Reviews

From the bold, bizarre & brilliant filmmaker behind The Killing of a Sacred Deer & The Favourite comes yet another delightfully weird & wondrously wicked film with a whacky premise that may as well be his most accessible & entertaining work to date. Intriguing from the get-go, quirky to the bone, eccentric in its design & decoration and also powered by an astounding performance from Emma Stone, Poor Things is one of the best cinematic offerings of 2023.

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Alps & The Lobster), the story follows the coming-of-age journey of a woman reborn with a liberated mindset free from societal pressure and covers her fantastical evolution with unabashed idiosyncrasy. Lanthimos retains all the quirky flavours & outlandish tone that his films are known for but he allows the themes he wishes to address to be articulated in a clear, concise fashion though the rich odyssey of the vibrant protagonist.

Also adding to the picture's uniqueness is the oddly fascinating production design, striking use of colours, neat application of fisheye lens photography & bewildering score. However, the real standout is Emma Stone's tour-de-force act that exhibits such unerring control in physicality & emotional expression that it makes her character transformation utterly convincing. And she is brilliantly supported by Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe & Ramy Youssef, who all chip in with strong inputs of their own.

Overall, Poor Things is an ambitious, imaginative & exhilarating comedy-fantasy that finds both its madcap director & talented lead at the apex of their craft and makes for an impressive entry in the duo's respective careers. An outrageously amusing tale about control, power, sexuality & female empowerment that's entirely dependent on its central performance, Lanthimos' latest is an absolute banger that's without doubt his finest directorial effort so far and effortlessly ranks amongst the best all-round films of its year.

Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the upcoming Academy Awards, Robot Dreams is an achingly bittersweet story about our intrinsic need for connection & companionship while also highlighting the several meaningful relationships we make, cherish, lose & move on from while journeying through the varying seasons of what we call life. Though the story is slightly drawn out and repetitive in its course, the simple animation, sincere emotions & wordless storytelling makes this Spanish-French tragicomedy a worthy sit that speaks directly to the soul, strikes a heartfelt chord and aptly portrays the painful absurdities of fate.

What starts as a seemingly tense & mysteriously disturbing drama hinting at themes of bullying & child abuse quietly reveals itself to be a tender yet devastating portrait of human compassion & adolescent pains in this Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest. Employing a Rashomon-like approach for its story of shifting perspectives, Monster shows the same event from three different viewpoints to provide an insight into its young & vulnerable characters' blossoming intimacy and makes for a tender & touching work that's handled with gentleness. But the interest created by its first act is also where the picture peaks and then journeys down to a sensible conclusion that still leaves the audience with a feeling of incompleteness.

A light-hearted & life-affirming story of a trio of characters, each hurt & broken in their own way, who find a family in one another after they are forced to spend the winter holidays together, The Holdovers is sweet, sincere & soulfully crafted comedy-drama that's finely steered by Alexander Payne's neat direction and is all the more uplifted by impressive performances from its excellent cast. Small on scale & stakes yet big on heart & compassion, the film has the warmth & comfort of an embrace, the pain & understanding of the human soul and in Paul Giamatti's performance, a powerhouse of emotions. Navigating themes of loss, tragedy, troubled past, shattered dreams, loneliness & empathy, this wonderfully bittersweet delight is destined to be a Christmas staple in the years to come. One of the better films of 2023.

As chilling in its portrait as it is horrifying in its implications, The Zone of Interest is a profoundly upsetting depiction of human complicity & indifference in the face of unfathomable devastation and provides a haunting insight into the sheer evil & desensitisation it takes to allow a genocide to unfold in your vicinity. Capturing the horrors of the Holocaust through the mundane lives of a family living next door to Auschwitz concentration camp and anchored by its impeccable sound design, Jonathan Glazer's latest is powerful & disturbing without being explicit and is also unsettling for the parallels it indirectly draws with a similar atrocity that's being committed in modern-day Gaza right now.

A sturdily crafted & strongly acted biographical sports drama that brings the retro look & feel of the 1980s professional wrestling arena to life with flair & nostalgia while simultaneously offering a peek at the dark side of the sports entertainment business, The Iron Claw chronicles the story of the Von Erich family and covers their journey to the top of their trade through tragedy & triumph.

Written & directed by Sean Durkin, the story follows the inseparable Von Erich brothers seeking immortality on the biggest stage in sports while also highlighting the toxicity brewing within the family due to their domineering father. Navigating parental influence, sibling rivalry & sacrifices that the sport demands, the film makes for a heartbreaking portrait of family, loss, brotherhood & ambition.

Packed with heavy emotions all the way through, the psychological scars the siblings are forced to confront is far more disturbing to watch than the physical violence they endure inside the ring and the solid performances help sell it convincingly. Zac Efron is excellent in his role, his beefy & muscular exterior hiding a broken heart & fragile inner being that's aching for comfort and Efron articulates it with precision.

