Contributions from Rafa Sales Ross | Little White Lies

Contributor Rafa Sales Ross

A man with a beard wearing a white shirt and holding a red telephone in front of a wall covered with old newspaper clippings.
Review

The Secret Agent review – Mendonça Filho’s most refined, outright-auteurist work yet

by Rafa Sales Ross

An undercover agent discovers he can’t escape his troubled past in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s gripping new drama about the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship.

5
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Man in striped shirt speaking on mobile phone, looking distressed with bloodstains on white vest, ornate building visible through window.
Review

Ballad of a Small Player review – a wispy, neon-hued gambling drama

by Rafa Sales Ross

Colin Farrell dons a pencil moustache as a down-and-out in Macao frittering away his money in the local casinos.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Black and white aerial view of urban sprawl with mountain silhouette in distance under dramatic cloudy sky.
Venice Film Festival

Below The Clouds – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

Gianfranco Rosi’s study of Italy’s legendary Mount Vesuvius is a beautiful but occasionally stagnant portrait of life near an active volcano.
Man in dark suit speaking on phone in formal interior setting, with blurred figure in background.
Venice Film Festival

The Wizard of the Kremlin – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

Olivier Assayas’ mad and maddening take on the mastermind behind Putin never quite lands a proper punch.
Two men walking outdoors, one in dark leather jacket carrying clothing, other in green jacket and pink cap, mountains in background.
Venice Film Festival

Rose of Nevada – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

Mark Jenkin’s third feature film, starring George MacKay and Callum Turner as fishermen whose lives go awry, is a moving tale of personal versus communal sacrifice.
Festivals

The Wave – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

Sebastián Lelio’s musical take on Chile’s MeToo movement is a misjudged gum-smacking mess.
Festivals

Romería – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

This semiautobiographical drama from Golden Bear-winner Carla Simón makes for a heartfelt exploration on the joys and pains of extended family.
Festivals

The Secret Agent – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

An undercover agent discovers he can’t escape his troubled past in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s gripping new drama about the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
Festivals

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo – first-look review

by Rafa Sales Ross

A young girl living in a sleepy Chilean mining town reckons with prejudice that emerges when a mysterious illness sweeps the residents in Diego Céspedes’ modern western.
Review

Motel Destino review – a sleazy stay in a neon nightmare

by Rafa Sales Ross

A young enforcer for a Brazilian gangster finds himself hiding out at a sleazy sex hotel in Karim Aïnouz’s neo-noir.

5
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Review

April review – eerily elusive, superbly acted and crafted

by Rafa Sales Ross

Dea Kulumbegashvili’s stark Georgian drama follows an obstetrician who moonlights as an abortionist, as she is accused of interfering with her patients.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Review

I’m Still Here review – memory as resistance

by Rafa Sales Ross

Walter Salles returns to narrative filmmaking with a sensitive depiction of the forced disappearance of former congressman Rubens Paiva, and the devastation his family faced.

5
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect

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