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The post review: spielberg's triumphant ode to journalism.

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All 5 upcoming guy ritchie movies explained, johnny depp's potential return in pirates of the caribbean reboot addressed by producer, the post  is an expertly-crafted and compelling film brought to tantalizing life by a master director and an all-star ensemble cast..

The Post is the latest historical drama from director Steven Spielberg, following his recent Oscar-winning efforts such as  Lincoln and  Bridge of Spies . The project came together very quickly last year, with the cast and crew assembling in March to get it through the pipeline. Given the nature of its story, there's an obvious parallel to be made to the current United States administration and its strenuous relationship with the media, which is why Spielberg and his team felt it was so necessary to move swiftly and get it to the big screen while the material is still timely. Whenever a film is rushed along, there's always a risk it was developed  too fast, but that isn't the case here.  The Post is an expertly-crafted and compelling film brought to tantalizing life by a master director and an all-star ensemble cast.

In the early 1970s while America is in the midst of the Vietnam War, the  Washington Post is a small local paper trying to keep up with larger outlets like the  New York Times . Led by Kay Graham (Meryl Streep), the country's first female newspaper publisher, the company is hoping to improve it fortunes by going public on the stock market. Meanwhile, tenacious editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) is constantly on the prowl for any story he can find, looking for anything that can give him an edge over the competition.

The country is rocked to its core when the  Times publishes a searing exposé detailing the shocking truth behind America's involvement in Vietnam and how four different U.S. presidents covered it up. After President Richard Nixon bars the paper from publishing further stories on the matter until a court hearing,  Post reporter Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk) is able to acquire the classified documents for the  Washington Post through a source. Graham then has to make the most important decision of her career: either publish the "Pentagon Papers" and fulfill her company's obligation to the general public or hold so she doesn't endanger the paper's future.

As indicated above,  The Post (despite its 1970s setting) is very timely today, with a message about the importance of the First Amendment and freedom of the press. While it's quite clear what Spielberg is saying, he deserves credit for tastefully handling it in a way so that it never comes across as too preachy. Even without the connection to modern politics,  The Post works as a well-told and entertaining story on its own merit. Much of the credit there has to be given to co-writers Liz Hannah and  Spotlight Oscar-winner Josh Singer (working in familiar territory) for their approach to the script. The integration of the subplot involving Graham taking the paper public is weaved in to the main narrative nicely, providing the audience with layers to contemplate. Their screenplay isn't a simple surface-level examination, and the film is all the better for it.

From a directorial sense, Spielberg remains at the top of his game - working with a kind of movie he's grown quite comfortable in during the latter stages of his career. He makes the excellent decision to incorporate actual audio from the real Richard Nixon, injecting a sense of dread in the tale by giving the plucky  Post gang a true villain to work against and showing the younger members of the audience (who didn't live through these events) the threats from the President are not sensationalized for the sake of the film's agenda. Unsurprisingly, Spielberg also maintains a strong sense of pace, as  The Post zips along in engaging fashion, clocking in at just under two hours. Multiple scenes are elevated by John Williams' musical score, which adds palpable tension to basic conversations and pulls at the heartstrings when called upon. Once again, the legendary duo work their magic.

The work in front of the camera is just as impressive. Hanks plays slightly against type as an editor with a rough exterior, willing to bend morals (and arguably, the law) in order to get his job done. But the actor also demonstrates the softer side of Bradlee in several key sequences, painting him as a man dedicated to doing the right thing no matter what the cost. Hanks had big shoes to fill playing Bradlee decades after Jason Robards won an Oscar for that role in  All the Presidents Men , but he's more than up for the task. Streep is also terrific as Graham, shouldering a powerful emotional through-line of what it means to be a woman making a name for herself in the face of doubt. She has a very satisfying arc over the course of the film, with numerous scenes displaying why Streep is an icon in her profession. When the two leads share the screen, it's captivating to watch them work and play off each other.

The Post focuses primarily on Hanks and Streep, but the supporting cast is also very good. Odenkirk has one of the meatier parts, showcasing his range by portraying a well-intentioned journalist happy to help in the investigation. Bruce Greenwood also has a strong presence as former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, serving as a key lynchpin in the primary conflict about what the paper should do with their newfound information. The remainder of the roster is a who's who of character actors to round out the  Post staff and their families, all making the most of what they have to work with - even if their screen time is minimal. There are no bad performances to be found here.

