FILM REVIEWS:
BEST BETS for the week:
BLOOD LINES
COUTURE
DISCLOSURE DAY
SHOOT THE PEOPLE
IN THE HAND OF DANTE (Netflix)
UNIDENTIFIED
FILM REVIEWS:
ANIMALS IN WAR (Ukraine/Germany 2025) ***
Directed by Sviatoslav Kostiuk, Andriy Lidahovskyi, Alexei Mamedov, Ivan Sautkin, Yuliya Shashkova, Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, and Maksym Tuzov
ANIMALS IN WAR is a war anthology film consisting of seven short stories from Ukrainian and foreign artists, whose protagonists are animals suffering from the terrible war in Ukraine. The shorts are shown one after the other and not intercut, which means that the film is easier to follow without any short being interrupted. With seven shorts in total, this is probably the only way to go.
The seven interconnected stories are inspired by real events from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a war that is till going on. Instead of focusing on soldiers or politicians, the film tells the war through the experiences of animals—both wild and domestic—caught in the conflict. Each segment has a different director and visual style, but all explore themes of survival, innocence, displacement, and the bond between humans and animals. The film shows the compassion humans have for animals. The question is, why don’t a lot of humans like Vladimir Putin have compassion for another human being?
The short stories include a white rabbit, a cow, a cat, a wolf, marine creatures, and other animals affected by the war. Together, the stories create a portrait of a country devastated not only on a human level but also ecologically.
Quite ambitious in getting the message across, a few segments work better than others. The segment with the marine creatures is a tad too ambitious and confusing, while the rabbit and cow ones work best. The rabbit segment, which has the least dialogue, is the most endearing, all because the rabbit is so harmless and adorable, an animal that has an affinity to human beings. The animal becomes a symbol of innocence trapped in circumstances it cannot understand. The rabbit experiences the terror of explosions, collapsing buildings, and sudden evacuations. Through the animal's reactions, viewers witness the psychological effects of war from a perspective free of politics or ideology. The relationship between the cow and the boy who finds her is extremely moving, the cow providing milk to the boy while the boy tries to save her. In the rabbit segment, the titles at the end indicate that the rabbit was a real pet that disappeared from its cage after a Russian bombing. The cow featured in the film was also injured during shelling.
Academy Award Winner Sean Penn gets star billing in the film, the filmmakers obviously hoping his name would attract more audiences. Penn features in the first segment entitled “Eagle”. He plays an American sound producer working with a Ukrainian colleague. The story revolves around recordings of birdsong and natural sounds. As the war escalates, the sounds of nature are increasingly drowned out by sirens, missiles, and explosions. The segment reflects on what is lost when war destroys not only lives but also the ordinary sounds and rhythms of the natural world.
ANIMALS OF WAR illustrates the effect of the war from a different perspective, from that of animals, both wild and domestic. It is an ambitious film that works primarily for the observation of the effects the war has on innocent creatures that have not identified what is going on.
The film premieres via VOD and leading digital platforms on July 10th.
Trailer:
BLOOD LINES (Canada 2025) ***½
Directed by Gail Maurice
Canadian Indigenous director Gail Maurice returns after her acclaimed ROSIE with another entertaining hit that also encompasses current Indigenous issues. Maurice plays a mother, riddled with cancer, who returns to reconciliation with her daughter, taken away from her because of drink. Meanwhile, the daughter, also a storyteller and store clerk, Beatrice (Dana Solomon), is completely taken by a new woman who arrives in her Métis community looking to find her biological family. Beatrice decides to help Chani (Derica Lafrance) in order to spend more time with her. Meanwhile, a chorus of older women, collectively referred to as “The Grannies,” tries to get Beatrice to mend things with her mom. Director Maurice’s tale is also full of humour that lifts the dramatic tale up several notches. Entertaining while making a point with an important message.
COUTURE (French Title: COUTURES)(France/US 2026) ***
Directed by Alice Wincour
Couture (French title: Coutures) is a 2025 drama film written and directed by Alice Winocour. It stars Angelina Jolie, Louis Garrel, Ella Rumpf, and Garance Marillier.
