Jordan Ruimy

All four actors are perfectly fine here, but the set-up is predictably conventional.

What keeps Burden captivating are the performances, especially from Riseborough, Whitaker and Wilkinson, consummate pros that give their characters flesh and blood dimension.

If only more period pieces these days were as finely tuned and accessibly pleasurable as Westmoreland’s film.

The spy genre is a tricky business, because the tempo and flow of the film must adapt to numerous different scenarios and narrative changes. In Lewin’s movie, however, the ever-changing intricacies of Dawidoff’s book are rendered flat, unappealing and messy.

The first hour is overwhelmingly exciting as Levinson uses split screens and more stylistic techniques to make his story pop. The dialogue is also delivered in impressively natural fashion, with the leading quartet discussing subjects that capture the zeitgeist. However, the ultra-violent finale goes over the top, lacking the pizzaz and inventiveness of the film’s earlier stages.

Fisher must be given immense credit for making it all work as her performance is pitch-perfect in every respect. Sometimes, it feels like you’re not even watching an actress perform but an actual person. The way Burnham shot some of the scenes makee it feel like non-fiction rather than fiction.

Turtletaub does have a hard time finding a way to conclude Agnes’ story, but he ends Puzzle on such a delightful note of simplicity, that this near-perfect movie nevertheless stuns.

It’s a film that you would, of course, expect from the director of such an entity as The Greasy Strangler, but, say what you will about that film, at least it wasn’t boring.

The film is easy to admire, but lacks the kinds of scenes necessary to truly make a emotional connection.

This is a remarkable, triumphant, and confident picture by Aster, who gives the film an almost meditative-like sensation, as you feel every space you’re in, every emotion, every moment of grief. Hereditary refuses to employ cheap thrills, creating its cinematic scares with atmosphere, and continuously reinventing itself at every turn.

Overall, this is astute, fascinating filmmaking from Hawke who believes the small details are all part of the bigger picture, the deeper experience of knowing who Blaze Foley was.

Topics such as race, poverty, masculinity and politics are tackled in thought-provoking ways. It all makes for an entertaining, if not slight, ride that proves Kahn has the chops to graduate into feature films and maybe has a genre classic in him just screaming to get out.

Leave No Trace is a universal, unforgettable experience.