In Joanna Hogg’s sixth feature and fourth collaboration with the great Tilda Swinton, the filmmaker takes on the familiar mother-daughter story with her own twist. The Eternal Daughter follows Julie and her mother Rosalind (both women played by Swinton) as they take a trip to the Welsh countryside. The hotel they are staying at has… Continue reading TIFF 2022: ‘The Eternal Daughter’ — an Eerie yet Heartwarming Take on the Mother-Daughter Tale
After the critical success of The Handmaiden and his English television debut The Little Drummer Girl, Korean director Park Chan-wook is back with Decision to Leave, which got him the Best Director award at Cannes. A police procedural turned romance film, it follows detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) as he investigates the death of a man… Continue reading TIFF 2022: ‘Decision to Leave’ — One of the Most Creative Hitchcock-Inspired Films in Recent Memory
Following his 2017 critically-acclaimed film The Square, Ruben Östlund has returned with another Palme d’Or-winning film, this time set on a cruise ship for the uber-rich and beautiful. Triangle of Sadness, which is also a beauty industry term for the wrinkles between one’s eyebrows, continues to prove Östlund’s mastery of satire. While collaborating with a… Continue reading TIFF 2022: ‘Triangle of Sadness’ — a Raunchy, Fun Critique of the Super-Rich and Beautiful
Adapted from the novel of the same name, My Policeman centers on three individuals in 1950s post-war Britain: Marion, a schoolteacher played by Emma Corrin; Patrick, a museum curator played by David Dawson; and Tom, a policeman played by Harry Styles. What seems like a love triangle on the surface is a much more complicated… Continue reading TIFF 2022: ‘My Policeman’ — a Beautifully Shot yet Average Gay Movie
In Schitt’s Creek, Alexis asks Moira, “What is your favorite season?” She takes a deep breath before answering, “Awards.” It is the most wonderful time of the year for cinephiles and culture vultures, and the fall film festival circuit kicks it off. After two years of taking safety measures due to the pandemic, the Toronto… Continue reading TIFF 2022: A Return to the Pre-Pandemic Festival + Films to Watch Out For
After Rebecca Hall’s stunning directorial debut Passing premiered at Sundance last year, she is back at the festival, starring in Andrew Semans’ Resurrection. Hall plays Margaret, a career-driven woman and mollycoddling single mother of teenage Abbie (Grace Kaufman). Behind a seemingly pristine life, Margaret’s façade starts to crack when she sees a man from her… Continue reading Sundance 2022: ‘Resurrection’—A Frightening Mess of a Movie
In a documentary filmmaking course, my professor always said that documentarians are always obscure compared to their counterparts in narrative filmmaking. Ask a person if they know a director and they will give you familiar names like Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan, and many others known for their narrative films. Out of the names I’ve mentioned, Scorsese… Continue reading Sundance 2022: ‘The Exiles’—A Look Into the Eccentric Christine Choy
After the successful festival run of Julia Ducournau’s Titane—even winning the highly regarded Palme d’Or in a Cannes run by the eccentric Spike Lee—body horror is gaining resurgence within mainstream audiences as it gives insight into our fixation on how far human bodies can endure. Hanna Bergholm’s Hatching, elicited mixed responses as expected in most… Continue reading Sundance 2022: ‘Hatching’—A Beautiful Take on the Body and Creature Horror Genre
Five years after Kogonada’s debut Columbus, he’s back at Sundance with his sophomore feature fresh from its Cannes premiere last July. In a more ambitious artistic endeavor, Kogonada continues to improve himself with After Yang. After Yang is adapted from Alexander Weinstein’s short story “Saying Goodbye to Yang”, a sci-fi tale set in the future… Continue reading Sundance 2022: ‘After Yang’ – A Solemn Take on the Humanity of the Posthuman
In Martika Ramirez Escobar's director statement, she talks about a famous action star without any political background nabbing the most powerful position in the country. She reflects on how this ties to the Filipino people’s love for movies, especially action. Decades later, a macho man that seemed straight out of “bakbakan” (fighting) films became the… Continue reading Sundance 2022: ‘Leonor Will Never Die’ – A Love Letter to Filipino Cinema
Sine Liwanag 