Film
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.
Eileen G’Sell
Eileen G’Sell is a poet and culture critic whose work focuses on gender, sexuality, and economic class. She is a 2023 winner of the Rabkin Foundation Prize in arts journalism and teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
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?
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
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.
Film
Ema’s Visuals Ignite the Screen, but Its Story Ultimately Flickers Out
Director Pablo Larraín doesn’t trust his own filmographic brilliance, and lets the story take over in the end.
Art
The Willful Jouissance of Hannah Wilke
Wilke’s joyful effusions were a reminder of the limitlessness of the body’s creative potential.