Many reviewers have claimed that Anatomy of a Fall is a wonderful courtroom drama that offers a refreshing change since such movies aren't made anymore in this day and age. However, I could name you three courtroom dramas from the past eighteen months that are all better than Anatomy of a Fall. A Guilty Conscience offers a most gripping plot and a powerful message on the pulse of time that influential, rich and self-centered people can't buy justice. Last Suspect offers an intense story with multiple twists and turns that blur the lines between innocence and guilt on more than one occasion. Article Twenty deals with a heart-wrenching case of excessive self-defence when a plagued victim resists against his pitiless aggressor. Anatomy of Fall doesn't have the emotions, intellect and twists that all these three movies have and ultimately qualifies as slightly above average family drama with excessive lengths.

The story revolves around an international couple, consisting of a moderately famous German author and her husband who is a depressed French university lecturer. They have met in England, got a visually impaired son who needs much attention and care and ultimately moved to the isolation of the French Alps. One day, the husband is found dead in front of their house as he seems to have died from a fall. Police soon starts investigating and discovers that the relationship between husband and wife was extremely strained. The French Court now wants to find out whether the husband's death was accidental or whether a murder has been committed. The only witness who can testify is the visually impaired child who is traumatized by the events and doesn't know what or who to believe anymore.

This movie has several strengths that deserve praise. First and foremost, the acting performances are particularly strong. Sandra Hüller convinces as tormented mother and widow who faces justice in a country that isn't her own during a trial using a language that isn't hers either. Samuel Theis delivers the goods as depressed, desperate and manipulative husband whose life has gradually been spinning out of control. Milo Machado-Graner excels as timid and frightened but intelligent and observant child who is going through difficult changes. Swann Arlaud plays a caring, empathic and resilient lawyer who develops intimate feelings for the woman he is tasked to defend. Antoine Reinartz excels as tough prosecutor who is aggressively putting the accused and the witness under pressure. A most serious honourable mention goes out to film dog Messi who astonishingly and convincingly pretends to be poisoned and to be dying. Other noteworthy positive elements from this movie are the fitting soundtrack enhancing the different scenes, the realistic plot that keeps viewers guessing until the very end and the movie's burdensome, gloomy and numbing atmosphere.

However, this movie isn't without several significant flaws. While the plot is realistic, it is missing surprising twists, turns or ideas to keep the viewers intellectually and emotionally involved throughout. Several scenes severely overstay their welcome, especially the ones taking place between the death of the father and husband as well as the beginning of the trial. Clocking in at a challenging one hundred fifty-one minutes, the screenplay ought to have been more concise as at least half an hour should have been cut to make this movie easier to digest. The pace of the movie is at times painfully slow which makes it difficult to get into and even more challenging to remain interested until the final third is almost conciliatory.

At the end of the day, Anatomy of a Fall is recommended to viewers who want to watch a realistic family drama involving gifted actresses and actors. Those who want to watch a gripping courtroom drama with emotional characters and intellectual plot devices should however watch the three movies mentioned in the introduction. At the end of the day, Anatomy of a Fall's positive elements slightly outweigh its considerable downsides. What viewers get here is a slightly above average melodramatic drama that is only appreciated so much because people have stopped discovering intriguing contemporary movies outside of commercial movie theatres.

Raging Grace is a British-Filipino movie that combines family drama, psychological thriller and mild horror elements coherently, excitedly and fluidly. Director Paris Zarcilla convinces with his first full length feature. Lead actress Maxine Eve Pimentel Eigenmann might offer the greatest performance of her career thus far.

The movie revolves around worried undocumented Filipina immigrant Joy who lives in abject poverty with her joyful daughter Grace. Joy starts working in an isolated mansion for a cold-hearted lady of prosperous background. She secretly makes her daughter Grace stay with her. Her most challenging task is to take care of an old family member with a serious medical condition that forces him to take medication that leaves him in a comatic state in his bed. When the lady of the mansion leaves for several days, Joy starts suspecting that the lady wants to kill the elderly man. She nurses him back to health as he soon regains consciousness. However, Joy soon starts to realize that the apparently grateful old man isn't as innocent as he claims to be and things are quickly spiraling out of control.

This film convinces on numerous levels. First and foremost, the story is particularly intriguing. The difficult lives of Joy and Grace are portrayed excellently in the exposition. Joy has to do some odd jobs and fights very hard to purchase illegal papers that might authorize her to stay in Great Britain. Grace is an adventurous and joyful child without a permanent home or any access to public education or friends of her own age. The rising action starts slowly as viewers are led to believe that the arrogant new employer might be a dangerous villain. The climax offers several twists and turns that will keep viewers on the edges of their seats. The falling action is quite intense as a series of dramatic events occur one after another. The resolution certainly leaves a lasting impression and offers food for discussion and thought.

The lead characters in this movie convince so much because their situations are fleshed out very well, because the hardship they face is unforgiving and because the actresses performing mother and daughter are particularly credible. The villains in the movie are certainly gloomy, mysterious and unpredictable. However, they are lacking a little bit of depth and have been created by the numbers. The movie's weakest point is the idea to portray illegal immigrants as heroines and rich locals as abusive villains. That approach is a little bit stereotypical and superficial.

Still, Raging Grace is a movie that deserves attention and acclaim. Its vibrant mixture of family drama, psychological thriller and mild horror makes for a unique combination. The acting performances are excellent. The story features dramatic twists and turns offering food for discussion and thought. The movie entertains from start to finish without any significant lengths. The film's only negative element is the stereotypical and superficial portrayal of its villains.

Inside is a claustrophobic drama and thriller with an excellent running time of one hundred five minutes. The story revolves around an art thief who is tasked to steal a series of expensive paintings from a rich entrepreneur. When he fails to locate all the pieces of art, the mission gets canceled and the thief is left to his own devices. He becomes a prisoner of the sinister penthouse and explores many different options to find his way back to freedom.

