I’ve seen so many movies this past month, I can hardly remember them all – but following are the ones that most stand out in my mind, for reasons both good and bad:

Highly Recommended:

Coup! (in theaters): I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite movie of 2024, because there are several strong contenders, and now Coup! joins that list.i’m not sure why this one has flown below so the radar. I only learned about it as it’s playing at a local arthuse theater, and I’m so glad it did. In the vein of last year’s ORIGIN OF EVIL and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, this one’s set during the Spanish flu epidemic and explores issues of class, race, gender and the hypocrisy that runs rampant in the patriarchy. A must see!

Widow Cliquot (in theaters): Set in Reims, France circa 1805, this biopic centers around the little known Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Cliquot, aka” who, after being widowed at the tender age of 27, overcomes extreme gender disparity to become “The Grande Dame of Champagne.”

While it’s a deliberately paced film, it’s also highly suspenseful with pleasing surprises that subvert gender expectations right up until the very end.

Touch (in theaters): The most interesting elements of this film were wisely left out of the trailer.  In fact, I almost passed this one up because the trailer looked a bit too cliché. Fortunately, what they leave out raises this story to another level. It’s not just about a man seeking his long lost love, it’s a journey that focuses on how life events brought on by our contemporary landscape impact our lives in often devastating ways, and yet the power of love and connection can help us survive. This is not some cheesy romance. It’s simultaneously an indictment of the destruction humans have caused and a testimonial to our incredibly capacity for love.

Erramentari: The Devil and the Blacksmith (Netflix, 2018 – Basque): I don’t recall how this one landed in my Netflix queue, but I’m so glad it did. Lying somewhere between PAN’S LABYRINTH and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, this Spanish sleeper is a delightful folktale that tackles gender and accountability for one’s actions as it literally takes us to hell and back in the company of a memorable demon and an inspired use of chickpeas. It’s best enjoyed if I say no more.

Honorable Mention

My Penguin Friend (in theaters): Inspired by a true story, this one plays out like a live action version of an animated Disney Film with its highly formulaic plot that tugs on the heartstrings, stereotypical gender roles and an absurdly unrealistic, over-the-top Hollywood ending. It’s also set in an exotic, foreign land (Brazil), and yet for some mysterious reason, the locals engage with each other in perfect English, albeit with their native accents. But despite these issues, the film works because A) Penguins! (both brilliant and adorable) B) the main takeaway is that community and friendship are what matter most in life and C) the other takeaway is that respecting and protecting nature should come before capitalistic pursuits. But the real reason to see this movie is definitely the ten Brazilian rescue penguins who played the lovable role of Dindim, our film’s hero.

Disappointing:

Strange Darling (in theaters): I’d read it was best going into this movie knowing as little as possible and so I did. Nevertheless, I figured out the main reveal from the opening credits where the producers needlessly tip their hand, which should have been my first hint they weren’t going to give their audience much credit in the logic department. And they did not. This films tells its story in 6 non-sequential chapters, which serves to fuel the momentum that’s otherwise lacking in the plot. Once you’ve viewed them all, you realize this is not a story that serves the characters but rather  characters that serve the plot, this muddling their motivations from scene to scene. We don’t learn their back story or why they are the way they are, we just learn what roles they play in their current game of cat and mouse. That would be disappointing enough on its own, but to make matters worse, an attempt to subvert genre, and gender expectations, winds up producing some highly problematic scenes that left me with the sense this was written and directed by a man who believes he’s being feminist only to reveal just how sexist he truly is. Too bad. There was a lot of potential to do something with the idea and structure and there was one saving grace that may just have been worth the price of my time and admission – a glorious breakfast preparation sequence with echoes of David Lynch featuring great performances by Ed Begley Jr and Barbara Hershey.

Longlegs (in theaters): Despite a very promising beginning with Nicholas Cage in one of his creepiest roles ever (until it just got silly), this film reminded me very much of M. Night Shyamalan’s THE VILLAGE, in which the characters make no sense until you arrive at the very end of the film and you learn what their deal is, and by then it’s too late, because you’ve sat for 2 hours questioning their seemingly illogical behavior. Worse, the thruway oversimplistic and highly cliché reveal at the end takes away all the agency of the female characters to boot. Very disappointing indeed.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Cheers,

Devi