The Current Cinema
New Yorker film reviews.
“Twisters” Takes the Fun Out of Heavy Weather
The original “Twister” had no compunction about making tornadoes look awesome. Lee Isaac Chung’s sequel treats them as deadly serious.
By Richard Brody
“Sing Sing” Puts a Prison Theatre Program in the Spotlight
Greg Kwedar’s film, starring Colman Domingo and Clarence (Divine Eye) Maclin, brings us deep—though not deep enough—into the process of rehabilitation through art.
By Justin Chang
Kevin Costner’s “Horizon” Goes West but Gets Nowhere
The actor-director’s three-hour Western, the first installment of a planned tetralogy, rushes through its many stories and straight past American history.
By Richard Brody
The Monotonous Miseries of “Kinds of Kindness”
Yorgos Lanthimos’s new film casts the same set of actors in a trio of stories, all of them cruel.
By Justin Chang
Annie Baker’s “Janet Planet” Is an Exquisitely Moving Film Début
Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler play a mother and her eleven-year-old daughter in a story that quietly sidesteps coming-of-age drama conventions.
By Justin Chang
The Sexy Mind Games of “Hit Man”
In Richard Linklater’s romantic crime comedy, an undercover operative transforms his love life by means of professional deceptions.
By Richard Brody
A Road Warrior’s Driving Lessons in the Thrilling, Sprawling “Furiosa”
George Miller’s latest addition to the “Mad Max” franchise plunges into the backstory of the action hero memorably introduced by Charlize Theron.
By Justin Chang
The Madly Captivating Urban Sprawl of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis”
After a thirteen-year absence, a great American director returns with an ambitious vision of a city—and a world—in need of renewal.
By Justin Chang
“The Fall Guy” Is Gravity-Defying Fun, in Every Sense
Starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, this action-comedy about a stuntman, by the stuntman turned director David Leitch, sticks its landings, but don’t expect characterization.
By Richard Brody
Love Means Nothing in Tennis but Everything in “Challengers”
Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist sustain a three-way rally of romance in Luca Guadagnino’s almost absurdly sexy sports film.
By Justin Chang