Of all of this year's awards contenders,  The Post is perhaps the one that fits the mold of traditional "Oscar bait" the most, but it rises above that label by never being too ponderous or ploying. Yes, the social commentary is apparent for anyone paying attention to the headlines, but Spielberg presents his story in such a way it's hard not to get onboard. History buffs and cinephiles will find something to enjoy here, and  The Post is certainly worth catching in theaters as it awaits whatever Academy Award nominations come its way.

The Post is now playing in U.S. theaters. It runs 116 minutes and is rated PG-13 for language and brief war violence.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments!

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Review: Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Post’ is a movie about the past that speaks to our times

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“The Post” goes against the contemporary Hollywood grain. Propulsive major studio cinema made with a real-world purpose in mind, it’s a risky venture that succeeds across the board.

Prodded into existence by Steven Spielberg, one of the few filmmakers capable of making the studio system do his bidding and of convincing major players like Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks to go along with him, “The Post” takes on a particularly counterintuitive subject.

That would be the Washington Post’s 1971 role in publishing what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret 47-volume, 7,000-page Department of Defense study of the war in Vietnam that exposed all manner of official prevarications and outright lies extending over the terms of four presidents.

For one thing, as the gripping Liz Hannah and Josh Singer script makes clear, the breaking of this story was initially owned lock, stock and barrel by the paper’s rival the New York Times, which may be why Post editor Ben Bradlee gave it only 14 pages in his autobiography compared with 60 pages for Watergate.

For another, there has already been an excellent Washington Post movie in “All the President’s Men.” Also, given that the Oscar-winning pro-journalism drama “Spotlight” came out just two years ago, the market wasn’t necessarily desperate for another one.

And that’s just the point. “The Post” is the rare Hollywood movie made not to fulfill marketing imperatives but because the filmmakers felt the subject matter had real and immediate relevance to the crisis both society and print journalism find themselves in right now.

When Spielberg recently told the Hollywood Reporter, “I realized this was the only year to make this film,” he was speaking to what he saw as the immediate need for a project that in effect commandeers yesterday to comment on today.

Aiming to combine what the director calls “a chase film with journalists” with an essential civics lesson, “The Post” showcases the value of newspapers hanging together and holding government accountable for deception even in the face of possibly crippling financial pressures.

Given that Spielberg only committed to “The Post” in March while already involved in the effects-laden “Ready Player One,” due out early next year, this film had to be made with remarkable speed to meet the 2017 deadline.

Collaborating with his regular team, including cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, editor Michael Kahn (Sarah Broshar co-edited), production designer Rick Carter and composer John Williams (costume designer Ann Roth is new to the group), Spielberg seems to have been energized by the self-imposed time restraints.

“The Post,” made with the pacing of a thriller, has an appealing sense of urgency about it, with the director, echoing newspaper films past like Sam Fuller’s “Park Row,” working in a lean, focused style that also feels loose and unconstrained.

Though Hanks’ Bradlee is obviously a key player, “The Post” is really about the professional coming of age of Streep’s Katharine Graham, the owner of the Post.

Daughter and widow of the two previous Post owners, respectively, and not anyone who thought she’d ever be in charge, Graham had to simultaneously navigate the shoals of Wall Street by taking her company public while considering publishing secret information that could both hurt the public offering and land key people in jail.

(According to the press material, first-time screenwriter Hannah’s script focused more on Graham, so Singer, an Oscar winner for “Spotlight,” was brought on to pump up Bradlee and the rest of the newsroom staff.)

Before we get to that newsroom, however, “The Post” flashes back to Vietnam in 1966, when a young Daniel Ellsberg (Matthew Rhys) hangs with troops on a fact-finding mission for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood).

Shocked to hear McNamara say one thing in private about U.S. military prospects and something else to the press, Ellsberg helps write a massive report for the Rand Corp. on American involvement that we see him sneak out of its offices in the dead of night in order to make Xerox copies.

Bradlee, for his part, might be dealing with mundane problems like how to cope with President Nixon’s attempt to bar Post reporters from covering daughter Tricia’s wedding, but he’s heard rumors that the New York Times is onto something big.

Playing catch-up once the Times publishes, Bradlee assigns reporter Ben Bagdikian (Bob Odenkirk), who has a hunch Ellsberg is the source of the leak, to obtain the Post’s own copy of the papers.

