Rafael Motamayor

Tom McCarthy gives us a film that serves for a fun family movie night, complete with important lessons, deadpan humor, and, well, a polar bear.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has some interesting ideas about how little we know the people we love, and about the power of a celebrity cult status. But no matter how good Zac Efron’s performance as Ted Bundy is, this is the tamest way to explore such a complex and interesting story.

Under the Silver Lake never finds a reason for being as weird as it is, making for a confusing and frustrating experience despite its hypnotic visuals and great score.

Does The Man Who Killed Don Quixote live up to the anticipation built by a nearly 30 year-long wait? Probably not. Is it still a film worth seeing, with something to say about following your dreams and being a filmmaker, with meta commentary about its own production? It’s hard not to say yes, if only to witness a man’s decades-long obsession finally bear fruit.

Overlord may not be the Call of Duty: Zombies movie you were expecting, but it is a damn entertaining film about the horror of war, and the thrills of a zombie invasion.

Hold the Dark is a beautiful-looking bore.

With Apostle, Gareth Evans has proven he can not only master action films with stunning choreography, but he can also deliver a bone-chilling folk horror tale rich in mythology and shocking in violence. Apostle owes a lot to classic folk horror films, but Evans manages to make his film feel fresh and gripping enough to satisfy even the most blood-thirsty horror fan.

The exploration of political upheaval, class and gender inequalities make this an important film, but the fact that it always remains grounded in its personal story makes Roma a compelling and emotional film, shot masterfully by a veteran director who finally created his masterpiece.

Jonah Hill's impressive directorial debut Mid90s is full of heart, fun and a sense of longing to belong somewhere.

The Front Runner is too afraid to take a side in its central debate, but a strong ensemble cast and interesting ideas about accountability and newsworthiness make this a timely and thought-provoking film.

A stunning cinematic achievement that celebrates one of humanity’s biggest triumphs (and mourns the tragedies that happened leading up to it), yet it never loses sight of its personal and small-scale story about a man going to work.