Every SIFF review on Silver Screen Riot.
When orphaned Māori woman Mary (Ariāna Osborne) travels to Victorian England in the 1800s to uncover the identities of the parents she never knew, she instead unearths heinous secrets with far-reaching implications for her family tree. Mārama, the New Zealand gothic horror film from director Taratoa Stappard, folds cultural appropriation and colonial violence into a...
The Ascent, directed by Francis Cronin, Edward Drake, and Scott Veltri, is a climbing documentary–true crime hybrid following bilateral amputee Mandy Horvath’s attempt to quite literally crawl up Mt. Kilimanjaro using only her hands and a whole lot of gumption. It’s a captivating stranger-than-fiction account that resists easy categorization, the film ably exploring Mandy’s difficult...
The Friend’s House is Here, written, directed, and produced by Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei, is a slice-of-life Iranian drama following two close friends navigating Tehran’s underground art world, where they risk staging performances featuring women without hijabs or dancing ever-so-slightly provocatively on social media, in defiance of state censorship. The film is an intimate,...
“The Bling Ring”Directed by Sofia Coppola Starring Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga Crime, Drama 90 Mins R In a funny way, The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola‘s most accessible film to date. As cognizantly distant and empty-headed as the teens-on-a-tear at the center of the film are, Coppola...
“Wish You Were Here”Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith Starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price, Teresa Palmer, Antony Starr Drama, Mystery 89 MinsR Cautionary tale and psychological thriller, Wish You Were Here is the worst of vacation nightmares realized. Veering around chronological storytelling, director Kieran Darcy-Smith twists an introspective journey into a taut thriller. With silence that feels...
“Much Ado About Nothing” Directed by Joss Whedon Starring Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Fran Kranz, Sean Maher, Spencer Treat Clark, Riki Lindhome, Ashley Johnson Comedy/Drama/Romance 107 Mins PG-13 Every time any sane person starts watching a Shakespeare adaptation, there’s that initial shock of the compacted and complex language – a bucket of cold...
“The East”Directed by Zal BatmanglijStarring Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Aldis Hodge, Patricia ClarksonThriller, Drama, Mystery116 MinsR The East is neither the first movie about an undercover mole infiltrating an enemy organization, learning the universal worth of their dogma and falling for their leader nor will it be the last. Nonetheless, it’s...
“Populaire” Directed by Régis Roinsard Starring Déborah François, Romain Duris, Bérénice Bejo and Shaun Benson Foreign, Comedy 111 Mins R Filmed in the whimsy stylings of French New Wave, Populaire jars the bay window open and lets the breezy charm waft in and take the helm. Tackling the inconspicuous topic of typing competitions in...