When the Nixon administration asks a federal judge to enjoin the Times from publishing, Bradlee sees an opportunity. “If the Times shuts down,” he says, “we’re in business.”

But first he has to persuade Graham, who wants to believe that “quality and profitability” go hand in hand for newspapers, but worries that repercussions of publishing will doom the public offering.

Screenwriters Hannah and Singer nicely marshal their arguments here (“We have to be a check on their power,” Bradlee says, “if we don’t hold them accountable who will?”) and the parallels to the position of the press today are strong and vivid, as they are meant to be.

Though “The Post’s” supporting players are key, the film is in some ways a two-hander, and both Hanks and Streep understand that their push-pull relationship is the film’s emotional center.

Realizing that he does not physically resemble Bradlee as “President’s Men” Oscar winner Jason Robards did, Hanks finds his own path to make the editor come alive, while the remarkable way Streep captures and conveys Graham’s essence is quite special.

One of the intriguing aspects of “The Post” are the connections between its creators and top journalists. Producer Amy Pascal is married to former New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub and Spielberg has dedicated the film to the late Nora Ephron, who, along with her husband, Nick Pileggi, were summer house neighbors of Spielberg’s in New York’s Hamptons. “The Post’s” message is personal for him, and he’s done all he can to make audiences feel the same way.

Rating: PG-13 for language and brief war violence

Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Playing: ArcLight, Hollywood; ArcLight, Sherman Oaks; Landmark, West Los Angeles

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The Post Review

19 Jan 2018

115 minutes

The Washington Post and the US government have previous. Famously. It is, after all, the paper that brought down a presidency — its months-long investigation into a break-in at the Watergate Hotel forcing Nixon into a no-win ‘resign or be impeached’ quandary. (He resigned.) But that’s not the only run-in it’s had — before Watergate, there were the ‘Pentagon Papers’.

First, the history lesson: commissioned by JFK and LBJ’s Secretary Of Defense Robert McNamara, the Papers were a 7,000-page report on the United States’ involvement in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967. The basic finding being the government knew they couldn’t win, but kept sending troops rather than admit defeat. With the war claiming nearly 60,000 American lives, that revelation was a pretty big deal. And, when the papers got hold of the documents, they wanted to publish stories. Nixon’s government, unsurprisingly, was less keen.

On its own considerable merits, The Post is first class.

The Post (retitled ‘ The Papers ’ during production, but since renamed back) is the story of The Washington Post ’s role in reporting on the leaked study, with particular emphasis on the roles of owner and publisher Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and executive editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks). She’s trying to secure the paper’s future by launching on the stock exchange, so needs to keep the bankers happy. He’s a news guy — he believes it’s his duty to publish, even if it means jail time.

The back and forth between these two acting heavyweights, and the subtleties of their differing stances as they wrestle with the magnitude of their decision, is where the film comes alive. It’s Streep who gets more with which to work. Graham was the United States’ first female newspaper publisher, a job she hadn’t asked for, but one she was landed with after her husband’s death left her in charge of the family business. And she’s often lost in a male-dominated world that gives her little respect: spoken over in meetings, bullied by those around her, but trying to do the right thing — by the paper, the American public, and by her friends. One of whom happens to be one of the men in the firing line — Robert McNamara (Bruce Greenwood). It’s just she’s not clear exactly what the right thing to do is. What good is publishing if the paper loses funding and goes under? Will the story put American troops in danger? But what about holding the government accountable for its deceit?

We have been here before, of course. In many ways — not least actually in the Post’s newsroom for All The President’s Men (Bradlee then played by Jason Robards). And so much of it plays out as you’d expect — with news conferences, phone calls to sources and sudden breaks in the story that come at just the right moment to propel the plot forward. It’s in comparison with similar films that The Post suffers. It has a decent story, Hanks and Streep are two compelling leads, and Spielberg is laughably over-qualified to direct it, but it’s neither as thrilling as All The President’s Men, nor does it have the emotional heft of Spotlight . But there’s no shame coming second best to those two titans of the genre. On its own considerable merits, The Post is first class.

