Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 104 i Little White Lies

Directed by ZOË KRAVITZ Starring NAOMI ACKIE, CHANNING TATUM, ADRIA ARJONA Released 23 AUGUST This may look like a review, but it is not a review. I’m here to offer you a little guiding hand to this our current issue, inspired by the film Blink Twice, which has been written and directed by Zoë Kravitz. We’ve tried to make this issue as spoiler-free as possible, and our celebration of the film consists largely of discussions about the craft and stories about its meanings. It opens on two accident-prone service industry workers Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) blagging their way into a cocktail reception hosted by Slater King (Channing Tatum), the adorable face of global tech concern, King-Tech. After glasses have been clinked and canapés have been quaffed, Frida captures a quiet…

Directed by SEAN WANG Starring IZAAC WANG, JOAN CHEN, SHIRLEY CHEN Released 2 AUGUST When you’re a teenager, you look to those you perceive as your social betters to shape and inspire the evolution of your own persona. Just as we watch 13-year-old Taiwanese-American Chris (Izaac Wang) gawping lustily at a female classmate, or trying to suppress an eager yearning to ditch his lame-o pals and go skating with the big kids, or even trading rhetorical blows in a constant war against his mother and sister, we too see director Sean Wang eager to follow in the trail that others have blazed before him. A neo-nostalgic period piece set during the heady social media frontier days of 2008, Dìdi is a standard issue, vignette-driven coming-of-ager that excels as an amusing observational diary while…

Directed by JUSTIN LERNER Starring KAREN MARTÍNEZ, RUDY RODRIGUEZ, PAMELA MARTÍNEZ Released 16 AUGUST Films about undercover cops tend to deal with the moral boundary that can and often will be crossed in order to retain the façade of criminality. Justin Lerner’s seamy, Guatemala-set crime drama, Cadejo Blanco, adopts a similar set-up in order to test how far the righteously pissed off Sarita (Karen Martínez) will go to locate her missing sister whose last known whereabouts was in the company of what she believes to be smalltime gangsters. The levels of security and tests of loyalty that these gangs insist upon, she discovers, are extreme to say the least, and once she’s snuck her way in, it’s not long before she’s thirst-trapping a local kingpin to assist with an assassination attempt. Sarita is…

Directed by GREG KWEDAR Starring COLMAN DOMINGO, CLARENCE MACLIN, SEAN SAN JOSÉ Released 30 AUGUST We first meet John “Divine G” Whitfield (Colman Domingo) on a stage, reciting Shakespearean verse. His expression is far away, blissful: enraptured by each word individually, transported by the poetry of their procession. It’s only backstage, as the cast members change out of their costumes and corrections officers lead them back to their cells, that the truth becomes crushingly clear. This is by all accounts true to the experience of the real Whitfield, who while incarcerated at Sing Sing played a role in founding the still-active Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, through which those incarcerated write, produce, and act in stage productions. Taking part in this troupe, members can nourish themselves creatively, even within a prison-industrial complex…

Directed by AZAZEL JACOBS Starring NATASHA LYONNE, ELIZABETH OLSEN, CARRIE COON Released 6 SEPTEMBER Are there three more brutal words in the English language than “do not resuscitate”? They elicit a chill when spoken in concert, their intimations covering all the bases from cruel-to-be-kind familial obligation to something darker about taking the finality of someone else’s existence into your own hands. We know straight away that cultured fussbudget Katie (Carrie Coon) has a dash of evil in her blood, as she’s fixated with trying to coerce her seriously-ailing father to scribble his John Hancock onto a DNR form lest the savage New York nurses break a rib in their attempts to prolong his life. Rachel (Natasha Lyonne) is happy for Katie to do her thing as long as it means they don’t have…

Directed by SHUCHI TALATI Starring PREETI PANIGRAHI, KANI KUSRUTI, KESAV BINOY KIRON Released 20 SEPTEMBER At 27, I find life more complex than I did at 17, but boy did my hormonal self feel confused back then. As a girl who goes to sleep with crystals on my windowsill in an attempt to get rid of bad energy, my younger self would have dreamt about a manual on how to navigate complexities such as boys and emotions, etc. Shuchi Talati’s impressive debut feature Girls Will Be Girls is a sensitive and quiet addition to the coming-of-age genre that is relatable whether you’re a young teen going through love for the first time, or looking back on those exciting yet heartbreaking years of so many firsts. The film, which debuted to plaudits at the…

