Laura Wandel’s debut film examines the psychological — and physical — carnage wrought between children when grown-ups look the other way.
Eileen G'Sell
Eileen G'Sell is a regular contributor to Salon, VICE, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. In 2019 she was nominated for the Rabkin prize in arts journalism. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
Posted inArt
The Figural Ghosts of Oliver Lee Jackson’s Expressive Abstraction
Jackson’s two-dimensional surfaces lead us into a maze of shapes and visual gestures, yet tease us into recognizing the figures hidden within.
Posted inFilm
The Worst Person in the World Is Among the Best Portraits of Modern Womanhood
Part of the glory of the film is that its heroine’s choices, however unexpected, are taken seriously.
Posted inFilm
On Camouflage and Control in The Velvet Queen
Rather than celebrate intrepid man capturing, and controlling, the magic of “nature,” the film focuses more on how nature watches us.
Posted inFilm
Bruno Dumont’s France Is a Cogent, if Convoluted, Critique of Celebrity Culture
This may not be a great film, but its narrative and tonal weaknesses throw into relief just how strong Léa Seydoux is as its thumping heart.
Posted inFilm
C’mon C’mon and Mike Mills’s Vision of Masculine Vulnerability
In the films of Mike Mills, sensitive male characters reckon with who they are when who they are doesn’t seem to measure up.
Posted inFilm
The Automotive-Erotic Body Horror of Titane
What’s more natural, the film seems to ask — the “body parts” under the hood of a car or those pulsing beneath a woman’s navel?
Posted inFilm
The Brutality of Innocence in Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher
Lynne Ramsay’s 1999 debut film is arguably one of the masterpieces of 20th-century depictions of childhood poverty.
Posted inFilm
As a Mockumentary About Celebrity, Nowhere Inn Just Bores
In this film about stardom, the viewer has nowhere to appreciate and connect with the characters and concepts.
Posted inFilm
For Udo Kier in Swan Song, Flamboyance Is Its Own Redemption
Todd Stephens’s new film is a celebration of willful, collective flamboyance that flourishes within small cities.
Posted inFilm
In Who You Think I Am, Juliette Binoche Transcends Mid-Life Crisis Stereotypes
Binoche plays a woman who is ultimately accountable for herself and doesn’t pretend to be any better than she is.
Posted inFilm
Brilliant? Hatable? Annette Is Both (and Neither)
It remains to be seen whether future critics will see the film as contrarian triumph or empty provocation.