Anna Smith

Editors note: This review was originally published May 23 after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film opens in New York on Friday and in Los Angeles on April 21. A married man falls for a trans woman in Joyland, the first Pakistani feature to play in Cannes. Saim Sadiq's…

Breathing fresh life into the rom-com genre, Raine Allen Miller's Rye Lane is a delight. Premiering at Sundance, it pays affectionate tribute to its forebears while injecting a youthful British energy reminiscent of seminal TV shows such as Skins. This is a sunny, irreverent take on life and love…

As 2022 draws to an end, Deadline's critics have each chosen their top three movies of the year to hail from abroad. Some were festival world premieres, and some have made the International Feature Oscar shortlist (not all were put forth by their country of origin, nor are they each in a foreign…

Philip Yung delivers an ambitious decade-spanning true crime thriller with Where The Wind Blows, Hong Kong's entry for the International Feature Oscar. Previously known as Theory of Ambitions, it's a technically impressive feat with an equally impressive cast lead by Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Chiu-wai…

A trio of teens navigates relationships in contemporary Helsinki in Girl Picture, Finland's entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. Directed by Alli Haapasalo (Love and Fury), it's an engaging portrait of young women that's as refreshing as it is entertaining. To call this a "Finnish Booksmart"…

An Afro-European woman connects with her roots in Bantú Mama, the Dominican Republic's entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. Co-written and directed by Ivan Herrera, it's was picked up by Ava DuVernay's Array Releasing. It's a compelling drama featuring a strong performance from Clarisse…

Iceland's entry for the Best International Feature Oscar is a tense, tender portrait of teenage boyhood. The second feature from writer-director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (Heartstone), Beautiful Beings world premiered in Berlin Panorama, where it won the Europa Cinemas Label.  Awards continue for…

It's interesting to see a documentary exploring the challenges for a new mother returning to work – and when that new mother happens to be a prima ballerina, the results are especially fascinating. Laura Kaehr's engrossing documentary Becoming Giulia won the Audience Award at the Zurich Film Festival, and…

Director Asif Kapadia makes slick work of Akram Khan's ballet in Creature, which world premiered at the BFI London Film Festival. Based on Khan's original concept and choreography, the English National Ballet Production is produced by Uzma Hasan for Little House Productions, and brings an intense…

Writer-director Fridtjof Ryder makes an impressive debut with Inland, which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival this evening. The German-English filmmaker – who also produces – has delivered an atmospheric meditation on family, loss, nature and the environment, with terrific turns from…

Kill List star Neil Maskell makes his feature directorial debut with the dark comedy Klokkenluider, which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The title is Dutch for “whistleblower,” and Maskell's script sees a couple hiding out in a remote Belgian cottage, nervously preparing to spill…

A beloved children's novel is turned into a charming animation in My Father's Dragon, which is world premiering at the BFI London Film Festival. Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner) helms a story of childhood friendship based on the 1948 novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett, with animation from…