FILM REVIEWS:
THE ANTIQUE (Georgia/Finland/Switzerland/Germany/Russia/Croatia 2024) ***
Directed by Rusudan Glurjidze
Because of the world’s disapproval of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian films have been missing lately in the North American scene. THE ANTIQUE is a rare Russian film, but actually a Georgian production with Russia as one of the co-producing countries. The film is inspired by the 2006 unlawful and brutal deportation of Georgians from Russia, as well as the real-life deportations that deeply affected director Rusudan Glurjidze and her homeland, and is partly filmed in Russian. It is the Georgian entry for last year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature. (It did not make the shortlist.) The unlawful and inhuman deportation is reminiscent of what Trump and his ICE agents are doing at present in the United States.
Lado, a young Georgian smuggler trafficking antique furniture across borders, dreams of getting rich quickly, but his girlfriend Medea is done waiting. She buys a dirt-cheap apartment in St. Petersburg’s historic centre, fully aware it comes with a peculiar catch: the flat’s eccentric elderly resident, Vadim Vadimich, isn’t going anywhere. Vadim is THE ANTIQUE of the film title, obviously. As Lado is swept up in a government crackdown and forcibly deported, Medea finds herself hiding from police in a wardrobe of the very warehouse they once relied on. Left behind, she begins an unlikely, uneasy cohabitation with Vadim, navigating a strange limbo of loss, resilience, and bureaucratic absurdity.
THE ANTIQUE is a quietly powerful portrait of displacement, endurance, and the unexpected bonds that emerge when history barges into your home. The mood and atmosphere of the troubled times are effectively captured on film despite the otherwise meandering narrative that jumps from one character to another.
Georgia's Official 2024 Oscar Entry, THE ANTIQUE, Makes its Exclusive North American and Canadian Premiere on Film Movement Plus on 8/29.
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CAUGHT STEALING (USA 2025) ***** Top 10
Directed by Darren Aronsofski
CAUGHT STEALING is a black crime noir, set in 1998. Henry "Hank" Thompson (Austin Butler) tends bar on the Lower East Side, where his girlfriend Yvonne (Zoe Kravitz) works as a paramedic, and frequently calls his mother (surprise cameo by a well-known star revealed only at the end of the film) in Patterson, California to discuss their beloved San Francisco Giants. A star baseball prospect in high school, Hank is haunted by the car crash that killed his friend Dale and left him with a career-ending knee injury.
Hank's neighbour, British punk Russ (Matt Smith), returns to London to see his ailing father, leaving Hank to care for his cat, Bud. Searching for Russ, Russian mobsters Aleksei and Pavel viciously beat Hank, who loses a kidney. Hank can no longer drink, smoke, or do drugs. After the Russians break into Russ's apartment, narcotics detective Roman questions Hank and reveals Russ is a drug dealer connected to deadly Hasidic brothers Lipa and Shmully Drucker. Finding a key hidden in Bud's litter box, Hank notifies Roman when the Druckers search Russ's apartment.
CAUGHT STEALING, as the title implies, means stealing a base in baseball. The lead character is not only obsessed with baseball but also stood in line for being drafted into the big league until something drastic happened. The references to baseball and to the U.S. baseball teams run throughout the film and will be a delight to baseball enthusiasts while being a bit too much for others.
Director Aronofsky blends flashbacks, nightmares and jump scares well into the narrative. His pacing is excellent, too, building the film up to a good climax that no one would suspect of happening. Credit goes too to the scriptwriter Charles, who based the script on his own book.
Austin Butler, all bulked up now, since his breakout role as ELVIS, is once again excellent in the role, proving him to be a star in the making. He also stole the movie DUNE 2 from Timothee Chamalet. He only gets to use his muscles once in a boxing duel with a bad guy while acting the victim during the rest of the film. Regina King also stands out as a crooked New York cop.
Director Aronofsky makes good use of locations with the film shot in New York’s Lower East Side. The rows of fire escape stairs at the back of buildings remind one of the sets in WRST SIDE STORY but the staircases are used here for a different purpose. The film paints a bleak look at New York City with all the crime, drugs, mafia and crooked cops.
CAUGHT STEALING is Aronofsky’s best film to date, balancing drama, action in a thriller genre with its raw energy, unpredictability and occasional black absurdist humour, including some Jewish jokes like not driving during Shabbos. At best, it reminds one of Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST, in which an innocent man is caught in an intrigue of crime, as well as AFTER HOURS (Griffin Dunne is also in both films). Aronofsky’s last film THE WHALE, was excellent too, showing the director at his prime with his new films improving one after another. It will be a worthy wait to see his new project in the making.
CAUGHT STEALING opens everywhere in theatres on Friday, August 29th.
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CHRISTOPHER: A BEAUTIFUL REAL LIFE (Denmark 2025) **
Directed by Nynn Duva Hall
CHRISTOPHER, the documentary is about Christopher Lund Nissen, a Danish singer from Copenhagen, signed to EMI Denmark. In November 2012, he won an award at the Danish Music Awards 2012. He was born in Frederiksberg, but later moved to Amager, Denmark, with his parents and younger brother Oliver. In 2012, Christopher moved in with his girlfriend, Danish singer Medina. The couple later split up. In 2014, he began a relationship with Danish model Cecilie Haugaard. The couple married in June 2019. The pair welcomed their first child, a daughter named Noelle, in 2021. In 2023, Haugaard gave birth to the couple’s second child, a daughter. This is where the film begins.
The film offers an intimate look at the life of Danish pop icon Christopher (Christopher Lund Nissen). It explores the complex crossroads he faces between his soaring career and his growing family responsibilities. At the same time, his personal life is flourishing—his partner, model and influencer Cecilie Haugaard, is expecting their second child. This newly found happiness brings a profound dilemma: chasing fame or cherishing family time.
