Film Reviews | Film Festival Today

Enjoyable, If Inert, “Beauty and the Beast” Feels Like an Old Tale, Indeed

March 17, 2017

Sugar Crash: “Table 19” Serves Up Comedy That Tastes Good, Then Tires Us Out

March 3, 2017

In Strong, If Flawed, “Logan,” an Aging Wolverine Fights One Last Battle

March 3, 2017

In “John Wick: Chapter 2,” Our Hitman Loses His Way in Excessive Carnage

February 13, 2017

Film Review: JULIETA

February 13, 2017

Film Review: “Toni Erdmann” Plays the Long Game and Wins

February 6, 2017

Film Review: SPLIT

January 21, 2017

“Patriots Day” Pays Effective Tribute to Boston in the Aftermath of Tragedy

January 20, 2017

Film Review: Elle

January 13, 2017

2016 Top 10 by Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s Top 10 2016 Feature Films

January 10, 2017

In Moving “Lion,” Dev Patel Roars

January 10, 2017

TIFF Review: “Le Faux Soir”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 10, 2026
Le Faux Soir (Michaël R. Roskam, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars We have by now seen what feels like every permutation possible of a World War II narrative. Not so, it turns out, for Belgian director Michaël R. Roskam (The Drop) has managed to find a new angle with his Le Faux Soir, which takes us into a surprisingly comical act of defiance against the Nazis. Fascists hate being laughed at. We should do so all the time. ... >>
TIFF Review: “Union Town”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 10, 2026
Union Town (Barbara Kopple, 2026) 4 out of 5 stars The great documentarian Barbara Kopple began her cinematic career with the 1976 Harlan County U.S.A., which took home the Oscar that year in its category. The movie gave audiences an on-the-ground look at a work strike among hard-scrabble Kentucky coal miners and was a model of observational filmmaking. Now, in Union Town, Kopple returns to labor issues, setting her latest opus among the ... >>
Interview with “Franz” Director Agnieszka Holland
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
August 28, 2026
Polish director Agnieszka Holland first came to my attention with her 1990 masterpiece Europa Europa, about a young Jewish boy during World War II who hides from the Nazis by joining the Hitler Youth, with nobody suspecting his true identity. She has remained on my cinematic radar ever since. Now, with Franz, she crafts a remarkable biographical portrait of one of the 20th century’s most important writers, Franz Kafka, who died of tuberculosis ... >>
“Leviticus” Pairs Heartbreak and Horror
By Hannah Tran
July 4, 2026
Leviticus (Adrian Chiarella, 2026) 4½ out of 5 stars Adrian Chiarella’s feature debut, Leviticus, is many things at once. It’s as much a horrific tale of demonic entities as it is a thorny coming-of-age story, and it does a wonderful job at living in both those registers. Chiarella confidently renders the horror that emerges from denying who you are and who you want. Because above all, Leviticus is a love story, and this is where it truly ... >>
DC/DOX Review: “School for Defectors”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
June 22, 2026
School for Defectors (Jeremy Workman, 2026) 5 out of 5 stars After its occupation by Japan from 1910 to 1945, the Korean peninsula was divided between its northern and southern halves, the former under Soviet rule and the latter under the United States. Over the ensuing 5 years, each half pursued different forms of government, until in 1950, Kim Il Sung—leader of North Korea—decided to invade South Korea, beginning a war that would last 3 years ... >>