Ben Mendelsohn | Film Festival Today

Season 2 of “Andor” Inspires Rebellion

April 21, 2025

“Freaky Tales” Is a Fun Bay Area Cult Film

April 4, 2025

Film Review: “To Catch a Killer” Intrigues but Fails to Fully Capture Audience

April 20, 2023

Film Review: “Cyrano” Is a Mostly Delightful Musical Mix of the Old and New

December 16, 2021

Film Review: “Babyteeth” Brings Fresh, Frenetic Energy to a Tired Genre

June 18, 2020

Film Review: “Spies in Disguise” Is Surprisingly Fun and Charming, If a Bit Ordinary

December 25, 2019

Film Review: Get Ready! “Ready Player One” Offers a Terrific Thrill Ride

March 29, 2018

Middleburg Film Festival 2017

October 29, 2017

TIFF Review: “Franz”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 10, 2025
Franz (Agnieszka Holland, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars The writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924), though he died far too young (of tuberculosis), left behind a literary legacy that has lasted into our present. Works such as his story “In the Penal Colony,” his novella The Metamorphosis, and his novel The Trial have proved enormously influential, even though most of his works were only published after his death. We have his friend Max Brod to thank for us ... >>
TIFF Review: “Steal Away”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 9, 2025
Steal Away (Clement Virgo, 2025) 4 out of 5 stars Set in a land that exists outside of a specific era and place, yet suggestive of many different locations and moments (including the here and now), director Clement Virgo’s Steal Away plunges the viewer into a simultaneous idyll and nightmare. The freshness of youth—and youthful desire—runs directly into the brutality of human greed, destroying the innocent dreams of our teenage protagonists. ... >>
TIFF Review: “Good Boy”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 8, 2025
Good Boy (Jan Komasa, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars Tommy is a problem child (young adult, really, at 19). A hard-drinking and drug-taking bully—violent and oversexed, to boot—he provides no service to the world beyond making a mess that others have to clean up. So if he were to vanish, who would miss him? ... >>
TIFF Review: “Wake Up Dead Man”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 7, 2025
Wake Up Dead Man (Rian Johnson, 2025) 3½ out of 5 stars With the 2019 film Knives Out, writer/director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) added the whodunit to his repertoire, continuing with the 2022 sequel, Glass Onion, and now the 2025 follow-up, Wake Up Dead Man. All three movies tell entirely standalone stories, with their only connecting tissue the presence of preening private detective Benoit Blanc (played each time by James Bond ... >>
TIFF Review: “Sentimental Value”
By Christopher Llewellyn Reed
September 6, 2025
Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, 2025) 4½ out of 5 stars Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World) won the Grand Prix (or second-place award) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his latest, Sentimental Value, which just had its Canadian premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Starring his frequent muse, Renate Reinsve (the aforementioned Worst Person plus Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man), Stellan ... >>

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 ...>>
Five Films to See at Tribeca 2025
June 4, 2025
This year, as always at the Tribeca Festival (formerly ...>>
Our Coverage of 2025 Oscar Nominees
January 25, 2025
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and ...>>