The 50 Best Films Of 2017
These are those 50 Films of 2017 that in some way have seeped into my life as the ones I would like to keep in my memory. The ones that have left me with something to ponder upon. Something to hold close and think about. And something that I will need every now and again.
50. Arrhythmia | Director: Boris Khlebnikov | Language: Russian
Quite reminiscent of Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine”, “Arrhythmia” explores why people who deeply & truly love each other, face the loss of understanding that brought them together in the first place. Yes, there’s a social subtext about what goes around medical units that don’t comply humanistic approvals, but Khlebnikov’s complete focus remains on the half-dead heart that Oleg & Katya share with each other.
Read The Complete Review of Arrhythmia Here.
49. Manifesto | Director: Julian Rosefeldt | Language: English
German visual artist Julian Rosefeldt lifts, copies and deconstructs the true essence of an experimental-art-house-film to develop something truly fascinating. Hinging on the meaning, presentation, representation, and making of what and how true art is to be construed, Rosefeldt’s film is a ticking time bomb that explodes multiple times and baffles your incomprehensible sensibility. Featuring the uber-talented chameleon – Cate Blanchett, who plays 13 different characters in this 95 mins showcase of enthralling visuals and sharply observed insights, “Manifesto” is one of its kind.
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48. Directions | Director: Stephan Komandarev | Language: Bulgarian
Ever had a really bad day? A day where even the morning coffee tastes like a bad case of psychoactive caffeine intake? Stephan Komandarev’s latest film “Directions” is based on a series of cab rides on one such ‘really bad day’ in present-day Sofia. Focusing on the dreaded and tortured lives of Bulgarian residents, Komandarev twists the general narrative into a mosaic of vignettes that are both a certain cry for help and an investigation into human empathy that is bursting out for a listener.
Read The Complete Review of Directions Here.
47. Custody | Xavier Legrand | Language: French
When a marriage falls out, it definitely changes the lives of the spouses in question. The suffering that the kids go through is even more intense. The constant juggling between the two peers becomes a kind of chaos that shapes their life thereafter. Despite playing on familiar notes, French filmmaker Xavier Legrand’s films about toxic masculinity plaguing the lives of a family brings the terror home. The fear that shadows their life is so intense and real, that watching the film feels like being there besides the camera as the terror takes a toll on you.
Read The Complete Review Of Custody Here.
46. Lovesong | Director: So Yong Kim | Language: English
So Yong Kim’s “Lovesong” caters to the complexities of friendship and love. A gentle, beautiful and wonderous ode to the people who had lived so long in a state of vulnerable loneliness that saying the right thing at the right time is a distant possibility. Performed to perfection with subtle gazes, nervous hands, and melancholic longings by Jena Malone & Riley Keough, this is an intimate film where words take a backseat to feelings.
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45. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Director: Martin McDonagh | Language: English
Anchored by a powerhouse performance by Francis McDormand and Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” juggles multiple themes around an unpredictable journey of a foul-mouthed, grief-stricken mother. Seeking justice against the evil and brutality that brought her into this state of unbearable rage, Mildred Hayes’s Billboards set up and iconic and revolutionary voice to the voiceless. While the film does fall into the trap of failing to balance the comedic tone with a serious one, this tale of injustice & redemption is wrapped in enough enigma to keep it burning for a while.
Read The Complete Review of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Here.
44. God’s Own Country | Director: Francis Lee | Language: English
Francis Lee’s “God’s Own Country” is essentially a British Brokeback Mountain minus the melodrama. Set against the picturesque land of rural Britain that not only provides peace but also brings in isolation and distress, the film captures an outbursting romance that is gentle, life-affirming and heartbreaking all at the same time. The film achieves the fact that for some people it’s entirely impossible to articulate love and show vulnerability when life has never let them have their ways.
Similar to The 50 Best Films Of 2017: The 15 Best LGBTQ Films Of 2017
43. Lady Bird | Director: Greta Gerwig | Language: English
Using her incomprehensible maniac, radical energy, Greta Gerwig molds the generic highschool coming-of-age films with an astutely observed love story between a daughter and her mother. In her solo directorial debut, she washes over genre convention with a grand understanding of her environment. Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” works because it knows that a place (which we never give any importance to, least trying to escape it all the time) builds one’s character more than anything else.
Read The Complete Review of Lady Bird Here.
