NYFF 2021 Film Reviews Portal

ALL OF MY 2021 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL COVERAGE IN ONE PLACE

As hard as it might be to believe, 2021’s New York Film Festival marks my first ever in-person film festival as accredited press. After two years of covering film festivals virtually, it’ll be an exhilarating new experience to finally take in NYFF the way it was meant to be: with packed crowds at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. This year’s lineup is killer: the highly anticipated Dune, and new films from legends such as Jane Campion, Paul Verhoeven, Wes Anderson, and this year’s Palme d’Or Winner Julia Ducournau. Below, you can find my entire coverage - all the reviews and dispatches - from the festival…

The Tragedy of Macbeth

My coverage of this year’s New York Film Festival begins with Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. An abridged, yet faithful, adaptation of William Shakespeare’s famed play, Coen’s black and white stunner gives captivating reason for its own existence. With stark, gorgeous visuals and dynamic performances, The Tragedy of Macbeth finds crevices and spaces unexplored in a familiar story. Read my full review here.

Titane

The New York Film Festival lineup is full of winners this year, but even in a field of remarkable cinema, Julia Ducournau’s Titane stands out. A film that contains multitudes, Ducournau’s followup to 2016’s Raw navigates the horrorscapes of the New Flesh, exploring gender, sex, violence, and the enveloping desire for human connection. Titane is shocking, sweet, and shockingly sweet - one of the year’s best films. Read my full review here.

The Power of the Dog

Jane Campion’s first film in over a decade, The Power of the Dog, is making waves at the New York Film Festival. A simmering domestic drama amidst the rolling mountains of cowboy country, Campion’s welcome return to cinema delivers poetry in motion and Benedict Cumberbatch’s career-best performance. Upending the rawhide masculinity of turn-of-the-century Montana, The Power of the Dog’s seeping venom sneaks up on you in an arresting slow burn. Read the full review here.

Dune

Dune is finally here. Capturing the majesty and scope of Frank Herbert’s tome of myth, Denis Villeneuve’s vision is faithfully immense, transportive, and most importantly, accessible. Like its title states, this is very much a Part One, so any review or evaluation rests upon provision, but it’s difficult to defy the gravitational pull of Dune’s meticulous world-building and gorgeous craft, even as it keeps its characters in the shadows of its sprawling grandeur. Read the full review here.

Benedetta

Long-delayed and eagerly anticipated, Paul Verhoeven’s incisive take on “nunsploitation” is finally here. There will be many to point out Benedetta’s racy sex scenes and its high lesbian camp, but the film is so much more than that. A provocative clapback against Puritanism, Catholic hypocrisy, and the shackles we place upon women’s bodies, Benedetta once again proves Verhoeven’s directorial mettle as cinema’s resident satirist. Read the full review here.