sirāt

When people say they want to be "blown away by a movie," they should probably check out Sirāt.

New teaser trailer below!

via NEON

sentimental value

Neon has released a new trailer for Sentimental Value.

This is my favorite film of the year so far.

via Neon

re-animator

My first collection of poems, Re-Animator, forthcoming from Indolent Books in 2026, is now available to preorder!

See here for a link from Indolent Books to purchase.

"In this incisive, deliciously specific collection, Jeffery Berg inspirits the relics and ghosts of an American childhood and youth that is at once arrestingly familiar, fantastical, and fraught. Whether he’s evoking Jason from Friday the 13th or invoking the lyrics of “We Are the World,” he traces the masks and acts that disguise and reveal, while unraveling and reweaving the veils of identity, gender, and place. “I rewrite, I myth-make / the discos, cracked records, / Astaire, and bodies that didn’t make it / this long,” Berg writes. “I rework them into air, / into glass, shimmering, pricked / into a slivery frock / above pits of this earth.” Re-Animator takes us back and leads us forward, as we revisit our past and so reclaim our present, with generosity and wisdom."

—David Groff

poetry reading tonight

Reading poems tonight with Michael Montlack & David Groff, with music by Window Dancer in Ridgewood (my old stomping grounds).

belén

Sometimes a straightforward, no frills style is effective for a political film. Dolores Fonzi's Belén communicates momentous events through an unembellished lens. Taking place in the Tucumán region of Argentina, where it was also shot, the film is based upon a nonfiction book, Somos Belén by Ana Correa, which details the real-life case of a woman wrongfully charged for infanticide. The case sparked a national movement, and ultimately aided in the country's legalization of abortion.  

The film opens with a harrowing hospital sequence of Julieta (a searing performance by Camila Plaate), unaware of her pregnancy, suffering a miscarriage. She is treated bizarrely, including a disturbing moment where she is suddenly shown a dead fetus by medical staff. Without an investigation, Julieta is promptly arrested and subjected to a rushed, poorly handled trial, that reeks of patriarchy, classism, and Christofascism. She is accused of murdering her child in the hospital bathroom. Her appointed lawyer (Julieta Cardinali) is cold and subtly insidious, displaying disdain for her client, blaming the false accusations on post-partum stress. Julieta is imprisoned, her story seemingly one of many swept under the rug. 

Fonzi, who impressively directs, co-writes, and stars, plays Soledad Deza, a dedicated attorney who assembles a group of women determined ot fight for Julieta's freedom. Soledad understands that they need more than just a case, but a sweeping political movement behind them. At first, in hopes of drumming up public support, a glib morning talk show of an old friend patronizes Soledad, pitting her against a surprie virulent anti-abortion guest. But slowly, momentum builds, garnering national attention (this is the era of "Gangnam Style" dance videos, which figures in the film as a contrasting. frivolous example of a vrial moment). To protect Julieta’s identity, Soledad and her team refer to her as "Belén," a name rich in symbolism, meaning "Bethlehem," the birthplace of Christ.

The film traces the ups and downs of Soledad's mission. There are scenes of rocks through windows, children being threatened, and quests for files. These are familiar crime drama tropes, but in this specific story, they are urgent and tense. Meanwhile, glimpses into Julieta / Belén's life reveal her suffocating sentence, where she is judged harshly by some of the other women in jail. 

I love the way Fonzi strikingly populates the film with women, who are well-meaning, and not, well-off and poor, in the forefront and in the background (a stoic-looking prison guard becomes unexpectedly benevolent). Down-to-earth, yet, winning and confident, Fonzi guides this ship with steely determination, both in performance and behind the camera.

The film's final act centers upon the verdict and its aftermath. These final scenes are played with poignant restraint, especially by Plaate. Under heavy bangs, cascading black curls and sad, downturned eyes, Julieta / Belén is finally able to let her emotions surface.

Belén is Argentina's entry for International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. 

pillion

Pillion plays like a fizzy romcom, except with deep dramatic undertones.