42. On Body and Soul | Director: Ildikó Enyedi | Language: Hungarian
Winner of the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, Ildikó Enyedi’s “On Body and Soul” is a film where the two introverts at its center have the same dream each night. As ridiculous as that might sound, Enyedi’s sensitive direction makes this film about the human connection much more visceral & tender. In spite of all the strangeness that surrounds it, Enyedi’s vision is one of the most original romances of the year. It will most definitely cater to everyone looking for the least bit of human connection. Bizzare, beautiful and awkward to an extent of charming you to the bone, “On Body and Soul” is one for the heart.
Read The Complete Review Of On Body And Soul Here.
41. Newton | Director: Amit Masurkar | Language: Hindi
Amit Masurkar’s “Newton” is not only a scathing satire on the democratic system but is also endearing and quite aware of its less-is-more possibilities. Wherein lies its strength to question the system without providing answers to all of them. The film understands the limits it can stretch to and also where the limit starts and ends. It’s a comedy, a wake-up call, and overall a testament to honesty which is the only currency that can change the world. Sadly, we will need 1 thousand milli-newtons to do that job, though.
Read The Complete Review of Newton Here.
40. Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts | Director: Mouly Surya | Language: Indonesian
There’s no exact way to categorize Mouly Surya’s “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.” It’s neither just a western or just a rape-revenge drama. To put it only mildly, I’d call it a cross between the aesthetically pleasing feminist troops of Ana Lily Amirpour‘s “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” & the calmness, subtlety & deadpan humor seen in Jim Jarmusch’s psychedelic-western “Dead Man.“ Set in the deserted, picturesque hills of Indonesia, this badass tale of seeking justice is slyly brimmed in a heating pan until it boils up with unmatchable fury.
Read The Complete Review Of Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts Here.
39. The Mainour and the Witness | Director: Dileesh Pothan | Language: Malayalam
With a sensational central performance by Fahad Fasil and built upon the struggles and helplessness of the common everyday person Dileesh Pothan’s “The Mainour and the Witness “(Thondimuthalum Dhriksakshiyum) is a deliciously crafted black-comedy. While really small in scope & catering to a certain aspect of people, it is an amusing piece of commentary on the unstable and unsuitable legal system of the entire nation.
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38. Personal Shopper | Director: Oliver Assayas | Language: English
Olivier Assayas’s “Personal Shopper” is a pretty unique investigation into a person who understands and doesn’t understand death. Eerily sold as a horror tale of a woman split and confused between the in-betweens, Oliver still manages to bridge a portal between spiritualism and materialism. He also gives time for his main theme of grief to organically evolve on its own, while his aim becomes the process of Maureen understanding her environment, moreover – herself.
Read The Complete Review of Personal Shopper Here
37. Lady Macbeth | Director: William Oldroyd | Language: English
Lady Macbeth‘s strength lies in its dissolving morality. At times, both – moody & macabre, the film never latches into fake aesthetics and truly trusts its central performance to take you the extra mile. With a mesmerizing turn by Florence Pugh, William Oldroyd dwells the period drama with a smart and subtle placing of themes like race, obstinate desires, class division, and violence set in the 19th century.
Read The Complete Review of Lady Macbeth Here.
36. The Meyerowitz Stories | Director: Noah Baumbach | Language: English
Pretty much like any other Noah Baumbach film, the depth and profoundness of the emotions peel off very slowly. On the surface level, the film is just a series of disjointed, hyperactive and mostly angry selections of scattered memories of the Meyerowitz family after they visit the aging artist & familial patriarch Harold (Dustin Hoffman). Exploring the family dynamics, Baumbach successfully investigates what makes and breaks a family. Powered by brilliant performances, especially the one by Adam Sandler, “The Meyerowitz Stories” finds greatness in its characters.
Watch The Meyerowitz Stories on Netflix
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35. Animals | Director: Greg Zglinski | Language: German
Playing the game of telling and deceiving, the new film by Greg Zglinski plays with time, with characters, and with a seamlessly woven mix of genres. A marital drama on the surface, “Animals (a.k.a Tiere)” in no time becomes a dark-comedy that borderlines Lynchian territory without losing its grasp on the narrative. Keeping an engaging hook on what’s real and what’s a dream, the film always keeps some of its cards hidden.
Read The Complete Review of Animals Here.
34. Happiness | Director: Sabu | Language: Japanese
Unlike what the title suggests, Japanese cult filmmaker Sabu’s “Happiness” is probably the saddest film of the year. A non-resilient, sadistic and often heart-wrenching film about memories and their truly uplifting and destructive nature. A carefully constructed film that doesn’t just base itself on the narrative surprises and explores why some memories – both happy and sad, eventually make us what we become.
