At least for the first half-hour or so, My Son works as an intimate familiar drama underlined by a mystery.

The sort of film that rivets the viewer in the moment and turns sour upon reflection.

With a near-perfect balance of the quotidian and the fantastical, and a sophisticated grasp of character, Border is haunting and surprising.

While certainly a thriller, this Danish tour de force also manages to play out like a literary novel (or podcast).

Writer/director Aneesh Chaganty provides plenty of feints and red herrings for the main character and, by extension, the viewers to dig through, each more clever than the last.

Director Jordan Peele has done his homework. He is clearly a fan of 1970’s social-horror films.

Two Czech operatives parachute into Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia with minimal supplies and months-old intel. Their mission: to contact the local resistance forces and assassinate the highest ranking Nazi official.

The performances by the likes of Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, and Naomie Harris are so graceful that it’s tempting to overlook some of the more bizarre plot turns.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest film is a candy coated, neon drenched homage to classic 1980’s psychodramas, and a loud, pretentious mess.