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'The Bad Guardian' Review: Melissa Joan Hart delivers fierce performance in Lifetime's thriller drama movie

Contains spoilers for Lifetime's 'The Bad Guardian'

WEST VIRGINIA, USA: Lifetime's latest heart-pounding thriller, ' The Bad Guardian', tackles the complex and timely issue of guardianship abuse. Premiered on May 18, the film stars Melissa Joan Hart and La La Anthony in a gripping narrative that will leave you glued to the screen.

Hart portrays a determined daughter locked in a desperate battle to save her father from the clutches of a corrupt court-appointed guardian, played by Anthony. 'The Bad Guardian' promises to be a suspenseful exploration of power, manipulation, and the lengths we go to protect those we love.

But is the film just another run-of-the-mill Lifetime movie, or does it offer a deeper commentary on the vulnerabilities within the legal system? Let's examine its plot, performances, and its potential to spark conversations about a critical real-world issue.

A gripping fight for justice in Lifetime's 'The Bad Guardian' 

'The Bad Guardian' packs the emotional punch and suspense and, it tackles a relevant and unsettling issue: guardian abuse. Melissa Joan Hart shines as Leigh, a daughter fiercely determined to protect her father, Jason (Eric Pierpoint), from the manipulative clutches of court-appointed guardian, Janet (La La Anthony).

The film starts strong, establishing a loving parent-child bond between Leigh and Jason. Janet's initial charm quickly dissolves as her true motives - greed and power - come to light. We witness the devastating consequences of her actions, from stripping Jason of his possessions to denying him crucial medical care.

Hart delivers a powerful performance, portraying a daughter pushed to the brink. We see her transform from helpless to determined as she fights a corrupt system that seems stacked against her. Anthony is equally captivating as the chillingly cold and calculating Janet. The supporting cast adds depth, with characters who become unwilling pawns in Janet's game.

'The Bad Guardian' doesn't shy away from the darkness of its subject matter. Yet, it also celebrates unwavering familial love and the power of resilience. While the film might veer towards the dramatic at times, it succeeds in raising awareness about a critical issue and offers a satisfying conclusion where good prevails over evil.

Melissa Joan Hart shines as a fierce protector in 'The Bad Guardian'

Melissa Joan Hart sheds her lighter comedic persona in Lifetime's 'The Bad Guardian,' taking on a powerful and emotional role as Leigh. This is a far cry from her Nickelodeon days, showcasing her impressive dramatic range.

Hart embodies the fierce protectiveness of a daughter determined to save her father from a dangerous situation. We see her journey from initial confusion to full-blown mama bear mode as she uncovers the sinister intentions of the court-appointed guardian. Her emotional vulnerability shines through when faced with her father's decline, but her determination to fight for him is unwavering.

Hart's performance is a compelling blend of strength and vulnerability. She conveys Leigh's desperation and growing fear with a rawness that pulls viewers into the heart of the story. This is a far cry from the lighthearted characters she's known for, but it's a testament to her talent as an actress.

In 'The Bad Guardian,' Melissa Joan Hart proves she can command the screen in a dramatic role just as effectively as she can in a comedic one.

'The Bad Guardian' is available for streaming on Lifetime.

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The Garfield Movie

After Garfield's unexpected reunion with his long-lost father, ragged alley cat Vic, he and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered lives to join Vic on a risky heist... Read all After Garfield's unexpected reunion with his long-lost father, ragged alley cat Vic, he and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered lives to join Vic on a risky heist. After Garfield's unexpected reunion with his long-lost father, ragged alley cat Vic, he and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered lives to join Vic on a risky heist.

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'Boonie Bears : Guardian Code' movie review: This animated film is a sweet family entertainer

This is the 9th installment in the popular Chinese series and succeeds in entertaining the audience, especially if you are watching it with your family read more

Cast: Patrick Freeman, Joseph.S.Lambert, Maxx Rinehart, Kally Khourshid  

Director: Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi

Language: English

Lost and found is a formula that has been milked in cinema for ages and years now. In India, the most famous name is the maverick Manmohan Desai who himself was inspired by Raj Kapoor’s Awara . There’s something about this formula that always works, which allows us to be glued to our seats, which makes us ask- Will the person find who he lost, and if yes, how.

The new film to essay this content and conflict is the animated film Boonie Bears : Guardian Code.  This is how the plot of the film is described- ‘When Briar and Bramble’s mother unexpectedly left them during their youth, the Bear Brothers were left with unanswered questions. The appearance of an older female bear reignites their determination to understand what really happened to their mother.’