Read The Complete Review Review Of Happiness Here.
33. The Other Side Of Hope | Director: Aki Kaurismaki | Language: Finnish
Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki’s “The Other Side Of Hope” is an idiosyncratic, deadpan comedy about refugees staring right into the face of kindness and compassion. With his trademark style, stoic cinematic space & a great understanding of human emotions and reasoning, Kaurismaki’s film rightfully treads the line between casual cruelty & empathetic humaneness.
Read The Complete Review of The Other Side Of Hope Here.
32. The Levelling | Director: Hope Dickson Leach | Language: English
Grief has become a recurring theme in many indie films in the recent past. It’s astonishing how some film-makers still manage to find new ways to portray it. “The Levelling” is about a father & and daughter who are unable to come to terms with the death of a close one. The film is filled with rage and incomparable trauma inflicted by loss under its melancholic & silent edges. In her first film, Hope Dickson Leach tackles in the heavy theme of not being able to accept one’s fate when the universe seems to be playing against you with every other move.
Read The Complete Review of The Levelling Here.
31. Ana, Mon Amour | Director: Calin Peter Netzer | Language: Romanian
The contemporary relationships that I happen to see around me are mostly built on broken strands. Someone or the other needs to be fixed, and the significant other makes it a mission to do the fixing. While this co-dependence often forms the heart of the relationship – becoming a boon to the ever-growing tenderness towards one another, it, in turn, becomes a curse too. Calin Peter Netzer’s “Ana, mon amour” explores love, addiction & co-dependency and how each one of them takes a turn in becoming a boon & a curse.
Read The Complete Review of Ana, Mon Amour Here.
30. November | Director: Rainer Sarnet | Language: Estonian
Shot in rustic black-and-white, “November” is a folklore, a black comedy & a love story. Unrequited love, as we all know, makes us do strange things. Rainer Sarnet’s bleak vision, which is mostly sneakily funny, manages to be heartbreaking to an extent of turning a cold-feet towards the idea of love. He also cleverly makes the struggle and sadness that surrounds it feel like complete dead-pan-magic.
Read The Complete Review of November Here
29. Antiporno | Director: Sion Sono | Language: Japanese
When Japanese auteur Sion Sono was asked to film his take on the Roman Porno Revival, (a type of adult film that features a sex-scene every 10 minutes) who knew he would create a maddening stage-play about the oppression and entrapment of woman in a society that has been scrutinized to please the male species. By doing so, Sono creates “Anti-Porno,” taking a ballsy step of criticising the very idea of a Roman Porno whilst also paying tribute to it.
Read The Complete Review of Anti-PornoHere
28. Wonderstruck | Director: Todd Haynes | Language: English
Todd Haynes’s “Wonderstruck” is about braving the sadness that is constantly trying to make and shape you into becoming someone. It is an adventure into the unknown that makes one understand what true love and compassion really mean. Shown through the eyes of two children who share common deafness, the film uses the single most beautiful (structurally and visually) way in which it examines adolescence and the constant feeling of trying to belong somewhere.
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27. Wajib | Director: Annemarie Jacir | Language: Arabic
Annemarie Jacir’s “Wajib” is a road-movie that builds upon the familial indifference between the absolutely charming father-son duo (both onscreen & offscreen). With earthy dialogue, relatable and familiar emotional tension and truly beautiful setup to ride-along, Jacir’s film never doubts the viewers into understanding why these two people from the same family have a different point of view about the world they live in. By doing so, she prods into the indifference and the subtle affection between the two with charismatic results.
Read The Complete Review of Wajib Here
26. Afterimage | Director: Andrzej Wajda | Language: Polish
Accounting the life of Polish Avant-Grande artist Wladyslaw Strzeminski, Andrzej Wajda’s last testament to films was a heartbreaking tale about the freedom of expression. The film follows Strzeminski, a hardcore social realist who was prohibited from making paintings on the grounds of them being entitled as ‘progressive art.’ Featuring one of the best performance of the year by Bogusław Linda and a story that still somehow haunts us in the contemporary world, Wajda’s last love letter to cinema is an experience bloated in dark red color.
Read The Complete Review of Afterimage Here
25. Dunkirk | Director: Christopher Nolan | Language: English
Christopher Nolan’s monumental war-film “Dunkirk” is actually a tense, gripping, cinematic marvel that drenches you in a fight for survival. Without even showing an ounce of blood being spilled or ever getting a peek at the monster in hiding, the film replicates what it feels like on a battlefield. Technically sound, humane and rib-ticking tense this is filmmaking at it’s absolute daring best.