Overall, The Iron Claw is an emotionally captivating dramatisation of the Von Erich legacy but it also runs a bit overlong and gets repetitive at times. More than the in-ring acrobatics, it is what unfolds outside the arena that makes for more interesting observations. There is compassion & tenderness in its approach, a mournful & melancholic longing in its portrait but what makes the ride worthwhile is the collective input from the cast.

A nostalgic delight, a beloved classic and my personal favourite of all SRK films, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is a sweet, sentimental & sincerely crafted coming-of-age rom-com that still hasn't lost any of its endearing qualities. The film features a simple plot with all the romantic tropes in place but the heartfelt compassion & embracing warmth that emanates from its breezy narration, small stakes & wonderful set of characters in addition to universal themes & melodic songs makes it a special entertainer. And then there is Shah Rukh Khan who renders his character's purity, innocence & fragility with such emotional precision that we are not only drawn to Sunil but also connect with him right away. There are always few stories out there that manage to strike a personal chord with us and capture a slice of our own life in a way that not only makes us feel seen but also understood & comforted. And this is one of those films for me. All in all, this SRK-starrer is one Bollywood gem that deeply touched my soul the first time I saw it and remains a timeless treasure that I continue to cherish on every revisit & will forever have infinite tenderness for.

A slow, meandering & yawn-inducing sports biopic about the Italian automotive mogul whose family name has been synonymous with speed, power & luxury, Ferrari intends to showcase the personal struggles & professional crisis of a man trying to keep his auto empire afloat only to end up halfway on both fronts. Lacking in horsepower, flat in structure, devoid of a well-oiled engine & also short of a full tank, Michael Mann's latest swerves & steers with no confidence, has no momentum or sense of direction, fails to create any adrenaline-fuelled moments even when the race is on, and is further marred by cold, distant & over-the-top performances, thus finishing as a bland & forgettable outing altogether.

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, Io Capitano is a heartbreaking odyssey that captures the African immigrant experience through the harrowing journey of two Senegalese teenagers. The story does take a while to get going and gets more n more disturbing as it progresses but the performances are so powerful, arresting & convincing that we as viewers are thoroughly invested in their plight & predicament. The ending however is a mixed bag, for the director is unwilling to tackle the harsh realities of the African immigration to Europe crisis, thus rendering the whole picture gripping in its portrait yet toothless in its impression.

A sharp, smart & stinging satire that takes a jab at the idiocy & ignorance of American liberals while serving an earnest family drama to go with its biting critique, American Fiction is an amusing & arresting comedy that's at its most entertaining when it is exposing the blatant hypocrisy of the liberal elite and is neatly steered by a gripping showcase from Jeffrey Wright. Skilfully directed, cleverly written & wonderfully witted from start to finish, this fresh & fascinating delight is one of the funniest offerings of last year and commences its debutant director's filmmaking journey on a very promising note.

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, The Teachers' Lounge takes a simple premise and gets plenty of mileage out of its minimal setting. A fine piece of economical storytelling that further benefits from fantastic performances, this sharp & provocative German drama is enveloped with tension & mystery early on and does rather well to not only sustain but also gradually escalate things as plot progresses. However, much of the setup & progression is unfortunately doused by the weak finale that feels more like a copout after all that transpires and leaves much to be desired in the end. Worth a shot anyway.

Chronicling the life & career of the famous American musician Leonard Bernstein, Maestro is a competently crafted & wonderfully photographed biographical drama that features committed performances from its leading actors along with some impressive make-up effects but the film as a whole is so desperate for attention & appreciation that everything about its execution has an inorganic & inauthentic feel to it. More an overview of a legacy than a deconstruction of the legend, Bradley Cooper's rendition of Bernstein is hollow in the sense that it has his physicality but not the heart, soul, passion & love for music that was evident in his showmanship.

In fact, the brief footage of a Leonard Bernstein performance that plays during the end credits exhibits a much better understanding of his relationship with music than whatever Cooper was doing for the entirety of the picture.

An amalgamation of everything that's ever been wrong with Zack Snyder the storyteller, Rebel Moon is an atrociously crafted space opera that presents the (in)famous director channelling his worst tendencies as a filmmaker. Inarguably the weakest entry in his filmography, this sci-fi action epic never for once creates any sort of intrigue about its world or characters and is further marred by mediocre direction, shoddy writing, cringe dialogues, moronic twists & terrible performances. A colossal disappointment, Snyder's latest is not just one of the worst films of 2023 but also ranks amongst the most insipid & unimaginative examples of its kind.

