The Water Man
Gunner (Lonnie Chavis) sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Rosario Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who possesses the secret to immortality, the Water Man. After enlisting the help of a mysterious local girl, Jo (Amiah Miller), they journey together into the remote Wild Horse forest — but the deeper they venture, the stranger and more dangerous the forest becomes. Their only hope for rescue is Gunner’s father (David Oyelowo), who will stop at nothing to find them.
Rated PG for thematic content, scary images, peril, and some language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“From the get-go, we have a pretty good sense of where The Water Man will take us, and while there are a few small surprises along the way, the real delight is the journey itself and how the real bond of a family is stronger than any monsters lurking in the dark.” – Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
“The directorial debut from David Oyelowo is a rewarding, (older) family-friendly adventure which packs some crisply executed moments of nail-biting peril into a moving story which deals with grief, loss and newly forged friendships.” – Wendy Ide, Screen Daily
“In a time when happy endings seem in short supply, The Water Man‘s sense of heroic wonder is the kid-sized epic we need.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
Her
Set in the Los Angeles of the slight future, Her follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet “Samantha,” a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other.
Rated R for language, sexual content, and brief graphic nudity.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Her is an outstanding movie, in part because of its originality, but also because of its execution.” – Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
“What’s surprising is that Jonze has taken what could easily have been a glib screwball comedy and infused it instead with wry, observant tenderness and deep feeling.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“Mr. Jonze approaches perfection in the department of deadpan humor. In other hands, his premise could have been a clever gimmick and little more. But he draws us into Theodore’s world, then develops it brilliantly, by playing everything scrupulously straight.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
The World to Come
In upstate New York in the 1850s, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer’s wife, and her new neighbor Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) find themselves irrevocably drawn to each other. A grieving Abigail tends to her withdrawn husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) as free-spirit Tallie bristles at the jealous control of her husband Finney (Christopher Abbott), when together their intimacy begins to fill a void in each other’s lives they never knew existed.
Rated R for some sexuality / nudity.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“This is filmmaking as attuned to incremental shifts in light and landscape (Romania’s, in fact, gorgeously filling in for undeveloped upstate New York) as the ebb and flow of a character’s interior joy, written in a face unaccustomed to smiling.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
“Scripted with heightened literary cadences by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard, the film is well crafted in every respect, and marks an acting career high for Katherine Waterston, as well as a fine showcase for the ever more impressive Vanessa Kirby.” – Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily
“The World to Come is full of inversions, deviations from the usual themes, complicated as it is by interlocking contrasts, unexpected emphases. This is a movie in which love springs in winter, whereas spring beckons devastation.” – K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone
Night of the Kings
A young man is sent to “La Maca,” a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins to narrate the mystical life of the legendary outlaw named “Zama King” and has no choice but to make his story last until dawn.
Rated R for some violent material, language, and nudity.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A tribute to the power of imagination and storytelling, and it’s like nothing you’ve seen before.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“What happens in Night of the Kings is a piece of traditional oration and impermanent art, significantly marked by both its temporal and improvisational qualities. It’s both a power struggle and a ritual practiced by the collective within a microcosm of society housed under the oppression of the state, and a powerful demonstration of the transporting, and liberating, power of narrative.” – Katie Walsh, Chicago Tribune
“With Night of the Kings Lacôte collapses the bounds between eras, and dissolves myth and reality, performance and remembrance, into one whole. It’s an assured, energetic piece of epic filmmaking, one that celebrates how storytelling, oration, and folklore teach us about our past so we might change our present.” – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
Rams
In remote Western Australia, two estranged brothers, Colin (Sam Neill) and Les (Michael Caton), are at war. Raising separate flocks of sheep descended from their family’s prized bloodline, the two men work side by side yet are worlds apart. When Les’s prize ram is diagnosed with a rare and lethal illness, authorities order a purge of every sheep in the valley. While Colin attempts to stealthily outwit the powers that be, Les opts for angry defiance. But can the warring brothers set aside their differences and have a chance to reunite their family, save their herd, and bring their community back together?
