Tag: Berlin International Film Festival

Review: ‘Dreams’ (2025), starring Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, Marshall Bell and Rupert Friend

March 1, 2026

by Carla Hay

Isaac Hernández and Jessica Chastain in “Dreams” (Photo courtesy of Teorema/Greenwich Entertainment)

“Dreams” (2025)

Directed by Michel Franco

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in the United States and in Mexico, the dramatic film “Dreams” features a predominantly white and Latin cast of characters (with some Asians and African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A rich middle-aged socialite and an undocumented immigrant dancer, who’s about 10 to 15 years younger than she is, have a torrid and scandalous affair, which is affected by their differences in socioeconomic status, racial identities, ages, U.S. citizenship status, and their conflicting expectations of what they want out of this relationship.

Culture Audience: “Dreams” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and dramas about age-gap sexual relationships that show some of life’s harsh realities.

Isaac Hernández, Rupert Friend and Jessica Chastain in “Dreams” (Photo courtesy of Teorema/Greenwich Entertainment)

Flawed but well-acted and very compelling, “Dreams” subverts expectations of stories about two obsessive lovers who come from very different worlds. People who want this drama to be an underdog romance or a “Fatal Attraction”-type movie will be disappointed. “Dreams” has a lot to say about the central couple’s differences in their socioeconomic status, racial identities, ages and U.S. citizenship status. However, when the story takes a very dark turn in the last third of the movie, the intent is to show how similar these two people are when they make certain decisions to get what they want.

Written and directed by Michel Franco, “Dreams” had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. The movie takes place in various parts of the United States and in Mexico, but most of the story happens in San Francisco and in Mexico City. “Dreams” was filmed on location in San Francisco.

“Dreams” begins in a remote outdoor field in San Antonio, Texas. A group of undocumented Latin American immigrants are locked inside a large truck overnight by the traffickers who illegally transported them there and have temporarily left the immigrants in the truck. The immigrants are panicking and shouting to be let out of the truck.

Eventually, the traffickers open the back door of the truck and order the immigrants to get into another vehicle. However, one of these immigrants—a Mexican man in his early-to-mid 30s named Fernando Rodríguez (played by Isaac Hernández)—decides he’s had enough of being treated like cattle. Fernando walks away by himself, into the field and toward the highway, where he hopes to find motorists who are willing to take him to San Francisco.

Fernando ends up getting several rides until he reaches his destination: an upscale San Francisco townhouse, which he enters. Fernando slips into a bedroom, takes off his clothes, and goes to sleep in the bed. The townhouse’s owner—Jennifer McCarthy (played by Jessica Chastain), a wealthy philanthropist bachelorette in her mid-to-late 40s—arrives home at night and sees Fernando sleeping in her bed. Jennifer calmly asks Fernando how he got there, and he tells her. Jennifer and Fernando then have sex, in one of the movie’s sex scenes that are erotic but not overly graphic.

Who is Fernando and why did he go through the risks of coming to the United States illegally? Bits and pieces of information are revealed in conversations throughout the movie. Fernando is an aspiring professional ballet dancer from Mexico City. He met Jennifer in Mexico City, when he was a student at one of the dance schools and arts programs that get funding from the non-profit foundation that Jennifer co-founded with her younger brother Jake McCarthy (played by Rupert Friend), who also lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jennifer and Jake are the children of a powerful San Francisco-based business mogul named Michael McCarthy (played by Marshall Bell), a widower whose fortune is the backbone of his children’s philanthropic efforts. Jake and Jennifer take pride in helping young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Jennifer and Jake also work for the family’s company, whose specialty is in property development.

Jake is married with children. Jennifer is a divorced loner who is medically infertile. Jake and Jennifer have a cordial sibling relationship. However, there are indications that they’ve had a long-term sibling rivalry over who will get their father’s approval the most. This rivalry is seen when Jennifer and Jake have their occasional bickering.

“Dreams” does not have flashbacks showing how Jennifer’s affair with Fernando began. However, the relationship is passionate enough where Fernando decided to leave his life behind in Mexico to become an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco. It seems as if Jennifer casually told Fernando that he could stay with her if he was ever in San Francisco, but she didn’t think he would take up this offer by illegally crossing the U.S. border to live in San Francisco.

Although Jennifer offers to give Fernando money for financial support, Fernando (who comes from a middle-class family) has no intention of being Jennifer’s “kept man” because he wants to make his own money as a professional dancer. He’s willing to take menial jobs to support himself as he works toward this goal. Later in the movie, Fernando reveals that he was deported from the U.S. years before he knew Jennifer.

A few scenes in the movie show Fernando’s unnamed parents have different reactions to Fernando and Jennifer’s unorthodox relationship. Fernando’s father (played by Eligio Meléndez) is mostly neutral and doesn’t really tell Fernando what to do with his life. Fernando’s mother (played by Mercedes Hernández) is very outspoken in telling Fernando and Jennifer that she disapproves of their relationship because Fernando’s mother says that Jennifer has hurt Fernando before. Needless to say, Fernando’s mother wants him to break up with Jennifer and come back to Mexico City.

At first, Jennifer and Fernando spend a blissful few weeks in each other’s company after he arrives in San Francisco. But then, Fernando sees indications that Jennifer is not ready to fully let Fernando inside her high-society world. Fernando asks Jennifer if she’s embarrassed by him. Jennifer denies it, but Fernando feels continuously disrespected by Jennifer and feels growing resentment toward her that she’s treating him like a “boy toy” or plaything.

This review won’t reveal what happens in this relationship except to say it’s volatile and goes through some twists and turns. The trailer for “Dreams” shows Jennifer stalking Fernando after a breakup. But that’s only part of what happens in the movie.

Jennifer and Fernando care about each other, but is it love? That’s highly debatable. And what do they want out of their relationship besides sex? The movie tends to wander in some scenes, but “Dreams” should maintain the interest of viewers who are curious about what will happen next in this story that can be considered a psychological thriller.

Chastain gives a nuanced and complex performance as Jennifer, who has dual sides to her personality. Jennifer is level-headed and professional in the workplace, but when it comes to her personal life, Jennifer is impulsive and deeply insecure. Hernández’s performance is a little rough around the edges (and so is Fernando’s personality), but he has a naturalistic style that makes Fernando a believable character. The other cast members’ performances are serviceable.

“Dreams” isn’t really a movie about sex or love. It’s about power, control, and what people might do to get, take or hold on to power and control. “Dreams” shows the perspectives of Jennifer and Fernando, as they get caught up in a toxic relationship where their differences both fuel and defy the power struggles in the relationship. It’s a movie that’s intended to make people uncomfortable because it doesn’t follow a typical formula and it doesn’t take a morality stance on some of the awful things that happen in the story.

The movie’s direction and tone skillfully convey the anxieties that each person in the relationship feels. Fernando lives in fear of being reported to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and becomes alarmed when Jennifer refuses to accept a breakup that Fernando initiates. Jennifer lives in fear of losing control of her double life that she enjoys having (Fernando in one part of her life, and her family in another) and becomes alarmed when she feels that her power is being challenged or taken away.

“Dreams” also depicts the different forms of bigotry that can occur when two people in this type of relationship come from very different backgrounds and demographics. Jennifer and her family have a subtle type of racism, where they think they’re not racists because they do a lot of charity work that benefits a lot of people of color. However, the McCarthy family’s white supremacist racism is shown by how the McCarthys are only comfortable being around people who aren’t white if the people who aren’t white are in subservient or inferior positions to white people such as the McCarthys.

“Dreams” is a divisive movie that will frustrate or annoy people who expect the story to go a certain way, based on how this type of relationship is depicted in many other films. The movie asks provocative questions about how much trust people can have in sex partners whom they might not know very well. There are also disturbing depictions of what certain people will do if they think someone has destroyed that trust or threatens to upend their ideas of how they want their lives to be. Far from being a safe and romantic story, “Dreams” could have this adage as a subtitle: “Life is not a fairytale.”

Greenwich Entertainment released “Dreams” in select U.S. cinemas on February 27, 2026. The movie was released in Mexico on September 11, 2025.

Review: ‘BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions,’ starring Kaneza Schaal, Peter Jay Fernandez, Hope Giselle and Shaunette Renée Wilson

December 9, 2025

by Carla Hay

A scene from “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” (Photo courtesy of Rich Spirit)

“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions”

Directed by Kahlil Joseph

Culture Representation: The non-fiction film “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” features a predominantly African American group of people (with a few white people) in a montage collection of images that evoke pages from the non-fiction book “Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.”

Culture Clash: Various cultures and eras are represented in the movie, which includes archival news footage, still photos, re-enactment footage, and clips from movies and TV shows.

Culture Audience: “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in unconventional movies that explore African and African American cultures.

