THE FAREWELL by Lulu Wang | Trailer
Being a child of immigrants means being caught between two worlds, two cultures, two languages, and two seemingly opposing worldviews. Being a viewer of The Farewell means being caught between laughing and sobbing while sitting in awe of a work of both cultural specificity rarely seen on screen and transcendent universality. Being a child of immigrants means not choosing one side or perspective over another; it’s our acceptance of the combination of the two that makes us who we are. And it’s that same beautiful blend that makes The Farewell an instant classic.
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO by Joe Talbot | Trailer
A surrealist ode to our sense of place, both in the worlds we call home and the stories we tell ourselves. A symphony of cinematic lyricism that aches with false memories of past generations and a future that we’ll never know. In arguably the most unexpected achievement in the year of filmmaking, we learn that, even as we are abandoned by a world we love but no longer recognize, our true home lies within the unshakable bonds with the friends who never leave our side.
LITTLE WOMEN by Greta Gerwig | Trailer
Amy March says she wants “to be great, or nothing”. Greta Gerwig, serving as the fresh voice for the March sisters, is not merely great in her adaptation of the 1868 classic, but arguably the most courageous ever. Her follow-up to 2017’s Lady Bird imbues a sense of modernity without minimizing its traditional core, revamps the timeline to enhance emotional understanding, and augments the original’s metatextual underpinnings for a new generation. A masterpiece both timeless and dazzlingly timely.
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Bi Gan | Trailer
A beguiling reverie that pulls you in, twists you around, and pushes you to abandon preconceived conceptions of time and reality. A story, drenched in yearning, of a man’s search for a woman, or is it a memory, or maybe a fantasy. In his second feature film, most famous for its hour-long conclusion consisting of a single long take in 3D, the young auteur from Guizhou exquisitely blurs the line between cinema and our dreams.
PARASITE by Bong Joon-ho | Trailer
Bong Joon-ho has become a sub-genre unto himself: a singular visionary who mixes tones and themes like a kaleidoscope of paints, bringing forth sublime colors never before witnessed. He expertly juggles heady concepts while never overlooking why he’s juggling in the first place: to entertain with unparalleled aplomb. Bong’s Palme d’Or winner may just be (if such a thing can even be uttered) the most perfect film in recent memory.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE by Céline Sciamma | Trailer
Cinema is fundamentally the art of storytelling through the eyes: a series of looks, glances, and gazes. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is the story of looking and, in a way, the story of cinema. It’s an exploration of our dichotomous need to be seen and to conceal. How the way we see ourselves is merely a refracted reflection of how others see us. Our identities are so wrapped up in looking at ourselves through others that true freedom only arises when one is truly seen. In the veteran French auteur’s richly immaculate romance, you might not be able to look away.
TOY STORY 4 by Pixar | Trailer
Twenty four years after the original. Nine years after one of the greatest conclusions to a flawless trilogy. And yet, in what could have been an easy cash grab, the team at Pixar somehow paves profound new paths in the toys’ existential journey. Josh Cooley’s directorial debut explores some remarkably mature issues of meaning and purpose while maintaining all the charm and soulfulness we’ve come to expect. The perfect balance of the warmth of familiarity with radiant reinvention: a crowning testament of what a franchise can be.
US by Jordan Peele | Trailer
Brimming with ideas and straining under its own ambition, Jordan Peele’s sophomore effort is an electrifying achievement in all of its messiness. Simultaneously a Jackson Pollock and a Michelangelo, depending on your viewing angle, the horror-comedy seeps into your skin and tethers itself to your soul; you ache to disentangle all of its disparate threads. The film may trip over itself with everything it tries to say, but damn it if Peele doesn’t make it look like a ballet.
WAVES by Trey Edward Shults | Trailer
Trey Edward Shults’ third feature pulsates with a kinetic energy that leaves you unnerved and unsteady as you witness a family strive for a sense of artificial perfection threatening to implode at a moment’s notice. Shults has proven to be a master of punishing tension, almost as if to taunt you within the walls of its emotional prison. But the film’s bifurcated narrative demonstrates the filmmaker’s ability to modulate with resonance and to find the glimmers of hope in a shattered world.
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