Eo (2022)

It might be hard to believe that one of the most beautiful and memorable films of the year is about a donkey. This incredibly visual and visceral film is unlike most other films you'll see all year. It follows the life of a donkey, raised in a circus, but then, through a series of events, ends up moving from place to place across Europe until its... well, very sudden ending. It is a powerful story about the life of domesticated animals in the care of humans that makes us ask a lot of questions, questions to which the answers are uncomfortable. It is a passionate film that gets right into the emotions of its subjects in powerful ways. It is just something to see and until you see it you don't really get it.

Eo is a series of vignettes all from the point of view of a quiet animal who spends most of his time having things happen to him. Every now and then he gets some agency and makes some decisions for himself, but mostly Eo is subject to the whims and decisions of the humans who come across him. 

The film is visually stunning, director Skolimowski brings an operatic take to his tale. He fills each shot to the brim with colour and kinetic energy, the emotion spilling out over the edges. This paired with Paweł Mykietyn's intense score makes for an almost indescribable viewing experience. But don't be fooled. This isn't an all ages story about a happy donkey. There are intense parts and the film is a biting critique of human treatment of animals. 

Eo

Starring: Sandra Drzymalska, Isabelle Huppert, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Mateusz Kościukiewicz,  

Director: Jerzy Skolimowski

Writers: Ewa Piaskowska, Jerzy Skalimowski

 

The Fabelmans (2022)

I very much enjoy the work of both Spielberg and Kushner, yet somehow The Fabelmans never quite gelled for me. Its rose coloured look at the youth of one of the most famous film makers of all time is engaging and charming, but often rather vanilla, feeling less cinematic than one would expect. The Fabelmans for all its monkeys and dances in the headlights, remains a standard telling of coming of age. But does it matter? This is the story Spielberg wanted to tell and he gets to tell it the way that he wants. 

And there are magical moments herein. I referenced Michelle Williams dancing in headlights. There is a clever cameo at the end that is enjoyable if somewhat out of left field. Judd Hirsch storms into the movie and chews it up before bowing out never to be seen again. 

But so much of the film feels overly dramatized and unreal. Is that a technique? Is Spielberg making his biofilm feel more like a film and less like life?

Michelle Williams has an acting style that never quite clicks for me. She is broad in her performances, like a Joan Crawford and here it feels very much in that vein making it hard for me to get the relationship between Sammy and his mother. Dano's subtler strength worked better for me, but these performances were all over the map. I did find LaBelle a strong centre for the story and the film, and by the end he was the spitting image of a young Spielberg, all nerdy handsome and full of promise.  

I will say I enjoyed The Fabelmans, but I was in and out of it throughout, and I'm not sure it is the sort of film I'd rewatch time and again. For a film about loving movies, I found it hard to connect to as a film lover. 

The Fabelmans

Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogan, Judd Hirsh, Julia Butters, Greg Grunberg, David Lynch

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writers: Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg

 

Strange World (2022)

I personally love it when Disney leaves their comfort zone and releases action films that don't fit their typical mold. The first images of the animation studio's 61st animated feature, Strange World, were fantastic and gorgeous. The film is a steam punk environmentalist fantasy that features an ethnically diverse utopia where queerness appears to be integrated without homophobia and patriarchy seems non-existent. It is a strange world indeed for the Mouse House and to be honest, I found it all rather glorious. 

The story focuses on intergenerational connection with the backdrop of a world saving mission that takes on the energy sector and is filled with tributes to Journey to the Center of the Earth, Fantastic Journey, Lovecraftian mythos, Pulp Magazine stories, and American Indigenous legends. And it is a gorgeous film. The art direction here is out of this world (pun intended) and simply beautiful to watch on a big screen. It does appear Disney is dumping the film's theatrical release in favour of a bigger streaming rollout which is too bad because this is the sort of film that would stand out on the biggest screen possible. 

Another factor here that I found fascinating is that this is a film without villains. While there are occasionally characters in opposition to each other, the film doesn't boil things down to black and white, instead allowing us to see the different perspectives and understand why characters are doing what they are doing. The film even cleverly references this when some characters are playing a card game (the amazing looking Primal World which I hope they release for real cause I want to play it!) and one of them explains that there aren't "monsters" the goal is to live in harmony with your environment. 

And the story is just a lot of fun, filled with wonder and suspense, twists and complications. I am sad to see Disney not give this the biggest rollout they can cause I think it's going to be one of my favourites.