A scene from “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” (Photo courtesy of Rich Spirit)

“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” is more of a visual feast than a wealth of information. It’s formatted less like a documentary and more like a museum art installation that interprets the 1999 non-fiction book “Africana.” These visual images include archival news footage, still photographs, re-enactment footage, and clips from movies and TV shows.

Directed by Kahlil Joseph, “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” is his feature-film directorial debut. “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and made the rounds at several other festivals in 2025, including the Berlin International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. Kwame Anthony Appiah’s 1999 book “Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience” is given a cinematic portrait in this movie, which takes pages from the book in non-sequential order and assigns visual images to those pages.

The movie begins with an image of someone (whose hands are only shown on screen) opening the book. A caption from director Joseph explains that he and his younger brother got the book as a gift from their father on February 28, 2000. It was the dream of sociologist/writer/scholar W.E.B. Du Buois to write this type of book. He started the project at six months before he died in 1963, at the age of 95.

The movie includes details of Dubois’ 1962 visit to newly independent Ghana, at the invitation of president Kwame Nkrumah. In the movie’s re-enactment footage, Peter Jay Fernandez portrays an elderly Du Bois, while Kaneza Schaal has the role of young adult Du Bois. To give further context the Ghanaian history presented in the movie, “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” include 2023 news footage Business Incorporated about Ghana’s economy in 2023.

The movie’s still photos fly quickly by in montage form, showing a wide variety of prominent public figures, historical events and lifestyles from African and African American cultures. Some of what’s included in these montages are images of jazz, James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Rastafarianism, Jamaica, Marcus Garvey, Whitney Houston, Willie Mays, voodoo, and Haiti.

“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” also features Shaunette Renée Wilson as a journalist named Sarah, who is investigating an exhibit of new and artifact items that have been returned. This scene couldn’t be more timely during a political climate when museums devoted to African and African American culture have come under anti-“DEI” attacking criticisms that sometimes demand the removal of certain items in these museums that present the shameful history of racism against black people. The anti-DEI critics often argue that these items are “racist” against white people.

Other people featured in “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” include transgender activist/author Hope Giselle and Bria Henderson as American feminist Fannie Lou Hamer. The movie experiments with images, such as showing a photo of people in an African American barbershop that has a video screen with these words superimposed on the screen: “Radical Critique of the Present. BLKNWS 2017- Present.”

Joseph has a background in directing music videos (he’s collaborated with Beyoncé multiple times, most notably for her 2016 “Lemonade” video album), so the quick-cutting visual style of music videos is very much present in “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions.” It’s an adventurous and unconventional film that won’t be to everyone’s liking if a viewer is seeking a more traditional format for a non-fiction movie. A captioned announcement in the beginning of the film emphatically states: “This is not a documentary.” “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” is a collage of images that can take viewers on a somewhat shallow but interesting journey.

Rich Spirit released “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” in select U.S. cinemas on November 26, 2025.

Review: ‘Blue Moon’ (2025), starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott

October 26, 2025

by Carla Hay

Margaret Qualley and Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon” (Photo by Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics)

“Blue Moon” (2025)

Directed by Richard Linklater

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City on March 31, 1943, the dramatic film “Blue Moon” (based on real letters written between Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart and an unidentified young woman) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Lorenz Hart experiences highs and lows on the night that his former songwriting partner Richard Rodgers has immediate success with the musical “Oklahoma!,” while a young woman, whom Hart is infatuated with, tells him how she feels about their relationship.

Culture Audience: “Blue Moon” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker Richard Linklater, Broadway artists of the 20th century, and well-acted movies about artists who have to come to terms with being past their prime.

Andrew Scott and and Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon” (Photo by Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures Classics)

“Blue Moon” is an exquisite, bittersweet drama about a night in the life of Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart in 1943, when his career and personal life were in a downward spiral. Ethan Hawke gives an outstanding performance in this gem of a movie. “Blue Moon” (which takes place in mostly one location) could easily have been a stage play, but there are cinematic touches and visuals that make this story a much richer experience as a movie.

Directed by Richard Linklater and written by Robert Kaplow, “Blue Moon” had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival, where “Blue Moon” co-star Andrew Scott (who plays Richard Rodgers in the movie) won the prize for Best Supporting Performance. “Blue Moon” subsequently screened at other film festivals in 2025, including the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.

“Blue Moon” takes place in New York City, on the night of March 31, 1943. The movie was actually filmed in Ireland. Although the “Blue Moon” screenplay is an original screenplay, it’s inspired by real-life letters that Hart wrote to an unidentified woman, whose first name was Elizabeth, when he was in his late 40s and she was in her early 20s. For the purposes of this review, the real people are referred to by their last names, while the characters in the movie are referred to by their first names.

Before the main story begins, “Blue Moon” opens with a flash-forward to November 1943, when an inebriated Lorenz “Larry” Hart (played by Ethan Hawke) is seen stumbling in a dark alley on a rainy night. As he lies down on the ground, a voiceover narration of a news radio report says that he died of pneumonia. It’s implied that he caught pneumonia from being out on this rainy night. (In real life, Hart died of pneumonia on November 22, 1943. He was 48.)

A caption on screen then shows what happened to Lorenz seven months earlier, on the night of March 31, 1943. It’s the opening night of the Broadway musical “Oklahoma!,” the first project from Lorenz’s estranged songwriting partner Richard “Dick” Rodgers (played by Scott) since Richard temporarily parted ways with Lorenz. Richard, who is a music composer, has a new lyricist for a songwriting partner—Oscar Hammerstein (played by Simon Delaney)—who is his collaborator on “Oklahoma!” The duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein would go on to become the most successful Broadway musical songwriting duo of all time, with hits such as “Oklahoma!,” “The Sound of Music,” The King and I,” “South Pacific” and “Carousel.”

Conversations in “Blue Moon” later reveal that Richard parted ways with Lorenz because Richard grew tired of Lorenz being unreliable and erratic, due to Lorenz’s alcoholism. Richard now wants a songwriting partner who’s able to work during regular office hours and whom he doesn’t have to worry about going missing for days at a time. The end of the partnership wasn’t completely permanent or entirely bitter—in real life, Rodgers and Hart resumed working together until Hart’s death—but this separation didn’t go as smoothly as Lorenz would like people to think it did.

Before the end of the partnership between Richard and Lorenz, they worked together for about 25 years and had Broadway musical hits such as “Pal Joey,” “The Boys from Syracuse,” “Babes in Arms” and “On Your Toes.” The Rodgers/Hart collaboration also resulted in classic songs such as “My Funny Valentine,” “Isn’t It Romantic?,” “With a Song in My Heart,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Where or When,” “My Heart Stood Still,” “Manhattan,” “Bewitched,” “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” and “Blue Moon.” As time went on, it became apparent that the former duo also separated because of artistic differences. Lorenz prefers satire that could be controversial, while Richard wants to do more earnest and mainstream musicals.

Lorenz and Richard also have different lifestyles. Lorenz is a never-married bachelor who has no children, lives with his mother, and loves to party all night, with no strict work schedule. Richard is a married father who prefers to have a consistent work schedule during the day.

Lorenz’s sexuality is not explicitly identified in the movie, just like it wasn’t in real life. However, in the movie, Lorenz essentially says that he’s not heterosexual when he openly declares that he’s attracted to beauty, regardless of gender. His short height (reportedly about 5 feet tall) and vague sexual identity no doubt affected his love life.

On the night of “Oklahoma!’s” Broadway opening, Lorenz is sitting in a balcony of the St. James Theatre with his mother Frieda Hart (played by Anne Brogan) as they watch the show. Lorenz pretends to be enjoying himself, but he’s actually miserable when he’s watching this musical. (“Oklahoma!,” based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play “Green Grow the Lilacs,” is a love story set in 1906 Oklahoma, before it became a U.S. state.) Before the show ends, Lorenz excuses himself and heads over to Sardi’s, a restaurant/bar that is famous for being a hangout for people who work in theatrical stage productions. The rest of the movie’s story takes place at Sardi’s.

When Lorenz arrives at Sardi’s, the place is almost empty because it’s implied that almost everyone who’s anybody in Broadway is at the St. James Theatre for the “Oklahoma!” opening-night performance. Sardi’s will eventually fill up with people arriving from the performance, including Richard and Oscar. But before that happens, Lorenz goes on rants to anyone who’ll listen about how much he thinks “Oklahoma!” is a trite and hollow sell-out of a musical.

Lorenz says about “Oklahoma!” in one of this intellectual tirades: “The show is fraudulent on every possible level.” Lorenz admits that “Oklahoma!” is going to be a smash hit, but he also says he wouldn’t want to be associated with writing such a creatively weak musical. Lorenz says haughtily, “‘Oklahoma!’ is nostalgic for a world that never existed.” Lorenz also expresses annoyance that the musical’s title has an exclamation point at the end.

