Sara Clements

I Am Frankelda is a love letter to spooky stories and to those who write them. It’s about the agony of being misunderstood, the thrill of creating something only you can see, and the strength that comes from owning your nightmares.

The School Duel is, at its core, a savage satire about a society so obsessed with its right to bear arms that it sacrifices its own children on the altar of nationalism. It dares to ask if patriotism has a limit and what happens when you blow past it. In doing so, Wiseman Jr. doesn’t just twist the narrative. He detonates it.

Even in a flawed film like this, the action remains inventive.

It provides the thrills, but leaves the audience hungry for a story with actual depth to its waters.

While the film’s messaging isn’t always perfectly nailed down, it remains a powerful exploration of the terrifying fact that we are the architects of our own reality. It is a strong debut that proves Jessica Rothe should be in more things, anchoring a film that is gripping and unsettling.

The film is well written enough to capture the pain of everyone involved and to understand their perspectives. The film also features great camerawork, with close-ups that make the entire experience feel claustrophobic, especially when people make Jimmy doubt himself.

Stephanie Ahn offers an evocative portrait of the immigrant experience, moving beyond surface observation to investigate the visceral, internal world of children raised in the crosshairs of cultural expectation and personal identity.

Unidentified uses the familiar framework of a murder mystery to tell a deeply political story about autonomy, visibility, and the high cost of speaking up. Even when the plot stumbles, the message never does.

L’Aventura is sometimes a messy, repetitive, and frustrating watch. But that may be the point. It tests your patience like a real vacation can, which makes it feel uncannily familiar.

A beautifully crafted documentary that’s a celebration of the profound ways in which women like Sara Shahverdi can – and do – change the world around them.