Strange World

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu

Director: Don Hall

Writer: Qui Nguyen

 

Bones and All (2022)

The best horror is the horror that speaks to our human condition, that touches a nerve with our real life fears, passions, assumptions, usually wrapped up in something fantastic or horrifying. Bones and All is that sort of horror, a story drenched in an otherworldly cannibalism but about something far more real, about trauma (wait, wait I know that's a horror cliche right now, but this is different) and surviving abuse, and intergenerational violence. I haven't seen a horror movie, or any movie, deal with this in such a powerful way. 

Guadagnino isn't afraid to upset his audience and while one could argue Bones and All is rather restrained in its gore, it doesn't shy away from making sure we know what is going on. He is rather selective with what he shows us and what he doesn't, balancing the need for us to be confronted and fairly disgusted, with the art of suggestion which is often even more upsetting than seeing it. I was rocked while watching Bones and All and I pride myself with being fairly unshakable. And I think this says something about the power of the film, which makes us feel it. Bones and All doesn't give us gore to laugh at, an easy out for most horror films. What we see is terrifying. 

A lot of what makes Bones and All so challenging is the way it makes us care for the characters doing the horrible things. We empathize with Russell's Maren despite what we see her do, or perhaps because of it. We are terrified of her and at the same time see her humanity. It is a very uncomfortable position to situate the audience in, and when the film reaches its logical conclusion the moment is both terrible and beautiful but horrible all around. Bones and All asks a lot of its audience and doesn't let us off easy. 

I am not often a fan of Guadgnino's work but here he has tapped into something fascinating and beautiful while also scaring me, something films rarely do. His cannibals are not realistic, they share characteristics with movie vampires or zombies, and are presented more for their metaphoric potential than their realism. This isn't an examination of humans eating each other. It is symoblic of something else more close to home, about self-loathing, self-destruction, abuse, and other forms of violence we do to ourselves and to those we love. And that is why the scenes are so horrifying, more than what I see in a slasher film by far. 

Russell is, as everyone is saying, revelatory in this film but the entire cast is remarkable, even when they only have a few moments on screen. Stuhlbarg stands out especially in a role that just made my skin crawl. Everyone brings their A game but Russell is very much at the centre of this and delivers a career making performance. 

Bones and All will be one of the harder films to watch this year, but is also one of the most rewarding if you can manage it. It is a game changer. 

Bones and All

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, Jessica Harper

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: David Kajganich

 

She Said (2022)

She Said follows in the vein of Spotlight and All the President's Men, focusing on the journalists who published a story that shook our culture, not the those involved, not the perpetrators, not the victims, not the prosecutors, the story tellers. It focuses on how the stories are identified, the barriers to telling that story are overcome, and how deeply the stories are buried by a world dead set against these stories coming to light. These films are structured like traditional hero stories, and perhaps in this age when the media is being so vilified a narrative like this is important to remind us why journalists remain an essential element of democracy and justice and why these stories need to be told. And undeniably there is heroism in that. 

She Said is the story of the story breaking about Harvey Weinstein, but wider the story of the system that is set up to protect powerful predators like Weinstein. The film reminds us of this a number of times, Hollywood being the setting for one set of insular powerful men who are routinely protected from responsibility for the harm they cause with Weinstein being the poster boy. It is perhaps a safer story to tell than perhaps other stories, ones that involve more beloved predators, because of how (rightly) reviled Weinstein has become. But the film stops at the brief moment of success. We know that even in that time, the system these journalists worked to start to dismantle remains firmly in place and that sexual harassment and abuse have not been eradicated and that despite all the sacrifices the women this story follows have made to protect their daughters the future remains risky for those with less power. Time I guess hasn't been up after all. 

That doesn't stop this story from being important or from having a role to play in bringing about change. But perhaps this film could have acknowledged some of that more. There are legitimate criticisms of the New York Times specifically that this film sweeps under the rug. But She Said is focused on this aspect of this story and celebrating that the story could even be told, which is truly something worth celebrating. I guess I just didn't get swept up in the triumph this film is building to, feeling perhaps a little disappointed in all that has come along since. Perhaps that's unfair and celebrating victories when they happen remains important. But the film's arc is perhaps a little too willing to ignore all that hasn't changed and all that remains to be done. 

