AwardsWatch - Film Reviews

TIFF Review: Suzanne Lindon’s ‘Spring Blossom’ is a charming tale of first love

Mina Takla September 18, 2020

Plot: A 16-year old girl enters a romantic relationship with an older theatre actor whose play is being performed nearby. Review: Suzanne Lindon’s SPRING BLOSSOM... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Memory House’ fails to illuminate, keeping its Brazilian folklore out of reach

Mina Takla September 18, 2020

Plot: An Indigenrous-Black man from Brazil’s rural north struggles to earn acceptance in his community. When he is informed that he must take a wage... Read More

NYFF Review: ‘Malmkrog’ is a gorgeous, stately slog through frippery and philosophy

Clint Worthington September 17, 2020

It’s Christmas Eve in the late nineteenth century, and snow coats the grounds of the eponymous Transylvanian manor at the center of Christi Puiu’s three-and-a-half-hour... Read More

TIFF Review: Despite strong performances from its leads, ‘Wildfire’ is doused by lackluster storytelling

Mina Takla September 17, 2020

Plot: After having suddenly and mysteriously disappeared for almost a year, a women returns to her hometown in Ireland and tries to blend in despite... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘The Truffle Hunters’ digs up one of the year’s most moving films

Mina Takla September 17, 2020

Plot: In Italy, where truffle hunting is a culinary obsession, a number of elderly hunters continue to practice what they believe is a true passion... Read More

TIFF Review: Rosamund Pike is a standout in J Blakeson’s sharp and clever ‘I Care A Lot’

Diego Andaluz September 16, 2020

After the disappointment that was The 5th Wave, director J Blakeson makes his return to a smaller budget film that must rely more on its... Read More

TIFF Review: The deeply earnest ‘Good Joe Bell’ is a story of self-redemption

Mina Takla September 16, 2020

Plot: The true story of an Oregon father, Joe Bell, who sets out on a walk across America in honor of his son. Review: Reinaldo... Read More

TIFF Review: ‘Notturno’ doc highlights the aftermath of war told through the eyes of those who lived it

Mina Takla September 16, 2020

Plot: Filmed in several parts of the war-torn Middle East, NOTTURNO documents the aftermath of war through the eyes of civilians whose lives have been... Read More

TIFF Review: Sam Pollard’s riveting ‘MLK/FBI’ looks at Hoover’s attempt to destroy an American hero

Meghan White September 15, 2020

In my June op-ed, about America’s growing moral dissonance systemically reinforced by the entertainment content we consume, I describe the normalization of the military industrial complex... Read More