“Upgrade” Movie Review: Tech Actioner Spams Fun, Blood to Offset Déjà-Vu

The implant is no Audemars Piguet, but hey, it still elevates the wearer! What a toothsome phrase, “what if.” Powerful, too, especially in the sci-fi genre, as any mishandling or undertreating will set a future-set film on a surefire path…

The Last Witness Examines the Katyn Massacre by Way of a Romantic Thriller

Piotr Szkopiak’s The Last Witness is the latest cinematic attempt to reckon with the Katyn massacre, the horrific mass execution of an estimated 22,000 Poles—mostly members of the Polish officer corps, but also large swathes of Poland’s intelligentsia, bourgeois, and…

Always at the Carlyle Movie Review: A Documentary You’ll Want to Stay and Live In

There’s a certain facet of people who love to swoon over the elegant (and with it, the expensive). I’m one of those people who has justified staying at an expensive hotel because of the “ambiance,” the knowledge that it’s where…

Summer 1993 Movie Review: An Affecting Drama That Establishes the Fraught Emotions of Childhood

Childhood is a time of wonderment, hope, of dreams waiting to be fulfilled. But when we really look back on our childhoods we know this is a fantasy and that growing up often involves sadness, pain, and questions we’re told…

On Chesil Beach: Saorise Ronan Sells This Tale of ’60s Frigidity

Ian McEwan is an author whose work focuses on the intricacies and nuances of relationships, particularly in eras where communications between couples was hindered by convention. The 2007 adaptation of his novel Atonement perfectly captured the silent agreements between people…

Call Her Ganda Movie Review: A Critical Exploration of Trans Rights and American Imperialism

In 2014 trans woman Jennifer Laude was brutally murdered in the Philippines by an American serviceman. What would have played as a typical murder in the United States became an international incident, opening up discussion about U.S. involvement in the…

Revenge Movie Review: Coralie Fargeat Breathes New Life into a Tired Genre

Even in the midst of the #MeToo movement, there’s a large subset of moviegoers who are still intrigued by the rape-revenge thriller. Historically, this subgenre has been far from delicate in regards to its subject matter – in fact, these…