This movie convinces for two particular reasons. First and foremost, lead actor Willem Dafoe offers one of the greatest performances of his career. His progressive maddening is portrayed via frantic actions that are slowly spiraling out of control before losing their vigour. His body language is authentic as the agile art thief becomes clumsier, older and slower as the film progresses, getting injured on more than one occasion in the process. The film's monologues are also fascinating since they offer discomfort and frustration at first, then shift to a certain intellectual and philosophical depth before losing their grip on hope and reality. Aside some minor side characters, this entire film is focused on the main character. Willem Dafoe's portrayal exceeds expectations and deserves sincere attention and critical acclaim.

The second element that deserves to be pointed out is obviously the setting. The entire movie takes place inside the millionaire's penthouse in New York City. It might look elegant, fascinating and lush upon first contact. As we explore it further however, that same location starts looking cold, isolated and lifeless. The excessive presence of both art and technology makes that location look devoid of any comfort or warmth. To add further intrigue, the penthouse offers tiny details and secret passages that initially represent hope of finding a way out of this location before turning out to be mirages shattering any optimism. The appearance of the penthouse gradually changes as it stops representing the interests and talents of its owner and starts adapting to the mental and physical decay of its unexpected prisoner.

Viewers certainly need a certain patience when watching this movie as it's essentially the tale of one single man caught in one single location for a little less than two hours. Once you are willing to embrace the character and explore the setting, you will however discover a creative movie that walks off the beaten path and will be remembered for a long time. Perhaps the story would even work better as a theater play than an actual movie. It would be particularly intriguing to attend such an adaptation offering the contrast between the isolated actor on stage and the packed audience witnessing everything that's going on. If you like creative dramas and thrillers, you should certainly give this movie a chance and it might even grow on you in the long run as it has on me.

No, I'm not trying to support a criminal tyrant such as Donald Trump with this review title. However, there is still a relation between the madman's senseless post and Martin Scorsese's new blockbuster. While Donald Trump is posting nonsense online time and again, Killers of the Flower Moon is filled with endless dialogues going nowhere that are going to exhaust even the most patient audience as well. This movie is at least ninety minutes too long and would work much better with a more concise cut.

That's not the first time Martin Scorsese makes the exact same mistake. The Irishman was a promising gangster movie watered down by its excessive length and tiring dialogues as well. Here's a general problem with established directors such as Scorsese, Nolan, Cameron and the likes. Once they have reached a certain level of success, they are allowed to do anything they want without studio executives interfering much. One might think that this freedom will lead to splendid results but in many cases, it leads to directors becoming arrogant, megalomaniac and self-centered. Artistic freedom turns out to be a poisoned gift.

This is really a shame in the case of Killers of the Flower Moon. The story has much depth to offer. The characters are profound and offer much development. The subject of racism towards First Nations has become more relevant than ever before. This movie really is on the pulse of time. Needless to say that I particularly care about such subjects and can highly recommend films like Indian Horse and The Grizzlies.

Some elements of this movie are very decent. The settings have been created with much detail and bring to life Oklahoma's Osage reservation in the early twentieth century. The camera and lighting techniques are used efficiently throughout the movie and add much atmospheric depth to the story. The acting performances are overall decent, with Lily Gladstone being the strongest actress in the movie, portraying a proud First Nations woman who is losing her mother and her sisters while confronting danger and treachery on a daily basis. The way this movie incorporates clothings, festivities and music of the Osage Nation is very detailed, inspiring and respectful.

Still, Killers of the Flower Moon is hard to sit through despite its talented cast, humble intentions and detailed work. If you care about First Nations issues, you should watch movies such as Indian Horse and The Grizzlies instead. Martin Scorsese should aim to make a much shorter movie next time and get help in the screenwriting department.

Based upon a timeless Arthurian legend, The Green Knight is a period adventure drama that convinces with excellent visual effects, moody soundtrack and an interesting set of characters. The film revolves King Arthur's reckless nephew Gawain who spends his life getting drunk, having excessive meals and spending time with a prostitute who hopes to improve her life by being with him. One day, the mysterious creature called The Green Knight visits for Christmas and asks one person to step forward and decapitate it. Gawain wants to impress the king in order to be considered a brave potential successor to the throne and decapitates the creature. In return however, Gawain is asked to return the favour and visit the creature next Christmas. As Gawain gets ready for the challenge and travels through the kingdom, he realizes that he has overestimated himself and ultimately tries to cheat himself out of the deal with the mysterious creature.

This movie convinces on numerous elements. First and foremost, this film excels with colourful, diversified and moody visual effects that increase the mysterious atmosphere of the tale. Up next, the elegiac, gloomy and melodic soundtrack complements the strong visual effects perfectly. On his voyage through the vast kingdom, Gawain meets an intriguing set of characters from scheming thieves over a virgin martyr to a toxic noble couple. One also has to point out the film's excellent timeless locations which may make you want to visit Ireland. The costumes have also been crafted with great care and bring the early medieval period to life in a credible way. A special shoutout goes to the movie's ambiguous ending that resonates and leaves room for interpretation.

There are however a few elements that one could also criticize negatively. There has already been an exhaustive number of movies about Arthurian legends. The film clocks in at two hours and ten minutes and slightly overstays its welcome. This movie is lacking fluid pace as it basically progresses from one adventurous anecdote to the next rather than developing the main plot and its lead character.

Still, the movie's upsides certainly outweigh its minor disadvantages. Anyone interested in medieval adventure movies with atmospheric depth should give this film a try. The movie's excellent atmosphere with colourful visual effects, moody soundtrack and ambiguous ending might even make you want to watch this unique film time and again.