International: Europe Reviews
New York 2026 Review: THE DREAMED ADVENTURE, Once Upon a Time in Bulgaria
A middle-aged man, Said (Syuleyman Alilov Letifov), comes back to his small Bulgarian hometown, situated not far from the borders of both Turkey and Greece. He is here to conduct some shady deal involving diesel fuel, but when his car...
New York 2026 Review: AT NIGHT, The Great Equalizer
Beatrice Gibson's feature debut is a beauty to behold.
New York 2026 Review: BITTER CHRISTMAS, Weird Act of Artistic Self-Deprecation
Pedro Almodóvar's latest feature film.
New York 2026 Review: FATHERLAND, Unrealized Utopia
Pawel Pawlikowski's new film revolves around a hefty subject, conveyed with visual grace and succinct editing with beautiful, subtle performances by both Hanns Zischler and Sandra Hüller.
New York 2026 Review: BUCKING FASTARD, Kate and Rooney Mara Dig a Tunnel of Love
Real life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara play sisters in Werner Herzog's modern fairytale.
New York 2026 Review: MY WIFE CRIES, Love Abstractions
Agathe Bonitzer and Vladimir Vulevic star in Angela Schanelec's new film.
Netherlands 2026: DOWNTOWN Opens Festival, Wins Dutch Film Critics' Award
There's something special going on with Michiel van Erp's new film. That the cast and crew received a standing ovation at the opening of the Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) last Friday isn't all that unusual (festival opening, enthusiastic audience), but...
New York 2026 Review: ROSE By Any Other Name
Sandra Hüller and Caro Braun star in Markus Schleinzer's period drama.
Venice 2026 Review: JUPITER, Claustrophobic Political Thriller for the Current Time
Alexandre Smia's gripping feature debut locks Denis Ménochet inside the machinery of presidential power, where rational calculations lead toward an unthinkable conclusion.
Toronto 2026 Review: MARIE MADELEINE, An Unforgettable Experience
Géssica Généus directs and stars.
Venice 2026 Review: NO PARADISE IF YOU ARE KILLED BY A WOMAN Goes into Stealth Mode to Confront the Scars of War
Merging the exportable mechanics of a stealth-combat thriller with the political urgency of Kurdish resistance, Halkawt Mustafa delivers an ambitious Iraqi-Norwegian genre film.
Venice 2026 Review: DIANE IN THE LOOP Channels Inherited Generational Rage into a Whimsical Yet Touching Feminist Western
Belgian filmmakers Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni turn intergenerational trauma into an eccentric tale of revenge and rebirth, veiled as unexpected feminist Western fairy tale and family road movie.
Toronto 2026 Review: ALL OF A SUDDEN, Gently Drawing the Viewer Into More Difficult Realities
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's latest, All of a Sudden is a revelation. A meditation on the everyday lives of his characters and the weightier ideas orbiting them, the film transcends the experiences and ideas it presents. Considering that the film glides between...
Toronto 2026 Review: MINOTAUR, Russia As A Psychological-Visual Labyrinth
Andrey Zvyagintsev interrogates Russia in the same way 1990s era Zhang Yimou interrogated China: Methodically, metaphorically, and with an astutely savage eye for beautiful visuals to mask the criticism. There is a scene in his latest film, Minotaur, where the...
Toronto 2026 Review: FJORD, Palme D'Or Winner Finds Many Arthouse Audience Buttons to Push
Roger Ebert once described film as a “machine that generates empathy.” For writer-director Christian Mugiu, this is very much true. But what if that empathy was slyly and sharply weaponized into a provocation? Enter Fjord. In our increasingly globalized...
Locarno 2026 Review: ROMA ELASTICA Cannibalizes the Myth of the Movie Star in a Delirious Cinephile Phantasmagoria
Marion Cotillard stars in Bertrand Mandico's a surrealistic tribute to golden age actresses, celluloid cinema and Italian culture.
Locarno 2026 Review: BLOODY TENNIS Serves Up a Blood-Soaked Sports-Horror Satire
Nikias Chryssos serves up a blood-soaked, darkly funny sports horror in which an elite tennis academy trains its aspiring champions through ritualized brutality.
HOT SPOT Review: Memorable Visuals, But Not Enough Story or Noomi Rapace
Andrzej Konopka and Noomi Rapace star in director Agnieszka Smoczyńska's sci-fi thriller.
DER FAN Returns with a 4K Restoration Vengeance
It’s been a long time since I’ve heard hushed whispers of the subversive German thriller, Der Fan. Written and directed by the late West German provocateur Eckhart Schmidt, this film was never banned formally, more so shunned due to both...
FRANZ Review: Embracing an Incomplete Life
Director Agnieszka Holland's film is a biopic of the iconic Franz Kafka, portrayed by Idan Weiss.