Rated PG-13 for language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Rams is a film that goes its own way, settling like a cozy sweater made from beautiful sheep.” – Linda Barnard, Original Cin
“Rams is a lovely, even-tempered drama about men and rural life, gentle but firm of spirit, with a down-to-earth pith and a way of entertainingly and unpretentiously exploring potentially difficult subjects such as masculinity.” – Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian
“Directed with a genial breeziness by Jeremy Sims, the movie negotiates emotional downshift and uplift with confidence.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times
The Wild Goose Lake
When small-time mob leader Zhou Zenong (Hu Ge) accidentally kills a cop, a dead-or-alive bounty is placed on his head, forcing him on the lam from both the police as well as dangerous gangsters out for the reward. Hiding out in China’s densely populated (and deeply divided) Wuhan province, Zhou becomes entangled with a beautiful, enigmatic woman, who has mysterious intentions of her own.
Not Rated. Contains graphic violence, sexual content including rape, some language, smoking and drug use.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The movie exhilarates.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times
“Like a beautifully constructed puzzle box, The Wild Goose Lake‘s various layers unfold in satisfying ways. With elegant violence, emotional richness and a complex yet coherent storyline, this is a rare bit of crime thriller treat that truly pays off.” – Jason Gorber, /Film
“Like a more showily virtuosic version of his countryman Jia Zhangke (who worked with Liao in his own recent gangster thriller Ash Is Purest White), Diao uses the conventions of genre to illuminate a world where crime, corruption, rapid social flux and soul-crushing inequality are inextricably intertwined.” – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
Lorelei
After 15 years in prison, Wayland (Pablo Schreiber) reunites with his high school girlfriend, Dolores (Jena Malone), who is now a single mother of three.
Not Rated. Contains strong language throughout, sexual content, nudity, violence, and smoking.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The film’s writer-director is British-born Sabrina Doyle, who is making her feature debut after spending the past decade in Los Angeles making short films. Her touch is nearly perfect: authentic, patient, guiding — giving her actors plenty of space. And they respond.” – G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
“Lorelei is a lovely story told with heart and without judgment.” – Kim Hughes, Original Cin
“As it stands, Lorelei is perfectly imperfect. It demonstrates a filmmaker willing to go for broke, examine the dark recesses of our minds that others are too timid to touch.” – Alex Saveliev, Film Threat
Savage State
The American Civil War breaks out… A family of French colonists, settled in Missouri, decides to go back to France. Edmond, Madeleine, and their three daughters have to cross the whole country to reach New-York. They are led by the mysterious and dangerous mercenary, Victor.
Not Rated. Contains graphic violence, sexuality, and strong language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The film has merit as a sprawling and effective work that combines the expected action beats with quieter, character-driven moments, and elements of pure weirdness to surprisingly strong effect. Even when it doesn’t quite work, and it’s undeniably uneven at times, it at least has the good taste to offer up flaws borne of ambition instead of laziness.” – Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com
“A fascinating oddity: An unconventional western dominated by the desires of women.” – Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
“What defines Savage State more than anything else is how well it reimagines traditionally masculine western spaces.” – Audrey Fox, JumpCut Online
Wild Rose
Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley), a rebellious country singer who dreams of trading the working-class streets of Glasgow for the Grand Ole Opry of Nashville, juggles her menial job, two children, and committed mother (Julie Walters), as she pursues her bold ambition of a one-way ticket to musical stardom. With the support of her boss (Sophie Okonedo), Rose-Lynn embarks on a life-changing journey that challenges her sense of self and helps her discover her true voice.
