Birth of tragedy: the search for truth, both personal and historical, is the driving force of Parallel Mothers, Pedro Almodóvar’s most openly political film to date
I’m looking through you: The common denominator in Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is an acceptance of transience in all things
Family vacation: In Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest, Bergman Island, the Swedish master’s influence offers less inspiration than a strategy for moving through life as an artist
Hands of God: Paul Verhoeven’s latest is an oddly buoyant film that treats its subject—the only nun on record to have a detailed account of sapphic exploits—with sincerity, even reverence
Collective experience: TIFF’s experimental section remains vigorous 2021, with some films firmly rooted in rigorous visuality, and others more intensely personal
Gotta be the shoes: while the first Space Jam was a slick product designed to sell merchandise, the sequel starring LeBron James is somehow even less compelling
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