself as a promising filmmaker beloved by many cinephiles for his gripping thrillers such as Green Room and Blue Ruin, both of which I am a huge fan of. In 2018, Netflix released his cold Alaska-set thriller Hold the Dark to mixed-to-positive reviews, but the film did not become the critical darling that his aforementioned color-coded thrillers, so to speak, are. With Rebel Ridge, Saulnier has given it another go with a Netflix release. Rebel Ridge, frankly, feels like a return to form. It is a sharp and intense thriller that hits the sweet spot, just like Saulnier’s best films have done in the past.
Carolina Gaitan and Allan Hawco in QUICKSAND — PHOTO: Shudder / Altitude (Still image from trailers).
Directed by Andres Beltran — Screenplay by Matt Pitts.
I know there is a belief among some that all critics enjoy endlessly spewing hatred toward films that they dislike. I think the truth isn’t that simple. I can say that disliking a film frustrates and/or disappoints me quite a bit. The reason why negative reviews from critics may often sound more hyperbolic, ‘colorful,’ or invested than reviews of, say, mediocre films is because actively disliking something is a powerful emotion, while most films don’t inspire the kind of passion that actively liking or disliking something does. When you dislike something, then you know immediately what bothers you about it, and it’s much easier to get it onto the page than with a frustrating but merely underwhelming flick. So, rest assured that I take no please in saying this, but… I think Andres Beltran’s Quicksand is one of the worst films of 2023.
(L-R) Samuel Theis, Sandra Hüller, and Milo Machado Grenier in ANATOMY OF A FALL — PHOTO: mk2 Films.
Directed by Justine Triet — Screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari.
When the nominations for the upcoming 96th Academy Awards were announced a lot of noise was made about the Best Director category seeing as Barbie’s Greta Gerwig was left out (though she was still nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay). As someone who was concerned that the director’s branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences would nominate an all-male lineup for Best Director, I wasn’t as annoyed about Gerwig not getting in because I was busy being filled with relief over the fact that a female director did get in — it wasn’t another disappointing all-male line-up. That female nominee was Justine Triet, the French filmmaker behind 2023’s Palme d’Or-winning Anatomy of a Fall (original title: Anatomie d’une chute). Anatomy of a Fall got a total of five Oscar nominations and deservedly so. Here is a fascinating and gripping courtroom film with shockingly good acting from child actors, adult actors, and even a dog, who ended up winning the Palm Dog Award for best performance by a canine (yes, that’s a real thing — and this dog definitely deserves it).
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland in Nicolas Roeg’s DON’ LOOK NOW — PHOTO: Casey Productions / Eldorado Films / D.L.N. Ventures Partnership.
Directed by Nicolas Roeg — Screenplay by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant.
Whenever you watch a film two times in a row, you know it has its hooks in you. Don’t Look Now — Nicolas Roeg’s iconic, impressionistic, and occasionally scary psychological thriller based on a Daphne du Maurier short story of the same name — follows John and Laura Baxter (played by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie respectively) not long after they have recently lost their daughter to an accident by their country home in England. They now find themselves in Venice, Italy, where John has been hired to help restore an ancient church. In the meantime, Laura befriends two elderly sisters, one of whom, Heather (played by Hilary Mason), claims to be clairvoyant and able to see their deceased daughter sitting between them in a restaurant. John, however, is skeptical of clairvoyance, and yet, from time to time in Venice, he sees a small figure wearing a similar red raincoat to that his daughter wore on the day that she died.
Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick with his back to the camera in Emerald Fennell’s SALTBURN — PHOTO: MGM and Amazon Studios.
Directed by Emerald Fennell — Screenplay by Emerald Fennell.
There are shades of dark comedy, satire, and horror in Emerald Fennell’s gothic erotic thriller Saltburn. The film is set in 2006 and follows Oxford University student Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan), as he struggles to make friends and fit in among several snobbish borderline celebrities on campus. One day, he befriends Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi) when he offers to lend him his bicycle and walk back Felix’s bike with a flat tire. The immensely popular, posh, and privileged Felix proves to be more pleasant than you might expect, and he takes a liking to the nerdy, needy, and neglected ‘Ollie’ who is very polite and whose stories about being from a less fortunate and troubled family intrigue Felix. Ollie, meanwhile, seemingly lusts for both Felix and his status. Eventually, Felix invites Ollie back home to the Catton family castle — known as ‘Saltburn’ — for the summer, so that Ollie can get his mind off tragic news from back home. Once there, he becomes an object of fascination for Felix’s rich family, who, among other things, seem to be taking some pleasure from hearing about the struggles of the less fortunate, until, at some point, they find them boring. This is the case with their ‘hanger-on’ Pamela (played by Carey Mulligan). When he realizes that one day the family may lose interest in him too, Ollie sets out to make himself very popular in the family country house by any means necessary.
Mark Wahlberg and Iliana Norris in The Familly Plan, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Directed by Simon Cellan Jones — Screenplay by David Coggeshall.
Simon Cellan Jones’ The Family Plan follows Dan Morgan (played by Mark Wahlberg), a car salesman who lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife Jessica (played by Michelle Monaghan), as well as his children Nina (played by Zoe Colletti), Kyle (played by Van Crosby), and Max (played by Iliana Norris and Vienna Norris). They seem like a normal family, but, in reality (and unbeknownst to his family), Dan isn’t the patriarch of the family’s real name and he is actually hiding from his associates from his past life as a hired assassin. When, one day, a picture of him is posted to the internet, he and his family are targeted. In an attempt to keep his family safe, he makes up an impromptu family vacation and has to keep hitmen off their backs on-the-go. Dan has to work up the courage to tell his family the truth, and, while they are on their road trip, he sees new sides of his beloved family.
