The Current Cinema
New Yorker film reviews.
Looking Back on a Fallen Life in “Oh, Canada”
In Paul Schrader’s latest film—his most audacious religious vision yet—a documentarian on his deathbed confesses, on camera, to a lifetime of misdeeds.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” Is a Shattering Epic of Reproach
In Mohammad Rasoulof’s searing film, contemporary social unrest threatens to tear an Iranian family apart.
“Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Offer Nostalgic, Half-Satisfying Showdowns
With a musical return to Oz and a bloody epic of ancient Rome, Hollywood studios double down on blockbuster spectacle.
The Gorgeous Mumbai Rhapsody of “All We Imagine as Light”
Payal Kapadia’s drama of women’s solidarity, a major prize-winner at Cannes, pays radiant homage to a city and its people.
“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” Transcends the Holiday-Movie Genre
Tyler Thomas Taormina’s comedy drama about a Long Island family boasts some of the year’s sharpest characterizations and a strikingly original narrative form.
“Blitz” Uses Classical Storytelling to Advance a Radical Vision of War
In Steve McQueen’s harrowing film, starring Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan, London faces threats from above—and from within.
“Anora” Is a Strip-Club Cinderella Story—and a Farce to Be Reckoned With
Sean Baker’s thrilling film, starring Mikey Madison as a New York sex worker, pushes comic misadventure to the brink of chaos.
How “A Different Man” and “The Substance” Get Under the Skin
In films starring Sebastian Stan and Demi Moore, the directors Aaron Schimberg and Coralie Fargeat satirize the self-annihilating pursuit of beauty.
The Ghoulishly Retro Pleasures of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
The director Tim Burton and the actor Michael Keaton resurrect a classic collaboration with supernatural-screwball verve.
“Between the Temples” Is a Songful, Scathing Jewish American Love Story
Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane bring imagination and energy to Nathan Silver’s high-strung comedy about a grieving cantor and an elder bat-mitzvah student.