Film-Forward

Family drama

Son of Monarchs

A subtle work concerned with the intimate relationship between the real and the fantastic, fed by memory and imagination.

The Gravedigger’s Wife | TIFF 2021

From Somalia, a family drama that ranks high among the gems of the festival.

Mogul Mowgli

Riz Ahmed, who co-wrote the screenplay, delivers a riveting performance in a movie with a lot on its mind.

The Year of the Everlasting Storm

During the pandemic lockdown, filmmakers from all over the world contributed to this anthology. Some of the results are heartening and surprising.

Wildland

This tense, unnerving tale of an orphaned girl’s entrapment in a criminal family throbs with pain and danger under a tightly controlled surface.

The Macaluso Sisters

Emma Dante’s intense, punishing film follows five, then four siblings from a fateful childhood day through a harsh old age.

Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)

Two stories are told separately in intersecting vignettes. They are, though, united in their protagonists’ objectives: both are attempting to move overseas.

The Father

For most of the drama, Anthony Hopkins is at his very best.

Minari

If the skeleton of the family drama sounds somewhat familiar, the refreshing specificity of character and situation makes it feel new and unexpected.