This dark indie comedy has a cast most directors would absolutely dream of. It’s chalk full of all our favourite thespians, and yet, all this talent can’t save a waterlogged script. This ensemble has too many stories going in 1,000 different directions, which only serves to detract from the interesting central element. A married woman…

This religious-themed psychological drama creeps into your head, and will cause more than a few jolting nightmares if you let it truly sink in. Saint Maud follows a religious nurse who provides hospice care for dying patients. Maud has a past that’s defiantly incongruous with her faith, though the film allows us to unravel most…

The splendid, simple landscapes of the mountain scenery in Cowboys make way for the complex themes the drama explores. This tender film about loving your family and children for who they are, not how they’re born, is a fantastic ode and quiet celebration of trans awareness. When father and full-time screw-up Troy realizes his young…

China’s attempt to make a foreign-language disaster film for the masses isn’t a total misfire, but it never distinguishes itself enough to be much different from any other genre film before it. Skyfire is a well-shot movie about a volcano that erupts on Tianhuo Island, leaving those unfortunate enough to live around the Pacific Rim…

This wonderful genre-bending film from the writer-directors of the Happy Death Day franchise melds the body-swap comedy formula for horror fanatics. When a high school girl swaps bodies with a serial killer, she tries to reverse the changes before they become permanent. It’s a simple concept done incredibly well, with the actors involved absolutely stunning…

This review first appeared in September 2020 as part of the FIN Stream festival coverage Whatever demons Viggo Mortensen had to exercise, his directorial debut Falling has definitely dealt with his — and some of the audience’s — daddy issues by the end. Mortensen pulls triple duty here, playing lead John, and he’s directed a…

This family comedy about two brothers whose decades-long feud comes to a head when disaster strikes their sheep flocks is far better than expected. Director Jeremy Sims creates a weird, whacky little flick with this Australian gem, and the characters truly make this one worth it. When the rams in a small town get OJD,…

For the last decade, you couldn’t go a calendar year without seeing Gerard Butler in full action mode. The problem, however, is for the last decade, the movies have gotten noticeably worse. His recent third outing in the “Fallen” trilogy — Angel Has Fallen — garnered terrible reviews and made far less money than the…

This gruesome, intense horror tilt is one of the most bonkers films to be doing a festival run right now. Director-writers Gabriel Carrer & Reese Eveneshen infuse madcap energy and a dark, foreboding feel into this story of three people whose stories tragically converge on Halloween night. A nurse, a man with a tragic past…

The Little Things feels like other serial killer films of a similar ilk — mainly Se7en and Zodiac — but as the title might suggest, it’s the slight differences that set this one apart. It’s a film that took director John Lee Hancock 30 years to get made, and though sometimes it feels like it…