18. PETER HUJAR'S DAY

Aside from the most dedicated Peter Hujar fans, if you even know who that is (I sure didn’t), I have no clue who Peter Hujar’s Day is for. I say this with no exaggeration, but this movie is literally 70 minutes of Hujar (Ben Whishaw) telling Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) about his day. Yes, it’s as banal and mundane as it sounds. There is so little substance here that it’s nearly impossible to review, other than to say that if you want to be a fly on the wall for a long, name-dropping conversation between two strangers, good news. Excellent 70s home-movie aesthetic, though.

17. TRAFFIC

Traffic is, ostensibly, an art heist movie; however, if you go in expecting the fun hallmarks of the genre, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Technically, yes, there is a heist, but the movie isn’t about the heist. It’s about migrant labor, classism, perceived ethnic hierarchies, and the poor trying to rise above their station, all of which is presented with bleak realism (admittedly, that could just be Romanian cinema’s vibe). While the themes are easily digestible, they didn’t resonate with my American brain, nor did the underdeveloped characters. Plus, the heist and subsequent manhunt fall flat. Perhaps this is an example of being lost in translation, though.

16. MOTHER

As I understand it, Mother is a fictional tale about Mother Teresa (Noomi Rapace) in the days before she leaves her convent to establish Missionaries of Charity. The thing is… if it’s fictional, who cares? Isn’t there a worthy true story to provide insight into the modern-day saint? On top of that, it jumps between dry character study and horror-tinged moments backed by heavy metal music, which is a jarringly odd combination. So, in the end, we’re left with a fanfic biopic that generally suggests nothing more than Mother Teresa was more complex than the infallible icon we picture in our heads? Cool story, I guess.

15. THE SUMMER BOOK

Growing up, I often spent summers in the Kentucky countryside with my great-grandmother, who did not have a television or many modern conveniences to keep a child entertained. The Summer Book took me back to those days, which made for a nostalgic trip down memory lane, but not so much an entertaining movie-viewing experience. There is an old-fashioned stillness in the relationship between Grandmother (Glenn Close) and Sophia (Emily Matthews) that I generally relate to, and the Finnish coastal countryside is beautifully shot. However, much like my pre-adolescent self during those summers, I was left waiting for something — anything! — to break the monotony.

14. THE THINGS YOU KILL

I’ve never been a big fan of director David Lynch, so when things are described as Lynchian, it’s not exactly a selling point. Furthermore, Lynchian surrealism is hard enough to understand in English, so watching it through subtitles can make it doubly confusing. The Things You Kill is exactly that — an extremely slow, very Lynchian tale about a man dealing with generational inner darkness and feelings of inadequacy in a patriarchal society. It’s the type of movie whose meaning I needed to clarify after the fact, and honestly, the explanation I found on Google was far more interesting than the actual movie I had just watched.

This review originally posted with Bitesize Breakdown’s coverage of Fantasy Filmfest 39.

13. REEDLAND

From a craft perspective, Reedland does enough excellent things that I’m curious to see what director Sven Bresser does next. Despite being his debut, the cinematography, sound design, and performance pulled from non-actor and actual reed farmer Gerrit Knobbe demonstrate an incredible amount of skill and a well-assembled crew behind the camera. However, Bresser also wrote Reedland, and while it’s steeped in dread and foreboding atmosphere, I genuinely have no idea what it’s about. Random MacGuffins that lead to nowhere populate the story — a dead girl, black goo, a random rock, a threatening tractor — ultimately resulting in a movie that feels like a narrative Winchester House.

12. BLUE HERON

I can’t say Blue Heron is a bad movie; I can say, for better or worse, it is extremely reminiscent of Aftersun, a movie whose critical acclaim I never understood. It’s not that I don’t get writer-director Sophy Romvari’s intent as she explores her fractured memory and hinted-at trauma, but the slow pacing and jarring shift to a pseudo-documentary make it all too clinical. I was never invested in Sasha’s experience as an oblivious child (Eylul Guven) or as an answer-seeking adult (Amy Zimmer). I genuinely hope Blue Heron helped Romvari process whatever she needed to process, but this therapy session doesn’t need an audience.

11. MILE END KICKS

I’m learning that most coming-of-age movies aren’t for me anymore. Whether that’s because I’m too far removed from my own experiences, or I simply don’t relate to those of younger generations, I’m not always sure. With Mile End Kicks, it’s definitely the latter. My memories of being young, dumb, and in love (or lust) as an American guy whose 20s started in 2001 simply don’t mirror those of a Canadian girl whose 20s seem to start around 2011. I’m too separated from Grace (a terrific Barbie Ferreira) for this story to resonate, which mostly just left me frustrated by her bad decisions (the closing scene, especially).

10. LIFEHACK

The latest “screenlife” offering, a filmmaking approach I’m not sold on yet, LifeHack is excellent for the 30 minutes when the crypto heist takes place. These moments are surprisingly full of anxiety-inducing tension and white-knuckle suspense. Everything that comes before and after? Not so much. The format is far too manic and moves far too quickly for the viewer to ever settle in. It also doesn’t allow for great character development, so it’s hard to be super invested in any of them (particularly when they’re as annoying as Sid (Roman Hayeck-Green)). That said, it definitely makes one think about their online presence. It’s scary out there.

