Honorable Mentions
- Challengers
- Dune: Part Two
- Hit Man
- The Idea of You
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- Late Night with the Devil
- Love Lies Bleeding
- The People’s Joker
Perhaps befitting of its subject matter, Alex Garland’s fourth feature as writer and director still stands perhaps as the most polarizing movie of the year so far, so count me in the positive camp for Civil War. By centering the film less on a nation defined by its specific disputes, Garland instead focuses on a country defined by hatred. Specifically, hatred for anyone with an opposing viewpoint, or hatred for anyone from a certain part of the country. Perhaps it was serendipitous for Civil War to be released in an election year, but it’s a film that speaks unfortunately well for our divided climate.
Evil Does Not Exist
Take Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s thoughtful pacing, and Hayao Miyazaki’s passion for environmentalism, and you have Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist. The film sees Hamaguchi explore capitalism and how it often clashes not just with the natural world but the lives of those which depend on it. Hamaguchi’s screenplay is more sparse than his Oscar-nominated Drive My Car, but his camera says plenty, by lingering on the mundane, everyday tasks of his small-town characters, and by always keeping nature as the dominant force in the frame. But it’s his commitment to making each character three-dimensional and realistic which keeps the film from being a simple story of corporate greed, as even the “villains” of the story are given time to show their humanity. All eyes were on Hamaguchi after the driveaway success of Drive My Car, but he takes a fascinating swerve with Evil Does Not Exist.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga didn’t need to replicate the magical mayhem of Mad Max: Fury Road, and it’s all the better for it. George Miller’s latest insane vision of post-apocalyptic action filled in a great deal of necessary gaps in its predecessor with a character study on vengeance and control. Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth anchor the film with their own unique energy levels, and Tom Burke provides a welcome presence in a brief role. But the star of the show, as usual, is the action, and Miller’s team delivers once again with stunts and set pieces that rival Fury Road. Action filmmaking doesn’t get much better than Miller’s films, and Furiosa is another worthy entry in the world he’s created.
It can be a tricky proposition when a filmmaker returns to the same well as their previous work, but the format of Girls State – with the same format and the same creative team as 2020’s Boys State – distinguishes itself nicely from its predecessor. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss find instantly sympathetic and engaging subjects in the young girls at the Girls State program in Missouri. That the film was shot during the summer before the overturning of Roe v. Wade provided a fascinating backdrop for conversation across the spectrum. Whether Moss and McBaine return to a different Boys or Girls State program in another four years or not, Girls State shows that there’s an endless number of possibilities within their pseudo franchise.
Nostalgia has become weaponized more and more in recent years, but Jane Schoenbrun’s second feature uses nostalgia as a way to process identity. With I Saw the TV Glow, Schoenbrun tells a story of how a favorite childhood memory – whether it be a TV show, a friendship, or anything – can change one’s sense of self once they reach adulthood. Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine give some of the best performances of the year, capturing the pain of youth’s uncertainty in dark and fascinating ways. Though not explicitly a horror movie, I Saw the TV Glow uses disturbing and haunting imagery and ideas without resorting to cheap schlock or jump scares. That Schoenbrun can do all of this while exploring a queer/trans allegory in such a smart way shows that they’re one of the most interesting new voices in film today.
The Movie State 