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‘Companion’ Review: Smarter Than ‘M3GAN,’ but Still No ‘Ex Machina,’ Sophie Thatcher’s AI-Themed Thriller Makes for a Clever Late-January Surprise

SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains mild spoilers. Iris, the title character in writer-director Drew Hancock’s deranged date movie “Companion,” isn’t like your typical Hollywood love interest. As played by “Yellowjackets” breakout Sophie Thatcher, Iris is more than just smitten with her dorky boyfriend, Josh (Jack Quaid). She’s crazy-devoted, willing to do whatever it takes […]

International Feature Oscar Race: Read Variety Reviews of Shortlisted Titles and Submissions From More Than 50 Other Countries

Those who keep a close watch on the Academy Awards’ international feature category probably noticed two things this year. First, the overall number of countries submitting for the award dropped to its lowest number since 2018, the year “Roma” was nominated for best picture. While that number contracts slightly, down from an all-time high of […]

‘Murderess’ Review: Occasionally Intriguing Depiction of Greek Midwife’s Mental Spiral Fails to Cohere

With a title like “Murderess,” there can be little surprise where Greece’s submission to the Oscar international feature category is headed. The third adaptation of Alexandros Papadiamantis’s acclaimed novella follows the slow psychological unraveling of an elderly midwife as she contends with the ever-worsening patriarchal society she aides. Though director Eva Nathena and screenwriter Katerina […]

‘Autumn and the Black Jaguar’ Review: Family-Friendly Film Is a Dismaying Bore for Kids and Adults Alike

After such films as “Mia and the White Lion” and “The Wolf and the Lion,” director Gilles de Maistre’s “Autumn and the Black Jaguar” reinforces the French filmmaker’s dedication to superficial family-friendly movies with an environmentalist cause at their heart. But as his latest shows, noble principles about the protection of wildlife and animals don’t […]

‘Hard Truths’ Co-Stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin Pull Back the Curtain on Mike Leigh’s Unique Directing Process

The title of Mike Leigh’s latest movie, “Hard Truths,” suggests a remarkable, career-spanning consistency, tracing back to the stage and screen director’s 1971 big-screen debut, “Bleak Moments.” For more than half a century, Leigh has been bringing audiences into the lives and homes of British citizens of various backgrounds and classes, developing original projects through […]

‘Oceans Are the Real Continents’ Review: A Lush and Lyrical Vision of Contemporary Cuba in Black and White

There is a ravishing kind of beauty in Tommaso Santambrogio’s lyrical triptych of contemporary Cuban life, “Oceans Are the Real Continents.” With black and white cinematography that privileges an exacting formalism throughout, this portrait of the island works hard to defamiliarize the very sun-dappled, colorful image of Cuba that so dominates the cultural imaginary. An […]

‘Algiers’ Review: An Officer and a Psychiatrist Search for a Kidnapped Child in a Fleetingly Tense Social Thriller

One ordinary night in a working-class neighborhood of the Algerian capital, a suspicious car drives along a street where several children play carelessly. The driver lures a young girl to the window and violently pulls her inside before driving away as the girl’s brother looks on in despair. The unsettling incident, inspired by real events, […]

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