"While quietly composed, Alexander Skarsgård is doing tricky, believable work—sometimes a seemingly empty pain behind Ray’s eyes and an occasional inner wrestling feels tangible."

My New York Film Festival review of Pillion is now up at Film-Forward.

via A24

the mastermind

I enjoyed the early 70s, muddled, blurry feel of Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind. 

Another fine character study from her. 

My New York Film Festival Film-Forward review here.

via Mubi

the secret agent

Neon has dropped the official poster and trailer for The Secret Agent. 

One of my favorites of the year so far!

via Neon

missing diane

 

We love and miss Diane Keaton.

roofman

I enjoyed Derek Cianfrance's (a more comedic departure for him) Roofman!

Kirsten Dunst is particularly exceptional in it.

Check out my review here at Film-Forward.

via Paramount.

urchin

 

My review of Harris Dickinson's impressive directorial debut, Urchin, is now up at Film-Forward.

nyff review: blue moon

I was thoroughly engaged with Richard Linklater's bittersweet Blue Moon.

My New York Film Festival review is now up at Film-Forward.

pillion

A24's teaser trailer for Pillion has dropped. The release date is February 2026.

I enjoyed this one out of NYFF!

nyff review: after the hunt

Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt was the opening night selection at this year's New York Film Festival.

I enjoyed the film and its aesthetics (those oversized blazers!), but all of its elements don't gel, and there are weird point-of-view shifts that leave its side characters, especially Ayo Edebiri's, in the dust. 

Still worth watching for a vigorous performance from Julia Roberts. Always a treat to see her tackle brittle characters.

My Film-Forward review is here.

the history of sound

Oliver Hermanus's lovely The History of Sound requires patience in this bombastic time of ongoing screen distractors. Based upon a short story by Ben Shattuck, who also scripted, the film is shockingly staid from its outset (opening shots of water with a voiceover immediately conjures Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It), but gradually accumulates power throughout, ultimately finishing with a moving coda where ghosts of the past speak and sing.

The film is a good companion to, but a step up from Harmanus's last effort, Living, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru, strangely distant despite Kazuo Ishiguro's screenplay and Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood's elegant performances. The two leads here, Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor, are both indelible in their roles; O'Connor in particular a stand-out, his sad eyes above his grin, communicating complicated emotions. 

Lionel (Mescal) and David (O'Connor) meet at the Boston Conservatory in a memorable scene in a bar full of elegantly suited New England men (the handsome costuming is by Miyako Bellizzi; I appreciated her subtle, unique work in this year's Bonjour Tristesse). Lionel overhears David playing folk music on a piano, reminding Lionel of his rural Kentucky roots. The two connect and fall in love. Their song "Silver Dagger" ultimately becomes the film's prescient love theme, its lyrics "All men are false" and "I can't be your bride," suggestive of fates to come (for them, and some of the women in their lives). 

Lionel and David end up doing research together, journeying through the deep backwoods of New England, recording songs from the voices of townsfolk along the way, including descendants of slaves, on wax cylinders. David is haunted by his experiences in war, which broke them apart for some time prior (war "made everything dimmer, cold," he says, a tear in his eye above campfire). Naturally, they drift apart. The film suggests a roaming restlessness in Lionel: we follow him through his early 1920s as moves to Italy to a stint at Oxford, and then, a journey back home again to his Kentucky farm. 

This steady, slowly-paced episodic tale is beautifully shot by Alexander Dynan (First Reformed, The Card Counter). Sometimes, however, with its unvaried, muted palate of taupe and gray, it's visually stifling, the surfaces of everything too clean (a sudden shot of a woman washing a grubby window is almost a relief). A few montages, well-edited by Chris Wyatt, provide some rhythm and narrative economy when the film occasionally goes slack.  From the perspective within this digital age of nowness, the powerful ending, highlighting the unbearable ache of loss and the vitality of history and preservation, lingers. ***

-Jeffery Berg

via Mubi

twinless

My review of James Sweeney's Twinless is now up here at Film-Forward. I enjoyed the film's sense of humor and Dylan O'Brien's performance.

via Roadside Attractions