Popular reviews

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 1

  Iya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) suffers from post-concussion syndrome after fighting on the frontlines during the Siege. Now a nurse in a musty Leningrad hospital that heaves with the dead and dying, she’s prone to sudden fits of paralysis; her muscles freeze, her voice is swallowed by a feeble croak, and her long alabaster body is no longer under her control. In these vulnerable moments, Iya truly earns the nickname that gives “Beanpole” its title: The crane-like twenty-something — whose white eyebrows make it seem as though the cold she experienced in the army may have altered her on a genetic level — goes stiff as a stick, and would tip right over at the slightest touch.

  Iya’s condition may be unique,…

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  Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★ 13

  Hoop-tober, #31:

  A horrifyingly depressing way to finish out Hoop-tober, but by far Millie Bobby Brown’s best performance, and one I doubt she’ll ever top; how she managed to age eight years & learn an entire foreign language, merely for this role — and then de-age herself & erase Russian from her memory(!) — is something over which even method greats like Daniel Day-Lewis and Joaquin Phoenix should be able to marvel.

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  Review by Sean Baker 16

  Striking images and faces. Looking forward to seeing Kantemir Balagov's previous film Closeness.

  Due to lack of time, I can't add much to these logs for now. :(
  Maybe in the future.

  Watched the Academy screening link

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  Review by karsten ★★ 13

  not my thang!

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  Review by Brianna 2

  Tall Girl (2019) now streaming on netflix

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  Review by tova hirsch ★★★★★

  russian hunter schafer can like get it

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  Review by Sarah ★★★★★

  Second best 2019 Cannes Premiere featuring two lesbians sharing a green dress

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  Review by Jacob ★★★★½ 2

  AFI Fest 2019: Movie #6

  “What if it’s a miracle?”
  “It’s not.“

  Such a disturbing, emotionally complex look at the affects of war and great tragedy on two women in a toxic relationship. Both characters are so limited in terms of their larger ability to feel fulfilled, so they instead take control of the few aspects of their lives they can lead. For much of the film, there’s a clear sense of victim and abuser, but the actions of one of the women is so hard to get past that even that dynamic feels complicated. There’s emotional violence and manipulation, overt blackmail even, yet there’s never not this mutual understanding of support between them.

  It’s so upsetting, but the truly…

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  Review by ˗ˏˋ Liam ˊˎ˗ ★★★★

  i feel empty

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½

  Set in 1945 Leningrad, Beanpole is a touching historical drama which is concerned about the postwar repercussions and heartlessness of a brutal period of war and the strength of character required in negotiating and managing its consequences. It's a quietly involving film, albeit one which is often very unpleasant, and is beautifully designed with vibrant colours that unfold a particular style and an unusual sense of warmth, even in its darkly disturbing moments.

  Its director Kantemir Balagov imbues the traumatic moments of the movie with tangible raw compassion and kindness, and the performances throughout are deeply and vigorously heartfelt which help to communicate that cruelties do not only distort existence for the duration of a conflict, it transforms subjective reality permanently. Balagov shows excellent skill in articulating a nation expecting to go on with a generation of people that feel powerless in producing its inception.

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  Review by David Sims ★★★★½ 1

  colors

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  Review by laura ★★★½

  as if the film itself wasn’t depressing enough, the colors, like the green dress or the way their faces were lit when they were in bed together, kept reminding me of portrait of a lady on fire.. moment of silence for the suffering gays