Strippers and Russian Oligarchs, the good and bad Harmony Korines, a Cillian Murphy mastersclass, the lasting effects of colonialism and Benjamin Netanyahu's favourite gifts. This is what I watched this week...
Anora (2024)
Director: Sean Baker
Genre/s: Comedy/Drama/Romance Length: 2 Hours 19 Minutes Languages: English/Russian/Armenian Country: USA
Cast: Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksey Serebryakov, Daria Ekamasova
Synopsis: Anora (Mikey Madison), a young sex worker starts a whirlwind romance with Ivan (Mark Eidelstein) the reckless young son of a wealthy Russian oligarch, but once they act further on their impulse and get married, Ivan’s family scramble to get the marriage annulled.
My Take: Sean Baker’s barnstorming rom-com drama took home this year’s Palme d'Or. While this may be surprising, given its initial impression as a hyperactive, impulsive sex comedy, the film’s evolution into its final third more than justifies why Baker is one of the finest filmmakers working today and fully deserving of the prize. A keen observer of the American outsider, Baker excels at placing us alongside his characters—outsiders who range from kind-hearted to downright awful (see Red Rocket), and sometimes fall somewhere in between. He’s effectively America’s neo-realist, telling stories of real people we rarely see on screen. Some may accuse him of exploiting his subjects, but I find his approach incredibly bold and sympathetic. He doesn’t judge; instead, he observes until a key moment reveals something new about his characters—allowing us to interpret them in a completely different light, for better or worse.
Anora is Baker’s fifth film centered around sex workers. While familiar rom-com tropes are present, Baker flips the genre on its head as the film's frantic energy mirrors its impulsive, love-struck leads, jumping from one moment to the next at dizzying speeds. Once the film flies past the expected meet-cute and whirlwind honeymoon phase, Baker subverts the genre’s typical "big fight to test their relationship" plot beat and turns it into a thriller/screwball comedy hybrid as they desperately try to find Ivan in order to annul the marriage. Anora then shifts to that of a situational comedy, a tense race against the clock much like he did with Tangerine and then the final stretch of Red Rocket that has his characters forced to reckon with their actions.
Mikey Madison is earning well-deserved Oscar buzz as Annie (short for Anora) in what is going to become an all-time great performance. She navigates a wide gamut of emotional extremes before landing her most effective, nuanced blows. But it’s Yuriy Borisov’s performance as Igor, a kindly Russian thug (see Compartment No. 6 for another standout turn), that helps anchor the intensity of Anora. His understated presence balances the intensity of Anora, an empathetic viewpoint that tells us what the film is really about. It’s a sexy, hilarious, frenzied, madcap rom-com that has its tension constantly dialed to 11, but when screeched to a halt, Anora revels in its finest moments – quiet exchanges on class, intimacy and human connection that lets Anora finally be real.
Try it it you’re a fan of: Sean Baker, high anxiety films, twists on clichéd movie romances, screwball comedies, a raunchier Pretty Woman.
Where you can watch it: Most VOD platforms (USA), In theatres (USA, UK, 31 January South Africa).
Small Things Like These (2024)
Director: Tim Mielants
Genre: Drama Length: 1 Hour 38 Minutes Language: English Countries: Ireland/Belgium/USA
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Claire Dunne, Zara Devlin, Mark McKenna
Synopsis: Adapted from the book of the same name by Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These follows coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy), who, after discovering the cruelty of his town’s convent towards the young women living and studying there, begins conversing with his past, uncovering truths that will drive him to do what is right.
**IMPORTANT NOTE Magdalene Laundries were institutions, or asylums posing as something called Penance Rehabilitation where convents would take in young women who they would consider promiscuous – “fallen women”. These “fallen women” would include sex workers, pregnant women outside of wedlock, etc. Thousands upon thousands of women filtered through this system, enduring cruelty and hard, unpaid labour on top of the church plucking their children from them and giving them away.
My Take: With bated breath, Small Things Like These feels like a living creature—an entity that longs to confront its demons but is paralyzed by fear of retribution and judgment. When Furlong discovers the existence of a Magdalene Laundry at his town’s convent, he is forced to come to terms with his own past - collecting the small acts of kindness he’s received and given, ultimately culminating in the greatest act of kindness he will need to give: the courage to act in the face of widespread silence and the ever-growing shadow of the Catholic Church in his community.
