Steven Soderbergh took a $1.5 milllion budget (which could pay for roughly 40 seconds of a Marvel blockbuster), his iPhone 7, and made himself an outstanding psychological thriller. That alone is an achievement, but so is Claire Foy’s performance as the sole protagonist.
Here’s a movie you did not see coming: a genre-savvy horror comedy set in the 19th century, in an isolated Basque village, starring an old man, a little girl, and possibly a literal demon from hell. What more do you want?
Hereditary will methodically target your deepest insecurities, your most primal fears, undermine whatever defenses you’ve built around them, and then ravage them with chilling ruthlessness.
The film succeeds by letting these characters reconnect slowly, naturally, awkwardly, by giving them space to circle each other; it looks at them with sympathy, not with judgement.
On Chesil Beach recounts the courtship of two young people who have little affinity, nothing in common, and seem to like each other less, not more, as their idyll advances.
You know exactly what you want out of Ocean’s 8, and the movie’s more than happy to deliver. There’s glitz, glamour, talented actresses, diamonds, a daring heist, expensive dresses, and a good time to be had for everyone.
You have to watch the riveting A Quiet Place, but you have to watch it properly: preferrably in a theatre, but on a matinee, free of popcorn and kids, alone in the dark.
Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody made a movie with Charlize Theron and Mackenzie Davis in it, so what’s a body to do? Go see it, obviously.
It warms my heart that there are movies like Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon: movies that are affectionate, optimistic, that carry their heart on their sleeve, that feel empathy and compassion for all their characters, not just their protagonists.
I wasn’t halfway through the movie when I said to myself, “This is what I come to the movies for.” Here’s a film that is intimate, personal, and yet truthful and consequential.
The Film Tower 