Abigail Cowen | Film Festival Today

“The Ritual” Is Repetitive and Routine

June 4, 2025

Interview with “Mistress Dispeller” Director Elizabeth Lo
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 24, 2025
The documentary Mistress Dispeller premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival (I reviewed it out of Toronto) and is now finally, in 2025, coming out in theaters via Oscilloscope (released October 22 in New York and today, October 24, in Los Angeles). In the movie, Lo (Stray) examines the titular Chinese profession, where someone (usually a betrayed wife) hires an outside party to break up an extramarital dalliance, With remarkable access to her ... >>
Middleburg Review: “Come See Me in the Good Light”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 20, 2025
Come See Me in the Good Light (Ryan White, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars Spoken-word poet Andrea Gibson died on July 14 of this year, at the age of 49, of ovarian cancer, leaving behind their partner—fellow poet Megan Falley—a number of pets, and a formidable body of work. In Ryan White’s latest documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light, we follow Gibson’s pre- and post-diagnosis journey, learning details of their life and anticipating their eventual ... >>
Middleburg Review: “Left-Handed Girl”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 17, 2025
Left-Handed Girl (Shih-Ching Tsou, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars First-time solo director Shih-Ching Tsou has been working with filmmaker Sean Baker since the early aughts, beginning with a movie they co-directed, the 2004 Take Out. After that, she produced his 2012 Starlet, 2015 Tangerine, 2016 short film Snowbird, 2017 The Florida Project, and 2021 Red Rocket. Making her debut behind the camera on her own, with Left-Handed Girl, Tsou nevertheless ... >>
Middleburg Review: “Rebuilding”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
October 16, 2025
Rebuilding (Max Walker-Silverman, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars In his 2022 feature debut, A Love Song, writer/director Max Walker-Silverman demonstrated a gentle, but assured, confidence behind the camera that made of the movie a poignant study of late-in-life romance. Lead performers Dale Dickey and Wes Studi brought their A games to the project, as did cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo, the sincere performances and breathtaking imagery ... >>
Screamfest Review: “Big Baby”
By Billy Ray Brewton
October 14, 2025
Big Baby (Spider One, 2025) 3 out of 5 stars As a writer myself, I am always interested in and drawn to films about the process, as it were: the use of imagination to create ideas and the ability to take those ideas and turn them into a cohesive, engaging, and authentic story. Lots of films have tackled this over the years, with varying levels of success. On the high end, you have something like Adaptation, the Spike Jonze masterpiece from ... >>

5 Films to See at Middleburg 2025
October 15, 2025
The 13th iteration of the annual Middleburg Film ...>>
5 Films to See at New/Next 2025
October 2, 2025
The New/Next Film Fest is back for its third ...>>
10 Picks for TIFF 2025
September 1, 2025
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (or TIFF) ...>>
Films to See at Fantasia 2025
July 15, 2025
For fans of the weird, wild, and wonderful, the 29th ...>>
“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” Interview with Director and Star
June 12, 2025
Director Shoshannah Stern makes her feature debut with ...>>