Looking back seems to offer a prescient look ahead in “The Hungarian Dressmaker,” Iveta Grófová’s compelling adaptation of Peter Krištúfek’s novella “Emma and the Death’s Head,” set in Slovakia during World War II. At the time, locals had to navigate the uncharted territory of authoritarianism, when the far-right Hlinka Slovak People’s Party rose to power […]

Decades after “When Harry Met Sally” asked audiences if adult men and women can be friends, yet another romantic comedy poses the same question of a contemporary collegiate crowd. However, in director Jordan Weiss’ “Sweethearts,” which revolves around two besties breaking up with their hometown romances over a holiday weekend, the time-honored query waits until […]

“Bauryna Salu” is a rare, naturalistic gem that one can experience in two wildly different modes. The first involves going in completely cold — no pun intended — and observing the understated drama of its frigid, nomadic setting. The second involves experiencing its intricacies through the eyes of 12-year-old protagonist Yersultan (an impeccable Yersultan Yerman), […]

In crafting a quietly affectionate film about a man who thinks he might be an alien, “Sky Peals” director Moin Hussain manages to make an allegory about solitude and isolation with a deft and steady hand. The film’s lead character, a 30-something British man of Pakistani origin, could be a stand-in for millions who feel […]

Those who grew up watching FX-heavy seriocomic mainstream creature features of the 1980s and ’90s may enjoy the nostalgic fun had at their expense in “The Invisible Raptor.” Viewers resistant to a landslide of scatological humor, however, may find the laughs pretty slim in this overlong, uninspired monster spoof. Director Mike Hermosa’s indie feature is […]

Tyler Perry has dedicated the past quarter-century of his career to giving voice to Black women on stage and screen. With “The Six Triple Eight,” the self-made mogul — who leveraged his success to build a production studio on a former U.S. Army base outside Atlanta — has found a story ideally suited to his […]

Just over a decade ago, the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist became the biggest robbery in the country’s history. Now, Brian Donovan and Ed Herro have put their own “Fargo”-like spin on the real-life theft in Prime Video’s beautifully unhinged dramedy thriller, “The Sticky.” Set in 2011 in a tiny Quebec town where syrup is […]

A family is a careful and often fragile ecosystem. Some can withstand strong winds, while others crumble under the slightest of breezes. In Babak Khajehpasha’s “In the Arms of the Tree,” a couple who have been together for more than a decade have to grapple with what their decision to divorce will do, not just […]

It is entirely to the credit of “Creature Commandos” that the animated series doesn’t feel like some momentous event, even though it technically is. Officially, the show’s debut on Max marks the kickoff of filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran’s reboot of the DC Universe, symbolized by a new opening sting of Superman busting […]

As we know from decades of fictional representations, spying requires a deep level of duplicity. As a result, those who engage in the profession find it challenging to sustain relationships with others. Yet, human beings with any level of emotional intelligence require companionship, even if it’s to their determinant. In Netflix’s “Black Doves,” a British […]

The difference between being laughed at and having others laugh with you is perfectly exemplified in how the overweight young protagonist in stop-motion filmmaker Kristina Dufková’s coming-of-age story “Living Large” is treated by those around him. Bespectacled Ben Pipetka (Tyler Joseph Gay in the English-language dub) has an affinity for cooking elaborate meals and is […]

With “Lake George,” Jeffrey Reiner makes his first indie feature as writer-director since the 1990s, following a prolific quarter-century helming small-screen projects. The filmmaker has cited formative viewings of classic film noirs on television as an inspiration, but this twisty tale feels more like the melancholy genre fictions of the late Ross Macdonald — low-key, […]

“Star Wars” has always been, on some level, for children. That’s neither condescension nor criticism: George Lucas created a swashbuckling fairy tale set in space, and its mantle has been taken up by successive generations of filmmakers who encountered it at a formative age. But, with the exception of “The Phantom Menace,” “Star Wars” stories […]

The plague of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, long ignored and underappreciated throughout North America, has become more widely acknowledged in recent years, thanks to consciousness-raising depictions in everything from episodic television to feature films to award-winning documentaries. But the barbarity has rarely if ever been rendered in as brutally impactful a fashion as it […]

To paraphrase Cyndi Lauper and Paul Simon: She’s still so unusual after all these years. Lauper, at 71, is nearing the end of the U.S. leg of what is being billed as a farewell tour. And as much as she remains something of a unicorn now, it’s a chance to force ourselves to recall how […]

Cigarette ash piles on top of a few discarded CDs inside a darkened room where the members of a rock band, Los Planetas, struggle to make tracks for their new album. That brief shot conveys more than the mere disarray of the space. Those likely ruined discs symbolize a certain anarchic disregard for music as […]

A project like “The Madness” ought to be a feather in the cap of someone like Colman Domingo. Though the performer has been working steadily for decades, a few years’ worth of increasingly prominent roles — in “Euphoria,” “Zola” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” among others — has culminated in milestone moments like an Oscar […]

Thai blockbuster “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” is a sentimental comedy-drama that mixes filial piety and avaricious schemes all the way to a multi-hankie finale. Filled with family complications, it follows a young adult slacker who leaves his not exactly booming game-casting career to care for his terminally ill granny. The smoothly-crafted, leisurely-paced […]

When Óscar Catacora’s 2017 film “Wiñaypacha” (“Eternity”) was released, it marked the first feature film to be produced entirely in Aymara, the language of the Aymara people from the Andean region. A poetic exploration of a changing world that was anchored by the beautiful vistas of that oft-inhospitable landscape, it announced the young Peruvian writer-director […]