Serena Donadoni

Rojas and Dutra have created a singular fable where anxiety and fear are directed inward, even when the danger is all too real.

What makes the film work is Koler's magnetic performance as Michal, who has screwball energy and a mind of her own.

Arestrup and Dussollier originated these roles on stage, but Schlöndorff (who directed the Hoffman/Malkovich Death of a Salesman) gives it the immediacy of a life-and-death encounter.

Kennedy unabashedly admires scientists, and Food Evolution is his rallying cry to make advocacy as important as lab work.

When Fancher’s weathered visage finally appears, he recounts more regrets than triumphs, but in Almereyda’s affectionate biographical scrapbook, his accomplishments are small manifestations of an iconoclastic existence whose reward is a messy, cherished independence.

The actress is equally committed, regardless of whether content and context click, but she soars when they do.

In a bitterly funny performance, Avedisian lets Donald's freak flag fly, a big-toothed grin lighting up his face, framed by a shaggy haircut not deliberate enough to be a mullet.

[An] exquisitely beautiful feature debut.

Cash Only features many familiar action movie markers, but it's distinguished by a raw energy and strong sense of place.

Edwards is content with presenting Mavis as she sees herself: as the conduit for a song's message, and a voice to uplift the weary.

What Laurent and Dion do best is present pockets of progressive change as blueprints for idealism in action.

Usually a tart-tongued scene-stealer, Henderson is devoid of her trademark hauteur in this remarkable performance.

Sidemen seems at first like a didactic cultural corrective. It’s only when Rosenbaum digs into the trio’s life stories that their historic impact becomes clear:.

With Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Loveridge celebrates the mashup aesthetic that enabled the artist to find a voice, and reveals that reconciling contradictions — like an outrageous sense of humor and earnest political activism — is key to both Arulpragasam’s music and the life she’s constructed with audacity and wit.

After guiding his fate, the filmmakers step back and dispassionately capture a series of frustrated caregivers passing the baton, each nudging Anton toward a new life. This decision makes Almost There a richer, more compassionate portrait.

This lovely debut film contains all the ingredients of a culture-clash drama, which Lucero handles with a light touch.

Hirayanagi acknowledges that reinvention isn’t as simple as trading Setsuko’s messy stagnation for Lucy’s zany possibility. What Setsuko fears most is losing everything, but that may be her best option.

An anguished and compassionate chronicle of Schein and Vishner's relationship.

Lehmann shot Blue Jay in a gorgeous black-and-white that looks like silver gelatin prints (a photographic process that captures boundless gradations of gray), which complements the story's heartfelt simplicity.

Robin uses well-timed jolts and gross-out moments to awaken his solitary characters from their stupor, to shock them into acknowledging that their existence isn’t confined to the soul’s protective shell.

After a lifetime of routine punctuated by loss, these aging adults fall back into roles as children and siblings. Treading common ground, they seek comfort in the suffocating succor of family, afraid to release the burdens that grief will unleash.

There’s no self-reflexive media criticism in Nobody Speak, only the simple plea for Americans to resolutely support journalism, in both principle and practice.

Constructed as a mystery, As You Are offers glimpses into intense adolescent bonds, just enough to remind baffled onlookers that they don't have a clue.

[A] lighthearted and immensely entertaining doc.

In this unhurried full version, Benson allows grief to transform his characters, with few guarantees and plenty of regrets.

The Flight Fantastic is both a lively biography of the Mexican circus family and a primer on trapeze as both art form and joyous expression.

Heady and rigorous, The Creeping Garden is an illuminating science documentary that tickles the imagination.

The Phenom unfolds as a series of quiet, incisive conversations that showcase subtle, insightful performances.