The film had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2025.
Marked by a memorable performance from Oscar-winning French-speaking Angelina Jolie, the latest from writer-director Alice Winocour (PARIS MEMORIES) is a compelling new film, set in the Parisian fashion industry during fashion week, that weaves together multiple threads in which women of different ages and cultural backgrounds seek to wrest control of their destinies.
The film contains three narrative threads.
The first concerns Maxine (played by Jolie), an American filmmaker (of vampire films), going on a journey as she arrives in Paris for Fashion Week. Maxine has finally achieved what she has worked for her whole life for getting this highly esteemed work. But fate deals her an unexpected hand when she finds out she is diagnosed with breast cancer. She has to deal with treatment under a French doctor played by French veteran Vincent Lindon. At the same time, she has an affair with her cinematographer. played also, by French veteran hunk, Louis Farrell, himself a director in reality.
Maxine’s personal crisis intersects with two other women, forming the other two threads of the narrative, she encounters at her job: Angèle (Ella Rumpf), a veteran makeup artist writing a work of fiction based on her own experiences in the industry, and Ada (Anyier Anei), an 18-year-old pharmacy student from Nairobi who has just been “discovered” as a model and navigating a brand-new world. Each is confronted with choices small and significant, and must make life-changing career decisions. As the fashion shows unfold, the women form unexpected connections. The film contrasts the glamorous public image of haute couture with the invisible labour of the women who create it. The models are shown in a tube from various cultures, including countries like France, Sudan, and Ukraine. Their experiences become a meditation on identity, creativity, vulnerability, and survival.
Director Wincour’s film, at best, shows the ins and outs of the assembly of fashion week, from the workers’ points of view, in this case, a filmmaker, a makeup artist, and a model. But each story with each of the characters’ personal problems looks terribly forced, resulting in more melodrama than needed in this fashion drama, Wincour sacrifices subtlety with the glamour seen onscreen. The script also appears disjointed, with th film not detailed enough in each of the topics brought up.
The title refers not only to high fashion but also to the idea of stitching together broken lives. Director Alice Winocour draws parallels between the precision of couture craftsmanship and surgery, suggesting that both involve repairing fragile bodies and lives. The film moves quite slowly despite the many, many incidents happening in the story,
COUTURE premiered in Toronto last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens this week at the TIFF Lightbox.
Trailer:
IN THE HAND OF DANTE (Italy/USA 2025) ***1/2
Directed by Julina Schnabel
Nicholas P. Tosches was an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet. His 1982 biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, Hellfire, was praised by Rolling Stone magazine as "the best rock and roll biography ever written.” But it is his book IN THE HAND OF DANTE that this film is based.
If you look at anything long enough, you will find something wrong with it, No matter how beautiful it is that is what author Nick Tosche says about the poem, The Divine Comedy. Nick says, “I used to love to, now I just like it.”
Director Julian Schnabel elicits superb performances all round from his actors, notably from Gerard Butler and others like Oscar Isaac and John Malkovich, who is always good. Schnabel directed one of the most intricate and moving films, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, about a patient with a rare disease played by Matthieu Almaric who could communicate and publish ed a memoir by only winking one eyelid.
The film’s premise involves Oscar playing Dante in sequences shot in colour in Italy that explore his efforts in writing the classic and looking for mystical knowledge. He also plays author Nick Tosches, whose 2002 book In the Hand of Dante makes him out to be a renowned Dante expert employed by a mafia don to confirm its existence and then steal it for him. Those sequences, quite violent in parts, are shot in black-and-white to show contrast between the more artistic world of the 1400s vs. today’s brutal and greedy landscape, where art is just a commodity for some. He’s accompanied by ace assassin, Louie (Gerard Butler), and another goon, Lefty (Louis Cancelmi). The don, Joe Black (John Malkovich), sends them off to the Vatican, where supposedly the original manuscript could be verified and brought back to him.
The script co-written by director Schnabel and Louise Kugelberg is at times uneven and unpredictable, which in this case, works more positively for the film that runs a lengthy 150 minutes. It is a slow-moving film, never boring, primarily for the film’s performances.
