By Kyle Flynn

The Diary of A Chambermaid: 

Radu Jude has been breaking ground as an international auteur for years now. Don’t Expect Too Much From The End of The World, Dracula, Bad Luck Banging, and Loony Porn all exist to me as international classics for the current decade. The Diary of a Chambermaid brings Jude to his most sentimental, unbelievable, as Radu Jude shows such raw vulnerability while keeping the wit and humor we have come to expect from him. 

Jude finds a way to anchor the child actors with such an emotional presence and parallel the life and work of Giania, played well by Ana Dumitrascu, with them. Proving once again, Jude is in an era of constant growth and expansion. 

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars

My Wife Cries:

Angela Schanelec’s latest film, My Wife Cries, follows a middle-aged crane operator who receives a call asking to pick her up from the hospital. In Schanelec’s fashion, it’s not nearly as simple. In a slow exploration of the self and the way we proceed in relationships. The restraint Schanelec shows in portraying emotions is mirrored by her own characters, making it an effective and evocative experience. Perhaps slightly too withheld from the individual performances for my liking, but I enjoyed the work by the end. The film also contains the best Leonard Cohen needle-drop of the decade, sorry, Perfect Days!

🌟 🌟 🌟 stars

Viva Carmen:

I was a big fan of Sebastien Laudenbach’s previous film, Chicken for Linda, which was endlessly gorgeous to look at and baked in with so much heart. I was endlessly enthusiastic to recommend it to everyone who came my way. Viva Carmen exists in a vein that I find a lot less interesting, with much of the plot being buried under minutia. Far less interesting, and never appeals emotionally to grating sense of life that I have come to yearn for from family films. The animation is, of course, still stunning, but the film underwhelmed me. 

🌟 🌟 1/2 stars

The Remotes:

In John Torres ‘ debut narrative feature, we find ourselves on this journey. Blending neo-noir with general thrill. A detective story that manages to be wholly its own while taking on so many influences. Being on the wavelength of the narrative style keeps you tied to the ongoing journey, and the ending is well worth the payoff. The dark atmosphere and use of shadows, crafted by the Director of Photography Tristan Sales in collaboration with filmmaker Torres, are indelible. Amongst the best visual presentations of the year, with a fluid movement of contrast. 

🌟 🌟 🌟 1/2 stars

Report to Mother:

I have been following the news of the recent 4K restoration of John Abraham’s Report to Mother since it played at Cannes. Thankfully, the restoration from the Film Heritage Foundation is stunning. A human drama about our desires and our impact on the future captures the ideals of masculinity and the leftist movement, equally relevant today as they were when Abraham conceived the film. The evergreen quality of directly tackling the hypocrisy and pain when working towards freedom and equality for all. We can hope that this restoration brings greater awareness of the work of John Abraham. 

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars