The twists and turns happen right on point to keep the lively meter cranked up to a wicked level. You don’t even get that feeling that you watched half a movie like with other two-part pictures, as all the crescendos you need are included here.

Exhibiting Forgiveness is a must-see movie for its universal message of family…and for the great performances and art. Kaphar will immerse you in pain and guide you to hope in the end.

The director walks the delicate tightrope of emotions so that every new development makes previous scenes all the more intense

Good One is a carefully crafted character study. It’s brought to life by perfectly calibrated performances, led by the young but brilliant Lily Collias. This is one hike everyone should experience.

The characters feel real, the performances are personal, and you really know each character by the closing credits. It’s not the most rewatchable film, but Under the Fig Trees will capture your curiosity and more than satisfy a need for an excellent character-focused drama.

Veni Vidi Vici is doing a lot, but the filmmakers make it all work. Their strict control of the comedy hits the perfect dark tone. The cast is tons of fun, while the writing is a sharp takedown of politics and power in modern-day Austria.

Skywalkers: A Love Story is riveting and engrossing. The cinematography is beautiful, capturing the wonder and danger of being so high. The editing is sublime.

It’s artistic without being pretentious, thoughtful, and elegiac without treading into monotony, beautifully acted without drawing too much attention to its stars.

The Seeding doesn’t rely on jump scares to frighten its viewers because the plot and characters are devilishly creepy on their own.

Miller’s Girl is a stunning debut from Bartlett. The plot is winding and intriguing, with an absolute gut punch of an ending.

Origin is an important movie for this single reason: to make us rethink race in America.

T.I.M. is a satisfying look at the horrors of technology as it integrates with our everyday lives.

Gaucho Gaucho is a celebration of a community of Argentine cowboys and cowgirls who live beyond the boundaries of the modern world.

The whole film is an elegant inquiry into what happens when memory fails or when it just hurts so much it’s easier to try and forget. This portrait of broken people doing their best is an oblique and beautiful thing.

As a documentary, Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest does its heroine justice.

Abigail is a brilliant film showcasing the problem of bullying. The actors add to the weight of the story.

The acting and direction in Lonesome Soldier should appeal to a broad audience, not just those familiar with PTSD and military life and outcomes. In addition, the film is well-shot and scripted, and Jackson Harlow has great screen appeal in every version of himself, along with the film’s supporting cast.

This is a unique holiday horror experience that can be enjoyed year after year.

This is a hidden gem, one that we shouldn’t sleep on.

Bigger, brassier, and gayer than its predecessor, Mean Girls (2024) is a saccharine overload of cinematic bombast.

The screenplay has a lot it wants to say and does so in a fun, murderous way lined with wicked humor. All the actors understood the assignment and successfully pull off their roles.

Bye Bye Tiberias is a powerful portrait of how broken things come back together over and over.

Stripping the glory from gangsterism like chrome from a tailpipe is the pulse-pounding documentary Man On The Run, written and directed by Cassius Michael Kim.

The acting is superb, and the pacing is remarkable. But most importantly, the look into women’s rights, morality, and normalized societal oppression speaks volumes about its country and the road to freedom.

While this is skillfully made in all of its technical aspects, it stands as a missed opportunity for someone of Eom Tae-haw’s talent.

As much as I find Eckhart and Dobrev to be a fun duo surprisingly well-suited for a movie like this, Harlin’s action opus is just begging for a rewrite and a jolt of originality.

There is still life behind the eyes of each weary face and still deep-felt reasons to strive for a better tomorrow, even in the wake of such destruction and desolation.

McQueen has aced the task of translating Stigters’s book, putting her research into an educational and provocative collage and bringing it gracefully to another medium and a wider audience.