I've been busy with plans surrounding the 41st London Critics' Circle Film Awards (we've all voted and are now getting ready to announce our winners). As chair of this group, there's a lot to do at the moment, so I'm keeping very busy in lockdown at the moment. Otherwise, the biggest film I watched this week was Synchronic, a surreal adventure thriller that sends two paramedics (Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie) on a mind-bending odyssey that involves cool things like time travel but is rather corny too. Ed Gathegi stars in Caged, a psychological prison thriller that's emotionally involving even if it feels archly theatrical.
BEST OUT THIS WEEK: Supernova • The Capote Tapes The Dig • The Night ALL REVIEWS >
From Mexico, the dark drama Identifying Features sends a mother in search of her missing son, a powerful story that's slightly weakened by its artsy filmmaking. Another artful maternal drama, this time from Japan, True Mothers follows an adoption from both sides of the story, beautiful to look at and vaguely mysterious too. The most audaciously inventive film, perhaps of the whole year, The Wolf House is a pitch-black and deeply haunting animated fairy tale from Chile. The documentary The Capote Tapes tells the story of the iconic writer through the eyes of his no-nonsense friends. And the short film collection The Male Gaze: Hide and Seek is another set of strongly well-made little dramas about masculinity.
This coming week will be largely taken up putting together the London Critics' Circle virtual ceremony on Sunday 7th February, but I also need to watch Owen Wilson in Bliss, Sam Neill in Rams, the British streaking comedy Running Naked, the Argentine thriller 4x4, the camp thriller X and the Paris Hilton doc This Is Paris.
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