A salient example of a film which deserved far better, Julia Hart's Fast Color is an accessible piece of filmmaking which traverses its genre with grace, eschewing familiar tropes of the supernatural thrillerarchetype due to its fervent attention to detail when it comes to character, relationships, and human connection.  A story about hope and fortitude in times of crisis told through a multi-generational family drama in which superpowers happen to exist, Fast Color is unfortunately the latest depressing example of a film which got completely screwed due to external factors -  marketing departments don't know how to approach anything that isn't derivative.

British colonization of Tasmania provides a potent setting for this dark revenge thriller in which gothic, abrasive formalist designs encapsulate the cruelty and barbarism of colonialism; Emotional potency juxtaposed with brutal, albeit purposeful violence create a haunting experience which reverberates with the horrific sins of colonialist aggression.

Static, cold formalist designs evoke the discomfort and unease of its narrative and thematic schematics;  Morality is complex, forgiveness and rehabilitation are difficult yet essential given the barbarism of the alternative and the cyclical nature of such forms of justice.

Observant ethnography which is transformative in its ability to encapsulate the complexities of the human condition through its character study of a lone Macedonian beekeeper.  Has a clear perspective but feels like a genuine, organic experience in which the filmmakers observant eye is unobtrusive in garnering its heartbreaking results; Evolves as it progresses in front of our very eyes delivering a potent emotional resonance in which a vast array of characteristics related to the human condition - exploitation, empathy, solitude, companionship, property, labor - are explored with a pensive, yet unassuming eye.

A complete and utter disaster that is quite frankly an abomination in which everyone involved should be deeply ashamed. The film's playfulness is such a gross miscalculation, sending the film down a path of tonal degradation where the dire nature of such human catastrophe never feels palatable or as tense or dangerous as it should. The structure and narrative are a compelling starting point but the treatment of the material - the playful formalist designs - are so terribly misguided that when the film attempts to get raw and genuine about the horrors of Nazism all I wanted to do was punch everyone involved for their blatant exploitation.  Satire needs to be intelligent and have a perspective, this movie has neither

​Way more interesting in its deconstruction of the vicissitudes of identity than in its gentrification critique; Too simplistic in its politics but a surprisingly nuanced and interesting examination of the complexities of what we define as identity and the power it has over our actions. A24 films seemingly are becoming increasingly monolithic in their formalism.

​Michael Bay's aesthetic sensibilities, the ultra-slick, vulgar melodramatic action extravaganza which he cultivated into a style all his own has returned with 6 Underground, a film which finds the maestro reach new levels of vulgar kinetic bliss. Practical and digital effects carnage combined with glossy, vibrant aesthetics coalesce into a crude interventionist fairytale in which escapism is deployed with the maximal blunt force cinematic grammar which Bay has grown known for. Sun-soaked action set-pieces which reverberate with dynamism, the few quiet moments sharing a decadence of their own, 6 Underground operates in a world where there is a strict binary between good and evil, right and wrong, with Ryan Reynold's quick-witted and composed persona being the perfect vessel for one of Bay's best films. Self-aware in his own proclivities for carnage, destruction, and the heterosexual male fantasy, 6 Underground is an absurd, offensive blunt vessel of pop candy action which goes down easy and intoxicates with its own grammar of cinematic destruction.

​A savage film about the facile and often performative discursive scripts which encompass society's comprehension of beauty, Chained For Life is a hilarious take-down of the two-sided way in which we discuss something as trivial as aesthetics in contemporary society. Through its meta-narrative construction, Chained For Life exposes the razor-thin line which exists between exploitation and exploration, crafting an intentionally convoluted story about relationships, performance, and intimacy, one which exposes the hypocrisy which exists in a society which simultaneously recognizes the intrinsic advantage of natural beauty while continuously placing virtue or objective value on aesthetics. Personal agency and autonomy are essential at rejecting such normative claims of beauty, yet larger societal conventions often suppress this ideal, intent on normalization, despite counter-claims rooted in recognition that beauty from the inside is what matters. An astute, satirical vision of society's complex relationship with aesthetics and beauty.

Chaos-infused cinema, Jallikattu has a rhythm to its cadence which is tense and anxiety-inducing, delivering a sensorial experience in which an immersive audiovisual assembly evokes the crumbling social fabric of a community. The threat a wild buffalo places on a small community after it escapes confinement is an allegorical device, as Jallikattu exposes the fine line which exists between man and beast, exhibiting the breakdowns of rationality and sociability in times of extreme conflict when the fragility of interpersonal relationships is disrupted. Humanity's underlying savage nature which man, just like any other beast, is capable when threatened -  Aneurysm-inducing cinema at its finest