Director Schrader uses a very linear and straightforward approach to telling the story which works well and serves the narrative effectively. There are a lot of moving pieces here which the film's directness helps the audience navigate. We can see it all come together even for those of us who aren't journalists or maybe don't have the experience with these systems that the subjects do. Schrader allows the power of her story to affect us instead of trying to force us into emotions and this is a very effective choice. Her leads, Mulligan and Kazan, are also allowed to give strong but understated performances instead of having too many "Oscar moments." She Said despite some of its heavy subject matter, remains an incredibly watchable movie that yet still shakes you by the time the credits role. 

So despite its blind spots, She Said manages to be both important to watch and accessible as well. A strong showing by all involved and perhaps a reminder of how much remains to be done. 

She Said

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Sean Cullen, Ashley Judd

Director: Maria Schrader

Writer: Rebecca Lenkiewicz

 

The Menu (2022)

High concept films can be fun. They allow for a deliciously rich play with ideas and issues which may not work so well in more literalist stories. The Menu is very high concept; a trendy chef who has reached the heights of bourgeois success runs an exclusive restaurant on a private island that only the 1% can access and one night he invites a group from that class to feed them a dinner that could very well be their last. Sure it is self-consciously over the top, but it is also temptingly inviting. And the film commits to its premise which gives it the stamina to deliver a unique experience right to the end. 

A lot of films with a very high concept have a hard time sticking the landing.  The Menu manages to hold true to its recipe right to the final moment despite needing a great deal of buy in from its audience to keep us along for its sensationalist ride. But for me it sucked me in and won me over, despite a few time almost going slightly off the rails. Its combination of some of the darkest comedy I've seen in a mainstream movie with its commitment to its social commentary and the strong performances of its cast. All the ingredients come together successfully into something to savor. 

The Menu asks us to question our notions of good and evil, and how we are complicit in perpetuating systems of evil. I worried the film would fall into the trap of making this all to easy. I worried it would turn Fiennes and his team into villains making us sympathetic with the group of 1 percent diners that are central to the film's thesis around class exploitation. But I also worried the film would make Fiennes too heroic in his martyrdom. But The Menu successfully resists both. The film does need someone to care about (it is an American film after all) and so doesn't become entirely nihilist. It uses Taylor-Joy's sex worker, a clever and inspired choice in the end, to give us that needed connection while it lets the rest of the cast inspire our feelings of contempt coloured slightly with pity so it can make its point. 

And it does so with a dark bite that is often uncomfortable. Right up to the end it commits to this and delivers a very satisfying ending. However, it is in this that sometimes it goes a little too far. I'm not sure the film got me convinced of all the self-destructive conviction of the characters, especially Hoult's. And there is a diversion in the middle of an escape/chase that just feels rather pointless in the end. 

But outside of these little slips, the film manages better than a lot of high concept films to tell a gripping and disquieting story that makes us sad about who we are and how we live with just the tinge of hope in the way it handles Taylor-Joy's character. And I for one ate it up.  

The Menu

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, John Leguizamo

Director: Mark Mylod

Writers: Seth Reiss, Will Tracy

Disenchanted (2022)

I'll be honest. I don't think Enchanted is a magical fantasy. I think it's often clever, and fairly entertaining, but has its flaws that pull me out of the film, mostly in how much it winks winks at the audience instead of committing to its premise. But I still like it. I usually enjoy it enough when I watch it. But I never fall in love with it. I can say that I likely will feel the same about Disenchanted, often clever, maybe trying too hard, and a little too wink wink for me to truly embrace it. 

I like the ideas here, about Giselle becoming the wicked step-mother trope and exploring that is all it's messed up glory. I also really appreciated the sub plot about Morgan becoming a teen and all the difficulties that brings in terms of parent-child relationship. Sometimes I think this film hits us too hard over the head with its themes like the first film did. But the ideas are interesting. 

Disney legend Alan Menken returns to write the music to mixed results. In my opinion only Badder holds up to the legacy of Happy Working Song or That's How You Know... neither of which hold up to his classics for the studio. Most of the rest of the music here is forgettable even if they do fix their glaring error in the first film by giving Menzel a song to sing.

To be fair I believe if you liked Enchanted you'll like Disenchanted. Also if you didn't like the first you won't like this. And if you are like me, where you have mixed feelings about the first, you'll have mixed feelings about this one. Still it's worth watching just for this cast. The guys drop the ball a little by being a bit too hammy. But Adams, Rudolph, Brown, and Mayes all just light up the screen.

