Reviews

IFFR 2026 Review: “Projecto Global”

_{© O Som e a Furia, Tarantula}

Projecto Global, directed by Portugese filmmaker Ivo M. Ferreira, positions itself as a political thriller in the tradition of Costa-Gavras, portraying conspiracy and systemic anger in both hectic and stylistically cool fashion. At its best, the film channels the atmosphere of this lineage effectively; at worst, it feels unsure of what, exactly, it wants to argue.

IFFR 2026 Review: “Yellow Cake”

_{© Gilvan Barreto}

Yellow Cake is a bold yet uneven sophomore feature from Brazilian writer-director Tiago Melo, in which he blends eco-sci-fi, political satire and B-movie tropes. The film trakes place in the town of Picui, Brazil, rich with uranium, where a government-supported initiative promises to eradicate dengue fever by sterilising mosquitoes through ‘controlled’ radiation.

IFFR 2026 Review: “Butterfly”

_{© Mer Film}

With Butterfly. her sophomore feature film, Itonje Søimer Guttormsen returns to the International FIlm Festival Rotterdam with something that initially feels like a radical departure from her debut, Gritt. The film opens with flashy camerawork and a hazy, nearly spiritual atmosphere, suggesting that Guttormsen is treading new waters through visual experimentation. Yet, as the story unfilds, the aesthetic wildness gradually gives way to a continuation of Guttormsen’s more recognizable style, albeit slightly less cohesive, as emotionally raw characters find themselves challenged by questions of identity and art.

Locarno 2025 Review: Sorella di Clausura

_{© microFILM, Dunav 84}

Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura is a darkly comic portrait of obsession, delusion, and the strange collisions between celebrity culture and everyday survival. Featuring a fearless performance from Katia Pascariu as the unforgettable Stela. Around her orbit Boban, a former Yugoslav idol, long past his glory days, and Vera Pop, a hypersexual pop star who turns sex into commerce., the film builds its own mad energy from the very first moments. A bright red title card declares, “If you thought you were going to watch a film based on true events, you are wrong and possibly paranoid,” setting the tone for a story that oscillates between satire, melodrama, and tragic comedy. Adapted from Liliana Pelici’s autobiographical manuscript, the film reshapes her personal testimony into a wild narrative that keeps viewers laughing, cringing, and thinking in equal measure.

Locarno 2025 Review: “God Will Not Help”

_{© Kinorama}

God Will Not Help, the sophomore feature from Croatian director Hana Jušić, is a poetic work on grief, faith, and the universal experiences of women within a patriarchal society. Led by powerful performances from its two stars Manuela Martelli as Teresa and Ana Marija Veselčić as Milena, the film explores how solidarity between the oppressed is able to form even in silence and cultural differences, and how it becomes their only shield against subjugation.

Locarno 2025 Review: “Le Lac”

_{© Casa Azul Films}

Frequent Godard-collaborater Fabrice Aragno’s debut feature Le Lac is a film to feel, rather than to follow like a conventional movie. Renouncing traditional dialogue and narrative progression, Aragno’s film is a sensorial experience that prioritizes touch, sound, and image over words. Over the course of five days, we accompany a couple, Anna (Clotilde Courau) and Vincent (Bernard Stamm), as they join a sailing race across a vast lake. What unfolds is an exploration of intimacy, nature, and the moments in which life itself feels most alive.

Locarno 2025 Review: “Mare’s Nest”

Ben Rivers’ Mare’s Nest is a thought-provoking and deeply imaginative post-apocalyptic eco-film that dares to put the future of humanity entirely in the hands of children. Featuring a cast composed exclusively of child actors, the film follows Moon Guo Barker, in an impressive performance as the character Moon, through a series of interconnected vignettes that meditate on memory, survival, and the persistence of culture after collapse.

Locarno 2025 Review: “Donkey Days”

Dutch director Rosanne Pel’s sophomore feature Donkey Days, a Dutch-German co-production filmed in Germany with a predominantly German cast, is an intense and ambitious film that examines the tensions within an all-female family of three, using both realism and surreal elements. It examines the power dynamics between two adult sisters and their mother, demonstrating how conditional affection and criticism can define relationships over a lifetime. Pel balances a detailed depiction of domestic conflict with a confident and unique style, resulting in an upredictable, intense, and occasionally funny work.

Cannes 2025 Review: “Once Upon a Time in Gaza”

Set in Gaza in 2007, Once Upon a Time in Gaza is a complex genre-bending drama from the Nasser brothers that blurs the line between reality and cinema. Mixing noir, Western, and political satire, it follows the lives of Palestinians lived under the zionist blockade, where love and loyalty coexist with occupation and concept of martyrdom.

Cannes 2025 Review: “Nino”

Pauline Loques’ Nino unfolds in a compressed timeframe, yet feels expansive in the weight and emotions it carries. The film follows a young man whose life is suddenly redirected by a serious medical diagnosis, HPV-related cancer, depicting it through an educational, emotional, yet unsentimental angle. Loques keeps the camera close to her character, allowing us to read subtle shifts in performance. The pace is quick in terms of events, but the emotional register is slow and deliberate, leaving space for the audience to absorb the weight of the narrative.