Reviews
A curated archive of the films that shaped me — each review written as a conversation between the screen and the soul.
28 essays
New reviews arrive after each screening, edited with care.
Yi Yi
Edward Yang’s *Yi Yi* is a sprawling, intimate epic that, as the user beautifully articulates, makes us feel as though “since movies were invented, we have lived three times as long.” This film is a profound meditatio...
Wendy and Lucy
Kelly Reichardt's *Wendy and Lucy* is a minimalist masterpiece that, despite its modest scale, offers a profound meditation on poverty, displacement, and the fragility of human connection in contemporary America. The...
The Worst Person in the World
Joachim Trier’s *The Worst Person in the World* is a poignant and often humorous exploration of modern existential angst, perfectly encapsulated by the user’s opening question: “Are we living in the worst of eras?” Th...
The Turin Horse
Béla Tarr's final film, *The Turin Horse*, is a bleak and haunting meditation on the end of the world, on the collapse of civilization and the inevitability of decay. The film is inspired by the true story of philosop...
The Seventh Seal
Ingmar Bergman's *The Seventh Seal* is a masterpiece of existential cinema, a profound meditation on faith, death, and the search for meaning in a world that may be fundamentally devoid of it. The film follows a knigh...
The Mastermind
Kelly Reichardt’s *The Mastermind* is a film that subverts expectations, presenting what the user aptly describes as perhaps the “quietest, clumsiest ‘heist film’ I have ever seen.” The title itself is a masterful str...
The Lobster
Yorgos Lanthimos's *The Lobster* is a darkly comic and deeply unsettling exploration of conformity, desire, and the human need for connection. The film presents a dystopian world in which single people are given forty...
Taste of Cherry
Abbas Kiarostami’s *Taste of Cherry* is a minimalist masterpiece, a profound and deeply contemplative film that, as the user beautifully describes, takes us on a solitary drive through endless yellow earth and winding...
Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufman's *Synecdoche, New York* is an ambitious and bewildering exploration of art, mortality, and the impossibility of capturing life through art. The film follows Philip Seymour Hoffman's character, a theat...
Stalker
Andrei Tarkovsky's *Stalker* is a philosophical odyssey that transcends the boundaries of science fiction, presenting instead a profound meditation on desire, faith, and the human search for meaning in an indifferent...
Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring
Kim Ki-duk's *Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring* is a meditative and poetic exploration of the cycle of life, the nature of karma, and the possibility of redemption through spiritual practice. The film is set entir...
Solaris
Andrei Tarkovsky's *Solaris* is a science fiction masterpiece that transcends the genre's typical concerns with technology and spectacle, instead offering a deeply humanistic exploration of memory, love, and the limit...
Rosetta
The Dardenne brothers’ *Rosetta* is a cinematic gut-punch, a relentless and unflinching portrayal of a young woman’s desperate struggle for survival on the margins of society. The user’s initial impressions—the fish h...
Paris, Texas
Wim Wenders’ *Paris, Texas* is a film that lingers in the mind long after the credits roll, a desolate yet profoundly poignant exploration of yearning, loss, and the elusive nature of connection. The user’s initial ob...
Mulholland Drive
David Lynch's *Mulholland Drive* is a labyrinthine masterpiece that defies easy interpretation, instead presenting a fractured narrative that mirrors the fragmented nature of memory, desire, and identity itself. The f...
Landscape in the Mist
Theo Angelopoulos's *Landscape in the Mist* is not merely a film; it is a profound, almost spiritual, journey into the heart of human longing, loss, and the elusive nature of truth. The user's initial reflections perf...
In the Mood for Love
Wong Kar-wai's *In the Mood for Love* is a visual and emotional masterpiece, a film that transforms the mundane experience of unrequited love into a poetic meditation on desire, longing, and the tragedy of missed conn...
Harakiri
Masaki Kobayashi's *Harakiri* is a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, a profound meditation on honor, duty, and the human cost of rigid social hierarchies. The film tells the story of a ronin who requests permission to c...
Frances Ha
Noah Baumbach’s *Frances Ha*, shot in striking black and white, is a vibrant, yet deeply empathetic, portrait of a young woman navigating the awkward, often bewildering, terrain of early adulthood in New York City. Th...
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Michel Gondry’s *Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind* is a kaleidoscopic journey through the labyrinth of memory, love, and loss, a film that resonates deeply with the universal human desire to erase pain, yet ultim...
Come and See
Elem Klimov's *Come and See* is one of cinema's most harrowing and unforgettable films, a visceral and devastating portrayal of the horrors of war and the destruction of innocence. The film follows a young boy named A...
Chungking Express
Wong Kar-wai's *Chungking Express* is a vibrant and energetic exploration of urban loneliness, chance encounters, and the possibility of connection in the midst of a sprawling metropolis. The film consists of two para...
Boyhood
Richard Linklater's *Boyhood* is an ambitious and groundbreaking film that chronicles the life of a boy named Mason from age six to eighteen, filmed over twelve years with the same cast. The film is a meditation on ti...
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Abdellatif Kechiche’s *Blue Is the Warmest Color* is a film that transcends mere storytelling, becoming an intensely personal and visceral experience, as the user’s reflections so powerfully convey. It’s a narrative t...
Bicycle Thieves
Vittorio De Sica's *Bicycle Thieves* is a neorealist masterpiece that, despite its modest premise, offers a profound meditation on poverty, dignity, and the human struggle for survival in post-war Italy. The film foll...
Before Sunrise
Richard Linklater's *Before Sunrise* is a deceptively simple film about two strangers who meet on a train and spend a night walking through Vienna, talking about life, love, philosophy, and everything in between. Yet,...
Amour
Michael Haneke's *Amour* is a devastating portrait of aging, illness, and the enduring power of love in the face of mortality. The film follows an elderly couple, Georges and Anne, as they navigate the physical and em...
A Ghost Story
David Lowery's *A Ghost Story* is a haunting and meditative exploration of grief, time, and the persistence of love beyond death. The film follows a man who, after being killed in a car accident, returns as a ghost to...