drama
Dark Night is based on the events of the Aurora theater shooting; with a detached aesthetic perspective, it is a compelling yet tragic film.
Lost in Florence is a breezy romantic comedy set in Florence, Italy, though don’t expect to get much of a deeper meaning than that from it.
Sleepless is a thriller that occasionally seems passable and avoids some clichés, but still doesn’t quite achieve the level it could have.
20th Century Women is a remarkable character study of women in the 1970s, but it falls just shy of greatness due to its lack of plot.
Patriots Day is a memoir to the tragic events of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, brought to screen both tactfully and honorably.
Films focusing on a very niche subject walk an incredibly fine line. Most of the time if a film is geared on something specifically niche, it’s a fair bet that the writer or director has experience in the subject. This can either work brilliantly in favour of the film, or it can alienate audiences and feel quite awkward to experience.
A Monster Calls is an entertaining and beautifully presented fantasy, which also imbues deeper universal themes of grief and loss.
Kaili Blues is a debut feature that is inspired by many Chinese filmmakers that came before; yet it emerges as a unique and compelling film.
White Girl reflects the embodiment of societal and interpersonal dysfunction while exploring the role of the body in film and in life.
Collateral Beauty is a messy film that is almost saved by its heartwarming theme and performance by Will Smith – though still not quite.
Twenty Twenty-Four is a sci-fi that alerts its audience as to a possible world-ending scenario, though it’s not a complete success.
La La Land is a tribute to classic musicals, yet also attempts something different by subverting the romanticized outlook that they have.
Passengers is a dull sci-fi that is neither saved by its star power nor by the potential of the story which it initially seems to convey.
Despite its length, Toni Erdmann succeeds because of the character study at its core, and also contains one of the best scenes of the year.
Brutal is an unentertaining slog to get through from start to finish, and it should have been abandoned on the very first day of shooting.