At this point in the night, the only people who are actually listening to Lorenz’s pretentious and sarcastic ramblings are bartender Eddie Barcadi (played by Bobby Cannavale) and piano player Morty “Knuckles” Rifkin (played by Jonah Lees), who is an aspiring musical composer. Morty uses the stage name Morty Rafferty and wants to meet Richard. During the course of the night, Lorenz gets a rude awakening that people would rather talk to Richard than talk to Lorenz.

Congratulations bouquets and vases of flowers start arriving at Sardi’s for the “Oklahoma!” creators. Lorenz somewhat flirts with the flower delivery guy named Troy (played by Giles Surridge), but Lorenz says Troy looks like he’s named Sven, so Lorenz calls him Sven. Lorenz invites Troy/Sven to a party that Lorenz says he’s having at his home that night. Troy/Sven thanks Lorenz for the invitation but says it in a way that indicates that this delivery guy is just being polite and has no intention of going to this party, where Lorenz would probably flirt with him some more.

There’s someone else who is actually preoccupying 47-year-old Lorenz’s thoughts as his current “love interest.” Elizabeth Weiland (played by Margaret Qualley) is a 20-year-old statuesque blonde beauty, who is a sophomore at the Yale School of Fine Arts. Elizabeth is an aspiring actress whom Lorenz has been mentoring, and she is expected to meet up with Lorenz at Sardi’s later that night. Lorenz is completely infatuated with Elizabeth, but their relationship is strictly platonic. Lorenz tells bartender Eddie that his relationship with Elizabeth is “beyond sex.”

“I’m ambisexual,” Lorenz jokes to Eddie. “I can jerk off easily to either hand. But to be a writer, you have to be omnisexual. How can you give birth to the whole chorus of the world if the whole chorus of the world isn’t already deep inside you?” Lorenz also mentions that he likes to call Elizabeth “my irreplaceable Elizabeth.” Lorenz says he’s aware that Elizabeth’s mother (who might accompany Elizabeth to Sardi’s on this night) doesn’t approve and is suspicious of his relationship with Elizabeth.

A writer named E.B. White (played by Patrick Kennedy), who is at Sardi’s by himself, gets pulled into Lorenz’s conversation at the bar when Lorenz starts talking to him. Elizabeth, Richard and Oscar all eventually show up at Sardi’s. Lorenz’s attitude toward “Oklahoma!” then goes from scathing to praising, as he effusively compliments Richard and Oscar on their first musical together. It’s all a showbiz fakery game because Lorenz wants to work with Richard again to revive their musical “A Connecticut Yankee” with four or five new songs written by Lorenz and Richard.

“Blue Moon” is very effective in showing how Lorenz’s alcohol-fueled cockiness is a mask for his insecurities. These insecurities are like open wounds that get further exacerbated when he sees how his value as an artist is diminished, now that he is no longer Richard’s songwriting partner. Katherine greatly admires Lorenz. But is this adoration based on real friendship or social climbing? It’s impossible for Lorenz not to notice that Katherine eagerly reminds him that she wants Lorenz to introduce her to Richard.

To achieve the illusion that Lorenz is shorter than everyone else in the room, Hawke is often seen only from the waist up or sitting down. He also wore oversized costumes, and some of the production design is oversized. The makeup and hairstyling for the Lorenz character are fairly adequate, but the skull cap that Hawke wears in “Blue Moon” (to create the illusion of baldness) is very noticeable, especially if “Blue Moon” is seen on a big-enough screen.

Hawke’s captivating performance is really what matters more than how much he might or might not physically resemble Hart in the movie. Scott (who is British in real life) is also exemplary as Richard and has a pitch-perfect New York accent in his performance. Qualley does well in her role, but there’s not too much depth to the character of Katherine. Katherine’s biggest scene in the movie is when she tells Lorenz a long-winded story about being rejected by a Yale student she has a crush on named Cooper, who cut off contact with Katherine after she had a one-night stand with him. It’s in this scene that Katherine clearly states what type of relationship she wants with Lorenz.

“Blue Moon” has the benefit of a very talented cast, a fantastic screenplay and skillful direction. The movie’s heart and soul of “Blue Moon” can be found in Hawke’s performance. People who have no interest in 1940s American showbiz might have trouble connecting to this movie. The language and acting styles in “Blue Moon” are so indicative of the times, it’s like being transported back to the era in which the movie takes place. You don’t have to be a Broadway musical enthusiast to be impressed with “Blue Moon,” which is essentially about how self-destructive tendencies and showbiz fickleness can turn a celebrated star into a fading has-been.

Sony Pictures Classics released “Blue Moon” in select U.S. cinemas on October 17, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on October 24, 2025.

Review: ‘Peter Hujar’s Day,’ starring Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall

October 23, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall in “Peter Hujar’s Day” (Photo courtesy of Janus Films and Sideshow)

“Peter Hujar’s Day”

Directed by Ira Sachs

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, on December 19, 1974, the dramatic film “Peter Hujar’s Day” (based on a real-life audio-recorded interview) features an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: In an interview recorded on reel-to-reel tape, photographer Peter Hujar tells writer Linda Rosencrantz what he did the day before.

Culture Audience: “Peter Hujar’s Day” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, photographer Peter Hujar, and movies about people in New York City’s artistic scene in the 1970s.

Rebecca Hall and Ben Whishaw in “Peter Hujar’s Day” (Photo courtesy of Janus Films and Sideshow)

“Peter Hujar’s Day” has a compelling depiction of a real-life 1974 interview between photographer Peter Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz. It’s a ‘slice of life’ film about a conversation that might not hold everyone’s interest, even with good acting. Viewers who are most likely to enjoy the movie are those who want to get a re-enacted peek into a day in the life of a New York City-based portrait photographer who blurred the lines between mainstream and underground. (Hujar died of AIDS in 1987. He was 53.)

Written and directed by Ira Sachs, “Peter Hujar’s Day” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and made the rounds at other film festivals in 2025, such as the Berlin International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the Rome Film Festival. The movie takes place in only one location (the apartment building where Hujar lived in Manhattan’s East Village) and has only two people who are shown speaking in the entire movie: Peter Hujar (played by Ben Whishaw) and Linda Rosenkrantz (played by Rebecca Hall). For the purposes of this review, the real people will be referred to by their last names, while the characters in the movie will be referred to by their first names.

“Peter Hujar’s Day” clocks in at 76 minutes, which is the right amount of time for the type of conversation portrayed in the movie. Anything longer than 90 minutes for this movie would test the patience of most viewers, because a great deal of “Peter Hujar’s Day” consists of stream-of-consciousness rambling. “Peter Hujar’s Day” writer/director Sachs originally conceived the movie as a short film. And at times, it’s easy to wonder if “Peter Hujar’s Day” would’ve been better as a short film, as Peter tends to drone on and on about things that are quite trivial and would interest only a very specific and niche audience.

An opening caption explains that the interview took place on December 19, 1974, for a book that Rosenkrantz was writing but which never got published. She recorded the interview on a reel-to-reel tape. The dialogue in the movie is based on this audio recording, which wasn’t discovered until 2019.

“Peter Hujar’s Day” is made to look like this interview was filmed in 1974. The footage has a grainy Super 8mm quality and aspect ratio that would’ve been used in the mid-1970s. Peter and Linda talk mostly inside his apartment unit, but some of their conversation takes place on the roof of the apartment building, located above the Eden Theater. Fun fact: In 1974, Hujar was living and working in a loft where actor/singer Jackie Curtis (an occasional drag queen) used to live.

The interview is more like a casual conversation. Linda doesn’t have a prepared list of questions for this interview. Her follow-up questions are based on whatever Peter says. Peter is asked to describe what he did the day before. His response is a steady flow of comments and descriptions—sometimes wryly observant, sometimes gossipy, sometimes vulnerable.

At this point in his career, Hujar (whose specialty was portrait photos using black-and-white film) is getting assignments from mainstream publications, such as The New York Times and Elle, but he was still doing his own edgy photos that are displayed in galleries. Openly gay Hujar often featured homoeroticism in his photographs. Hujar’s work inspired the work of photographers David Wojnarowicz and Robert Mapplethorpe. Wojnarowicz was an ex-over of Hujar’s who became Hujar’s protégé.

In “Peter Hujar’s Day,” Peter admits he has a habit of name-dropping, although he dislikes it when other people name drop. He name drops writer Susan Sontag when he talks about someone he knows who wanted Max Kozloff (who was an editor at Artforum at the time) to write a book introduction. Peter says he told the person seeking Kozloff’s contact information: “I don’t know Max Kozloff. Why don’t you ask Susan Sontag?”

