AwardsWatch

‘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

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Review: Tom Cruise Takes Ethan Hunt to the Ends of the Earth and Back

Film Reviews

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Review: Tom Cruise Takes Ethan Hunt to the Ends of the Earth and Back

Karen Peterson May 14, 2025

“Our lives are the sum of our choices.” Though the words were first said to Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in the penultimate quest, Mission: Impossible... Read More

2026 Oscar Predictions

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