Bombshell: film on sexual harassment bombs out for its superficiality
Jay Roach, “Bombshell” (2019) The plot is very basic enough: a female television personality employee at Fox News is sacked by the big boss for questionable…
nausika
Slut: a highly accomplished student film on teenage sexual awareness and the danger it attracts
Chloe Okuno, “Slut” (2014) Set in the 1970s, this cheesy morality tale is a meeting of Little Red Riding Hood and Southern US small-town Gothica in…
Carnivore: American Psycho meets Agatha Christie in an elegant and minimalist thriller
Constance Tsang, “Carnivore” (2018) Elegant in style and minimalist and understated in its narrative, this is a very wry satire on the culture of the cut-throat…
Future Boyfriend: a sweet sci-fi romantic comedy offering a second chance of life
Ben Rock, “Future Boyfriend” (2016) Adapted from a play written by A Vincent Ularich for a science fiction theatre festival, of which its full-length romantic comedy…
Psychosis: character study of techno-paranoia under computer surveillance
Ben Feldman, “Psychosis” (2019) The shorter of two films based on the short story of the same name by Matt Dymerski posted to the short horror…
Bad Peter: the panopticon police state controlling an individual life to an astonishing degree
Zach Strauss, “Bad Peter” (2017) At first rather amusing but then quickly becoming sinister and horrific, this nine-minute short presents smart-home artificial intelligence (AI) as an…
British Films, Italian and Italian-language Films
Don’t Look Now: an eerie and profound Gothic horror film of grief, trauma and misperceptions
Nicolas Roeg, “Don’t Look Now” (1973) Adapted from the short story with the same title by Daphne du Maurier, this famous British cult horror film is…
Metta Via: a story of personal transformation with a strange power and attraction
Warren Flanagan, “Metta Via” (2017) Visually stunning and ambitious in its concept, this Canadian short work is possessed of unusual power. Superficially it lacks an obvious…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Southeast Asian Films
The Masseuse: how to be human and to have free will in an oppressive society and culture
Tan Ce Ding, “The Masseuse” (2018) An intriguing film set in a not-too distant dystopian future in Kuala Lumpur, “The Masseuse” poses questions about the nature…
What if Wendy: a sparse and painful character study of denial and grief
James A Sims, “What if Wendy” (2017) Here is a sparse and minimalist character study of a woman in denial about her grief at the death…