Helsinki International Film Festival
HIFF 2024: Review Roundup
The films I saw at the Helsinki International Film Festival 2024
Anora
Helsinki International Film Festival 2024 – the films you must see
Check out the selection of films you shouldn't miss at the Helsinki International Film Festival, Love and Anarchy.
Helsinki International Film Festival
See How They Run is charming, classic fun
We really should thank Rian Johnson for all of this. After all, without his superlative whodunit revival, Knives Out, I doubt there would be half as many murder mysteries out today. Sure, Kenneth Branagh has done his part, but his classy-to-a-fault Hercule Poirot adaptations attract a wholly different kind of
Helsinki International Film Festival
Sirens is an important portrait of growing up
There’s a moment late in Sirens that encapsulates the entire picture in one, probably staged but so beautiful it’s hard to care, scene. Two of our heroes share details from the other sordid late-night escapades. They huddle together, all hushed tones and giggles. “We made out,” one professes.
Helsinki International Film Festival
Triangle of Sadness is like shooting fish in a barrel and still missing
Ruben Östlund is a satirist who seems content in big, broad, and ultimately shallow provocation. Is that a fair or nuanced assessment? Probably not. But, then again, his films give little meat to dig into despite their excessive runtimes. His latest, Triangle of Sadness, has hot takes so mild they
1976
The 15 Films You Shouldn't Miss At The Helsinki International Film Festival
It’s autumn, which means another Helsinki International Film Festival is upon us. This time is twice as special, as HIFF celebrates 35 years of Love & Anarchy. With a massive lineup of over 140 feature-length films and dozens of shorts in store, HIFF 2022 can get a little overwhelming
Helsinki International Film Festival
Helsinki International Film Festival, 2021
For the second year running, The Helsinki International Film Festival – Love and Anarchy has to cope with arbitrary limitations and uncertainty in the face of cancellation. And, for the second year running, I’ll be there to cover it the best I can. You can check out my previous coverage
Dawn Luebbe
Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe talk about the suburbs, comedy, and rewriting
GREENER GRASS is one of my favorite movies from this year’s Helsinki International Film Festival. Hilarious and terrifying at once, it’s a surprisingly poignant and touching satire about suburban life. I had the great pleasure of speaking with Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe about golf cart cities, improving
Dawn Luebbe
Greener Grass delights and disturbs equally
★★★★ | Cul-de-sad-sac My first John Waters film was Serial Mom, starring Kathleen Turner. In it, a suburban housewife goes on a murderous rampage to teach people some manners. After seeing it, something changed in me for good. Suburbia, even in Finland, looked different. The illusion was shattered. Fast forward twenty years,
Coded Bias
Coded Bias is a chilling documentary about where our society is headed
★★★★ | Bigger brother While studying at MIT, Joy Buolamwini noticed one day that her facial recognition software did not recognize her face. Odd, considering it has only one job to do, but perhaps not insurmountable. So Buolamnwini did what every engineer would: she began to troubleshoot the machine. It wasn’t
David France
Welcome to Chechnya is a horrific window into a nightmarish reality
★★★★★ | Monsters in broad daylight A disheveled man paces as he chain smokes in a nondescript courtyard. He keeps checking his phone. Finally, it rings. The caller is a young woman, desperate and scared. Her uncle has found out that she’s a lesbian. Her father, a high-ranking official in the
Helsinki International Film Festival
Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway is a unique blend of madness
Tallinn, Estonia, in the near future. Or maybe it’s the past. In this world, time is erratic. It’s a place where a global neural network called Psychobook monitors all life, even your hopes and dreams. Out of nowhere, the CIA’s special division is alerted of the network