Directed by NORA FINGSCHEIDT Starring SAOIRSE RONAN, LAUREN LYLE, STEPHEN DILLANE Released 27 SEPTEMBER In a passage from her acclaimed memoir, The Outrun, author Amy Liptrot describes the freeing feeling of downing a “mouthful of oblivion.” She is speaking of the giddy temptation to throw in the towel on her road to sobriety. She spent much of her twenties living in London, boozing her days away and engaging in ruinous behaviour. To alleviate the spiralling loneliness, she returned to the place where she grew up, Scotland’s Orkney Islands, to grapple not only with her alcoholism but to reconnect with her religious mother and father who has Bipolar Disorder. Director Nora Fingscheidt adapted the novel with Liptrot who has made certain changes so the central character Rona (Saoirse Ronan) is slightly distanced from the…

Directed by RICH PEPPIATT Starring MÓGLAÍ BAP, MO CHARA, DJ PRÓVAI Released 23 AUGUST Turn off your English loyalty and turn on the bassline for the semi-fictionalised origin story of Northern Irish hip-hop band Kneecap. Each member of the trio plays themselves and the righteous vitality that animates their music translates into intoxicating screen presences high on the dirty freedoms (and drugs) of the post-colonial grassroots. From the opening, the film crackles with the possibilities – and lack of them – of being born after the 1998 Good Friday agreement, at a flimsy remove from the factional violence of The Troubles yet with blood pumped full of ire at the still-unaddressed horrors carried out by the British: follow the trail of many unsolved murders – including of minors - and you will find…

Directed by MOIN HUSSAIN Starring FARAZ AYUB, NATALIE GAVIN, CLAIRE RUSHBROOK Released 9 AUGUST The liminal space of the motorway service station doesn’t garner much attention in the media. These buildings exist out of necessity rather than desire, allowing motorists a chance to use the loo or grab a quick coffee. In the school holidays they are populated by harried-looking parents with carsick kids and coachloads of hungover teenagers returning from festivals, but most of the time, their clientele are lorry drivers and other weary travellers just passing through – an automotive limbo. Shy, awkward Adam Muhammed (Faraz Ayub) works the night shift in a burger shop at the fictitious Sky Peals Services and likes the quiet. He deliberately takes the kitchen jobs so he can interact with as few people as possible,…

Directed by NEIL BOYLE, KIRK HENDRY Starring CILLIAN MURPHY, SALLY HAWKINS, RAFFEY CASSIDY Released 2 AUGUST A young boy, Michael, and his dog are forced to grapple with the realities of isolation after he’s thrown from his family ship and stranded on a desert island. Compelled to come to terms with his harrowing situation, Michael is guided by the wise Kensuke, the island’s only human inhabitant. Although separated by language Michael is taught by Kensuke the ways of the island and how to overcome hardship through a connection with nature. Neil Boyle’s debut animated feature, Kensuke’s Kingdom, relies more on mood and texture than it does dialogue to explore the characters’ intriguing backstories. Boyle conveys source author Michael Morpurgo’s strong environmentalist ethos, critiquing anthropocentric ideologies and exploring the value of all animal life. For…

Directed by NAQQASH KHALID Starring NABHAAN RIZWAN, RORY FLECK BYRNE, AMIR EL-MASRY Released 13 SEPTEMBER The myriad absurdities and pressures of modern life are on full display in Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature – a bold and inventive drama that centres on the experiences of Aden (Nabhaan Rizwan), a young actor trying to make it in the harsh world of entertainment. Despite his striking features and obvious talent, Aden is struggling to find work, relegated to the role of a corpse on a generic police drama when we first meet him. While the show’s white lead moans to his agent about the show’s renewal meaning he can’t do the more prestigious film he was offered, having too much work isn’t a luxury Aden has. He attends countless auditions for a variety of roles, standing…