Disenchanted

Starring: Amay Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Maya Rudolph, Gabriella Baldacchino, Nicole Brown, Jayma Mayes, Oscar Nunez, Griffin Newman

Director: Adam Shankman

Writer: Brigitte Hales

 

The Wonder (2022)

Not every story is a feature length film. Honestly this is a problem for a lot of series as well. The Wonder is an example of a story that feels stretched too thin to fill an average feature length film runtime. Despite a strong central performance by star Pugh and a beautiful approach to film making by director Lelio, The Wonder is plodding, often feeling like it is filling moments with monotony. It doesn't mean there aren't interesting moments here. There are powerful, effecting moments which will sit with you after the film is done. But they are interspersed with a lot of very little in the meantime. 

There are interesting questions at the heart of The Wonder, about belief, disbelief, and the meaning of our actions. But so often the film seems to focus on far less engaging diversions from the story. This leads to some aspects feeling repetitive or perhaps hyper focused. This ends up distracting from the more interesting questions being posed because we lose focus of them in the tedium. 

There is a good story here and it is wonderfully filmed, but it often feels like it could have been a very powerful short film. 

The Wonder

Starring: Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Kila Lord Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Writers: Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Sebastián Lelio 

Black Panther Wakanda Forever (2022)

For me Black Panther is the strongest mini-franchise within the MCU... by a mile. While the MCU focuses on palatability to the mass market and interchangability of its vanilla characters, Black Panther is the one that challenges the status quo, tackled colonialism outright, blended elements of afro-futurism and modern blockbuster sensibilities, and built a strong cast of predominantly female characters. They could have a done a lot after the passing of star Boseman but they chose with Wakanda Forever to lean into what made the first film great and in doing so they have made a strong sequel that lives up to the original legacy and pays tribute to the lost star. 

With Boseman gone the film does put its strong female characters front and centre from Shuri who takes on the title role, to Nakia who plays an even more central role than one might expect, to Okoye who earns her place as a stand out fan fave, to my personal favourite in the whole film, Queen Ramonda who stole the whole thing. Bassett is a revelation and reminds us that she should have had an Oscar by now. 

Coogler shows off his strong action movie sensibilities telling a rather complicated and layered story with an accessible style while also filling it with great action set pieces. Wakanda is a crowd pleaser while also pushing our boundaries. Make no mistake, the US is the enemy here. Almost all the choices made by players here are in response to the risk the Western World poses to their homelands and the US is the front for that. Brave take in a mega blockbuster from a huge corporate studio. The film doesn't even couch this in some way out a la #notallamericans. Martin's character has to commit treason against the US to do the right thing and is likely never going home after the events of this film. 

My only complaint is how much the film spends it time pitting two colonialist-resistant nations against each other so brutally. Yes I get the symbolism here and its historical significance and the film tries to make its point at the end by having them make an alliance against the real enemy at the end. But this is sort of undercut by Namor's continued bad faith negotiations right through to the end. Also the film's need to insert another male heir into the story at the very end despite setting up just how capable Shuri and the other women of Wakanda are at carrying on the Panther's legacy. 

Still, Wakanda Forever is one of the MCU's strongest and most compelling films. 

Black Panther Wakanda Forever

Starring: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Domnique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Angela Bassett, Michael B. Jordan, Trevor Noah, Lake Bell, Chadwick Boseman

Director: Ryan Coogler

Writers: Joe Robert Cole, Ryan Coogler

 

Causeway (2022)

After being one one of the biggest A-list stars, Lawrence seemed to have backed off. Other than getting somewhat lost in the cast of Don't Look Up despite being the central character, she hasn't been in any films since Dark Phoenix in 2019, a film already delayed in it's release. For me it was nice to see her return to the screen in this way, something quiet and intense, reminding us what a powerful actor and screen presence she is. 

Here is is paired with Henry, who quite opposite to her feels like he's been in everything lately. Not that that's a bad thing. He's always so incredible to watch, and has such an amazing range. The two of them together create sparks on the screen that power this film while both giving understated and layers performances. 

I'm not sure Causeway finds a way to bring too much originality to its story about how difficult it is for vets to come back to civilian culture after fighting in war, a theme that has been done time and again since films like The Best Years of our Lives and many others. The strength of this film is in its two central actors showing us just what they can do. 

