Contributions from Mark Asch | Little White Lies

Contributor Mark Asch

A person gazing out of a car window, their face in profile and partially obscured by hair blowing in the wind.
Review

Compartment No. 6

by Mark Asch

Two strangers meet on a fateful train journey from Moscow to the Arctic Circle in Juho Kuosmanen’s romantic drama.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
A woman standing in a library, wearing a grey coat and glasses, arms crossed, surrounded by bookshelves.
Review

Petrov’s Flu

by Mark Asch

Kirill Serebrennikov presents a fascinating, intense portrait of a comic book artist who suffers from a strange illness.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Person in a white dress standing in a wheat field, with a clear sky in the background.
Review

Flag Day

by Mark Asch

Sean Penn’s directorial follow-up to The Last Face is a blatantly self-indulgent vanity project full of tiring clichés.

1
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Glass enclosure with grassy environment and silhouetted figure.
Review

Memoria

by Mark Asch

Apichatpong Weerasethakul meticulously crafts a sensory journey soaked in introspection and metaphysical perplexity.

4
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
A person wearing a police helmet and vest, standing in front of a blurry urban backdrop.
Festivals

France – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Léa Seydoux plays a TV journalist in Bruno Dumont’s satire-of-sorts about France’s relationship with its media and itself.
Woman sitting on bed in bedroom, wearing light-coloured top, surrounded by furniture and curtains.
Festivals

Memoria – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Tilda Swinton is extraordinary in a film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul which comprises of ​“pure vibes”.
Three men in dark suits gathered around a table in a dimly lit green room.
Festivals

Petrov’s Flu – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Kirill Serebrennikov’s delirious latest offers a strikingly singular vision of life in post-Soviet Russia.
Person in a white dress standing in a wheat field, with a clear sky in the background.
Festivals

Flag Day – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Sean Penn returns to Cannes five years after the fiasco of The Last Face with a somehow even more calamitous family drama.
A person gazing out of a car window, their face in profile and partially obscured by hair blowing in the wind.
Festivals

Compartment No. 6 – first-look review

by Mark Asch

This delicate Finnish comedy of social and political manners has all the trappings of an arthouse crowd-pleaser.
Young woman in white top and orange headscarf, young boy in colourful blanket, looking out of window frame
Festivals

Lingui – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s bright, hopeful film addresses the persistent issue of women’s reproductive health in present-day Chad.