Peter also dishes some details about how famed poet Allen Ginsberg acted when Peter went to Ginsberg’s apartment to photograph Ginsberg for a New York Times feature article. Peter tells Linda that he was shocked that Ginsberg lived a dumpy apartment that looked like it belonged in a “run-down tenement,” linoleum floors and all. According to Peter, he and Ginsberg did not get off to a great start because Ginsberg didn’t know and didn’t want the photos to be portrait-styled.

After some back-and-forth arguing, where Peter says he told Ginsberg that The New York Times gave a non-negotiable assignment to take portrait photos, Ginsberg eventually relented and agreed to pose for portrait photos. According to Peter, Ginsberg relaxed a little during the photo session. During his conversation with Ginbserg, Peter said Ginsberg advised Peter that if Peter ever got to photograph writer William Burroughs, then Peter should give Burroughs oral sex, even though Ginsberg supposedly said that Burroughs preferred “WASP-y prep school boys.”

Peter’s surprise about Ginsberg’s living conditions is an example of how many celebrated artists of that era were not doing well financially. Peter gives insight into why, when he admits to Linda that he—like many artists—cannot be business-savvy at all. Peter says he often doesn’t keep track of how much he’s supposed to paid for assignments, or even if he’s been paid at all.

Peter also says it’s not uncommon for him to give his photos and negatives to a stranger who shows up at his apartment and says they’re from the media outlet that gave him the assignment, but Peter doesn’t verify who that person is when he hands over these items. He mentions this after saying that a girl from Elle is supposed to come over to his place to pick up some photos, and he wonders out loud what it would be like if she seduced him.

Even though Linda does not approach the interview as an intense interrogator, she doesn’t let Peter’s inconsistencies and contradictions slide. Throughout this interview, Peter occasionally admits that he what he’s saying might not be entirely true. He’s a raconteur who’s an unreliable narrator.

He also makes catty remarks about colleagues, such as saying that artist Ed Baynard has a tendency to be long-winded and is “insane” for how long Baynard keeps people on the phone. In another comment, he remarks that model Lauren Hutton is “beautiful” but “looks like a man.” In other comments, he speculates about who might be sleeping with whom in his community of New York queer artists who are getting international recognition.

Whishaw gives an impressive performance as Peter, who is quite the motormouth and who doesn’t know the meaning of “less is more” when talking about himself. Hall’s performance as Linda is much more measured and calmer, since Linda’s role is mainly to listen to Peter talk about whatever he wants. Aside from a few artsy interlude shots that look like Peter and Linda are posing for dream-like portraits, “Peter Hujar’s Day” is really a filmed conversation. Whether not a viewer will feel curious or checked-out of this conversation will depend entirely on a viewer’s regard for New York artists in the 1970s.

Janus Films and Sideshow will release “Peter Hujar’s Day” in select U.S. cinemas on November 7, 2025.

Review: ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’ starring Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald and A$AP Rocky

October 3, 2025

by Carla Hay

Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (Photo by Logan White/A24)

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”

Directed by Mary Bronstein

Culture Representation: Taking place on New York’s Long Island, the comedy/drama film “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A therapist begins to mentally unravel while caring for her sick child, and several other stressful things happen to her.

Culture Audience: “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and dramas that take a surrealistic and dark comedy look at motherhood and caregiving.

A$AP Rocky and Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (Photo by Logan White/A24)

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” delves deep into the unraveling psyche of a sick child’s caregiver mother, who cracks under the pressure of feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated. Rose Byrne’s performance is a master class in anxious empathy and tragicomedy. The movie has surrealistic and absurd elements but remains realistic when making viewers think about who’s looking after the well-being of caregivers.

Written and directed by Mary Bronstein, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” had it world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has since made the rounds at other film festivals in 2025, including Berlin International Film Festival (where Byrne won the prize for Best Lead Performance), the Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” takes place on New York’s Long Island, where the movie was filmed on location.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” begins by showing frazzled mother Linda (played by Byrne) in a doctor’s meeting with Linda’s only child: a daughter named Phoebe (played by Delaney Quinn), who’s about 7 or 8 years old. Phoebe’s face is not shown in the movie until a pivotal point in the story.

This meeting is to discuss any progress in Phoebe’s medical condition, but Phoebe has told the doctor that she’s worried about her mother being “stretchable” like “putty.” Phoebe also tells the doctor that her mother is “sad.” Linda tries to appear calm and tells the doctor that’s she’s not “stretchable” and is definitely not “sad.” Linda wants to give the impression that she’s got everything under control.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” doesn’t reveal right away why Phoebe is under medical care. However, it’s shown through flashbacks, conversations and other snippets of information that Phoebe has a mental illness that has made her afraid to eat food. Therefore, Phoebe has to be fed through a feeding tube that is inserted into her stomach, with the feeding usually done at night when she’s asleep. Phoebe was hospitalized for an unnamed period of time, but she is now getting outpatient care. The family has a feeding tube machine in their rented apartment.

Phoebe also has other anxieties. She is terrified of dying and doesn’t like to stay away from Linda for too long. Phoebe goes to school during the day, but it’s hard for her to make friends. Linda’s husband Charles (played by Christian Slater) is away for eight weeks because of his job in the U.S. military. Linda, who works as a psychotherapist in the Long Island hamlet of Montauk, doesn’t have any help in taking care of Phoebe when Charles is away.

Linda thinks Phoebe is well enough to no longer need the feeding tube. However, Linda is told by the hospital’s medical professional that the feeding tube can’t be removed until Phoebe reaches a minimum weight that Phoebe has not yet reached. If Phoebe doesn’t reach this weight by a specific deadline, Linda could be considered an irresponsible caregiver, and the hospital could decline the health insurance coverage for Phoebe.

Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, something happens that sets off a chain of events leading to one stress after another for Linda. Water suddenly gushes out from a bedroom ceiling in the family’s apartment, leaving a large hole in the ceiling and significant water damage in the room and other rooms in the apartment. When Linda looks up at the hole, she sees what can only be described as firefly-type lighting in an abyss-like galaxy. It’s the first indication that Linda might be losing some grip on reality.

Linda’s inattentive landlord (played by Manu Narayan) is responsible for repairing the damage. In the meantime, Linda decides to temporarily live in a motel with Phoebe while still maintaining a full-time work schedule. Being in this new and uncomfortable environment is a catalyst for Linda taking a very difficult and emotionally painful look at the toll it takes on her to try to be a “supermom.”

During this nerve-racking time in Linda’s life, the medical professionals who are supposed to help Linda are cold and clinical in their interactions with Linda. Her unnamed therapist (played by Conan O’Brien), who works on the same building floor as Linda, barely tolerates her and doesn’t seem to like her at all. Phoebe’s physician Dr. Spring (played by Bronstein) only talks to Linda about Phoebe, in terms of the weight that Phoebe is supposed to have and trying to get Linda to set their next appointment.

Linda finds some emotional comfort with an unexpected person: James, nicknamed Jamie (played by A$AP Rocky), a stoner maintenance employee at the motel. James is kind to Linda, while his front-desk co-worker Melanie (played by Amy Judd Lieberman) is rude. The movie also shows Linda in therapy sessions with clients Stephen (played by Daniel Zolghadri), Kate (played by Ella Beatty), Eva (played by Helen Hong) and Caroline (played by Danielle Macdonald).

Caroline, who is the mother of a baby boy named Riley, is extremely paranoid about leaving Riley with anyone who isn’t Caroline. Caroline brings Riley to the therapy sessions, which make Linda feel guilty because while Caroline appears to be a doting and overprotective mother, Linda is becoming an increasingly impatient and irritable mother. When Phoebe is asleep, Linda often leaves the motel room so she can have time for herself.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” shows how a mental breakdown can sneak up on someone if that person isn’t getting the proper mental health care. Stresses can accumulate like a dripping water faucet can cause water to accumulate until there’s an overflow that can cause damage. And sometimes, all it takes is one bad day for someone who go into a mental health freefall.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” isn’t a completely depressing movie. The story shows some comedic moments (usually those involving Linda and James), especially in how Linda seeks to relieve some of her stress through alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. A scene in the movie reveals that even if Charles had been home during this time, he would still expect Linda to do the vast majority of the caregiving while she still works full-time.

Linda can be petulant, flaky, and self-absorbed, but she’s also well-intentioned and usually tries her best to be a good parent. In other words, she’s thoroughly human and realistically flawed. And considering the circumstances she’s under, no one should be expected to be perfect.

