Venice, Toronto
Laura Poitras’ excellent chronicle-winning documentary chronicles photographer Nan Goldin’s mission to hold the Sacklers accountable for the opioid crisis wrought by their company Purdue Pharma. It’s also an artist’s portrait, an insight into grassroots political action and a devastating family tale. – SHERI LINDEN
Venice, Toronto
Martin McDonagh’s wonderfully dark comedy about the sudden breakup of lifelong friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson never got better) steadily evolves into an unexpectedly poignant tale of a relationship. system is severed, though never erased. It is the writer-director’s most profound and distinct Irish work to date, and also one of his finest. – DAVID ROONEY
Venice, Telluride
Luca Guadagnino’s influential story of the first love between two cannibals drifting in 1980s Central America is a delicately emotional thriller. Even when they’re eating meat, the film depicts its protagonists (played by Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet with a touch of emotional fragility) not as monsters but as outsiders hungry for connection. . – DR
Casa Susanna
Venice, Toronto
Sébastien Lifshitz’s sharp, tender documentary reveals the secret history of the support network created by cross-dressing men and transgender women in the 1950s and 60s. The focus is on the guesthouse. The Catskills were once a refuge for these pathfinders. In their concreteness and emotion, the recollections here are alive with a complexity that defies labels. – SL
Toronto
Steven Spielberg’s film is a vivid depiction of the talented artist’s earliest flash of directing and a loving yet undaunted portrait of the family that has created he. Featuring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Gabriel LaBelle’s heartwarming turns, it’s filled with compassion for both his parents, who divorced when he was a teenager. – JOHN BEFORE
Toronto
Rian Johnson’s exciting sequel offers exciting action, intriguing plot twists, and bold design. However, it does not suffer from ‘giving ‘them the same things, but more of it’. Its team — Daniel Craig starring Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe and others — is even better, its critique of the rich sharper. – JD
Toronto
A personal drama shimmering with pain, pride, and hard-won excitement, Elegance Bratton’s feature film debut is based on his own story as a gay Marine. to create one of the most moving portraits of Black masculinity since Moonlight. It was a great vehicle for stage actor Jeremy Pope in his first major on-screen role. – DR
Telluride
Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell captivate the screen as kind souls are aroused by carnal passions in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s sharp and sensual adaptation of DH Lawrence’s novels about love. of an upper-class woman with a working-class man. It is an interpretation that holds true to Lawrence’s ideals of sex and nature in invigorating ways. – SL
Venice, Toronto
Imprisoned and subject to a film-making ban in his country, Iranian artist Jafar Panahi has come up with his most macabre mystery. Simply put, with increasingly complex layers, it is a hidden power about the divide between modern and traditional, the world of differences between Tehran and the countryside of Iran. – DR
Venice, Toronto
Played by the brilliant Virginie Efira as a 40-year-old teacher whose relationship with her boyfriend’s daughter awakens a mother’s unexpected yearnings, Rebecca Zlotowski’s film affirms her gift at first. The formula is fresh and sexy, smart and sexy. It has the lines of traditional Parisian curtains, but delves into something tougher and wiser. – JON FROSCH ONLY
Venice, Toronto
A gripping drama about the isolation of motherhood, the anguish of parenting, and the intermingling of races, Alice Diop’s debut story chronicles the trial of a French woman. -Senegal is guilty of murder. Based on a true French case, the film draws its strength from subtlety and naturalistic observation. – LOVIA GYARKYE
Venice, Telluride
The stunning Cate Blanchett plays a conductor-conductor whose reputation is shattered by the revelations of her personal life in Todd Field’s enthralling, rich character research, playing the role. as a caustic dissection of power dynamics and cultural undoing. It’s a grand, masterfully crafted piece whose audacity, artistry, and scaled authority are imperative to initiating conversations. – DR
Telluride, Toronto
In one of his best papers, Werner Herzog turns his lens on the world of brain-computer interfaces, their therapeutic potential, and chilling effects. Speaking to people who work in the field of neurotechnology (the invention that links the nervous system to electronics and other devices), he speaks of a dreary, lyrical blend of awe and wonder. surprise and omen. – SL
Telluride, Toronto
Focusing on female members of a Mennonite colony categorizing their responses to sexual abuse by the men of their cult, Sarah Polley’s film is a finely crafted perspective. of rage and hope. With a stellar cast led by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, the smart, beautiful cinematography tackles existential questions facing any contemporary woman with devices. make a patriarch. – SL
Telluride, Toronto
Florence Pugh is epic as an English nurse who arrives in an Irish village in 1862 to care for a child who has stopped eating in Sebastián Lelio’s enchanting film, perhaps his best film. Based on the novel by Emma Donoghue, this is a haunting study of religious obsession and the oppression of women. – STEP FARBER
This story first appeared in The Hollywood Reporter September 16th issue. Click here to subscribe.