Rated R for language throughout, some sexuality, and brief drug material.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“To its great credit, the movie turns left when you expect it to turn right, taking a route that is less well traveled, yet more plausible.” – Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
“Despite all the limitations on her life, Rose-Lynn is one of the most free-spirited creatures to ever be put on film.” – Katie Walsh, Chicago Tribune
“Ultimately, of course, it’s Buckley who makes Rose-Lynn soar off the screen. It’s a dazzling, raw, intoxicating performance, and when she sings, it’s simply electric. ” – Yolanda Machado, The Wrap
Before We Vanish
Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass alien invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob the hosts of their essence – good, evil, property, family, belonging – leaving only hollow shells, which are all but unrecognizable to their loved ones.
Rated R for some violence and bloody images.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Mr. Kurosawa, a prolific and skilled genre master, spins this parable with a light, nimble touch, punctuating heavy passages of exposition with punchy, modest action sequences and snatches of incongruously bouncy music.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times
“It’s an unsettling, and sometimes high-concept doodle, but it’s awfully hard to resist a film that marries Atomic Age paranoia and optimism with Kurosawa’s signature post-modern, atmosphere-intensive style.” – Simon Abrams, RogerEbert.com
“The cast of aliens, led by Matsuda, has great fun playing the humans-in-training, but it’s Nagasawa’s defeated young wife who really stands out as the performance that elevates the film. ” – Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail
Assassination Nation
High school senior Lily and her group of friends live in a haze of texts, posts, selfies and chats just like the rest of the world. So, when an anonymous hacker starts posting details from the private lives of everyone in their small town, the result is absolute madness leaving Lily and her friends questioning whether they’ll live through the night.
Rated R for disturbing bloody violence, strong sexual material including menace, pervasive language, and for drug and alcohol use – all involving teens.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Piece by piece, Assassination Nation lays out and deconstructs the misogynistic assumptions that underpin many of our reactions to the girls’ behaviour.” – Christopher Machell, Cinevue
“Although skirting the inexplicable and the absurd, Assassination Nation is a pulpy and immensely entertaining roller coaster, hallmarked by its relentless sociocritical bite and refined cinematic craft.” – Matthew Roe, Film Threat
“This is pure genre exploitation – a gleefully gory revenge flick that leaves its small-town streets awash with blood. It may also be one of the smartest, most perceptive commentaries on a contemporary society distorted and magnified by online hysteria that you are likely to wince your way through.” – Wendy Ide, The Observer
Midnight Special
A father (Michael Shannon), goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately his father risks everything to protect Alton and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever.
Rated PG-13 for some violence and action.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Midnight Special announces the arrival of a filmmaker in total control of his technique as well as our emotions. A bravura science-fiction thriller that explores emotional areas like parenthood and the nature of belief, it’s a riveting genre exercise as well as something more.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
“Midnight Special respects your intelligence, letting you come to its themes emotionally instead of narratively. It is a breathtaking display of visual storytelling, confidently rendered by someone who understands the power of cinema.” – Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“Midnight Special confirms Nichols’ uncommon knack for breathing dramatic integrity and emotional depth into genre material.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
Inherent Vice
When private eye Doc Sportello’s ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a loony bin… well, easy for her to say. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic `60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” that’s being way too overused—except this one usually leads to trouble.
Rated R for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and some violence.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Inherent Vice unfolds so organically, so gracefully and with such humanistic grace notes that even at its most preposterous, viewers will find themselves nodding along, sharing the buzz the filmmaker has so skillfully created.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“Mr. Phoenix’s note-perfect performance flows on the story’s currents of comedy that occasionally turn into rapids, as the funny ha-ha, funny strange back-and-forth abruptly gives way to Three Stooges slapstick.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“A hilariously louche and ramshackle psychedelic noir, Inherent Vice is an audacious stylistic leap for Anderson, but his risks pay off beautifully. It’s an amazing work, capturing the heady vibe of Thomas Pynchon’s novel while stumbling into the great cinematic lineage of California noir.” – Craig Williams, Cinevue
Beach Rats
On the outskirts of Brooklyn, Frankie, an aimless teenager, suffocates under the oppressive glare cast by his family and a toxic group of delinquent friends. Struggling with his own identity, Frankie begins to scour hookup sites for older men. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he begins meeting men at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman. As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences.
Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use, and language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Beach Rats stands on its own merits as one of the boldest, most original films of the year. It does that incredible thing of making you miss it before it’s even over, like fireworks that turn to smoke before you’re ready.” – Julia Cooper, The Globe and Mail
“The bold, masterful Beach Rats, one of the most exquisitely haunting LGBT coming-of-age stories ever told, takes place in the unhip fringes of Brooklyn, a land that time has forgotten. But nothing about this film is forgettable.” – David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle
“Dickinson is superb at tracing that veiled anguish, and Hittman–who wrote and directed the 2013 film It Felt Like Love–is a discreet and sympathetic guide to his fractured world.” – Stephanie Zacharek, Time
Corpus Christi
After spending years in a Warsaw prison for a violent crime, 20-year-old Daniel is released and sent to a remote village to work as a manual laborer. The job is designed to keep the ex-con busy, but Daniel has a higher calling. Over the course of his incarceration he has found Christ, and aspires to join the clergy – but his criminal record means no seminary will accept him. When Daniel arrives in town, one quick lie allows him to be mistaken for the town’s new priest, and he sets about leading his newfound flock. Though he has no training, his passion and charisma inspire the community. At the same time, his unconventional sermons and unpriestly behavior raise suspicions among some of the townsfolk – even more so as he edges towards a dark secret that the community hasn’t revealed in the confessional booth.
Not Rated. Contains strong language throughout, sexual content including rape, brief nudity, violence, drug use, and smoking.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A quite interesting and irresistible movie, a sort of cross between Paul Schrader’s recent film of spiritual crisis, First Reformed, and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. An impostor as anguished priest.” – G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
“What ensues in Corpus Christi, Jan Komasa’s absorbing and spiritually attuned drama, turns out to be a fascinating exercise in fake-it-till-you-make-it, with a hefty dose of fatalism and small-town hypocrisy thrown in for maximum provocation.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“This is a blistering drama, intense, disturbing and inescapably thought-provoking, a film that gets its power from a merging of potent opposites.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Vitalina Varela
A Cape Verdean woman who has travelled to Lisbon to reunite with her husband, after two decades of separation, arrives mere days after his funeral. Alone in a strange forbidding land, she perseveres and begins to establish a new life.
Not Rated. Contains thematic material, bloody images, and some language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“It’s an emotional investment with rich returns. Pedro Costa’s hypnotic drama, shot superbly by Leonardo Simões, follows its heroine through a dark night of the soul into the light of a new life in a new land.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“Vitalina Varela is socially conscious, but dreamlike, elegiac. And an inquiry, too, into the abilities and deficiencies of film as a medium to illuminate human consciousness and experience. It’s essential cinema.” – Glenn Kenny, New York Times
“By centering the real-life experiences of his actors, Costa’s conscientious cinema lives in a fully humane space. Material deprivation and unrelenting night provide a blackened backdrop for quiet intimacy and dignity. Costa rejects voyeurism and condescension in favor of a form of storytelling solidarity with his actors, one where there’s no buffer of irony, no distancing effects.” – Dave White, The Wrap
Gemini
A heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her Hollywood starlet boss. As the assistant unravels the mystery, she must confront her own understanding of friendship, truth, and celebrity.
Rated R for pervasive language, and a violent image.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Though it’s not a film that will enter the canon of cinematic classics, it is nearly perfect, with ample heart, humor and tragedy-tinged humanity.” – Max Cea, Salon
“Gemini is deliriously entertaining, an intriguing gem and as Katz graduates to the next level, his best film to date.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
“For all the sharp-witted conversations and pinpoint performances, Gemini most impresses as a piece of clean, confident visual storytelling.” – Danny King, Village Voice
Racer and the Jailbird
As a member of a notorious Brussels gang renowned for their expertly-executed robberies, Gigi (Matthias Schoenaerts) tends to his front, a luxury automobile import-export business, in his downtime. Sparks fly when he meets glamorous and affluent race car driver Bibi (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and despite their wildly different backgrounds, the pair fall instantly and tragically in love. While Gigi attempts to break away from his illicit history, two things stand in the couple’s way to a happy life together: an unrelenting mob hungry for another heist, and the cops that are closing in on them.
Rated R for some strong sexuality, nudity, violence, and for language.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The work by the two leads is consistently committed, not to mention oozing with old fashioned movie-star charisma.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com
“Racer and the Jailbird remains absorbing throughout, thanks primarily to the two leads, who are both almost frighteningly believable as lovers willing to risk everything to stay together.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times
“One of the most undersung and most potent pleasures of genre cinema is the excuse it has given us, time and again, to watch attractive people fall in love with each other, and if you’re in a romantic frame of mind, Racer and the Jailbird delivers so wholly on that front that it goes a fair way toward compensating for the film’s deficiencies elsewhere.” – Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
Snapshots
When a grandmother’s secret past collides with her granddaughter’s secret future and her daughter’s angry present, can the love of three generations be enough to accept decades of deceit. With a simple roll of film it begins.
Rated TV-MA for strong language, sexual content, nudity, and drug use.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Performances all around are strong, with Piper Laurie’s Rose taking the lead and directing us through the story’s narrative.” – Paul Parcellin, Film Threat
“Snapshots presents a moving portrait of its central relationship doomed by societal constrictions. The female characters are well-drawn and vibrant…” – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
“Snapshots nicely shuttles between past and present to tell its affecting, evocative tale of familial and romantic love among several generations of women. But it’s the flashbacks that prove more wholly compelling here, so much so that they could have made for their own standalone film.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
A Good Woman is Hard to Find
Recently widowed mother of two, Sarah (Sarah Bolger). is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of her young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she’s forced into taking drastic action to protect her children, evolving from downtrodden submissive to take-charge vigilante.
Not Rated. Contains strong language throughout, graphic violence, sexual content including assault, and drug use.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A kitchen sink drama, a pulpy crime movie, and a bloody revenge tale all held together by one hell of a performance.” – Rafael Motamayor, /Film
“A Good Woman Is Hard To Find is an extremely harrowing, tense movie that has such an unbelievably satisfying payoff.” – Lorry Kikta, Film Threat
“Mixing Ken Loach-style social realism with Mike Hodge’s grasp of stylish murder, much in the vein of 2012’s equally razor-balanced sniper shocker Tower Block, you’ll be cheering for this good woman when she faces the inevitable showdown.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot
One night, Majella O’Donnell took her teen-age son Philly to be shot in both legs. Majella, Philly and his shooters all live within an extraordinary community in Derry, Northern Ireland. ‘The Troubles’ officially ended in 1998, but this community is still at war. They do not accept the government or police. All this happens within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. How do you bring your son to be shot? What happens afterwards? How does family life continue? How does a community respond? When do wars really end? For five years, Sinéad O’Shea has filmed this shocking portrait of a post-conflict society.
Not Rated.
Description provided by IMDb.
“It is not an uplifting watch – but it is an interesting study of what happens when the past remains unprocessed.” – Aine O’Connor, Sunday Independent
“The Troubles may be over but this film asks its audience to re-examine what this means for those who live in its wake.” – Síomha McQuinn, Film Ireland
“[An] impressive and intimate look at the impact of paramilitary violence in Derry.” – Conor Bateman, 4:3
Let Us In
A spirited twelve year old girl and her best friend look to uncover the sudden disappearances of several missing teens in their small town. Realizing there might be something deeper happening, Emily and Christopher might be up against forces they can’t even imagine.
