Author Carmen Paddock

“This is a social experiment!” the peppy school counselor cries, hoping the Jets and Sharks will put aside their war for one dance. The social, economic, and cultural stakes for these teenagers take centre...

The uncanny tips into the unnerving - and then the downright disturbing - with alacrity in Sandra Wollner’s tale of futuristic family trauma. The Trouble With Being Born, in the case of protagonist Ellie, is...

When a film takes every chance at extravagance, the chance of falling is equal or greater to the chance of flying. House of Gucci takes this gamble, and while it might not pay off entirely, the big-budget...

This film was previously reviewed in March 2021 as part of our Berlinale coverage. Not many films can start with three minutes of explicit sex and proceed to be both smarter and more shocking from there,...

Expat florist Jessica wakes to the sudden sound of a mysterious boom. She hears it again walking down the streets of Bogotá, and again having a short rest after visiting her sister Karen in hospital - a...

PhD candidate Sarah (Mensah) sees her young adult life opening up before her. She’s successful in academia - a place she has forged her own path away from her Ghanian, and very Christian, immigrant family....

Absurdity and verisimilitude underpin Neus Ballús’ slice of life comedy following three repairmen on a week of assignments across Barcelona. These run the gamut from mundane to just strange enough to be...

As soon as Richard and Linda arrive at a small middle American church, it is painfully obvious that neither they nor the couple they are meeting (Jay and Gail, who have circled the block a few times) will find...

With prison reform and abolition hot - and necessary - topics today, Antony Spina’s short film imagines a coldly efficient worst case scenario. As the United States prison system reaches capacity, an...

Misery loves company, and this adage holds true in art. While sometimes there is catharsis to be found in a good tragedy, sometimes exploring the ways something or someone can go terribly, irrevocably wrong -...

Ali is a small-time hustler, earning commission every time he brings a big spender to a nightclub, and Lana is the daughter of the most respected stylist - and single mother - in east Amman. But this modern...

A cursory google reveals that the real Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) and Rufus Buck (Idris Elba) were very different figures than those who make hyper-dramatic first impressions in Jeymes Samuel’s...

From its title, 100 Minutes would seem to condense the concept of Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (the film’s Russian title makes this connection more explicit). Instead,...

The greatest strength and weakness of Monte Verità - Stefan Jäger’s Swiss historical drama set in 1906 Locarno - is the fact that it so excellently, yet uncritically, evokes its time. Modern art, dance,...

Nélie (Lyna Khoudri) sees no future for herself on the streets of 1914 Paris. A chance encounter with a Red Cross nurse, however, seems a ticket out of prostitution, and her resourceful work on the front...