Questions like: "Is the dream worth the cost?" and "Can he turn down the biggest opportunity of his life to preserve what matters most?”
There is nothing wrong with this Danish doc except for the question of whether this really intimate look at a foreign star would really interest the average moviegoer. The segments are realistic, if not touching enough, but there are too many segments telling the same message. This is not to mention that it is difficult to feel sympathetic for a white, wealthy, good-looking, and famous couple that has everything already laid out for them. Put me in their shoes and give me their problems anytime!
CHRISTOPHER: A BEAUTIFUL REAL LIFE opens for streaming this week on Netflix.
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FANTASY FOOTBALL RUINED OUR LIVES (Italy 2025) **
Directed by Alessio Maria Federici
This Italian sports comedy contains quite an unfamiliar topic for Canadians, which makes the comedy an odd watch. For one, football in Italy means soccer. One needs to know first of all what fantasy football is. This is not explained in the movie, and is assumed that one knows what it is.
In the film, the characters are part of the “Mai una gioia” fantasy football league, where each participant drafts real soccer players into their virtual teams and scores points depending on those players' actual performances.
A tight-knit group of friends participates in a fantasy football league called “Mai una gioia” (“Never a joy”). On the day of Gianni’s wedding—also the season’s final and most critical league day—Gianni disappears and fails to submit his lineup.
The film begins with a no-show of the groom, with the bride cursing on the wedding day. Police arrive to arrest the fantasy football league.
As the film progresses, secrets unravel through group chat chaos—insults, accusations, incriminating screenshots, and even dark comedic "death threats.” These are not particularly funny,y with the actors acting like humanized cartoons
The film attempts to show, it is presumed, how fantasy football can spiral from harmless fun into an all-consuming battle of pride, betrayal, and revenge.
The film misses the goal and ends up a silly mess of mostly missed humour.
FANTASY FOOTBALL RUINED OUR LIVES opens for streaming on Netflix this week, an original and horrid comedy.
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LURKER (USA 2025) ***½
Directed by Alex Russell
LURKER is a film about a fan and a stalker - the same person. But to distinguish it from the typical slasher or psycho thriller film, the term lurker is used. But LURKR is neither a thriller nor a slasher film but a sort of satire on the music/fan industry.
When a twenty-something retail clerk, Matthew (Canadian rising star Theodore Pellerin) encounters a rising pop star, Oliver, also known as Oliver (British actor Archie Madekwe) in his store, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But as the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
A few details are left unexplained. One is Oliver’s British accent, which is never addressed. The film begins with Oliver accepting Matthew into the group and putting Matthew in front of his current cameraman. Oliver is impressed with Matthew’s work and decides to hire Matthew to make a documentary about him. Matthew is more than delighted to be in Oliver’s closed-knit group. But Matthew’s talent precedes him. Matthew grows obsessive and jealous, especially when Oliver takes an interest in Jamie (Sunny Suljic), Matthew’s work colleague.
The bond between two people makes a sensitive topic that can be geared towards homosexuality. Director Russell stays away from this topic, making it clear that the two men have no sexual attraction for each other. But there are two homoerotic segments in the film. One is the spontaneous wrestling match Matthew imposes on Oliver, Matthew wrestling in his underwear. The other is Oliver and Matthew making love, having sex, with females the same bed while gazing into each other. The film was screened in Europe at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in the section Berlinale Special Gala, where it was screened in competition for the Teddy Award.
It takes a while to be charmed by LURKER. Russell’s film is initially all over the place and one wonders initially where the story is leading. But one soon realizes that this is director Russell’s style and the spontaneity and roughness of the film add to the film’s uniqueness. The film is aided by one terrific performance by Theodore Pellerin in a breakout performance. Pellerin is always good and has been seen in a small role in a couple of films. LURKER will surely put this young talent in the spotlight.
The film also serves as a late coming-of-age story of Matthew. At the beginning of the film, Matthew says on camera that he is happy and needs nothing more out of life. But this is not true and Oliver shows how insecure he really is. But his obsession and conviction, though he does indulge in some blackmail and dishonesty, finally gets the fame Matthew gets, whether deserving or not. LUKER also serves as a cautionary tale of fame, how it might be overrated and whether it might not always be deserved. There is also a twist surprise ending.
LURKER premiered in Canada at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal and opens in theatres August 29th.
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UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH (USA 2025) ***
Directed by y Skye Borgman
On the internet, catfishing is when someone creates a fake online identity and persona, often using false photos and information from others, to deceive someone into a relationship, usually to scam them for money or emotional exploitation. The person creating the fake profile is called a "catfish," and the act is a form of online deception that can occur on social media, dating apps, and other platforms.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH is a chilling true-crime documentary directed by Skye Borgman (Girl in the Picture, Abducted in Plain Sight). It explores a harrowing case of cyberbullying that shattered a small Michigan community, Beal City.
The story unfolds in Beal City, Michigan, where 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen, became targets of anonymous, harassing text messages that began in October 2020 and resumed in September 2021. The messages escalated rapidly, becoming vicious, explicit, and deeply personal.NetflixBig Rapids Pioneer. As months passed, suspicion ran rampant throughout the school and community. Parents, officials, and even the FBI got involved in trying to trace the source.NetflixBig Rapids Pioneer
The identity of the catfish is only revealed at the end in a twist, which is, as expected, someone close to Lauryn.
The film is an ok watch, but comes lower on the score in the scale of Netflix’s true crime dramas. It is difficult to feel sympathetic for young teens who have nothing better to do than spend the whole time looking at their phones, though what has occurred is a crime. The teens cannot speak properly without the overuse of the word ‘like’, which makes listening to them quite annoying.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH open for streaming on Netflix August 29th, 2025.
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