The scripts not without humour. In one oft rare but funniest segments, Nick asks, “Why did you kill the dog?” “Dosbark, comes the reply. Do you like dogs?” Nick is asked, and he replies yes. “I do too,” comes the retort. The two then engage in a conversation about how dogs are treated in New York. The conversation slowly leads to fucking broads who carry dog shit
It is interesting to note that Johnny Depp’s company bought the rights to In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches, with Depp eying to star and produce. But Depp, originally slated to play Nick, has been replaced by Oscar Isaac.
The film had its world premiere out of competition in the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2025. One month before its Venice premiere, it leaked online. In March 2026, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released in the United States on June 12, 2026, before streaming on Netflix (in Canada) from June 24.
Trailer:
LITTLE BROTHER (USA 2026) *
(to be posted next week)
The film centres on Rudd (John Cena), a polished, highly successful real estate executive whose life is built around order, image, and control. He's preparing for the biggest opportunity of his career: an audition for a reality television series that could make him a national celebrity and dramatically expand his business. Every aspect of his life has been carefully choreographed.
Years earlier, Rudd had volunteered in a youth mentoring program similar to Big Brothers Big Sisters. His assigned "little brother" was Marcus (Eric André), an awkward but enthusiastic teenager who idolized Rudd. As Rudd's career accelerated, however, he gradually drifted away from Marcus, eventually abandoning the relationship altogether.
Watching LITTLE BROTHER, I noticed, besides the film not being funny, that I had not laughed once. I checked the time, and it was already 20 minutes through the supposedly funny comedy. I thought maybe to give it more time, but funnier it did not get. The humour is baseless, and if one is wondering if the target audience is the younger kid, the off-colour jokes (“You did not fuck down, you fucked up”, says the little brother) indicate a more adult audience. That point taken, kids will probably not find anything funny either.
LITTLE BROTHER is an example of what could be termed the ‘uncomfortable comedy’ where laughs are supposed to come from mishaps of the lead characters, the best example being Neil Simon’s THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS in which everything that can go wrong does, when a couple visits NYC. So the mishaps in LITTLE BROTHER occur when Marcus crashes business meetings, blurts out inappropriate personal stories, and ruins carefully planned networking events. He embarrasses Rudd in front of wealthy clients, unintentionally exposing how artificial Rudd's public image really is. Every attempt by Rudd to quietly remove Marcus only makes matters worse, resulting in escalating chaos
The film becomes a series of increasingly outrageous comic set pieces, which unfortunately are unfunny, infantile, and pathetic as Marcus follows Rudd everywhere.
The film blends different comedy genres. They don’t work. Some absurdist humour comes from Marcus (Eric André) behaving in wildly unpredictable ways that defy normal social expectations. Another is cringe comedy in which it is supposed to be funny watching Rudd try to maintain his polished, professional image while Marcus inadvertently humiliates him in front of clients, coworkers, and television producers. The buddy comedy is also attempted, as much of the story follows the familiar "mismatched pair" formula. Their contrasting personalities—Rudd's disciplined, image-driven approach versus Marcus's impulsive honesty—generate both conflict and eventual camaraderie but the comedic pair again becomes tiring when it delivers no laughs.
The film’s attempt at satirizing reality television, influencer culture, corporate branding, and the obsession with projecting a perfect public image also fall flat.
The film hits its lowest point when Little Brother progresses; the comedy gives way to a more emotional exploration of guilt, responsibility, and the lasting impact of abandoning someone who depended on you. The change of tone in providing a message to the audience causes the film to sink into silly melodrama and sentimentality.
LITTLE BROTHER opens for streaming on Netflix Friday June 26th.
Trailer:
SUPERGIRL (USA 2026)***
Directed by Craig Guilepsie
SUPERGIRL is a new 2026 DC action hero movie, featuring Superman’s cousin.