It adds- ‘Boonie Bears: Guardian Code is an animated sci-fi, adventurous comedy film. It is the ninth film in the Boonie Bears series and is directed by Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi.’

This is the 9th installment in the popular Chinese series and succeeds in entertaining the audience, especially if you are watching it with your family. The plot is familiar but the visual effects are engaging and keep you glued to your seats.

The two adorable bears may not achieve the cult of the panda we saw trying its hands in Kung Fu but still manage to make you laugh on many occasions. After a point, your heart reaches out to them as they struggle to find their precious piece of heart.

Since we don’t have too many options to explore in cinemas, Boonie Bears : Guardian Code  may help fill the void and lull that has loomed large over the theatres near you. Again, watch it with your family.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Working as an Entertainment journalist for over five years, covering stories, reporting, and interviewing various film personalities of the film industry see more

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6 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or an avid buff, our reviewers think these films are worth knowing about.

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CRITIC’S PICK

Going ape for another ‘Apes’ movie.

‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’

The latest in this sci-fi series follows a group of rebels as they face off against an authoritarian ruler who has twisted the peaceful teachings of a previous leader.

From our review:

There’s a knowing sense that all this has happened before, and all this will happen again. That’s what makes “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” powerful, in the end. It probes how the act of co-opting idealisms and converting them to dogmas has occurred many times over. What’s more, it points directly at the immense danger of romanticizing the past, imagining that if we could only reclaim and reframe and resurrect history, our present problems would be solved.

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A thermal thriller that’s hot and cold.

‘aggro dr1ft’.

This hallucinatory romp directed by Harmony Korine conveys the journey of an assassin entirely through thermal imaging with added digital effects.

Whether it’s the thermal imaging or the augmentation, the visual style renders eyes practically invisible, leaving the actors without an important means of communication. … That absence might account for why “Aggro Dr1ft” is so unengaging on a narrative level, but the monotony might also have to have something to do with the protagonist, a hit man extraordinaire who is also (gasp) a family man. The world’s greatest assassin has been saddled with the world’s most sophomoric internal monologue. “I am a solitary hero. I am alone. I am a solitary hero. Alone,” he mumbles.

Think ‘On the Road,’ but for Gen-Z.

‘gasoline rainbow’.

Five teenagers embark on a road trip to a “party at the end of the world” and encounter many fellow misfits along the way in the latest from filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross.

There’s an uncommon sweetness to this film, which is less about running away from something and more about discovering the road of life is littered with goodness, if you know where to look. There’s a loose, languorous quality to “Gasoline Rainbow,” which the Rosses shot using a mostly improvised format, a collaboration between actors and filmmakers. It feels like a home movie, or a documentary — a capture of a slice of life in which there’s no plot other than whatever happens on the road ahead.

A destination wedding that goes nowhere.

‘mother of the bride’.

At a surprise last-minute wedding, the mother of the bride (Lana, played by Brooke Shields) gets another surprise when she discovers that her daughter is engaged to the son of her ex-beau, Will (Benjamin Bratt).

“Mother of the Bride” is directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) with an apparent allergy to verisimilitude. Early on, we are told that the opulent Thai ceremony will be bankrolled by Emma’s company (she’s an intern) and livestreamed to “millions of eyes.” These fantasies of pomp and circumstance often serve to make Lana and Will’s budding romance feel like a B-story to the action — although that may be a blessing when the best screwball gag this movie can muster is a pickleball shot to the groin.

Watch on Netflix . Read the full review .

Chris Pine goes off the deep end.

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The sure-why-not plot, modeled on the California water grab in “Chinatown,” is less interesting than the charismatic cast that rambles along with Pine on his excellent adventure. Pine’s yarn was savaged when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, but the sour response is a bit like getting mad at a golden retriever for rolling around in the grass.

Small drama, big stars.

Seeking asylum, a young Nigerian woman (Letitia Wright of “Black Panther”) navigates the complications of applying for permanent residency in Ireland in this drama from writer-director Frank Berry. Josh O’Connor of “Challengers” also stars.