Directed by NATHAN SILVER Starring JASON SCHWARTZMAN, CAROL KANE, DOLLY DE LEON Released 23 AUGUST Gottleib is in trouble. Since the death of his wife a year ago, Ben (Jason Schwartzman) has found himself in a place of personal and professional crisis. He’s moved back in with his mothers, Meira (Caroline Aaron) and Judith (Dolly de Leon) and still can’t perform his job as the cantor for his local synagogue because he’s lost his voice. Depression and loneliness lead Ben to a dive bar, where, after one too many Mudslides (that’s vodka, Irish cream, coffee liqueur and heavy cream) he gets into it with another patron, who promptly knocks his lights out. When he comes to, a kindly older woman, who had earlier been performing karaoke in the back room, is standing over…

Directed by CORALIE FARGEAT Starring DEMI MOORE, MARGARET QUALLEY, DENNIS QUAID Released 20 SEPTEMBER It’s no secret that women are held to a higher standard than men – nowhere is this more evident than in Hollywood, where to visibly age, gain weight or not fit the very narrow prevailing beauty standard is to be deemed worthless. There are plenty of films that wrestle with this issue – Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, Black Swan, Inland Empire and The Neon Demon are just a handful – so it’s a saturated field, and filmmakers need a novel idea if they’re going to stand out from the crowd. To her credit, writer-director Coralie Fargeat has one of those. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is an ageing celebrity fitness instructor who decides to take a chance on a…

Directed by CATARINA MOURÃO Starring MARTIM SANTA RITA, MASARI, MATEUS M SANTA RITA Released 20 SEPTEMBER When Martim Santa Rita was 15, his infatuation with the photographs in the pages of a Soviet magazine led him on a rather unusual path for a Portuguese teenager growing up in the ’70s. As a budding communist who shared his parents’ political convictions, he would set off for the Russian city of Astrakhan where he would end up staying for a year and a half, pretending to be 18. Now in his late ’50s, Martim recounts how things didn’t pan out how he had hoped; how quickly fascination can turn into disillusionment in the face of eroding years of innocence. Catarina Mourão creates a distinct and composed atmosphere within the setting of her documentary: a half-empty…

KEY TO CONTRIBUTORS MA = MARINA ASHIOTI LC = LILLIAN CRAWFORD DJ = DAVID JENKINS MK = MAES KERR KM = KATHERINE MCLAUGHLIN RSR = RAFA SALES ROSS JSW = JOSH SLATER-WILLIAMS HS = HANNAH STRONG MW = MADELEINE WILSON AW = ADAM WOODWARD A 50-FILM HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY OF FEMALE ACTORS WHO HAVE SWITCHED TO DIRECTING. In light of thinking about Zoë Kravitz’s extraordinary directorial debut, Blink Twice, we noticed that there’s a secret history of female actors who have taken up the mantle of director that stretches back to the medium’s formative days. This is not a qualitative survey, more a potted history of female screen performers who have been able shift to the other side of the camera, and hopefully these 50 capsule reviews, when taken together, gives…

Directed by FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA Starring ADAM DRIVER, GIANCARLO ESPOSITO, NATHALIE EMMANUEL Released 27 SEPTEMBER The word “opus” feels custom-designed as a descriptor for a film such as Francis Ford Coppola’s self-conscious folly-to-end-all-follies, Megalopolis. It’s a rare bird indeed in that it’s a work of art that actively practices what it preaches, a celebration of unfettered creativity and farsightedness that offers a volcanic fusion of hand-crafted neo-classicism while running through a script of toe-tapping word-jazz that merrily dances between the raindrops of logic and coherence. It’s a film from the man who made The Godfather. And it’s a film from the man who made Dracula. And it‘s also a film from the man who made One From the Heart. And it’s definitely a film from the man who made Twixt. On a macro…

Directed by MARIA MIRE Starring KIM OSTROWSKIJ, RAFAEL COSTA, SALOMÉ SALTÃO Released 23 AUGUST In a blend of naturalistic intensity and expressionistic surrealism, Maria Mire’s Clandestina retells the life of Margarida Tengarrinha (Kim Ostrowskij), an active member of the Portuguese Communist Party in the 1950s under an authoritarian dictatorship. Mire builds the film around this character, who is defined by her identity as a woman, mother and individual in hiding from security agencies while forging documents and writing for the party’s magazine. The story is absorbed in her repetitive, restrictive daily tasks, narrated throughout the film by Ostrowskij as she recounts the events following a promotion within the communist party. Yet for the film’s focus on the mundanity of a restricted life, there is an overarching lack of authenticity from distancing Tengarrinha’s character…