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24. Blade Runner 2049 | Director: Denis Villeneuve | Language: English
Existential questions get a fitting answer in Denis Villeneuve’s visual splendor – “Blade Runner 2049.” A cyberpunk odyssey that retells us the importance of memories, love & our existence in general. Seen through the eyes of someone who doesn’t truly understand why he is put on the planet, this beguiling sequel takes a cue from the original and builds walls, cells, and replicants of fakeness until all of them come crashing down on themselves.
Read The Complete Review of Blade Runner 2049 Here.
23. Good Time | Director: The Safdie Brothers | Language: English
Imagine Martin Scorsese’s terribly underrated “After Hours” with flickering neon dreams leading to a bad acid trip that wakes you up every 30 seconds. The Safdie Brother’s “Good Time” is an anxiety-inducing nightmare that is truly sensational for what it does to your nerves. Featuring Oneohtrix Point Never’s blistering musical score and an insane central performance by Robert Pattinson, the film is a chaotic experience that is hard to shake-off.
Read The Complete Review of Good Time Here.
22. A Quiet Dream | Director: Zhang Lu | Language: Korean
Focusing on a whimsical, almost-dead pan rom-com narrative, Zhang Lu’s “A Quiet Dream” investigates the quotidian lives of a group of people living in the poorer suburbs of Seoul. Shot in black-and-white and occasionally boosting a melancholic undertone, the film follows people who cope up with their social and geographical displacement only to live a life that doesn’t echo with their dreams. With minimalist visual motifs, realistic humor and an ideal social comment, the film becomes a lyrical ode to the everyday people. This ponderous comedy about misfits resonates deeply when you are willing to consider dreams as part of reality and reality as part of dreams.
Read The Complete Review of A Quiet Dream Here.
21. 120 Beats Per Minute | Director: Robin Campillo | Language: French
Well-acted, bold, brave and poignant to an extent of complete speechless numbness, Robin Campillo’s “120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)” is a moving portrayal of a time in history that changed the face of a community still fighting for the right to live as normal human beings. The activist in the film snap their fingers when they strongly agree or support an opinion, I snap my fingers to support this film, which, if not relevant enough, does happen to be extremely important.
Read The Complete Review of 120 Beats Per Minute Here
20. Princess Cyd | Director: Stephen Cone | Language: English
I would like to think that one of the essential parts in the process of growing up is, in fact, learning to understand that people have their own different taste, their own different pride and their own different and unique kinds of happiness. Chronicling the life of a 16-year-old visiting her author aunt, Stephen Cone’s “Princess Cyd” gets that feeling of understanding exactly right. Which makes this little film – A quite little wonder.
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19. Raw | Director: Julia Ducornau | Language: French
French film-maker Julia Ducornau’s Raw is a chilling body horror about the compromises of growing up. Filmed inside the walls of a veterinary school, the film juggles complicated matters faced by a young girl from the likes of presenting themselves to the world to discussing contemplative questions which differ a human from an animal. The social commentary is however wrapped deep under a cannibalistic horror fantasy that will soon be hailed as a modern horror masterpiece.
Read The Complete Review of Raw Here
18. By The Time It Gets Dark | Director: Anocha Suwichakornpong | Language: Thai
We have seen the very fabric of reality being turned upside down in films. Anocha Suwichakornpong’s “By the Time it Gets Dark” turns the reality in the film into a mystical, magical and meditative contemplation of film-making itself. With visual nods to well known contemporary Asian filmmakers like Wong Kar-wai & most importantly to Thai master filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Anocha’s film questions if it’s possible to make a historical film about a place that doesn’t have any history, whilst also providing a trippy, bewildering answer with her creation itself.
17. Western | Director: Valeska Grisebach | Language: German
Meinhard (Meinhard Neumann) who plays the protagonist in Valeska Grisebach’s slow-burning clash of male testosterone & cultural ideologies resembles the mustached stoic main-man in most Sergio Leone films. Riffling its title to encompass a varied number of juggling themes, genres and a sidelined border that still prevails in contemporary Europe, Grisebach’s film is a subtle, life-like documentations of a set of men (composing both sides of the language barrier) and the quotidian life that faces a cross-over when a horse, water-distribution & a young woman come into the mix. Refiguring the classic western motifs into a minimalistic story about masculine tension without losing so much as an iota of realism, Valeska Grisebach’s “Western” roots itself in a kind rootlessness that can only be witnessed and not explained.
