At first glance, Mexico’s first stop-motion feature and the fifth installment of Pixar’s biggest franchise have little in common—but both films arrive at a moment when it seems like every day a new celebrity gives a sponsored statement about the so-called inevitability of AI. In an era of monetized defeatism and corporate slop, there has been an active effort to celebrate human artists. While cinema in all its forms is an art (for some more than others…), the handmade nature

Having helped create the term ‘blockbuster’ with the enormous success of Jaws (1975), it’s fair to say Steven Spielberg has become emblematic of major studio filmmaking, one of the foundations of modern American mythmaking. His movies often locate conflict within a few corrupt individuals, suggesting that once they are exposed, the system can return to functioning as intended. Disclosure Day is burdened by that same naiveté. It feels anachronistic, a holdover from a time when

Kane Parsons’ feature debut is one of the more interesting and original horror films to emerge in the last decade, marking a notable transition from his YouTube origins into mainstream features. Set in the 1990s, when cubicles began to embody the claustrophobic atmosphere of office spaces, it follows a down-and-out furniture salesman who finds a door to an alternate dimension hidden in the corner of his workplace, setting a series of events in motion that no one could prepare

Thanks to its controversial subject matter, Elliot Tuttle’s latest film has been hailed as the boldest, most transgressive piece of cinema to have graced the screen in recent memory. Helmed by two powerhouse performances, this chamber drama concerns a cam-boy, Aaron, spending the night with a client for fifty-thousand-dollars, only to discover his patron is connected to a past he thought he left behind. I appreciate the bold formal choice of having the bulk of the narrative u

It’s always tough to write about a Boots Riley production, because he’s kind of a cinematic mad scientist. Traditional rules like subtlety or avoiding didacticism are thrown out the window, and that’s no different for I Love Boosters. Bursting with color and ideas, this piece of gonzo agitprop follows Corvette and her friends trying to steal and re-sell enough clothes to buy a stable life, only to get caught between an international labor strike involving a petty billionaire

While some critics argue that the term ‘elevated horror’ has outlived its usefulness, I find it useful to describe the wave of films released over the past few years that share a certain look, deal with certain themes, and are written with a specific worldview. Curry Barker’s feature directorial debut is one of those movies, and it’s almost a perfect case study for why I wish directors would let that entire movement go. Centered around Bear using a supernatural toy to win the

There’s been a lot of books and movies marketed around ‘female rage’ lately, but those texts struggle to depict women’s frustration as anything other than aestheticized catharsis, an easily consumable revenge. The character can be angry, but only in ways that are morally containable. Aleshea Harris’ directorial debut is nothing like that. It follows twin sisters sent by their mother to track down and kill the abusive father who left all three women permanently scarred after s

There’s a quiet magic at work in Sophy Romvari’s feature-length debut. Fresh off an incredible run on the festival circuit, this indie darling has been hailed by many respected critics as the best film of the year. Romvari has made no bones about how personal this film is to her, and I think that brings up a lot of interesting questions about autofiction. Centered around a young girl whose brother is struggling with his mental health, it’s a tender film that is full of beauti

When the original Faces of Death (1978) became a ghostly presence haunting local video stores, hidden behind beaded curtains alongside the pornos, humanity had a very different relationship with death and film. Sure, morbid visuals had existed since the Vietnam War was first broadcasted on TV screens in suburban living rooms, but that was wildly different from what we see today. Spend enough time on any social media platform and you’re likely to witness something traumatizin

One of the most pernicious lies about Palestine’s colonization is that it is an ‘ancient’ conflict. This narrative attempts to obfuscate the (very recent) role played by the British empire, and imperialism at large, in the hopes of creating a kind of fatalism in those naïve enough to take such ridiculous claims at face value. It’s a way of saying ‘they’ve always fought, and there’s nothing we can do about it, so just let the oil and money flow.’ This is why Annemarie Jacir’s

It’s been a while since I’ve felt as thrilled by a movie as I did when watching Krill Sokolov’s new film about a woman infiltrating a satanic cult to find her missing sister. Full of high-octane action, it’s also a very current commentary on power, class and gender. Featuring a dynamic visual language and a script bursting with personality, this is a film that should be watched in theaters. Fans of subtlety might find the script to be heavy-handed (it begins with an epigraph

I went into the theater with high expectations for Daniel Chong’s latest film. It follows Mabel, a young activist who inherited a love of nature from her grandma, one day using body-swapping technology to (accidentally) start an anti-human revolution among woodland creatures. Such a rich premise was ultimately watered down by studio pressure, and instead of posing important questions for a younger target audience, Hoppers offers solutions so easy they verge on naive. You re

This review is going to be a hard one, because I love Emily Brontë’s novel—but I also don’t think filmic adaptations can or should show complete reverence to their source material. Something will always be lost in translation; but what seems to have been lost here is the very spirit of Brontë’s 1847 masterpiece. Emerald Fennell keeps the same story beats (poor boy, rich girl, doomed love affair), but butchers the original story, haphazardly shoving its disparate bits together

Movies That Got Away Before we get to the amazing films I did see this year, I wanted to spotlight some that I didn't. I always say no list is comprehensive, but mine get pretty damn close. Despite that, here are some movies from 2025 that I wanted to see, but couldn’t due to time, availability etc. Regardless, I know that if I saw some of these films they'd have made the top 25, and I hope you take the time to look into them! 10. Magellan I'm a big Lav Diaz fan and was

With the recent Warner Brothers-Netflix merger, there has been much talk about the death of cinema. Beyond the obvious dangers to artistic integrity, this headline seems microcosmic of the corruption, anger and rampant injustice that now feel so common. In times like these, James Cameron’s epic sci-fi franchise could easily have come off as tone-deaf or insensitive. Since we last saw the Sulley family lose their eldest son in The Way of Water (2022), our eyes have been pained

I understand why everyone is comparing Shih-Ching Tsou’s feature-length directorial debut to the work of her co-producer/editor/co-writer, Sean Baker: it was shot completely on iPhone cameras, giving it the same kinetic dynamism found in Baker’s indie breakout hit, Tangerine (2015), and Tsou has co-produced many of Baker’s most beloved films like The Florida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021). The two also co-directed their first feature length movie while in film school,

There’s a kind of irony in how one of the most re-made stories of all time is about a reanimated corpse trying to find purpose in a new, strange world. In the last year alone, there have been at least two films that were very clearly drawing from Frankenstein ( Lisa Frankenstein and Poor Things ), one of which would go on to dominate the award circuit; there’s also the upcoming Bride of Frankenstein and Soy Frankelda , Mexico’s first stop motion film. In this sense, Guiller

Maybe one of my most anticipated movies of the year, Benny Safdie’s latest, a biopic of MMA pioneer Mark Kerr, has finally hit theaters....

I recently saw a video of ICE agents pulling a man away from his sobbing family before slamming his wife onto the ground in front of...

After hearing the script for Zach Cregger’s second feature sold for over $30M, my expectations skyrocketed. This anticipation only...