In flashbacks, during the destruction of the planet Krypton, scientist Zor-El and his wife Alura evacuate along with many Kryptonians to Argo City, where Zor-El activates his force field system, which separates a chunk containing the city from the planet, preventing it from being destroyed. Eight years later, Alura gives birth to her and Zor-El's daughter, Kara. Eventually, it is discovered that the separation of Argo City exposed a mineral known as "Kryptonite", which is slowly killing the citizens via radiation. After Alura succumbs to her illness, Zor-El decides to send Kara and her dog Krypto on a ship headed to Earth, where they are greeted by Kara's cousin Kal-El, who is now living a double life as Clark Kent and Superman. Kara later tries to adjust to her new life on Earth, while also adopting the moniker “Supergirl".
In the present day, Supergirl travels with Krypto to several planets and parties in celebration of her 23rd birthday, while Superman often calls her, expressing concern that she is constantly off-world and unable to settle on Earth. During one of her stops, she encounters Ruthye Marye Knoll, the last survivor of her family who was murdered by the Brigand leader Krem of the Yellow Hills. Ruthye requests Supergirl's assistance in her quest for vengeance, but is denied. Krem hijacks Supergirl's ship alongside several Brigands, and also shoots Krypto with a poisonous dart in the process. Upon learning that Krypto has only three days left to live, Supergirl decides to pursue Krem to retrieve an antidote, while also reluctantly taking on Ruthye as her companion. While stopping at the planet Bilquis, Supergirl and Ruthye learn from a local couple, Bomar and Mareck, that the Brigands have been kidnapping young women to force them to be their brides.
Despite the tech-heavy CGI film, their performances of both Milly Alcock as Supergirl and Matthias Schoenaerts as the main villain demand mention. But the film is more CGI special effects and makeup and costume than anything else. The predictable storyline with two female protagonists does not help either. Despite the under-2-hour running time, the film is a boring and often dull watch.
SUPERGIRL has a problem with its concept for a number of reasons. It is surprising that the people atWarner bros. never examined the problems with greater detail. Firstly, super action female heroes are, in fact, much less popular in action superhero movies. This is not to be male chauvinist in my remarks, but history has shown that previous ventures like CATWOMAN have flopped at the box office. Females would be more inclined to cough out money to watch a romantic comedy or drama than a female action hero film. And if males go, SUPERGIRL must be hot and sexy. SUPERGIRL in the movie, for close to half of the screen time, shows the heroine running and she's dishevelled, rather than sexy. The film's gothic look does not help either. DC Comics is always about heroes based on the planet Earth. It is the Marvel superheroes that bounce off planets in the galaxy. The SUPERGIRL story goes against the flow and is set more in outer space and looks more like a Marvel sort of STAR WARS film than a DC comic book film. SUPERGIRL is also not that well-known a character, so audiences might have a problem connecting with this film. Presently, the box office estimate for the film’s opening weekend has been reduced to $35 million, down from its initial $55 million. Looks like an unfortunate WB flop ahead, as the film costs $170 million to make, not including publicity; it has to make double that value worldwide just to cover production costs.
Trailer:
UNIDENTIFIED (Saudi Arabia 2025) ***
Directed by Haifaa Al Mansou
Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda)’s latest film is a mystery crime thriller that unfolds like a true crime drama. It is a female gender slant that pushes against gender norms and challenges simplistic narratives of femicide, a female-driven detective story that transgresses all manner of jurisdiction in its dogged pursuit of justice. A young woman’s abandoned body is found in the desert and bears no identification. When the Riyadh authorities go to investigate, they recruit police department receptionist Nawal (Mila Alzahrani) to help the otherwise all-male team discover details only a woman would notice. The intelligent and observant Nawal, a true-crime fan, possesses an unusual degree of knowledge when it comes to homicide investigations. While the police drag their heels, she quietly takes matters into her own hands, going to different all-girls’ high schools to ask about missing students, only to find the administrators uncooperative, wanting no part in any story about supposedly “sinful” girls. But if it appears all too convenient that Nawal eventually finds all the clues and solves the case, there is more than meets the eye in a clever twist that one would never expect, lifting the film from what one would think is the typical murder mystery. Well-plotted and delivered in a seldom-seen setting, UNIDENTIFIED is a surprise gem.