Read The Complete Review of Wstern Here.
16. Suntan | Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos | Language: Greek
“Suntan” is about a man who is disappointed with his life. Apart from seeing all his friends race past him and become successful, his life has become a sorry chore. Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s Suntan will burn your skin with darkness. A loaded, unforgiving portrayal of a man destroyed by a single passionate experience. A devastating character study where desire turns to obsession and loneliness beseech into destructive insanity. Featuring an Efthymis Papadimitriou at his best as a paranoid man who loses his sense of understanding to the excess of booze and another chance at youthfulness.
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15. The Killing Of A Sacred Deer | Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Language: English
Cementing himself as one of the greatest directors working today, the Greek New Wave solicitor Yargos Lanthimos’s latest outing is a bizarre, twisted & deader than deadpan comedy that questions traditional Greek mythology against the ever-nervous contemporary human condition and its veil, unpredictable nature. “The Killing of Sacred Deer” is about the shiny world that is hollow, horrific and horrendous from the inside.
Read The Complete Review of The Killing of Sacred Deer Here.
14. A Fantastic Woman | Director: Sebastián Lelio | Language: Spanish
Featuring one of the greatest central performances of 2017 by Daniela Vega, “A Fantastic Woman” is one of the most (if not the most important) films for the queer cinema canon. Disguised as a tender tale of seeking what is one’s own, Leilo’s film is about the essential need of bringing the gap between ignorance and understanding a little closer. It’s essentially a film about the struggle that its heroine has to face when grief-stricken, but at the end of the day, it’s about the love that holds her together.
13. Columbus | Director: Kogonada | Language: English
Video-essayist-turned-film-maker Kogonada’s “Columbus” is really about understanding the aesthetics of life. About understanding what holds us back and what really keeps us going. In only his first film, Kogonada beautifully orchestrated a film that understands how and why empty spaces & architectural backdrops are just as important as a single line of dialogue. The kind of humane, realistic portrayal that he shows with his two lost characters evokes the mastery of modern masters like the Japanese humanist film-maker Hirokazu Kore-eda & the warm sensory feeling of a Jim Jarmusch film.
Read The Complete Review of Columbus Here.
12. The Florida Project | Director: Sean Baker | Language: English
Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” shows the other side of America. The one that is poor and has a short-lived life with the rent always on due. Which makes it almost unbelievable when he shows it with such magical purity that you can’t help but feel rainbows floating above your head. Shown through the eyes of Little Moone, the film is a poignant and gorgeous coming of age drama in a place that is just 100 meters away from the Happiest Place on Earth.
11. All These Sleepless Nights | Director: Michal Marczak | Language: Polish
In Michal Marczak’s “All These Sleepless Nights”, two polish twenty-something are seen fleeting through Warsaw trying to fit into the vibrant youthful malice where loneliness feels like a curse. Playing himself, Krzysztof Baginski is Marczak’s trigger point into the lucid dreamlike life of the young. The twenties are mostly about a lot of things. Figuring life out and falling in and out of love is merely a part of it. Premiered at the Sundance film festival 2017, time seems to float seamlessly in Marczak’s film. Which is why these breakups, patch-ups, and fuckups feel more than just trivial things, they are essentially the times when we grow up.
Read The Complete Review Review of All These Sleepless Nights Here
10. Hotel Salvation | Director: Shubhashish Bhutiani | Language: Hindi
The film sheds a spiritual light on the seemingly dark path to inevitable oblivion. Shubhashish Bhutiani presents such a vivid sense of love, regrets, understanding and leaving things behind that, without much ado, you shed your soulless being and instantly lighten up. The film doesn’t just provide you with salvation, it gives your life and possible death a new meaning. A meaning that should be left to the understanding of the conscience and nothing more than that. “Mukti Bhawan” is an instant classic that will remain in my mind till I find myself in my own weary days.
Read The Complete Review of Hotel Salvation Here
9. White Sun | Director: Deepak Rauniyar | Language: Nepali
Satirizing the traditions and beliefs where the old are set against the new, “White Sun” observes the dilemma of well-rounded characters and their baggage with each other through death and change. It also observes the guilt, transformations, and freedom that something as stark as war can bring into some people’s life. With a light touch and absurd comic situations, Rauniyar’s film slowly and assuredly becomes an important piece of cinema which gives us an opportunity to look into the world we live in or should know about.