The 15th & final entry in the DC Extended Universe, Aquaman & the Lost Kingdom culminates a decade of miserable run that plagued this mega-franchise from the beginning, and makes sure that the last instalment of the saga is just as insipid, forgettable & disposable as the DCEU has been throughout its existence. A mediocre addition to a mediocre cinematic universe that's dull & derivative from start to finish, James Wan's latest film packages dumb action, cheesy lines & cartoonish visuals into a silly, goofy & corny underwater adventure that's occasionally amusing but is also lacking the unabashed energy of the original.

Anchored by an emotionally arresting performance from the ever-reliable Mads Mikkelsen, The Promised Land (Bastarden) employs the expansive canvas of an epic to narrate its small-scale, intimate human drama and expertly balances the heartwarming with the harrowing to deliver a consistently engaging Jutland western. The story at its core is about family & togetherness yet brewing beneath the surface is an escalating tension that often unleashes scattered scenes of violence when the ambition of a nobody collides with the greed of a madman, thus making this steadily paced & brilliantly crafted Danish historical drama one of the better surprises of 2023.

The third film in the Hercule Poirot whodunnit saga may not rank amongst the finest offerings of its genre but it is nonetheless a welcome improvement over its run-of-the-mill predecessors and also happens to be the most entertaining of the three stories so far. Benefitting from its polished set pieces, stylish camerawork & well timed misdirections while sustaining its lighthearted touch, breezy pace, bland characters & mediocre performances, Kenneth Branagh's A Haunting in Venice does make for a fun, amusing & enjoyable murder mystery and delivers the desired goods for the most part if not all the way.

The follow-up story to Murder on the Orient Express takes all that was not so pleasant about its predecessor and downgrades it further, for Death on the Nile suffers from an overabundance of terribly sketched characters & hollow performances along with several other shortcomings that further bog down its seemingly promising narrative. Kenneth Branagh does have his fun in front & behind the camera but the lame execution, silly creative choices, overlong runtime, awful CGI, predictable twists & bland finale ultimately make this second entry in the Hercule Poirot whodunnit saga a forgettable outing.

From the director of Terrified comes a dark, foreboding & downright nihilistic supernatural horror that reeks of death & dread from the first frame to the last, is enveloped with a quietly unsettling aura that escalates into an inescapable nightmare, and unleashes hell on earth in ways that just crawls under the skin & makes your blood run cold. Diabolical in every way, shape & form, Demián Rugna's When Evil Lurks is one of the most powerful, effective & unnerving examples of its kind and is the most despairing genre offering since The Dark & the Wicked. Definitely not for the easily distressed.

A gripping, thrilling & heartfelt ode to human resilience, solidarity & sheer will to survive against all odds, Society of the Snow dramatises the miraculous real-life story concerning the survivors of the 1972 Andes flight disaster, and makes for a nail-bitingly intense & heartbreaking account of their harrowing ordeal. Tight direction, sustained tension & increasing stakes allow us to stay invested in the proceedings but the fine-tuned technical execution, especially sound, elevates & enriches the experience some more. Though slightly longer than necessary, J. A. Bayona's latest still does what it set out to do and is his finest effort so far.

From the director of Godzilla & Rogue One comes a sci-fi action epic that's original, ambitious & visually striking but no amount of impressive world building, allegorical plot or existential themes can make up for what the picture lacks at its foundational core. The Creator starts with plenty of promise but it doesn't take long for the interest to fizzle out, courtesy of its overstuffed narrative, stale characterisation, bland twists, repetitive action & convoluted structure. The script required more fine-tuning, characters needed more depth, and the action consistently lacked momentum. What Gareth Edwards delivers at fraction of a tentpole release budget is nonetheless admirable and though the story has its moments, the film as a whole leaves much to be desired.

Marking the first feature film collaboration between Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro & Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon brings the real-life story of the Osage murders to the screen in extensive detail, covering the web of lies, deceit & corruption that paved the way for the serial killings to take place, and is masterfully anchored by first-rate performances from its impressive ensemble. Enormous in length, exhaustive in research, engrossing in narration and essential in historical context, this absorbing account of America's relationship with its indigenous population is yet another artistic triumph for the revered filmmaker.

After defiling the Halloween saga with his insipid sequel trilogy, David Gordon Green brings his desecrating vision to yet another beloved horror classic and leaves no stone unturned to insult its unparalleled legacy. Nothing less than an eyesore, The Exorcist: Believer is one of the worst films to surface this year and makes for a wretched, unholy & sacrilegious mess that itself is in desperate need of an exorcism.

Also co-written by Gordon Green (Halloween Kills & Halloween Ends), the story never is able to create any sense of intrigue throughout its runtime and only gets worse as it progresses. There is no emotional weight to its setup, it is severely lacking in atmosphere, is downright ineffective in the scary department with its tired tropes & clichéd attempts. And characters remain distant as well. There isn't one aspect that's executed well.

