As any former goth could tell you, rebellion doesn’t necessarily lead to self-discovery, let alone happiness. Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage reveals another unpleasant truth of this eternal impulse: that the way one chooses to rebel often replicates the nastiest, most destructive aspects of what one is fighting against. This beautiful, quietly furious film depicts the documented “eccentricities” of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps)—her endless traveling, her extreme diet and exercise regimens, her interest in mental asylums—which Kreutzer frames as arising not simply from Elisabeth’s hatred of...

We all remember where we were when the paparazzi photos of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling rollerblading in matching neon ‘80s workout gear made their rounds on the internet. It was our first “behind-the-scenes” peek at the highly anticipated Barbie movie. Ever since Warner Bros. Pictures announced they were working on the film, the public has had a burning question: what is this movie going to be about? Everything about this movie’s plot has been kept tightly under wraps…until now. The teaser trailer was finally released...

The horror genre has, historically, not been very kind to women. Misogynistic tropes seem to thrive in the world of horror–from the hypersexualized teenage girl to the “morally superior” virgin to the good ol’ witch trope, women in horror movies traditionally haven’t had much room to exist as whole, multifaceted, people. In recent years, the genre has developed to be not only more inclusive, but a powerful medium for drawing attention to social injustices. Think the highly acclaimed Jordan Peele film Get Out, which premiered in...

Nanny is a story of survival, grief, and isolation beautifully told by writer/director Nikyatu Jusu in her feature-length debut. Aisha (Anna Diop) is a Senegalese immigrant working for an upper-middle-class white family as a nanny. What begins as a promising way to establish a life in N.Y.C. and bring her young son Lamine (Jahleel Kamara) over from Senegal quickly spirals out of control for Aisha. The microaggressions begin piling up, threatening the agency she has over her own life – a common experience for Black...

  In response to Millie Bobby Brown's appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show where she stated that she would like to play Britney Spears in a biopic of her life, Spears complained “I’m not dead yet”. But do you need to be dead to have a biopic of your life? Some films such as The Runaways and Mommie Dearest would beg to differ but more classic icons like Frida Kahlo and Harriet Tubman, unfortunately, have passed, and can’t comment on their film portrayal. As a society,...

When I catch up with Regina Hall via Zoom, it’s a busy, sunshiny day for her in New York City, full of photo shoots and interviews. I can’t help but compliment the jovial actor on the chic headscarf she’s wearing, and when I do, she leans toward the screen with an infectious laugh and says, “It’s Zoom. Girl—the wig is right here. But I was like, ‘I’m not gonna have time to put the wig on. Whoever they are, they’re gonna have to get a...

A depiction of something—be it “bad,” like violence, or “good,” like a strong female protagonist—should never be conflated with the artist’s endorsement of it. But what is the cumulative effect of a medium like film that so frequently shows women being beaten, killed, and violated while simultaneously objectifying them? Nina Menkes’ expansive documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power, out October 21st, 2022, touches on those repercussions—the absence of women behind the camera, the lack of agency female actors have in sex scenes—while also picking apart the cishet male gaze encoded...

Sirens Directed by Rita Baghdadi Opens September 30, 2022 "I wanna see your fuckin' heads banging!" Sirens begins with the sound of an electric guitar guiding us into the world of the Slave to Sirens. Slowly the electric guitar gets accompanied by a voice, drums, and playful laughter until the music takes over entirely as we witness the all-female band go on stage. The Sundance-selected documentary Sirens, is directed by Rita Baghdadi and executive-produced by Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph, is in theaters beginning September 30. The documentary follows the first-ever...

Sinéad O'Connor in 1988 Nothing Compares Directed by Kathryn Ferguson Available on Showtime on October 2, 2022 Kathryn Ferguson's documentary Nothing Compares shows how everything conspired to keep singer/songwriter Sinéad O'Connor quiet; yet when she was given a guitar and a microphone, her voice became a thunderous force of nature that still resonates in these insidiously theocratic times.  Nothing Compares is as powerful as its subject. Belfast-based filmmaker Ferguson uses a blend of dreamlike footage shot in Ireland and archival news footage, along with O'Connor's words in voice-over, to take the viewer back to...

VESPER Directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper  Out September 30 Vesper takes well-worn dystopian young-adult tropes and makes them new again—or at least more compelling than they seem on paper—through its sheer plausibility, an immersive atmosphere, and strong performances. Vesper (Raffiella Chapman) is a 13-year-old girl scrounging to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The most pressing enemy is food insecurity, brought on by earlier events but maintained by men like Vesper’s neighbor Jonas (Eddie Marsan), who relishes the power he has over other, less-fortunate folks. Her bedridden father...