Science fiction films have a tendency to remind you of other science fiction films. This is part of the fun, and very much the case with LX 2048. Writer-director Guy Moshe’s tale of a technologically determined dystopia features a bureaucrat, Adam Bird (James D’Arcy, “Dunkirk”), who is reminiscent of “Brazil.” The high-tech setting a decaying…
Fiona MacKenzie’s Tell Me I Love You is a romantic comedy about three best friends who make music together. Ben (Sam Clark, “A Deadly Dance”), Ally (Paulina Cerrilla, “$elfie Shootout”) and Melanie (Kaniehtiio Horn, “Death Wish”) also live in the same house, though this is temporary. What they require to complete their demo is time…
“Every possible future points back to and is contained in this moment in time and space, and every possible past culminated in this moment” — Lawrence Tribe Loosely based on the 19th century novella of Friedrich de la Motte Fouque about an aquatic spirit who must marry a knight to gain a soul, but has…
“You can kill me if you want. I kind of wish you would.” Once Upon a River is a 92-minute, independent film that marks Haroula Rose’s debut as a feature film director, and an impressive first feature it is. Based on the novel published in 2011 by Bonnie Joe Campbell, a writer who has been…
Youthful rebellion goes on a road trip in Martin Monk’s short film Favourites, which offers a simple, patient look at how chance encounters can reframe our perspective on life. In an unbroken opening shot, we follow behind teen Sofia (Lia Wilfing) as she strolls determinedly alongside a busy Viennese road, sticking out her thumb and…
How many readers and cinema aficionados have a strained relationship with their parents? Maybe a there’s a neglecting mother to be ashamed of? Or how about daddy issues stemming from some form of abuse? Well . . . the animated horror story, To Your Last Death, introduces viewers to four siblings, all of them seriously…
What we find scary will vary enormously. For some it’s the supernatural, for others the psychological. We may be revolted by physical suffering or horrified by social oppression. The Owners is a film that capitalizes on multiple registers of fear to create an unsettling space, both within the framework of the film and more widely,…