Where the original was pioneering in its use of horror set pieces, practical effects, sound design & storytelling, this follow-up chapter has got nothing to capture our attention. Everything it tries fails to work out, its attempts to scare the viewers only ends up being hilarious and what it does with Chris MacNeil is not only facepalm-inducing but also mind-numbingly moronic. Acting from all is forgettable and the finale is a neutered, dumbed-down version.

Overall, The Exorcist: Believer is an incompetently directed, shoddily scripted and awfully acted sequel that has no understanding of what makes The Exorcist such an enduring masterpiece of its genre. Much worse than what the negative reception will have you thinking, the film has zero redeemable qualities, offers more laughs than scares by playing out like a parody than a proper sequel and is horror filmmaking at its most bland & uninteresting. In a word, cringeworthy.

The 10th instalment in the (in)famous Saw franchise, Saw X attempts to take the series back to its original roots by focusing on the narrative aspects instead of revelling in stomach-churning extremity and proves to be the most plot-focused & character-driven entry amongst all sequels. Led by an impressive showcase from Tobin Bell, the film delivers all the expected goods & then some.

Directed by Kevin Greutert (Saw VI & Saw 3D), the story takes place between the events of Saw & Saw II and finds John Kramer exacting retribution against those who wronged him. Greutert is patient in his direction, exercising restraint while setting up the premise but he doesn't hold back once the games are underway. Apart from making it personal for Jigsaw, there is also an effort to humanise him which doesn't work.

The film does well to create intrigue & interest, the storytelling is neat for the most part, and the death traps are downright unsparing. It is only during the last act that the story stumbles with a needless twist but the ending is still somewhat satisfying. Tobin Bell returns to his signature role with new dimensions to explore and makes it look like he never left. His performance is his finest in the saga so far and he's brilliantly supported by Shawnee Smith.

Overall, Saw X is a competently crafted, skilfully told & emotionally involving follow-up chapter that fares a lot better than any & every sequel in the saga so far and ranks amongst the better surprises of the year too. The film could've done without the unneeded twist nor there was any incentive to humanise the Jigsaw Killer, for the story had enough flesh to make us side with his devious revenge plan. All in all, a much welcome entry in a series that's mainly notorious for its violence & gore.

The sixth instalment in the Scream series steps away from the small-town setting of Woodsboro to nest in the cosmopolitan spaces of New York City and delivers yet another gripping, gleeful & grisly delight that's consistent in its thrills & creative with its set pieces. Another quality addition to the finest horror franchise out there, Scream VI is a fun, entertaining & reasonably sharp sequel.

Directed by Radio Silence (Ready or Not & Scream V), the latest entry is also the first in the saga to not feature Sidney Prescott but it does enough to make sure her absence isn't a bother. The story follows the survivors of the previous film who find themselves targeted by a new Ghostface killer. The change in location brings its own freshness & atmosphere into the mix and it's utilised to full effect.

The meta aspect is slightly dialled down but the killings exhibit welcome upgrades from the first one to the last and make the most of the urban surrounding to heighten the tension & suspense. The mystery is sustained, the twists n turns are aplenty, and the misdirections work in its favour. There is also an added familiarity to the characters introduced in the last chapter which helps and the performances are improved too.

Overall, Scream VI is an intelligently crafted, skilfully structured & forcefully shot follow-up that's packed with references & callbacks but isn't bogged down by them. There is a new ferocity to it that keeps the interest alive for the most part and the picture does well to bring it all together to a satisfying end. Retaining the sharp-edged qualities of its predecessors while adding some of its own, this latest slasher offering will please most fans if not all.

Pervaded with an air of mystery and driven by a sense of impending doom, Knock at the Cabin finds its madcap filmmaker channeling some of his best tendencies as a storyteller and makes for a consistently tense, gripping & unnerving apocalyptic psychological horror that's powered by sturdy performances from the cast, only to throw away all the progress in the last moments.

Written & directed by M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Village & Old), the story follows a family that's taken hostage by four strangers who ask them to make an unimaginable sacrifice. It is an interesting premise that screams both promise & potential and delivers the goods for the most part. However, the ending suffers from the unnecessary explanation that hurts its open-ended interpretation.

Shyamalan's direction is excellent throughout, and he does well to sustain the tension and keep us invested in the unfolding drama. But the flashbacks often halt the momentum and fail to add anything substantial to the hostages' arcs. Dave Bautista broadens his range as an actor with a brilliant showcase and is well-supported by the rest. And the technically sound production adds more polish to the final print.

Overall, Knock at the Cabin had all the ingredients to finish as one of Shyamalan's better efforts but the finale unfortunately overstays its welcome and undoes the utter brilliance of the first two acts by explaining what should've been left ambiguous in the first place. Still, one can't help but admire the director's ability to keep the interest alive in the proceedings at all times. Fascinating yet frustrating, Shyamalan's latest is worth a shot.