Not Rated. Contains mild violence.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“The film’s derivativeness — residents literally fight darkness with light — is countered by strong acting from the two leads and a director who just might be having the time of his life. That apparent delight seeps into almost every frame, giving the film a guileless warmth that drew my good will.” – Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
“Despite tonal incongruence and a younger target demographic, Let Us In is a perfectly fine way to spend an afternoon.” – Marcos Codas, Dread Central
Screened Out
All over the world, as the technology grows and advances, so does our addiction to our devices. Join filmmaker Jon Hyatt and his family on a journey through the life changing effects of screen addiction, how the tech industry hooked global consumers, and its greater impact on our lives. From smartphones, portable tablets and social media, the tech industry has designed these fun immersive technologies, but are they good for us? Are we too dependent on our devices? What keeps us hooked and how is it impacting our children and the world as a whole?
Not Rated. Contains thematic material.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“By interviewing a cross-section of experts, Hyatt systematically confronts us with a lot of hard-hitting stats we’d rather swipe left on.” – Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro
“Why watch Screened Out? Because it shows you something you didn’t know.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“A film that will make you want to put down that smartphone, go outside, and have a face-to-face conversation with a live human being.” – Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots
An Impossible Love
A chronicle of the unconditional love between a mother and her daughter, from 1958 to the present day, which is endangered by an unsteady and manipulative father.
Not Rated. Contains sexual content, nudity, thematic material, and some language.
Description provided by Rotten Tomatoes.
“An Impossible Love is a tough watch, but oh, what a beautiful film. The period costumes are not only gorgeous but the textures are rendered with such precision you feel like you could reach out and touch them.” – Alex Heeney, Seventh Row
“A subtle, harrowing, acid-etched story of love and hate…” – Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
“This is the most accomplished and ambitious film to date from a director who has frequently explored female themes from a committed gender-politics perspective, but also employing an approachable mainstream art-house aesthetic.” – Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily
God Knows Where I Am
The body of a homeless woman is found in an abandoned New Hampshire farmhouse. Beside the body, lies a diary that documents a journey of starvation and the loss of sanity, but told with poignance, beauty, humor, and spirituality. For nearly four months, Linda Bishop survived on apples and rain water, waiting for God to save her, during one of the coldest winters on record. As her story unfolds from different perspectives, including her own, we learn about our systemic failure to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Not Rated. Contains mature themes.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“A very human story and a very well-told one — which, in the end, makes it very hard to forget.” – Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
“This documentary, coupled with Ms. Aviv’s article, addresses unresolved issues of personal autonomy versus a patient’s inability to protect herself. It will haunt you.” – Andy Webster, New York Times
“A dead woman tells her own harrowing story in the documentary God Knows Where I Am. It’s the kind of movie you need to be prepared for — its most intense moments have echoes of tragic literature.” – Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
I Love Us
Sammy Silver struggles to trade his criminal ways for a married life after he falls in love with a single mother.
Not Rated.
Description provided by Metacritic.
“One could say that I Love Us can’t decide what it wants to be. Is it a crime thriller or a family film? This split focus is a legitimate criticism, but somehow director and lead actor Danny Abeckaser manages to pull it off. It’s far from perfect, but it works well enough.” – Alan Ng, Film Threat
Chinese Portrait
From acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle; So Long, My Son) comes a personal snapshot of contemporary China in all its diversity. Shot over the course of ten years on both film and video, the film consists of a series of carefully composed tableaus of people and environments. Pedestrians shuffle across a bustling Beijing street, steelworkers linger outside a deserted factory, tourists laugh and scamper across a crowded beach, worshippers kneel to pray in a remote village. With a painterly eye for composition, Wang captures China as he sees it, calling to a temporary halt a land in a constant state of change.
Not Rated.
Description and score provided by Metacritic.
“Chinese Portrait is a stunning work of photography and a simple work of empathy that asks, ‘How much goes into making sure we all get to just live?'” – Scout Tafoya, RogerEbert.com
“Reflected in its native language title (My Lens), Chinese Portrait is a personal reflection on the country’s past and present. Brimming with humanity, Wang’s contemplative, minimalist approach forces us to consider the day-to-day lives of these people, and perhaps our own.” – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
“Demanding attention, imagination and critical viewing from the audience, Chinese Portrait is nevertheless one for posterity.” – Clarence Tsui, Hollywood Reporter