Causeway

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Brian Tyree Henry, Linda Emond, Jayne Houdyshell, Fred Weller, Stephen McKinley Henderson

Director: Lila Neugebauer

Writers: Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, Elizabeth Sanders

 

My Policeman (2022)

When I was young most queer movies were like My Policeman, tragic tales of the trauma of the closet, often ending in loss with only a few reaching a conclusion with some long awaited peace, but never the happily ever after. It seemed like there was a time when the only way we knew how to tell stories of queerness in media was through tragedy, the sufferings of generations of queer people punished for being who they are. 

Today we have all sorts of stories featuring gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters; there are romances, adventures, comedies, and dramas. But there was a time, perhaps before all gay stories shifted to being about dying of AIDS, when films like My Policeman were everywhere. It took me back to a time when Hollywood didn't know how to offer me hope, and all narratives of men who loved men foretold misfortune, like the opening chorus of Romeo and Juliet.

Like many of those films, My Policeman is a beautifully filmed story with quite poignant moments of love, betrayal, and redemption. While much of the attention has been given to Styles, Corrin and the elder cast are all truly powerful in their roles. The film captures a very tender view of a difficult time that is often quite touching to watch. There is merit to these stories of woe. Generations of queer men did live lives of loss and denial and those stories are as valid as any other. But as a young man I wanted to see the happily-ever-after happen sometimes. As the writer E.M. Forster pointed out when he finally wrote his gay romance Maurice, he wanted a happy ending because we deserved that. 

However, one thing stood out for me while watching My Policeman and I struggled with with it as the story unfolded. This is the story (written by a woman) of two queer men being in love when they truly couldn't, but all told through the point of view of a straight woman. The details of the narrative are all revealed through Marion's perspective, even the intimate moments are only depicted through her reading the diary of one of the men. This kept the story from being truly about them, kept us at arms length. It was like male-queerness as a device for a heterosexual woman's journey to self-discovery. And while there is something interesting in the journey of a woman whose life has been built around hiding her husband's queerness, struggling with her role in that, and perhaps addressing some of her own erasure in enduring that, that means it isn't about men falling in love, but about what that does to a straight woman. Fair enough. But this is a heterosexual story that places the homosexual on the periphery. 

Still, despite my misgivings of the narrative point, I feel the film is a better made film than many are giving it credit for. It is quite sensitive and moving and the pairs of actors playing Tom and Patrick create a believable passion between them. Sometimes I felt the later day motivations seemed overly dramatic, and perhaps a little to easily wrapped up at the end. But I still felt the emotions felt honest.

In the end My Policeman was a bit of a mixed bag for me, nostalgic a bit and it sparked something in seeing the romance blossom honestly between the two men, but also a bit focused on the heterosexual gaze and pushing the queerer elements to the sidelines. 

My Policeman

Starring: Harry Styles, Linus Roache, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, David Dawson, Rupert Everett, Kadiff Kirwan

Director: Michael Grandage

Writer: Ron Nyswaner

 

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Enola is a great character and film maker Bradbeer seems to have cracked the code for fun adventures featuring this plucky mystery solver. The whole concept plays with the Holmes pastiche while adding some girl power and centring the charismatic actor in the title role. All of it makes for fun, smart mysteries. 

2 focuses on the young detective becoming a respected mystery solver in her own right, while living in the shadow of her brother and withstanding the weight of the patriarchy of 19th century Britain. With both Brown and the delightful Bonham Carter (so nice to see her do something other than villains again) showing such feminist power, Enola Holmes 2 is a rollicking adventure with a message. Her mystery is set around actual historical events around early English feminism. Does it gloss over some of the more problmatic elements of white feminism of the time? Perhaps, but it does attempt to suggest a more modern approach. This isn't a documentary. Enola Holmes remains a light and fun, but still smart, series that does give its subject and her fans as much respect as the classic material it is derived from. 

Holmes himself feels more peripheral than in the first which I think is good. This is Enola's story and he should be more in the background. I like that he and his world are there for her to interact with but I'm glad she is allowed to overshadow him in her own movies.  

Enola Holmes 2 is a strong argument for making this a whole series of films centred around this charming protagonist. 