Read The Complete Review of White Sun Here.
8. On The Beach at Night Alone | Director: Hong Sang-Soo | Language: Korean
What’s really interesting about most Sang-Soo films is their meta nature of documenting and fixing what he possibly couldn’t fix in his own life. Which not only enhances the personal touch of the narrative but also make it a universally connective tissue for anyone who has gone through the ups and downs and the beginnings and ends of a relationship. With “On The Beach At Night Alone,” Sang-Soo makes us go through the most terrible heartbreak and leaves us with the feeling of being lost and found at the same time.
Read The Complete Review of On The Beach At Night Alone Here.
7. Thelma | Director: Joachim Trier | Language: Norwegian
Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier’s “Thelma” blends supernatural elements with human conflicts, existential dilemmas and the horrors of growing up. Tattered up with enchanting imagery and a great understanding of the dead bird inside every person who was forced to undergo normalcy, the film is a tale of female sexual awakening & constant repression due to religious ethics.
Read The Complete Review of Thelma Here.
6. Mother! | Director: Darren Aronofsky | Language: English
A chamber piece of biblical proportion, Darren Aronofsky’s maddeningly daring “mother!” is an allegory for the life of a creator and his grappling journey of creating, destroying and recreating while a search for loveable perfection takes a rundown towards the cults looking for their own interpretations. A heart-throbbing, pulsating and truly horrific comedy of errors, mother! is creative independence put into a barrel that is made by the same stuff that nightmares are made of!
Read The Complete Review of Mother! Here.
5. Loveless | Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev | Language: Russian
“Loveless” wanders helplessly in the hearts and consciousness of the characters in search of a sense of belonging and love. Andrey Zvyagintsev seeds the heart-wrenching drama in the modern day society plagued with impatient & pseudo love that is entirely consumed by selfish motives. Just like Leviathan that takes a closer look at the socio-political crack paving the path for eternal human suffering, Loveless delves into the shallow & superficial human consciousness where “love” exists only in Instagram posts.
Read The Complete Review of Loveless Here.
4. The Square | Director: Ruben Östlund | Language: Swedish
Weird for the sake of being weird, calm for the sake of being calm and absolutely stunning and batshit crazy for the sake of being stunning and batshit crazy, Ruben Östlund’s “The Square” is peculiarly well timed as it truly understands the state of an audience in the present times. Since the modern world is losing its time span to completely divulge in the cinematic medium, Östlund provides and feeds the onlookers with pieces of puzzling calamities – each of which is detailed to an extent of absolute clarity if noticed carefully.
Read The Complete Review of The Square Here.
3. A Ghost Story | Director: David Lowery | Language: English
David Lowery’s “A Ghost Story” is the single most unique film of 2017. An enchanting, endearing and heartbreaking film that provides an unforgettable sensory experience down a memory that we will probably never visit if this film didn’t exist. It’s about life, death, loss, tragedy, afterlife and all that can be stuffed in between it all. It’s a film that tells us that nothing matters but we still search for something wandering through every place that allows visitors.
Read The Complete Review of A Ghost Story Here.
2. Call Me By Your Name | Director: Luca Guadagnino | Language: English
Wildly hailed as a ‘Queer Masterpiece’, Comfort, elegance and a beautiful sense of sadness seep through every frame of Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name.” Which only makes us wish to stay with these sensually romanticized set of men, even longer. It is the type of romance that makes you want to believe in romance and a love story that carries that essential blessing out of every love story – self-growth. A film that dares you to desire the things that actually matter. A true achievement.
Read The Complete Review of Call Me By Your Name Here.
1. Phantom Thread | Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Language: English
This is not ‘chic’ Anderson, nor is just a display of elegant dresses and acute perfections. It’s a dreamy, fairytale-esque, fever dream that trends so close to being absolutely ordinary that you just might fall into its poisonous edges. This is not a traditional romance because none of the characters are traditionally simple. Woodcock is married to his work or as he puts it – to his dresses. Cyril is the one who is the boss and is in no shape or size seems to be interested in Reynolds’s moaning about not being able to concentrate on his work. And Alma – the seemingly straightforward waitress who is probably PTA’s most subversive, strong and fascinating female character till date. Coming to the film itself, PTA’s “Phantom Thread” strips down the idiosyncrasies of any person who claims to be absolutely strong – a possible concrete wall of workaholism and plays with the importance of love and the idea of settling down before exhausting oneself. A charming, beguiling and majestic ghost tale about love in the time of stubbornness.
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