Barak Goodman | Film Festival Today

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Christopher Llewellyn Reed’s Top Picks for AFI DOCS 2019

June 19, 2019

Sundance Review: “Animalia” Explores Unsettling Beauty
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 31, 2023
Animalia (Sofia Alaoui, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. Director Sofia Alaoui’s debut feature, Animalia, is often a deliriously enigmatic work of art, weaving in and out of direct confrontations with meaning in ways both tantalizing and frustrating. Buoyed by a gripping central performance from actress Oumaïma Barid, the movie places her character, Itto, in dire circumstances when she is at her most vulnerable, pregnant and alone. Layering ... >>
Sundance Review: “Infinity Pool” Playfully Wades Through Perversion
By Hannah Tran
January 30, 2023
Infinity Pool (Brandon Cronenberg, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. I had the great displeasure of seeing Brandon Cronenberg’s previous film, Possessor, at 2020’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s not that I disliked the story about an assassin who invades others’ bodies from afar to fulfill her kills; I simply couldn’t stomach the gore-fest as it unraveled onscreen, which I’m sure was the intention. Returning to Sundance with his NC-17 cut of his latest ... >>
Sundance Review: Gentle “Blueback” Is a Call to Environmental Arms
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
January 29, 2023
Blueback (Robert Connolly, 2022) 3 out of 4 stars. Based on Australian author Tim Winton’s 1997 novella of the same name, the new film Blueback, from writer/director Robert Connolly (The Dry), offers a gentle, occasionally thrilling, paean to nature conservation that is now more needed than ever. We jump back and forth between the present and the past as Abby (changed from a boy named Able in the book) remembers the events of her childhood that ... >>
Sundance Review: Mockumentary “Theater Camp” Is Hilarious and Heartfelt
By Hannah Tran
January 29, 2023
Theater Camp (Molly Gordon/Nick Lieberman, 2023) 3 out of 4 stars. It’s a weird feeling to be in the middle of watching a movie for the first time and already get the sense that it’s destined to be a cult classic, but that’s exactly what I felt when watching the co-directorial debut of Nick Lieberman and Booksmart actress Molly Gordon’s Theater Camp. Spotlighting the story of a financially ruinous theater camp’s fight to stay afloat ... >>
Sundance Review: “Fair Play” Is an Uncomfortable but Gripping Take on Gender and Careerism
By Hannah Tran
January 28, 2023
Fair Play (Chloe Domont, 2023) 3½ out of 4 stars. Luke and Emily are two ambitious young professionals at the same cutthroat hedge fund. They are also in a secret relationship. Following an unexpected promotion, Luke and Emily’s relationship unravels with extreme consequences. This is the story of writer/director Chloe Domont’s Fair Play. Led by two star performances, Fair Play is an uneasy feature directorial debut that demonstrates Domont’s ... >>