However, as much as society expects caregivers (especially female caregivers) to be expert multi-taskers, Linda puts a lot of this pressure on herself too. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Linda attends a caregiver support group led by Dr. Spring and gives an outspoken rant that goes against what Dr. Spring is saying to counsel the support group. It’s in this scene where Linda shows a lot of self-loathing for not meeting her own expectations of who she wants to be as a caregiver and as a mother.

Although all the cast members do well in their roles, Byrne gives the movie its emotionally authentic core and foundation—even when the story and direction tend to wander into episodic scenes that resemble a sitcom. A few of the subplots seem thrown into the story to stretch the movie’s runtime. And the movie’s forays into surrealism sometimes look “try hard” awkward and might alienate some viewers.

Some viewers might also have issues with how Linda (and the movie, by extension) can take for granted that Linda is privileged, compared to other people with the same problems. However, not every movie has to be about people experiencing poverty or oppression. “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is an impactful look at how mental distress doesn’t discriminate, being a “supermom” is near-impossible standard, and caregivers need people looking after them too.

A24 will release “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” in select U.S. cinemas on October 10, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on October 24, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on November 18, 2025.

Review: ‘Architecton,’ starring Michele De Lucchi, Victor Kossakovsky, Mauro Mella, Davide Alioli, Nick Steur, Abdul Nabi al-Afi and Maksim Gaubetc

August 4, 2025

by Carla Hay

A scene from “Architecton” (Photo courtesy of A24)

“Architecton”

Directed by Victor Kossakovsky

Italian, French and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Filmed mostly in Europe and in Asia, the documentary film “Architecton” features a predominantly white group of people (with one Middle Eastern person) who are connected in some way to concrete structures.

Culture Clash: People have various opinions on what is attractive in the use of concrete for buildings and destruction.

Culture Audience: “Architecton” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky and nature documentaries.

Michele De Lucchi and Victor Kossakovsky in “Architecton” (Photo courtesy of A24)

The documentary “Architecton” gives an uneven but still immersive look at the beauty, ugliness and everything in between about architecture made of stone or concrete. The movie’s dialogue scenes distract from the majestic nature scenes. “Architecton” (which had its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival) probably would’ve been a better movie if it had no spoken words.

“Architecton” director Victor Kossakovsky is known for making documentaries that don’t have spoken dialogue. For example: 2020’s “Gunda” (about farm animals) and 2018’s “Aquarela” (about various bodies of water). “Architecton” is mostly a series of scenes showing concrete in various forms, such as buildings (intact and destroyed). The most impressive scenes are those that show avalanches of concrete rocks.

Most of the documentary was filmed in Europe and Asia. There are several scenes of buildings getting bulldozed. “Architecton” also shows abandoned homes and other buildings from the devastating February 2023 earthquake, which hit Turkey and Syria, and was 7.8 on the Richter scale. An estimated 59,000 people died in this earthquake.

The documentary has visually striking images of a train convoy carrying coal and other rocks. There are also scenes of cement mixing and layering. The ancient temple ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon also get considerable screen time. The documentary’s spellbinding musical score by Evgueni Galperine is a true asset to this movie that is literally and figuratively rocky.

The movie’s dialogue scenes revolve around Italian architect Michele De Lucchi. He is seen with stone installation artist Nick Steur, as they plan and implement a stone circle construction in De Lucci’s backyard garden. De Lucchi also gets assistance from stonemasons Mauro Mella and Davide Alioli. Most of these conversations are mundane.

De Lucchi also chats with Baalbek megalith preserver Abdul Nabi al-Afi, who etched his name on one of Baalbek’s megaliths. There’s a bit of a language barrier because al-Afi only speaks French. De Lucchi knows some French but he is more fluent in Italian and English. The documentary also features Maksim Gaubetc, a Middle East ancient ruins specialist.

Toward the end of the movie, De Lucchi and Kossakovsky have a philosophical conversation in De Lucchi’s garden. Kossakovsky asks De Lucchi, “We do we build ugly, boring buildings when we know we can build beautiful ones?” De Lucchi admits that he’s guilty of this some of this type of drab architecture.

De Lucchi comments that he’s ashamed of a skyscraper that he designed in Milan, which De Lucchi describes as looking as boring as a box. He adds that part of the evolution of the world is figuring out what we did to nourish the planet and what we did to destroy the planet.

What you won’t see in “Architecton” are people inside these buildings. This documentary takes a “bird’s eye” exterior look at buildings, which might frustrate viewers who think exteriors of buildings tell only part of a building’s story. Some viewers might also dislike that there is no narration or no captioned information that tells where the movie’s scenes were filmed. “Architecton” is worth seeing only for those who have interest and patience in watching various ways that stone and concrete are timeless foundations of architecture.

A24 released “Architecton” in select U.S. cinemas on August 1, 2025.

Review: ‘Hot Milk’ (2025), starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Patsy Ferran, Yann Gael, Vangelis Mourikis, Vincent Perez and Vicky Krieps

June 29, 2025

by Carla Hay

Emma Mackey and Vicky Krieps in “Hot Milk” (Photo by Nikos Nikolopoulos/Independent Film Company)

“Hot Milk” (2025)

Directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Some language in Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Spain and briefly in Greece, the dramatic film “Hot Milk” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Latin people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A British grad student has an affair with a mysterious older woman during a visit in Spain, as the student becomes increasingly resentful of being her disabled mother’s caregiver.

Culture Audience: “Hot Milk” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and dramas about family caregivers, but the movie’s unfocused style and cliffhanger ending will be a turnoff to many viewers.

Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw in “Hot Milk” (Photo by Nikos Nikolopoulos/Independent Film Company)

“Hot Milk” will leave viewers cold by its vague ending. This dull drama is about a pouting grad student who’s resentful of being her disabled mother’s caregiver while having an uncertain romance with a woman. The movie takes place in gorgeous locations in Europe, but the scenes wander and have as much direction as a lost tourist.

Written and directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, “Hot Milk” is based on the 2016 novel “Hot Milk” by Deborah Levy. The movie had its world premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. “Hot Milk” takes place in Spain and briefly in Greece but was filmed in Greece.

In “Hot Milk,” Sofia (played by Emma Mackey) is a grad student whom her divorced mother Rose (played by Fiona Shaw) describes as “a perpetual student of anthropology.” Sofia and Rose live together in London, but the movie only shows Sofia and Rose together in Spain. It’s implied that Sofia has lived with Rose for Sofia’s entire life.

Rose and Sofia are visitors staying in the coastal city of Almeria, Spain, because of an experimental medical treatment for Rose, who uses a wheelchair. Dr. Gomez (played by Vincent Perez)—who is handsome, empathetic, and in his 40s—is overseeing this treatment. He is assisted by a young nurse named Julieta (played by Patsy Ferran), who is helpful and friendly.

Conversations in the movie reveal these details: Sofia’s estranged Greek father Christos (played by Vangelis Mourikis) is a shipping heir who left Rose and Sofia when Sofia was 4 years old. It was the same age that Sofia was when Rose (a native of Ireland) lost the ability to use her legs, although Rose admits that she can walk at random times that Rose says she can’t predict. No medical reason is given for why Rose has to use a wheelchair, but the movie hints that Rose’s medical condition could be psychosomatic. Dr. Gomez asks a lot of questions that sound like questions a psychiatrist would ask.

Rose mortgaged her house for the £25,000 cost to get this medical treatment from Dr. Gomez. Sofia and Rose are staying at an upscale resort area near a beach. Rose (who is a retired librarian) is prickly and is very judgmental of other people. Sofia is quiet and introverted.

How difficult is Rose? During a restaurant lunch that Rose, Sofia and Dr. Gomez have together, Rose says she wants to sit at another table away from Dr. Gomez because he’s eating fish, and Rose is allergic to fish. Dr. Gomez handles the situation like a patient parent handles a bratty child, by telling Rose that if she has an allergic reaction to him eating fish, he can take care of it for her. Rose decides to stay at the same table.

The movie opens with Sofia lounging on a beach. Expect to see more of this type of beach lounging in “Hot Milk,” because Sofia spends at least 30% of the movie hanging out at a beach. During one of these lounging periods at the beach, Sofia sees a woman riding past on a horse. Sofia and the woman look at each other in a way that indicates mutual interest and attraction, but they do not speak to each until they see each other again.

Sofia and the mystery woman (who’s about 10 to 15 years older than Sofia) eventually meet at an outdoor restaurant where they both happen to be dining at nearby tables during the day. The mystery woman’s name is Ingrid (played by Vicky Krieps), who has a German accent and a murky personal background. Sofia and Ingrid’s first conversation is utterly vapid and an example about how this “romance” has no real depth.

Ingrid asks Sofia: “Do you smoke?” Sofia says, “Yes.” Ingrid asks if Sofia has any cigarettes. Sofia again replies, “Yes.” Ingrid tells Sofia, “Let’s go.” And so, they leave the restaurant to lounge on the beach and smoke. While looking up at the sky, Ingrid says to Sofia: “Look at all this blue. It’s blue!”

