AwardsWatch

‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2025) Review: Nostalgia Can Only Carry So Far But Stitch Remains a Lovable Rascal [C+]

Film Reviews

‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2025) Review: Nostalgia Can Only Carry So Far But Stitch Remains a Lovable Rascal [C+]

Jay Ledbetter May 20, 2025

To call the flood of Disney’s live-action remakes of their animated classics cynical would be far, far too generous. Words like “scourge,” “artistically bankrupt,” and... Read More

‘Renoir’ Review: Chie Hayakawa’s Gentle Coming of Age Story Gives Way to a Powerful Debut Performance from Yui Suzuki [C+] Cannes

Ben Rolph May 19, 2025

Director Chie Hayakawa’s sophomore feature, after 2022’s Plan 75, sees her pivot from telling a futuristic story about euthanasia to a past-set coming-of-age tale. Renoir... Read More

‘Eddington’ Review: No Country for Men, Women or Children [B+] Cannes

Erik Anderson May 19, 2025

You know that feeling, even in 2025, when you hear someone cough in any environment how it triggers a kneejerk response? It’s impossible to not... Read More

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Review: Wes Anderson’s Latest Explores the Meaning of Legacy and Features a Superb Breakthrough Performance from Mia Threapleton [A-] Cannes

Ryan McQuade May 19, 2025

Wes Anderson’s latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, starts off with a bang. No literally it does, as we find Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Benicio del Toro),... Read More

‘Love Letters’ Review: A Quietly Powerful Portrait of Queer Motherhood [B] Cannes

Emily Maskell May 18, 2025

Love Letters opens with a broadcast reporting France has legalised same-sex marriage; it’s a national celebration, but for Céline (Ella Rumpf), there is still unfinished... Read More

‘A Useful Ghost’ Review: Vacuum Cleaner Love Story Doesn’t Suck [C+] Cannes

Alistair Ryder May 17, 2025

You won’t find a better elevator pitch at Cannes this year than the premise for the Thai Critics’ Week title A Useful Ghost, a supernatural... Read More

‘Sirāt’ Review: Óliver Laxe Takes Us on a Sisyphean Journey of Sound and Fury Road [A-] Cannes

Savina Petkova May 17, 2025

Perhaps the most mesmerising Competition entry thus far, Óliver Laxe’s Sirāt takes us to a world of desert raves where the promise of salvation still... Read More

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 99 – ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (Peter Jackson, 2001)

Ryan McQuade May 16, 2025

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of... Read More

‘Sound of Falling’ Review: What It Feels Like For a Girl [A-] Cannes

Sophia Ciminello May 16, 2025

Early in Mascha Schilinski’s sophomore feature, Sound of Falling, Alma (Hanna Heckt) and her sisters play a prank on one of the maids. They know... Read More

‘Two Prosecutors’ Review: Sergei Loznitsa’s Brooding, Minimalistic Procedural Exposes Soviet Corruption [B+] Cannes

Ben Rolph May 16, 2025

The grim iron gates of a Soviet prison open up as director Sergei Loznitsa begins his exploration of Soviet state repression, told through the lens... Read More

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