At the beauty salon where she works, Aisha’s rightly cagey as she listens to her customers. But at the shelter, she turns warm, when she gives makeovers to fellow immigrants. As he did for his award-winning prison film, “Michael Inside,” Berry used nonprofessional actors with intimate experience of the system — here, Ireland’s International Protection Office, which processes asylum applications — he wanted to depict. It’s a gesture that keeps the film from lapsing into melodrama.

Bonus review: A rural throuple

It’s not immediately apparent how courtly intrigue figures in “A Prince” (in theaters) , Pierre Creton’s spellbinding French pastoral drama, though sex, death and domination hang palpably in the film’s crisp, Normandy air.

Creton looks to the divine powers and chivalric codes that fuel swords-and-shields epics like “Game of Thrones,” but whittles these elements down to a mysterious essence. Eventually, the film shifts into explicitly sexual and mythological terrain with a B.D.S.M. edge.

The story is slippery by design, loosely tracking the gay coming-of-age of an apprentice gardener, Pierre-Joseph. Throughout the film, a series of wordless and seductively austere tableaux, he forms bonds with various individuals in his rural community. Multiple narrators speak in retrospect, as if looking back from the afterlife at the characters onscreen.

Pierre-Joseph eventually comes to form a throuple with Alberto and Adrien, his mentors. The naked bodies of these much older gentleman appear suggestively weathered next to their younger lover’s sprightly form. Yet there is no mention of taboo. That passion could bloom in such spontaneous and unexpected forms is part of this enigmatic film’s potency.

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For a few minutes, “Arcadian” basically becomes “ Aliens ” on an Irish farm with Nicolas Cage in the Ripley role. That might be the best elevator pitch I've ever heard. You know if you want to sign up for that or not. Don’t get me wrong. This is not James Cameron-level filmmaking, but it is an effective creature feature that avoids a lot of the traps of post-apocalyptic horror (which has really been a thing lately, especially at this year’s SXSW) and delivers on its premise. It truly feels like “The Walking Dead” and now maybe “The Last of Us” have spawned a wave of films about how humans respond when civilization collapses—“Arcadian” is one of the better entries in this growing genre about how screwed we all are.

“Arcadian” opens with Paul (Cage) fleeing what is obviously the end of the civilization, represented by sirens and explosions buried in the sound design, off in the distance. In a hiding spot, he cradles two infant twin boys. Cut to fifteen years later, when Paul lives with his teen sons Joseph ( Jaeden Martell ) and Thomas ( Maxwell Jenkins ). We’re introduced to these characters in a moment of panic as Thomas hasn’t returned home from the nearby Rose Farm, and the sun is going down. It’s clear that people don’t like to be out after dark.

A brief bit of character development at a table sets up the fact that Thomas is the more instinctual, risk-taking brother, while Joseph seems more intellectual, interested in figuring out how to progress beyond just survival. The trio boards up all windows and doors at night, moving to a higher floor, and then something tries to get in, leaving scratch marks on the door that look like moving blades were trying to chop it down. Those aren’t your ordinary wolf claws that did that. After spending a bit too long with the cute Rose daughter Charlotte (a very effective Sadie Soverall ), Thomas falls as he’s running home, getting stuck in the woods after dark. Dad goes out to save him. Things get really weird. And then director Benjamin Brewer and writer Michael Nilon drop their bomb in one of the best genre scenes in a very long time. Without spoiling it, let’s just say it involves a sleeping Joseph, an open panel in a door, and a wide shot that feels like it goes on forever in order to ratchet up maximum tension.

It turns out that what’s out in those woods is absolute nightmare fuel. It feels like Brewer asked his creative team to bring in every creature design idea they could and then just said, “Let’s just do em ALL.” At its core, the monster kind of looks like a primate produced an offspring with a xenomorph. There’s the almost crawling, twisting energy of the H.R. Giger monster but there’s so much hair and teeth and I don’t even know what. One of the main reasons “Arcadian” works is that Brewer knows how to hide his budget in quick shots of the creatures that don’t feel like cheap obfuscation as much as terrified glimpses. You don’t want to see this thing all at once. You couldn’t handle it. Every time, you think you know what the Hell these things are, they have a new level of insane design. In one of the death scenes, it just becomes a never-ending maw of teeth and fluid and blood and who the hell knows what. There have been some truly mediocre creatures in horror films lately, and “Arcadian” proves how essential it is for the things that are supposed to terrify the character to be, you know, actually terrifying.