Eventually, Sofia and Ingrid become lovers. “Hot Milk” tries to convince viewers that Ingrid and Sofia have a passionate relationship, just because they declare their love for each other. But what the movie shows about their relationship is tedious and often very shallow. There simply isn’t believable chemistry between Ingrid and Sofia. Ingrid seems like she’s bored and using Sofia as a plaything. Sofia seems like she’s too needy and is using Ingrid as a distraction from Sofia’s responsibility of being Rose’s caregiver.

If Ingrid has a job or a career, she doesn’t tell Sofia what it is, nor does Sofia ask. If Ingrid has ever been married or has children, Ingrid doesn’t tell Sofia, and Sofia never asks about it either. All that’s shown about Ingrid’s lifestyle in the movie is that Ingrid is a bachelorette who’s living a life of leisure in Spain. Ingrid also calls Sofia by the nickname Sophie, as if Ingrid wants to set her own rules of how to give a nickname to Sofia.

Ingrid knows that Sofia is a grad student in anthropology, but Ingrid doesn’t seem very interested in whatever interests Sofia. Ingrid also doesn’t tell Sofia what her own hopes and dreams are. The only time that Ingrid opens up emotionally to Sofia is when she tells Sofia a secret from Ingrid’s past. Ingrid begins to reveal this secret when Ingrid blurts out, “I killed somebody,” and Ingrid says it happened a long time ago.

Sofia seems in shock and doesn’t ask for details when she hears Ingrid make this statement. But later, Ingrid tells the details when Sofia asks. When these details are revealed, it shows viewers that Ingrid is prone to exaggeration/dishonesty. However, when Ingrid tells the truth about what happened in a traumatic incident from her past, it’s obvious that Ingrid feels a lot of guilt and is haunted by it. Sofia later finds out that Rose is haunted by her own secret from the past.

Sofia seems to want a monogamous/exclusive relationship with Ingrid, but Ingrid (who is the more assertive partner) never tells Sofia that their relationship is monogamous/exclusive. In fact, Ingrid and Sofia don’t talk at all about what type of relationship they want to have with each other—another reason why the movie fails to convince that Ingrid and Sofia have a healthy and fulfilling romance. The undefined nature of their relationship is why Sofia gets angry and storms off every time Sofia sees Ingrid get affectionate with Ingrid’s male lovers who stop by to visit.

One of these male lovers is Matty (played by Yann Gael), an aspiring musician who works as a private-transportation driver. Ingrid hires Matty to temporarily give driving services to Sofia and Rose. Another of Ingrid’s lovers is Leonardo (played by Paris Thomopoulous), who works as Ingrid’s horse-riding instructor. Matty and Leonardo have fleeting moments in the movie, which only makes them catalysts to Sofia feeling possessive of Ingrid.

Ingrid doesn’t explain what level of commitment that she has to Matty or Leonardo, nor does Sofia ask. Sofia’s jealous reaction shows her emotional immaturity and insecurity. A mature and secure person would ask Ingrid to be honest about Ingrid’s relationship boundaries and expectations in this polyamorous situation—instead of having a tantrum and running away, which Sofia does more than once after seeing public displays of affection between Ingrid and Ingrid’s male lovers.

“Hot Milk” has a repeat loop of one of these three scenarios shown throughout the movie: (1) Sofia being annoyed by Rose; (2) Sofia and Ingrid having sexual trysts and mostly uninteresting conversations; and (3) Sofia hanging out at a beach, where she pouts, pouts some more, and does even more pouting. Sofia suddenly takes a brief trip to Greece to see her estranged father Christos, who has a much-younger wife named Alexandra (played by Korina Gougouli) and a toddler daughter named Evangeline (played by Elisavet Liosi and Sofia Papadopoulou), but that scene ultimately doesn’t have much impact in the story.

There are also indications that Sofia is mentally unraveling. For example, there’s a scene when she angrily threatens a neighbor with a knife and orders him to let his barking dog loose from the dog’s chain because Sofia can no longer handle the sound of the dog barking. The acting performances in “Hot Milk” aren’t terrible, but they’re not impressive either. What really sinks “Hot Milk” is the atrocious ending that will leave most viewers confused and feeling like they wasted their time watching a meaningless film.

Independent Film Company released “Hot Milk” in select U.S. cinemas on June 27, 2025.

Review: ‘The Ugly Stepsister,’ starring Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp and Flo Fagerli

May 21, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ane Dahl Torp and Lea Myren in “The Ugly Stepsister” (Photo by Marcel Zyskind/IFC Films)

“The Ugly Stepsister”

Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt

Norwegian with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Norway in the mid-to-late 1800s, the horror film “The Ugly Stepsister” (inspired by the fairytale “Cinderella”) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An “ugly stepsister” of Cinderella’s goes to extreme lengths in her obsession to have a beauty makeover and get a prince to marry her. 

Culture Audience: “The Ugly Stepsister” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of gruesome horror movies based on fairy tales and movies that are dark satires of society.

Isac Calmroth and Lea Myren in “The Ugly Stepsister” (Photo by Lukasz Bak/IFC Films)

Beyond the intentionally sickening body horror in “The Ugly Stepsister,” this well-made version of the Cinderella fairy tale is a dark and clever satire of painful extremes some women go to for beauty and wealth. What is supposed to make people uncomfortable is that even though the movie takes place in the 19th century, the pressures that women put on themselves to fit society’s standards of beauty and to marry a rich man are still very much part of today’s culture. Plastic surgery is a business that keeps growing (even when people, usually women, can die or be disfigured from botched plastic surgery), while the Internet has become a worldwide hunting ground for gold diggers.

Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, “The Ugly Stepsister” is her feature-film directorial debut. “The Ugly Stepsister” had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. It’s a stylish film (with impressive cinematography, production design and costume design), made on a low budget, but “The Ugly Stepsister” has a high impact on anyone who can stomach watching the entire movie from beginning to end.

“The Ugly Stepsister” takes place in Norway, sometime in the mid-to-late 1800s. Amongst the beautiful settings of Napoleonic Era mansions and upper-class luxuries, there are ugly truths and nightmarish scenarios that emerge during the story. “The Ugly Stepsister” has such explicit and nauseating body horror, it’s best not to eat anything while watching this compelling but gory film.

Near the beginning of the movie, a family of three are shown arriving by carriage to a mansion in an unnamed city in Norway. Domineering widow Rebekka (played by Ane Dahl Torp) has traveled to this mansion with her two teenage daughters. Elder daughter Elvira (played by Lea Myren), who’s about 17 or 18, is a wide-eyed and naïve romantic at the beginning of the story. Younger daughter Alma (played by Flo Fagerli), who is about 14 or 15, is an aloof somewhat bratty cynic.

Rebekka, Elvira and Alma have gone to this mansion because Rebekka is marrying the owner of the mansion: a middle-aged widower named Otto (played by Ralph Carlsson), whose teenage daughter Agnes (played by Thea Sofie Loch Næss) is about the same age as Elvira. It’s later revealed that Agnes’ full name is Agnes Angelica Alicia Victoria von Morgenstierne Munthe of Rosenhoff.

Agnes (later named Cinderella) is physically beautiful, but she’s not the paragon of kindness embodied by the Cinderella in the traditional fairytale. Agnes can be arrogant, rude and impatient. At first, Elvira is in awe of Agnes and thinks they could become friends.

The wedding ceremony happens shortly after the arrival of Rebekka, Elvira and Alma. These stepfamily members and a few other guests are the only people who attend the simple outdoor ceremony. The wedding reception is also basic: There are less than 10 people gathered at a large dining table for the wedding dinner. And the wedding cake is very small. These are subtle clues of something that will soon be revealed.

For no apparent reason, Otto throws some of the wedding cake at Elvira. This prank catches her off guard, but she reacts with a smile and a slightly embarrassed laugh, as every else around her laughs at her. This scene is meant to show that in the pecking order of this family, Otto has singled out Elvira as the one who deserves the most ridicule.

Agnes shows Elvira around the property and introduces her to Isak (played by Malte Gårdinger), a man in his late teens or early 20s, who works for the family as the horse caretaker. Elvira doesn’t think much of Isak and proudly announces to Agnes that she wants to marry Prince Julian (played by Isac Calmroth), who is most eligible bachelor in the land. Elvira will eventually find out that Agnes is attracted to Prince Julian too.

The opening scene of “The Ugly Stepsister” shows that Elvira reading one of the romance novels that Prince Julian has written and imagining herself as having a grand love affair with him. Over time, it’s shown that Elvira doesn’t have a harmless crush on Julian. Her fixation on him becomes a dangerous obsession for her.

