Ben Pearson

Oldroyd lulled me into a false sense of expectation and then dropped a bomb into his movie that completely shifted the ground under my feet. I can't remember the last time I was so energized by a surprise.

A powerful and important look behind the curtain, Beyond Utopia is one hell of a cinematic nail-biter and a stark reminder of the human rights violations being committed every day in 2023.

Even if its archetypes might feel overly familiar, the formula works for a reason, and when anything is executed with such pure-hearted joy and affection for its characters, you can't help but smile.

Part Brian De Palma flick, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, part Dracula, and part Stepford Wives, Bad Hair filters its influences through Simien’s hyper-specific passions and unique sensibilities to become a singular horror comedy from a singular filmmaker.

The biggest strengths of the film are its sharp script and phenomenal lead actors, both of whom give committed performances which vacillate between ruthless pragmatism and explosive emotionality.

Fire of Love is a riveting portrait of a charismatic couple who lived life on the edge.

A sharp, laugh out loud crowd-pleaser, Palm Springs could end up being the funniest film of 2020. But it’s not a mindless comedy. It tackles some profound topics amid the laughs, interrogating the sustainability of long-term relationships and exploring how a seemingly awful situation might be aided by a change in perspective.

Skywalkers: A Love Story is a dizzying and dazzling look at a hyper-niche culture that delivers some of the most jaw-dropping real-life footage you'll likely ever see.

Overall, the electricity of the music and the novelty of seeing some of these performers absolutely shred during this period of their careers easily overshadows any of its flaws.

Lovable, uplifting, and guaranteed to put a smile on your face, "Rye Lane" is the funniest movie of 2023 so far and a highly satisfying walk-and-talk romance.

Bursting with playful energy, set to a killer soundtrack, and dripping with personality, Polite Society is a winning, ultra-charming tale of sisterly love.

An effective blend of lyrical impressionism and controlled precision, After Yang is another quietly impressive effort from Kogonada.

The Boogeyman doesn't set out to reinvent the wheel, but thankfully, it doesn't need to. Savage knows exactly how to push all the right buttons and pull all the right levers to engineer maximum potency, utilizing classical set-ups and pay-offs in entertaining, satisfying ways.

Thelma's plight is handled with respect, and by putting us in her perspective, Margolin allows us to empathize and see the world through her eyes.

Carney has this genre on lock. No other working filmmaker has consistently captured what he's able to with his movies, zeroing in on the way music can bridge emotional distances.

A lovingly crafted ode to female friendship and the idea that it's never too late to embrace your true self.

By humanizing the events of such a huge tragedy, Sara Colangelo shines a light on both the victims and the forgotten bystanders who were left behind, opening that closed-off compartment once more and bringing those folks back to the forefront.

At a certain point, Navalny kicks into spy movie mode, detailing how that "Bulgarian nerd" utilizes data acquired from the dark web to pore over phone records and flight manifests to narrow down a possible list of suspects. It's riveting stuff.

This is a stripped down story — the type of moving, romantic drama aimed at adults that's become an endangered species over the past couple of decades. If the director wants to take a sudden shift in his preferred mode of filmmaking at this stage in his career, I would greatly welcome seeing him make more movies in this mold.

A gripping snapshot of crimes in progress and an engrossing piece of cinematic activism, The Territory is a testament to the importance of being able to preserve your own history and tell your own story, as well as a call to action for the world to notice what's happening in the Amazon ... before it's too late.

A mesmerizing, powerful glimpse at the irresistible siren call of the deep and a somber record of the human cost of pushing boundaries.

A creative reimagining sprinkled with fairy dust, Come Away succeeds on the strength of its whimsical (but not overly whimsical) script by Marissa Kate Goodhill and its impressive ensemble cast, and soars thanks to Chapman’s stellar direction. A new children’s classic has arrived, and this timeless fairytale will surely enchant audiences for generations to come.

Cruise once referred to the '86 film as "an amusement park ride ... a joy ride [which] shouldn't be looked at beyond that," and for audiences who can watch "Top Gun: Maverick" through that lens and appreciate it as a piece of propulsive action cinema, this could end up being one of the most crowd-pleasing and satisfying movie experiences of the year.

Haunting, harrowing, and hypnotic, Eight for Silver is a werewolf story with a lot on its mind.

Ruthless, deeply cynical, and thrumming with jet-black humor, Dual is a Riley Stearns movie through and through.

While I have a few complaints and there are a couple of head-scratching loose ends, The Flash is still a funny, emotional, action-heavy crowd-pleaser that ranks among the best DC movies ever made.

While this movie's story may sound familiar — it's about a religious teenage girl's sexual awakening in a stuffy community that would rather never address such things — its success is dependent on its execution, and writer/director Laurel Parmet, in her feature directorial debut, hits every target she aims for along the way.

Cassandro is a solid drama that provides another strong showcase for Gael García Bernal's many talents, and marks a largely successful transition into scripted storytelling for Roger Ross Williams.