Having said that, there are some choices in “Arcadian,” especially early, that work against it. It feels like Brewer was too nervous that people would get bored during the set-up, and so he goes full shaky-cam with cinematographer Frank Mobilio . There’s no reason for early scenes in a film like this to be shot like a Bourne movie. And Cage-heads should be warned that this isn’t really his movie as much as Martell's, Jenkins', and even Soverall’s. They’re all good, but I worry that people going in expecting another “ Mandy ” will be disappointed. This is subdued Cage, one who knows that he's more of a support for his young co-stars, the human and the creature.

Ultimately, “Arcadian” might not have much character development or world building for some people, but, again, the creature design overwhelms that common flaw in this genre. There’s no time to talk about why the world fell apart of even develop much of a personality when THAT comes knocking every night.

This review was filed from the premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. It opens nationwide on April 12 th , 2024.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film Credits

Arcadian (2024)

Nicolas Cage as Paul

Jaeden Martell as Joseph

Maxwell Jenkins as Thomas

Sadie Soverall as Charlotte

Samantha Coughlan as Mrs. Rose

Joel Gillman as Hobson

• Benjamin Brewer
• Michael Nilon

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Kinds of Kindness review – sex, death and Emma Stone in Lanthimos’s disturbing triptych

Cannes film festival Yorgos Lanthimos reinforces how the universe keeps on doing the same awful things with a multistranded yarn starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Jesse Plemons

P erhaps it’s just the one kind of unkindness: the same recurring kind of selfishness, delusion and despair. Yorgos Lanthimos’s unnerving and amusing new film arrives in Cannes less than a year after the release of his Oscar-winning Alasdair Gray adaptation Poor Things . It is a macabre, absurdist triptych: three stories or three narrative variations on a theme, set in and around modern-day New Orleans.

An office worker finally revolts against the intimate tyranny exerted over him by his overbearing boss. A police officer is disturbed when his marine-biologist wife returns home after months of being stranded on a desert island, and suspects she has been replaced by a double. Two cult members search for a young woman believed to have the power to raise the dead.

Lanthimos uses repertory casting – and part of the film’s eerie joke effect, the effect of seeing the universe mysteriously doing the same awful things over and over, is in witnessing the same actors repeatedly showing up. Jesse Plemons , Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mamoudou Athie, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Joe Alwyn are each given a trio of roles, some intriguingly similar to each other, others quite different. Plemons is often stolid and unhappy. Stone is fierce and capable but sometimes vulnerable and sexual. Dafoe, of course, can’t help being the charismatic authority figure.

And what is even more unsettling is to see the same tropes, images and motifs come up: overeating, undereating; steak, chocolate, the same types of food. Dafoe’s overbearing executive Raymond gives Plemons’s unhappy underling Robert specific instructions on what to eat: “Because there’s nothing more ridiculous than skinniness on a man.” There are hospitals, ambulances, cops; places and people that mean unhappy submission to authority. Women get pregnant, and suffer miscarriages. People try to prove love by submitting to abuse and coercive control. There are recurring dreams whose contents are unsettlingly duplicated in waking existence. And perhaps most startlingly, there is sex, governed by a creepy roofie aesthetic. People keep drugging each other; Lanthimos keeps showing us unconscious naked women. And yet the men are the more contemptible and unattractive.

This is an uncanny world that looks like ours but really isn’t; like Emma Stone’s marine-biologist character, it has been perhaps replaced with a near-perfect copy by a malign unseen hand. Doubles and twins are another motif. And Lanthimos punctuates the bizarre recognition moments with a jarring, plinking piano key. The weirdness mosaic isn’t exactly like the Short Cuts of Robert Altman, who gave us a more recognisably human array of situations, nor is it exactly like the ensemble in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, although Plemons’s cop has the same morose quality as John C Reilly’s officer in that film. The strangeness and fear are more like Charlie Kaufman’s and John Frankenheimer’s horror in seeing something off, something wrong – giveaway hints of a conspiracy or a higher truth.

The effect of it all is elegant and overwhelmingly stylish, yet maybe there’s not a superabundance of substance to go with the style. Kinds of Kindness feels heavier and longer than I expected, as if reaching for a meaningful resolution that might not be there. Yet absence and loss is perhaps the whole point.

• Cannes 2024
• Cannes film festival
• Drama films
• Yorgos Lanthimos
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