Directed by DANIEL KOKOTAJLO Starring MATT SMITH, MORFYDD CLARK, ERIN RICHARDS Released 6 SEPTEMBER Back in 2017, director Daniel Kokotajlo was dubbed ‘one to watch’ after his striking debut Apostasy, a brooding drama set within Manchester’s Jehovah’s Witness community. But those who watched were left waiting. Now, he returns with Starve Acre, which leaves behind the streets of Oldham for the broad vistas of the Yorkshire Dales. As well as crossing the Pennines, Kokotajlo has crossed genre borders, too: where Apostasy found dread and cruelty in suffocating dogma, Starve Acre works in a much more overt ‘folk horror’ vein. Adapted from the 2019 novel by Andrew Michael Hurley, the film focuses on a couple, archaeologist Richard (Matt Smith, tasked with tackling a Yorkshire accent) and stay-at-home mum Juliette (Morfydd Clark, thankfully not), who…

Directed by WEI SHUJUN Starring YILONG ZHU, CHLOE MAAYAN, TIANLAI HOU Released 16 AUGUST Already on his third feature since his first in 2020, director Wei Shujun is one of the most compelling Chinese filmmakers to emerge in recent years, though his latest film, Only the River Flows, already presents a distinct departure from what preceded it – at least on the surface. Striding Into the Wind (2020) and Ripples of Life (2021) are both dramas concerned with film crews struggling to get movies finished. As such, a murder mystery thriller could seem like a calculated play for more mainstream recognition. Yet this complex, riveting detective tale is far from a predictable noir riff, and ends up being just as preoccupied with the frustration and puzzling distractions inherent to wrapping up any project…

Directed by MARYAM MOQADAM, BEHTASH SANAEEHA Starring LILY FARHADPOUR, ESMAEEL MEHRABI, MOHAMMAD HEIDARI Released 13 SEPTEMBER Living a rock-and-roll lifestyle, sleeping in ’til noon, starting the day with black tea and cigarettes, smearing on make-up with her fingers, Marin (Lili Farhadpour) could be mistaken for a woman half her age. But at 70 years old, she’s coming to terms with a body that is not as young as it once was, and a country that is not as free as it used to be. Her husband has been dead for decades, her children have moved away, and her once-raucous friends now only meet up once a year, and give her a blood pressure monitor as an early birthday present. Stubbornly taking herself on a solo girl’s day out, she discovers beyond her beautiful…

Directed by CÉDRIC KAHN Starring ARIEH WORTHALTER, ARTHUR HARARI, STÉPHAN GUÉRIN-TILLIÉ Released 20 SEPTEMBER This may come across as a petty dig, but Cédric Kahn’s The Goldman Case was, by a whisker, probably the better high-stakes existential French courtroom drama of 2023 (sorry Anatomy of a Fall!), yet its rigorous retelling of a historical flashpoint case from 1976 certainly makes it the unsexier of the two films. Still, it’s hard to peel your eyes away from actor Arieh Worthalter who plays the strident and imposing leftwing intellectual Pierre Goldman who is in the dock to appeal a sentence for murder and robbery that has come about on the back of a lauded book he wrote from prison. As you’re watching the trial unfold, it’s impossible to tell whether Goldman is an earnest, outspoken…

Shu Lea Cheang is an artist literally defined by her own terms. Whether it’s through works of “Eco Cybernoia”, “Sci-fi Cypherpunk” or “Sci-fi Viral Alt-Reality”, the throughline that persists in her otherwise shapeshifting practice is her staunch fascination with the emerging technologies of the time (digital video, net art, augmented reality, etc) and their intersections with race, class and gender. The internet has become a huge pillar in the foundations of her practice, with works like Brandon (an interactive piece of early web art that acts as memorial for a trans man who was assaulted and murdered in 1993) earning her a reputation as a net art pioneer. But Cheang made her feature debut before the internet began its accelerated seep into the fabric of reality. With Fresh Kill now…