Laura Kern

In Hold the Dark, menace maven Jeremy Saulnier sends another hapless soul to hell and back

 

The skeptic hero of Joseph Conrad’s Victory is embodied in John Cromwell’s fascinating 1940 screen adaptation by a typically distinguished yet unusually mustached Fredric March (though he appears clean-shaven in the film’s promotional materials). Forever spewing biting quips about…

The loss of hearing or sight (or more) can trigger the ever-potent drama of survival against the odds

In a terrifying world, a reinvigorated horror genre might be our best source of hope (and fear)

(Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark, Magnolia Pictures, Opens May 19)

Up to the task: Amanda Kernell’s Sami Blood and Cate Shortland’s Berlin Syndrome put iron-willed struggles front and center

Annette Bening ascends to new heights of greatness in Mike Mills’s subtle, very personal portrait of a family and an era on the verge

Fede Alvarez’s home-invasion film Don’t Breathe is driven by pulse-pounding shocks—and serious talent

(Patricia Rozema, Canada, 2015)

Honor thy father? An unsentimental look at some of cinema's worst patriarchs

With Evolution, Lucile Hadzihalilovic dives deep into the murky (and dangerous) waters of maturing and achieving self-knowledge

At Sundance, the old hiding places for fresh work came up short

Unlikely and morally gray protagonists came into the fore at this year's egalitarian, enthusiastically attended fest

(Todd Strauss-Schulson, U.S., 2015)

Days and Nights in the Market

(Antoine Fuqua, U.S., 2015)

In the annual Sundance battle between darkness and light, the feel-good films felt best

(Kristian Levring, Denmark/U.K./South Africa, 2014)

The remarkable story of a codebreaking genius who helped win World War II, but was undone when his private life was decrypted

(Oren Moverman, U.S., 2009)