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...

The new horror comedy, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, was written and produced by Sara DeLappe, directed by Dutch filmmaker, Halina Reijn. and stars the ubiquitous Pete Davidson, Amandla Stenberg, and Maria Bakalova (from Borat: Subsequent Movie Film). The film follows a young couple visiting their group of friends, with whom they drink excessively, eat cake laced with weed, and play a game called “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.” The aim of the game is to turn off all the lights and “tag you’re it” each other to signify that a...

Notoriously shy artist Courtney Barnett lays herself bare in Anonymous Club, a documentary following her personal and professional evolution. Serving as a meditation on loneliness, expectations, and the existential dread brought about by the climate crisis—specifically the Australian bush fires of 2019 and 2020—this film resonates beyond music preferences. In both her songs and her conversations, Barnett echoes the fear, ennui, and unmooring of many around the world.  Filmmaker Danny Cohen first tasked Barnett with keeping an audio diary as a means of facilitating an unparalleled look...

Gina Prince-Bythewood was planning to take a break after her action-fantasy blockbuster, The Old Guard, premiered on Netflix in July 2020. But then she read the script for The Woman King and knew she had to make it her next project. Viola Davis was already attached to star as General Nanisca, the leader of an all-female army known as the Agojie, whose members dedicated their lives to protecting the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa, now Benin. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Agojie have been...

"I could've easily set myself on fire,” “Weird Al” Yankovic tells me, dressed in one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts. Long gone are his iconic mustache and eyeglasses, revealing an earnest face that appears at least a decade younger than his 62 years. The pop-culture parody artist is referring to the time he paid homage to Jimi Hendrix by playing the accordion with his teeth, then dousing it in lighter fluid and setting it on fire in his 1985 film The Compleat Al. “I guess...

Writer and director Lena Dunham’s latest project, Sharp Stick, is a reflection on sexuality and the desire to feel seen. The film follows Sarah Jo (Kristine Froseth), a 26-year-old caregiver for children with special needs who lives with her mother Madelyn (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and adopted sister, Treina (Taylour Paige), in a Los Angeles apartment. Sharp Stick quickly spirals from a view inside the life of the naive and childlike Sarah Jo into a sexual exploration as Sarah Jo begins a whirlwind affair with Josh...

In an age where women’s rights are being negotiated, threatened, and in some cases revoked entirely, Jodie Comer’s astonishing performance in the recording of the play Prima Facie is incredibly relevant and timely. Named after the legal term “prima facie” which means that there is enough evidence to establish something as fact until proven otherwise, this play explores how sexual assault cases are handled by the justice system. In the wake of the SCOTUS’ overruling of Roe v. Wade, the discussion that this play promotes is...