9. RENTAL FAMILY

Given these turbulent times, if you need a source — any source — of optimistic, heartwarming feels, Rental Family will almost certainly deliver. Granted, those feels are incredibly shallow and extremely superficial since the characters are mostly just pawns to get you to the next saccharine story beat, but good feels are good feels. Unfortunately, the narrative doesn’t have much lasting heft behind it either because Brendan Fraser is somewhat miscast, with his ever-present teddy bear persona never allowing for a full character arc. Still, you could do worse than Rental Family, even if this cynic found it to be a little too sentimental.

This review originally posted with Bitesize Breakdown’s coverage of Zurich Film Festival 2025.

8. NOVIEMBRE

When making a dramatized account of a historical event, you need to ensure the audience has at least barebones awareness of the event. Noviembre assumes everyone is familiar with 1985’s Palace of Justice siege by dropping viewers directly into the situation with very little context. It’s unclear if the guerillas are radical terrorists or revolutionaries fighting a corrupt system, which makes it tough to know whose side the viewer should be on (made worse by minimal character development). That said, the Paul Greengrass-inspired direction provides gritty realism and chaotic tension, but there wasn’t enough for me, an unfamiliar, to grasp on to. I needed a pre-brief.

7. KIKA

Although not exactly what I expected, Kika (also known as Madame Kika) is an effective exploration of the things we must do to survive, both financially and emotionally, in the wake of tragedy. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a comedy, but there is certainly more humor than I anticipated as it faithfully shows the awkwardness that can come with true self-discovery, especially as one enters a socially taboo alternative lifestyle. Much like Pillion, Kika is not here to kink shame or judge the dom/sub dynamic, instead offering a disarming and contemplative portrait of a person reckoning with grief on her own terms.

6. LEMONADE BLESSING

Remember what I said above about coming-of-age movies? I’m about to contradict it. Lemonade Blessing does a terrific job of putting viewers in the headspace of a religious high school student experiencing first love while internalizing a devout parent’s messaging that all perfectly natural hormonal urges lead to eternal damnation. Grounded yet teetering near the absurd, every aspect of the story feels rooted in realism, from the male friendships to the overbearing parents to just wanting to fit in. At times, it’s compassionately uncomfortable, giving off strong Eighth Grade vibes. So, yeah… most coming-of-age movies aren’t for me anymore; Lemonade Blessing was an exception.

5. FOLLIES

Although it doesn’t break any new ground with its premise, Follies is a humorous, at times sad, yet ultimately uplifting exploration of a married couple trying to spice things up by opening their marriage. However, the approach and details add a fresh spin. Shooting with handheld 16mm cameras, using natural light, and deploying an almost mumblecore vibe keeps everything intimate, which means it never feels over-sexualized like some movies like this can be. Furthering that are the small, lived-in details, like the interactions with their children and relatable situations where they each want to ensure they are correctly following the “rules.” It’s all very authentically charming.

4. THE THREESOME

Given The Threesome’s absurd premise, it could have been an over-the-top, jokey comedy like Wedding Crashers. Instead, director Chad Hartigan goes the route of grounded maturity as it explores the different experiences women can have with unexpected pregnancy. Zoey Deutch and Ruby Cruz give layered performances as women facing same-but-different circumstances, with the movie being thoroughly theirs even as we experience it through Connor’s (Jonah Hauer-King) point-of-view. Unfortunately, Connor is presented as such a blandly milquetoast nice guy, which is more the script’s fault than Hauer-King’s, that it brings the rest of the movie down a bit. Still, it’s an overall endearing take on modern romance.

3. ROOFMAN

Roofman is a charming love story featuring charming performances that surely will charm a non-discerning couple on date night. No, it’s not particularly memorable, but it’s a highly rewatchable blend of comedy, heart, and 90s nostalgia. Yet, I was left wondering why I was rooting for this dirtbag. Because he’s polite? All of Jeffrey Manchester’s (Channing Tatum) rough edges have been sanded down to create an almost algorithm-generated leading man that ladies may fawn over. That’s fine, I suppose, but it makes for an overly sugarcoated, crowd-pleasing movie seemingly afraid to explore the more complicated themes present in fear of losing general audiences (and box office revenue).

This review originally posted with Bitesize Breakdown’s coverage of Zurich Film Festival 2025.

2. THE LAST VIKING

I’m not sure why, but it seems the world takes Mads Mikkelsen’s acting talent for granted. In The Last Viking, he gives a hilarious, against-type performance (relative to everything I’ve seen him do, at least) that is sweet, silly, and lovable. He, alone, is worth the price of admission. His brilliance aside, director Anders Thomas Jensen has successfully mixed Rain Main, The Dream Team, and The Coen Bros. to create a movie that is as moving as it is violent. On paper, I’m not sure any of it should work, but it all comes together beautifully as something heartfelt, sincere, and darkly entertaining.

This review originally posted with Bitesize Breakdown’s coverage of Zurich Film Festival 2025.

1. IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

Tonally, It Was Just an Accident is unexpected. Generally speaking, it has tension without being tense and humor without being funny, but director Jafar Panahi’s ability to walk that tightrope is a major reason why the film works as well as it does. Make no mistake, the commentary on authoritarianism, which is as applicable to the Iranian regime as it is to current American politics, is morally complex and thought-provoking as it explores the cycle of revenge and violence between oppressors and the oppressed. But that tonal balance keeps it accessible by not letting it slip too far into darkness. It was a worthy Palme d’Or winner.