Part of it has to do with Rebekka being a relentless gold digger, who has trained her daughters to believe that the only worth that they have is if they can marry a wealthy man. Rebekka believes that about herself too. And that’s why Rebekka has a meltdown when Otto suddenly dies of a heart attack during a family dinner, and Rebekka finds out from Otto’s business representatives that Otto was actually financially broke and living off of his debts. Rebekka is now responsible for paying these debts.

What’s a selfish and desperate gold digger to do? Rebekka believes she’s too old to be considered a desirable bachelorette. And so, she puts immense pressure on Elvira to marry a wealthy man, preferably Prince Julian. Elvira is all too eager to fulfill this wish, partly because she wants to please her mother, but mostly because Elvira wants to fulfill her fantasy of becoming Prince Julian’s wife.

Alma hasn’t started menstruating, and Rebekka wants to play gold digging matchmaker for the daughter who can get pregnant. Keep in mind that in the 1800s, people’s life expectancy was much shorter than it is now, and it was common for girls to be married before turning 18 years old. Alma does not participate in Rebekka’s gold-digging schemes, but Alma observes enough to know what is going on.

When Elvira first arrived at the mansion, she wore teeth braces and was a gangly introvert. Rebekka’s plan is to transform Elvira into a sexy and confident debutante. First, there’s a physical makeover, starting with removing Elvira’s teeth braces and giving her a painful nose job. These procedures are done by Dr. Esthétique (played by Adam Lundgren), who is considered a trendy surgeon who knows all the latest beauty transformation techniques.

As a result of this primitive plastic surgery, Elvira has to wear a nose cast for a great deal of time that this story take place. Dr. Esthétique also gives false eyelashes to Elvira, but he doesn’t glue them on. He sews these false eyelashes into her upper and lower eye linings while Elvira is fully awake. The eyelashes are laced with cocaine to numb the pain. Dr. Esthétique snorts cocaine (which was a legal drug in the 1800s) while doing this procedure.

Rebekka also enrolls Elvira in Sophie von Kronenberg’s Finishing School, where Elvira has to take dance classes taught by the stern and strict Madame Vanja (played by Katarzyna Herman), who makes it obvious that she doesn’t think Elvira belongs in the class. The other teenage girls in the class also treat Elvira like a misfit. Predictably, Elvira is clumsy and awkward during the dance lessons. The dance class scenes are tedious and the weakest parts of the movie. Later, Madame Vanja tells Elvira that Rebekka bribed Madame Vanja to give preferential treatment to Elvira and let Elvira graduate from the class.

The dance class is competitive because Madame Vanja selects only a certain number of her students to be eligible for invitations to the grand ball hosted by Prince Julian and his family. This ball is a high-society event for debutantes and other young socialites to find potential husbands. A conversation scene in the movie briefly shows that Madame Vanja and her boss Sophie von Kronenberg (played by Cecilia Forss) are having a secret love affair, but that storyline is not explored in the movie.

After Rebekka makes cruel comments about Elvira needing to lose weight, Elvira decides to swallow a translucent egg that contains a tapeworm. Swallowing a tapeworm for appetite suppression was a “fad diet” way to lose weight in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Alma worries about Elvira’s safety and thinks that consuming this tapeworm is a bad idea. But Elvira is determined to lose weight as quickly as possible and thinks the tapeworm is the best method.

As Rebekka and Elvira get caught up in an escalating obsession for Elvira to marry Prince Julian, Elvira’s personality starts to change when she begins to see Agnes as a threat to this goal. Meanwhile, Agnes is alarmed that Rebekka for taking money that was supposed to go to burying Otto and using it instead for Elvira’s makeover. Otto’s body has been left to rot in a room in the mansion.

Agnes is punished for, among other things, angrily confronting Rebekka about this misappropriation of funds. Agnes is also caught having sex with Isak, who is in love with Agnes. Rebekka is infuriated because she thinks Agnes has ruined any chances of being considered an eligible virgin to marry into a wealthy family and doesn’t want Agnes’ sexual activity to reflect badly on Elvira and Alma. And so, Rebekka makes Agnes a servant for the family. And she gives Agnes a new name: Cinderella.

The rest of “The Ugly Stepsister” shows what happens when these fanatical pursuits of beauty and wealth spin out of control. Anyone who knows the “Cinderella” fairy tale will already have a pretty good idea of how this movie will probably end. However, because the story is told from the perspective of one of Cinderella’s stepsisters, don’t expect “The Ugly Stepsister” to be exactly like the romantic fairytale version.

Prince Julian is no Prince Charming. He’s spoiled, entitled, and has shallow views of women as sex objects who mainly exist for men’s pleasure. Just like Agnes/Cinderella, Prince Julian has physical beauty that people automatically assume means having a good soul. But “The Ugly Stepsister” repeatedly shows that outward appearances and wealth can dazzle and fool people into not seeing someone’s true nature.

“The Ugly Stepsister” doesn’t make Elvira an evil character as the stepsisters are in the original “Cinderella” fairy tale. Instead, Elvira is misguided in a very tragic way. Myren gives an excellent performance as Elvira, who lets her ambitions and delusions warp her self-worth. In the end, what’s ugly about Elvira is not her physical appearance but her soul. The other cast members also do well in their roles, but the movie would not work as well without the transformative way that Myren portrays Elvira.

What makes “The Ugly Stepsister” interesting is how it plays with expectations of what can be considered a “fairy tale ending.” In most fairy tales, good always triumphs, while evil is always defeated. Without being preachy about it, “The Ugly Stepsister” sends a clear message that the real evil is perpetuating misogynistic beliefs that a woman’s worth comes from how she looks. There are plenty of real-life examples of how this type of evil does not have a fairy-tale ending of being defeated but is in fact alive and well and destroying people who let it take over their lives.

IFC Films (now known as the Independent Film Company) released “The Ugly Stepsister” in select U.S. cinemas on April 18, 2025. The movie was released on digital and VOD on May 9, 2025, the same date that “The Ugly Stepsister” premiered on Shudder. “The Ugly Stepsister” was released in Norway on March 7, 2025.

Review: ‘Seven Veils,’ starring Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Vinessa Antoine, Mark O’Brien and Douglas Smith

May 6, 2025

by Carla Hay

Douglas Smith, Michael Schade, Amanda Seyfried and Tara Nicodemo in “Seven Veils” (Photo courtesy of XYZ Films)

“Seven Veils”

Directed by Atom Egoyan

Culture Representation: Taking place in Toronto, the dramatic film “Seven Veils” features a predominantly white group of people (with a few black people and Latin people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A theater director is invited to direct the “Salome” opera version of that was created by her deceased mentor, and her work on the opera triggers unpleasant memories from her past. 

Culture Audience: “Seven Veils” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Amanda Seyfried, filmmaker Atom Egoyan, and opaque dramas that have layers of symbolism and meanings.

Rebecca Liddiard and Michael Kupfer-Radecky in “Seven Veils” (Photo courtesy of XYZ Films)

Not all of the elements work in how “Seven Veils” draws parallels between an avant-garde production of the opera “Salome” and a theater director’s reckoning with her own troubled past. Amanda Seyfried’s gripping performance lifts the film above mediocrity. “Seven Veils” is multilayered film that some viewers might think is too overstuffed with subplots and ideas that don’t always have satisfying answers or resolutions

Written and directed by Atom Egoyan, “Seven Veils” was largely inspired by Egoyan’s own experiences of directing “Salome” for the Canadian Opera Company. The movie had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and also screened at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival. You don’t have to like opera to enjoy “Seven Veils” because the actual performance of “Salome” in the movie is secondary to the drama that happens off stage.

The opera “Salome” is based on the Judeo-Christian story of Salome, a Jewish princess who was the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. Herod the Great was her grandfather. Herod Antipas was her stepdaughter. Salome wanted John the Baptist (a disciple of Jesus Christ) to be her lover, but he rejected her. Salome than persuaded Herod Antipas to have John the Baptist beheaded so she could kiss John without him being able to stop it. In the lead-up to this morbid act of lust, Salome also did a seductive dance called the Dance of the Seven Veils.

“Seven Veils” begins by showing theater Jeanine (played by Seyfried) walking through the opera house in Toronto where she will soon be leading a remounting of “Salome,” as a tribute to her mentor who died one year ago. The opera house is bustling with the activity sets being built and people getting ready for rehearsals.

Jeanine walks around as if she’s in a dream. She also sees a large video projection on the wall that shows a girl (played by Elizabeth Reeve) walking through the woods. It’s later revealed that this projection screen is a manifestation of Jeanine’s memories, and the girl is Jeanine in her childhood. Throughout the movie, other scenes of the girl in the woods play out in Jeanine’s mind.

