This is essential viewing for anyone with a modicum of interest in WWII history. For the odd individuals that don’t have any interest, this is still well worth a watch because of the powerful character study at play.

Eternal Spring is a beautiful film about freedom. It’s also a film that is currently flying under the radar, rife with controversy but is well worth seeking out for a serious evening of cinema.

The emotions of 200 Meters are honest and felt in almost every scene.

The filmmaker plays with our assumptions around justice and race. While A Lot of Nothing uses elements ripped from the headlines, in this context, what you expect to come from it will say more about you than it does the script. The revelation of the final act changes everything that has gone before. Hang onto the edge of your seat for a wickedly entertaining ride.

The cast and crew can take pride in the fact that they’ve crafted one of the more singular experiences of the year.

Cortés’s devotion to creating a film in honor and respect of Little Richard is also one of achievement and understanding for those who have been marginalized for being who they are.

Offering beauty and strength in an oppressed and marginalized world, Eileen breaks the boundaries of perceived power.

The Mission is a straightforward documentary about the life of a Mormon missionary. Nothing controversial happens. It’s a day-in-the-life story. Though Anderson never attempts to proselytize audiences into the LDS religion, there are more than enough opportunities to hear their message.

You People chooses to bounce along from one awkward situation to the next, with little time to let the characters feel like actual people.

Seek out In My Mother’s Skin, only if you wish to experience a grim, old-timey fairy tale. This one is guaranteed to give you nightmares.

Most of the cast is excellent, and the writing is very clever. Couple those elements with the fun, cartoony animation, and one gets a pleasing little family film that, thankfully, does not fit into a specific mold.

I Get Knocked Down is lively and fun. It examines one of the odder songs to become a phenomenon with humor and surprising profundity. Plus, afterwards, you’ll have one helluva song stuck in your head.

On the surface, the plot is simple, but the nuances, keen observations, silences between words, the humanity of it all, and the ease with which the filmmaker effortlessly navigates turbulent currents subtly transform the feature into a complex drama. There are no heroes or villains, no good or bad people, just folks trying to figure themselves and each other out.

What remains undeniable is Englert’s directorial chops. Bad Behaviour is exactly the story she wanted to tell. She couldn’t care less if you hate it or love it, refusing to pander to anyone’s expectations. Good for her. That sort of bad behavior is what makes her stand out as a filmmaker.

If there’s an overriding idea that Broker leaves you with after the tears roll down your cheeks, it is the sense that family transcends familial bloodlines. Family does not have to be something you are born into. Family can be something you can patch together and create.

The Pod Generation is a science-fiction film with something to say and forces us to confront our future by asking questions. Just because we can screw around with biology, should we? Sophie Barthes’ futuristic tale is worth watching just for the conversation that’s bound to happen afterward.

It is an intimate, somber, uncompromising cinematic portrait of a desperate soul in the vein of Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, if it were cross-bred with Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. The film will haunt you long after the lights fade.

This “horror” (used as loosely as possible) debut will only frighten people who get startled by their own shadows every day, as it’s just a slog into nothingness.

In his inevitable next feature, Cronenberg could use more, dare I say, logic and warmth, to counterbalance all the madness and viscera. Otherwise, gorehounds and cineastes: dive right into this viscous pool.

Bolstered by Mark Bradshaw and Marcus Whale’s electronic drone soundtrack and Bonnie Elliott’s atmospheric cinematography, Run Rabbit Run could’ve used some more forward momentum. It lacks outright scares and novelty but makes up for it in some psychological depth. Reid’s film may not reach the profundity it strives for, but how many horror titles even strive for anything these days?

The narrative may prove a bit indeterminate and slow-moving to jaded audiences. Yet it remains an incisive and unusual little tale, which we could certainly use more of these days. That is something I personally think about all the time.

Watching how it was a struggle to get people into the seats even before the pandemic and all the stress that Greg and Tish Laemmle endure is a little tough to watch at times, but Only in Theaters is essential viewing for every filmgoer.

Throughout Hadas Ben Aroya’s All Eyes Off Me, we’re privy to a level of intimacy not often seen.

House Party puts out quite the spread and has put effort into its lights and music. But nothing that happens will give us any inspiration to accept an invite to future festivities.

Detective Knight: Independence is a must-see for fans of Bruce Willis. Those who are into the action genre as well should check it out because of the added character depth and cast.

Chess Story is a subtle, soft-spoken killer of a film. It’s absolutely worth your time if you like World War II-era dramas. Seek it out.

In the end, Plane is a high-adventure thrill ride. Unplug your brain. Suspend disbelief and strap in. No lectures, moralizing, or virtue signaling. Just an everyman trying to get home to his family. It may also serve as motivation to take a few wilderness survival courses.

It’s a heartwarming tale about finding life after loss and finding the good in others. Unfortunately, like a Hallmark film, it’s wrapped up in a lot of schmaltz.