Enola Holmes 2

Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, David Thewlis, Helena Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, Adeel Akhtar, Himesh Patel

Director: Harry Bradbeer

Writers: Jack Thorne, Harry Bradbeer

 

Call Jane (2022)

Banks is such a talented comedic performer sometimes it's easy to forget how well she can switch to drama. This fictionalized dramatization produced by and starring her, and featuring the actually historic group The Jane Collective, is compelling and inspiring and features two great stars playing off each other so well. 

Call Jane attempts to show the horrors of criminalizing abortion access and does so but perhaps a little gently. It even touches on the racial issues underlying the struggle, if ever so briefly. If I have any critique of this movie is that it doesn't go quite far enough. But it gets its point across and does so with a compelling drama that is easy to watch and get pulled into. 

I appreciated the film avoided some easy cliches. Call Jane seems to be setting up some characters to be petty and or betrayers, yet in the end shows the community coming together against the forces that would deny basic humanity to women and pregnant people. I was the happy the film focused on women and their allies coming together instead of being pushed apart. Again perhaps this glosses over some of the more contentious parts of the struggle, but for this film it works. 

Call Jane is a touching portrait of heroism and stepping up when one needs to. 

Call Jane

Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith

Director: Phyllis Nagy

Writers: Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi

 

Armageddon Time (2022)

Grey's heavily fictionalized reflections on his own youth growing up at the dawn of the Reagan era in New York is far bleaker than I thought it would be. It is a rather stunning indictment of the time and the helplessness that came along with it for anyone who could recognize injustice and the rising tide of making-sure-I-get-mine selfishness that blossomed into the 80s. It's rather brave in how much blame it shoulders as it paints a portrait of marginalized people doing what they need to to survive while watching even more marginalized people take even worse blows. The film's title is prophetic and one doesn't leave Armageddon Time feeling Gray has looked back on his youth with rose coloured glasses.

That being said sometimes Armageddon Time feels overly heavy handed. It lurches a bit between touching moments and upsetting ones in a way that doesn't quite all feel coherent. I appreciated very much how it showed us the warts-and-all story and recognized that loving people can also be abusive as well. But I never felt Gray found a way to tie it all together well. He attempts to paint a picture of complex people being both "good" and "bad" but sometimes he struggles to connect it all organically. 

Still both his narratives of a loving family and a dysfunctional one are moving. Young actor Repeta does a good job of carrying this movie with all the great actors around him. His scenes with Hopkins are lovely and inspiring. While not a perfect film, it does offer some very interesting reflections on the dawning of an America that was very difficult for many people and perhaps some insight into how we got there. 

Armageddon Time

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain 

Writer/Director: James Gray

 

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The Banshees of Inisherin is a lot of things all at once. It is a comedy that is often laugh out loud hilarious while also being a somewhat somber mediation on conflict, both personal and cultural. It is told like a fable, full of symbolic absurdities while also being grounded in a very real time and place. It is both painfully touching and downright silly. And within all of this it is a beautiful piece of film making in all the ways. 

This film is shot on beautiful Irish Islands featuring some of the most scenic areas they could find, and is centred around the story of two men, who we are to understand were great friends, who find themselves at odds when once decides he no longer likes the other. While this is all happening the small town 1920s life of the villagers here is peripherally disturbed by the civil war happening on the nearby mainland which can be heard, but only barely seen, and is discussed in the new papers as something hardly reaching them at all except through small echoes. The film parallels these stories in fascinating ways pulling us in with its story of these two compelling odd ball characters. 

There is a great deal about Banshees that is absurd but it all works so organically. The relationship between Farrell and Gleeson is just amazing to watch, each developing such lived-in men that feel they could be people we know. Keoghan stands out as the town fool who is so much more than all that. Watching this cast play against each other is joyously delicious. And magically the film finds a wonderful melancholy throughout which is tangible, even reaching the state of real tragedy. Banshees comments on war and relationships and grief in such a beautifully complicated manner.  

The Banshees of Inisherin is a crowd pleaser that offers so much richness. It is the sort of film which just brings so much to the table and makes for a lovely cinematic experience. 

The Banshees of Inisherin

Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon

Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh

 

The Good Nurse (2022)

Melodramatic and rather pedantic, The Good Nurse is watchable mostly because the two actors at the centre of it are so strong. They raise what feels like a movie-of-the-week to something more. The performances by Chastain and Redmaine are top notch even if the material remains rather basic, and they are really the only reason to watch The Good Nurse. 

The Good Nurse

Starring: Jessica Chastain, Effie Redmaine

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Writer: Krysty Wilson-Cairns