When Jeanine was in her 20s, her mentor/teacher was a theater director named Charles. His widow Beatrice (played by Lanette Ware) knew that Jeanine was one of Charles’ favorite students, so Beatrice personally invited Jeanine to remount the version of “Salome” that Charles had when Jeanine was his protégée/student.

Beatrice formally announces Jeanine as the theater director of this production at a press event. The stars of this version of “Salome” are also introduced. Ambur Dion (played by Ambur Braid) has the role of Salome. Johan Mueller (played by Michael Kupfer-Radecky) has the role of John the Baptist. (Braid and Kupfer-Radecky had these “Salome” roles in real life.)

Other people who are involved in the production are ambitious Rachel (played by Vinessa Antoine), who has the understudy Salome role; eager-to-please Luke (played by Douglas Smith), who has the understudy role of John the Baptist; brittle Nancy (played by Tara Nicodemo), who is the show’s managing producer; and artistic Clea (played by Rebecca Liddiard), the makeup artist who has been assigned to document her “Salome” work on social media. One of Clea’s biggest makeup responsibilities for the production is to design the prosthetic of John the Baptist’s severed head.

Jeanine and Nancy have conflicts because Jeanine wants to make some “minor” changes to the production, but Nancy doesn’t want any changes at all because Nancy says that Beatrice expects Jeanine to keep Charles’ version intact. Clea and Rachel are lovers and are secretly hoping that there will be a reason for Ambur to drop out of the production so Rachel can take over the Salome role. And there’s a sexual harassment incident in this workplace that is reported to management and could derail the entire production.

Meanwhile, Jeanine has to spend a lot of time away from her home because of this job. She communicates by videoconference calls with her restless husband Paul (played by Mark O’Brien) and their daughter Lizzie (played by Maya Misaljevic), who’s about 11 or 12. The family has a nanny named Dimitra (played by Maia Jae Bastidas) as well as Jeanine’s widowed mother Margot (played by Lynne Griffin) to help take are of Lizzie. Margot tells Jeanine that she thinks Paul is having an affair with Dimitra. What Jeanine doesn’t tell Margot is that Jeanine and Paul have decided to try having an open marriage.

All of this sounds like it could be a soap opera, but “Seven Veils” is more complex than that. Jeanine has a dark and disturbing secret that comes back to haunt her the more that she gets involved in the “Salome” production. Her feelings about making changes to the production get more intense as time goes along. And her feelings about power and control of the production become intertwined with how she feels about power and control of her personal life. Although the principal cast members play their roles well, Seyfried is the obvious standout because the Jeanine is the heart and soul of the movie.

“Seven Veils” has cinematography that can be very dreamy and atmospheric but also stark and alarming. It’s a creative way of showing how fuzzy memories and harsh realities sometimes co-exist and collide. Jeanine’s secret is revealed about halfway through the movie, so the rest of “Seven Veils” shows how she copes when she’s forced to think about things that she would rather forget. “Seven Veils” is not always an easy film to watch (and some of it is downright dull and pretentious), but it has a compelling uniqueness that is appealing enough for anyone who is curious about how the story is going to end.

XYZ Films released “Seven Veils” in U.S. cinemas on March 7, 2025.

Review: ‘No Other Land,’ starring Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham

December 4, 2024

by Carla Hay

Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham in “No Other Land” (Photo courtesy of Antipode Films and Yabayay)

“No Other Land”

Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor

 Arabic, Hebrew and English with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2019 to 2023, the documentary film “No Other Land” features working-class and middle-class Palestinian and Israeli people in the Palestine’s West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Culture Clash: Palestinian residents of Masafer Yatta resist the demolition of their homes and pressure to evacuate from Israeli military personnel, while Palestinian and Israeli documentarians film what happens.

Culture Audience: “No Other Land” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in seeing raw and unflinching footage of a West Bank community affected by the ongoing war for this area.

A scene from “No Other Land” (Photo courtesy of Antipode Films and Yabayay)

“No Other Land” can be brutal in its observations of West Bank turmoil. However, this courageous documentary has a powerful message about how Israelis and Palestinians can develop friendships during political conflicts that have existed for centuries. This documentary by no means puts a sentimental spin on all the horrors of war. However, it offer glimmers of hope that not everyone can be divided by hate and prejudice that are based on nationality or religion.

“No Other Land” had its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival and subsequently screened and numerous other film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The movie won the 2024 Gotham Award for Best Documentary and is nominated for Best Documentary for the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards. “No Other Land” is the feature-film directorial debut of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, who all edited “No Other Land” and are part of a Palestinian-Israeli collective. Adra (who is Palestinian) and Abraham (who is Israeli) appear on camera throughout the entire documentary.

Abraham and Adra are two friends in a war zone that expects them to be enemies. When Adra introduces Abraham to people in the community, and the community members find out that he’s Israeli, they express surprise but are not hostile to him. The intention of showing this type of footage is to demonstrate that even during war, civilians understand that militaries and other areas of government are the ones waging the war, while innocent citizens are often caught in the middle.

Adra is the documentary’s narrator and can often be seen filming with his camera, although Szor (who is not seen on camera) is credited as the documentary’s cinematographer. “No Other Land” (which was filmed from 2019 to 2023) documents what happened in the villages of Masafer Yatta, a region of Palestine’s West Bank where Adra and his family live. The documentary was completed in October 2023, the month of the Hamas-led massacre on Israel that occurred on October 7, 2023.

Because Adra provides the narration, most of this documentary is from his perspective. It’s explained in the beginning of the movie that Adra grew up in a family of activists. (His parents’ first names are not mentioned in the documentary.) One of his earliest memories from his childhood is seeing his father arrested in their home. He also remembers going to his first protest at 7 years old. And he also has memories of herding sheep when he was a boy.

Adra’s other family members who are seen in “No Other Land” are his older brother and his older brother’s son Elias, who is about 5 years old in the documentary footage. Although Adra’s parents are still politically active, Adra says that more recently, his father’s gas station has become the center of his father’s life. Adra doesn’t seem sure of what he wants to do with his own life. A scene in the movie shows Adra telling Abraham that Adra at one time studied law, but “I lost hope in it.”

However, there’s no doubt that Adra felt a sense of urgency to film all the chaos going on his community, where Palestinian residents are being pressured to evacuate because an Israeli court determined that the villages of Masafer Yatta could be destroyed to build Israeli military training operations. “I started filming where it started to end,” Adra says in a voiceover of the beginning of this takeover.

Viewers of “No Other Land” will see Israeli soldiers demolishing houses by bulldozer without warning, forcing many of the Palestinian residents to flee in caves. Some of the now-homeless people leave the area in fear. Others are defiant and refuse to leave because, as one woman says, they have “no other land.” This woman (whose first name is not revealed in the documentary) is featured prominently when her adult son becomes a victim of gun violence.

A warning to sensitive viewers: “No Other Land” also shows people getting shot or assaulted for trying to defend themselves or trying to prevent invading soldiers from taking essential items. There’s a scene where a fight breaks out when Israeli soldiers try to confiscate a family’s portable generator. During this fight, a man in his 20s named Harun Abu Aram is shot by a soldier, which causes Aram to be paralyzed from the shoulders down.

His grieving single mother (the woman who made the “no other land” comment) is also the mother of an underage girl, who is shown over this four-year period, when she was approximately 4 to 8 years. Aram’s mother is devastated by what happened to him and has the added stress of trying to find a new home after the family home was destroyed by soldiers. The people in the community are outraged by the shooting of Aram. Protests in the streets are held, with people holding signs that say things such as “Justice for Harun.”

“No Other Land” also shows candid conversations between Adra and Abraham when they are alone together. Abraham, who is a journalist, tells Adra: “Learning Arabic changed my political views.” Abraham also says that the Israeli military tried to recruit him for an intelligence job, but he refused.

At the time this documentary was filmed, Adra and Abraham were both bachelors with no children. Abraham asks Adra if Adra has plans to start a family someday. Adra has a pained expression on his face when he answers, “It’s complicated. There is no stability in this land.” Abraham often looks like he feels guilty that his home life is stable because he has the privilege of not living in an area that is being destroyed by military forces.

Although it would be easy to assume that “No Other Land” has an anti-Israel message, it is not that type of documentary. “No Other Land” is not meant to answer the question of whether or not people of any nationality who kill in the name of war can lose some part of their humanity. Rather, “No Other Land” shows the human cost of suffering during a war and shows in unflinching ways that war can be hell for everyone.

Antipode Films and Yabayay released “No Other Land” in select U.S. cinemas on November 1, 2024. The movie will be re-released in New York City on January 31, 2025, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on February 7, 2025.

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