The film’s dominant motif is an audio one: breath. Heavy, erratic, anxious, panicked, and finally calming. This use of sound makes the film feel so alive. And although it lacks clear and definitive answers to its questions, Small Things Like These challenges its audience, never wanting or needing to dumb it down. It’s written with such simplicity, such subtlety that it opts to simply show instead of tell. It needs someone like Cillian Murphy to elevate the film – highlighting its complex conflict at the heart of it, its moral obligations. His mastery of expression—his slight changes in speech, body language, and even his breath—imbues every moment with meaning far beyond the script. Through this, he transforms Small Things Like These into a poignant statement on religious hypocrisy and the profound impact small acts of kindness has on those around us.
Try it if you’re a fan of: Cillian Murphy (obviously), films that expose the hypocrisy and cruelty of organised religion, intimate character studies.
Where you can watch it: Most VOD platforms (USA, UK)
Dahomey (2024)
Director: Mati Diop
Genre: Documentary Length: 1 Hour 8 Minutes Languages: French/Fon/English Countries: Senegal/Benin/France/Singapore
Synopsis: 26 royal treasures and artifacts from the kingdom of Dahomey are being returned from France to what is now present-day Benin, sparking conversation amongst its citizens on where this will take them going forward.
My Take: Mati Diop’s second feature-length after 2019’s phenomenal ghost romance Atlantics, has her shifting focus from her native Senegal to that of Benin, particularly the contents of what was once a part of the Kingdom of Dahomey. And although a documentary instead of a narrative, Diop’s vision is still supernatural, making the 26 treasures returning to Benin characters in themselves where one voice in particular represents their journey. #26 speaks to us in an otherworldly voice, one in its native Fon tongue as it tries to make sense of its 130-odd year experience in captivity and what it now means to come back home. Just what am I returning to? How will they receive me and what is to become of me? It’s an intriguing setup that allows Dahomey to feel so unique, putting an interesting, subjective spin in a medium intended to be more objective than anything.
We follow 26 from Paris back to Benin, it’s a journey that is initially met with celebration until an ellipsis halts it all. Diop then takes it to the people, letting us become a fly on the wall as we witness a forum discussing what the return of these artifacts means for the country going forward as they look to make sense of who they are, where they came from and what they will become. Dahomey confronts the lingering scars of colonialism and how it still continues to imprison those living in its legacy: One woman stands up and talks about how it has imprisoned their heritage, their language, how they learn more about their culture in a language that isn’t even theirs. These aren’t just lifeless objects, but an important representation of a once powerful nation - a people whose culture was robbed from them hundreds of years ago, depriving them of the pride and identity that they’re entitled to. It’s smart filmmaking veiled by a sad longing to reclaim its past, yet invigorated by a future that is owed to them.
Try it if you’re a fan of: Unconventional documentaries, African history.
Where you can watch it: MUBI (USA, UK), Most VOD platforms (USA).
Gummo (1997) (rewatch)
Director: Harmony Korine
Genre: Drama Length: 1 Hour 29 Minuted Language: English Country: USA
Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Linda Manz, Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell
Synopsis: The residents of a poverty-stricken Ohio town find ways to pass the time in their seemingly meaningless, chaotic lives.
My Take: Harmony Korine’s directorial debut stands as one of the defining American indie films—a raw, punk-as-fuck portrait of alienated youth in the poverty-stricken heart of Middle America. It’s a film unlike anything of its time—or since, really. With its docu-drama structure, Korine gives us a deeply nihilistic view of his characters and their chaotic lives, portrayed by mostly non-professional actors. The result is a vivid, unsettling snapshot of a muddy world its subjects find themselves wading through.
At its core, Gummo strips life down to its most primal elements: violence and sex. These aren’t just incidental themes; they are the film’s driving forces. While Gummo rarely follows a traditional narrative structure, instead offering a fragmented, slice-of-life approach, it uses these chaotic encounters to explore how its subjects pass the time—engaging in violence and sex as a way to cope with the crushing monotony of their lives. Very few films evoke such a sense of unpredictability, a palpable sense of danger. Gummo feels dangerous, with almost every scene skirting a fine line between order and completely spiraling out of control. And although most of the film was scripted, the authenticity of these people ring true, providing the match to the wick that could set the whole thing on fire.
But it’s not all bleak (although most of it is). Korine shows flashes of kindness in some scenes, offering small moments of kindness to counterpoint the seemingly irredeemable cruelty of the devils occupying most of the film's landscape. Gummo is disturbing, almost too difficult to watch at times, but Harmony Korine catches lightning in a bottle here, a filmmaker who, despite what you may think of him, is genuinely unique in every single way – an enfant terrible that looked to encapsulate Gummo as a piece of Americana that was, is and unfortunately, will most likely remain as such.
