Mae Abdulbaki

The film is poignant and meaningful, with an appreciation for life that reminds us why we live it and how to enjoy it as well.

The combination of cast and storytelling makes for an emotionally gorgeous, hilarious, and touching film that you’ll want to rewatch over and over again.

Consequences, choices, love, identity, and paranoia are all at the center of this mesmerizing thriller.

Uplifted by an incredible central performance by Hall, The Night House twists and turns, weaving terrifying visuals and jump-scares with thought-provoking and emotional story beats. The result makes for one of the best horror-thrillers of the year.

You’ll Never Find Me is an excellent, audacious entry to the horror genre. It’s disconcerting and thrilling, with an emotional center and something to say. Allen and Bell confidently craft an effective story that will stay with you long after it’s over.

Poignant in parts, sharp and thrilling in others, Emily the Criminal satisfyingly delivers on many levels.

Kneecap is a film that shifts expectations. It’s chaotic in the best way, alive with buzzing energy and resistance.

While the film could have spent more time specifically exploring Margaret’s life, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a thoughtful, charming, and heartwarming film that utilizes the time loop aspects to great effect.

I Am: Celion Dion is a compelling and engaging snapshot, a visceral experience that is worth watching, especially for fans.

The film’s characters are human and, while they’re afforded depth and nuance, Ebo isn’t interested in coddling them or excusing Lee-Curtis’ behavior. And it’s in the balanced exploration of characters and religious hypocrisy, the blending of the facetious with the serious that makes the film worth the watch.

It’s a film that is certainly a must-see, complex and emotionally devastating in its exploration of power and hierarchy.

Limbo handles its themes with enormous grace, balancing despair with levity and a realism that makes this drama emotionally intense and worthwhile.

Magpie turns certain tropes into narrative weapons, and it works at every turn, culminating in a finale that will leave you wanting more even as it gives us a tension-fueled conclusion.

It’s the kind of movie that’s simultaneously a feel-good tear-jerker that’s deeply personal in the themes it tackles.

Heartwarming, elegant, and often profound in its exploration of loneliness and human connection, I’m Your Man is exquisitely charming and smart.

His Three Daughters is a balancing act. The characters are layered and the story is so simple yet thoroughly touching and, at times, painful to watch because of the flood of emotion that comes through.

The Mauritanian is an incredibly powerful, poignant, enraging film, one that is uplifted by an incredibly magnetic lead performance by Tahar Rahim.

Thanks to the writing, directing, and cast, The Humans makes for a disconcerting, haunting, and moving watch. It’s a Thanksgiving family drama that amplifies its characters’ relationships within an eerie, charged space to great effect.

There are a lot of things that could have gone wrong, but Triplett directs with confidence, bringing style, intrigue, and character depth to a story that will keep you engaged and holding your breath in suspense for what comes next.

It’s the kind of film that not only makes for a great theatrical experience but will also make you want to watch it again immediately afterward to see what you missed the first time.

There aren’t many films that can capture a character’s feisty spirit while still contending with the struggles and feelings of growing older. To that end, Thelma is a breath of fresh air, a crowd-pleasing film that knows exactly what it is and what it’s trying to accomplish. It does so with style and grace.

There’s an emotional resonance that permeates the film and fills your heart with an ache so strong that it’s difficult to walk away without being affected.

The Lesson is gripping and compelling, enhanced by its cast and score. It knows precisely what kind of movie it is and, though at times predictable, has much to say and a sophisticated, unpretentious style to go along with it.

Blichfeldt pulls out all the stops for this film, giving us a cinematic experience that is ripe with depth and concise commentary, all wrapped in a grisly fairy tale world that is as immersive as it is intense

It’s masterful in developing a gnawing suspense that permeates the film, and never falters in engaging us from start to finish.

while the film may meander some, von Horn and Langebek’s script never loses sight of the story, offering something that is deeply bleak but also worth thinking about.

Chevalier, about the violinist and composer Joseph Bologne, is magnetic, a historical fiction that elevates itself beyond the conventional biopic to deliver a memorable drama about its subject's life.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out mystery is a strong and fulfilling sequel. It will leave fans wanting even more of the charismatic detective and the situations that bring him into the middle of enticing whodunits that put his mind to work. The cast, the writing, and the twists and turns the story takes will leave the audience intrigued right up until the very end.