WARNING: Cat lovers steer clear as certain characters hunt and kill stray cats. No cats were harmed in the making of the film with fake ones being used in key scenes. Nevertheless, it's still tough to stomach for any animal lover.
Try it if you like: Soul-crushing nihilism, visually arresting and poetic films a la Terence Malick, unconventional structure, poverty porn.
Where you can watch it: Now available to purchase on 4K UHD, Bluray and DVD via The Criterion Collection.
Aggro Dr1ft (2024)
Director: Harmony Korine
Genre/s: Experimental/Thriller/Drama Length: 1 Hour 20 Minutes Language: English Country: USA
Cast: Jordi Mollà, Travis Scott, Joshua Tilley, Stet Blanchett
Synopsis: An elite assassin has his work cut out for him when he is assigned to kill a demonic crime lord. Filmed entirely in heat vision.
My Take: Say what you will about Harmony Korine, no one makes films like him - a filmmaker looking to provoke by any means necessary. He did that when he burst onto the scene with his directorial debut in Gummo (as mentioned above), something I have a great admiration for in terms of character, storytelling and the sheer chutzpah of it. Although I admit I am not a fan of most of Harmony Korine’s films and hot takes, you can’t deny that the guy is trying to really experiment with the medium, taking it in new directions we have never seen or even thought of before. He remains a hot topic amongst cinephiles: A misunderstood genius or a hack? Gummo falls in the former for me, but a lot of what he has done since then, lacks the thematic depth and authenticity of Gummo and Kids (which he wrote).
With Aggro Dr1ft, Korine wanted to make a movie about “what comes after movies”, and it’s certainly a glimpse into that: an experiment that truly is unlike anything you will ever see. But does that make it good? No. It doesn’t. It’s admirable when filmmakers look to really shake the medium up, but what could’ve been an interesting 10 minute installation in an art gallery, turns into a torturous 80-minute exercise in self-indulgence that feels as though it genuinely hates its audience.
Its premise had promise, and not just outside the visual language of being told through only heat vision, but in its plot and themes that deal with family, money and death. Instead, Aggro Dr1ft feels like a bad 2000s bargain bin video game complete with terrible voice acting and the most god-awful dialogue that eventually feels like white noise devoid of any depth or intrigue whatsoever. It’s like a cut scene you can’t skip, with the colour wheel dial broken on the TV.
I genuinely do admire Korine’s attempt in pushing the boundaries of the medium, but when the script and direction is this bad with characters so unintelligible and boring, it struggles to be as successful as it needs to be. And I get it, good, or at least engaging art is meant to polarise and challenge its audience. Maybe my reaction is a signifier of success in Korine’s objective of predicting the future of cinema - the future of storytelling and aesthetics in the medium as we know it. But if this really is our future, then we are well and truly fucked.
Try it if you’re a fan of: Harmony Korine, films that look to genuinely challenge the medium, synth/vaporwave music, torturing yourself.
Where you can watch it: edglrd.com (worldwide).
The Bibi Files (2024)
Director: Alexis Bloom
Genre: Documentary Length: 1 Hour 55 Minutes Languages: Hebrew/English/Arabic Country: USA
Synopsis: An investigation into the corruption charges Benjamin Netanyahu is facing, with the use of leaked police interrogation footage.
My Take: What begins as an exploration of a man tangled in corruption charges quickly evolves into a deeper portrait of a figure willing to do anything to avoid losing power. The documentary shows Netanyahu, already embroiled in scandal, becoming further entrenched in political and personal survival as he is forced to lean even harder into the extreme right. From using favours to take control of influential Israeli media outlets, to what he refers to as "controlling the flames" in reference to funding Israel's enemies, all of which strengthens his stranglehold on the region. And thanks to the events of October 7th, Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet have found a pretext to justify their ongoing slaughter in Gaza, even if it is well past the bullshit excuse of “defending ourselves”. It's a war they have no intention of ending as Netanyahu gets in bed with extremely radical far-right figures who are unfortunately writing the history of the region, sealing his dream of a dynasty dictatorship that includes his more extreme son taking over as well as serving past his fourth term.
Some will argue that this documentary is too one-sided, one that will confirm what some of us already know, but when you have footage of the real Benjamin Netanyahu saying what he says here, contradicting characteristics he claims to have, it’s hard to walk away from this not looking at his moral proclamations as a paper-thin facade brandishing a moral compass that is blackened and covered in blood.
Try it if you’re a fan of: Freeing Palestine, investigative documentaries.
Where you can watch it: Prime Video (UK, AU), most VOD platforms (UK, AU), In theatres (USA).
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