PETERSON REVIEWS
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Basic Instinct
‘Fair Play’ and ‘The Royal Hotel,’ reviewed.
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Marki Bey Makes ‘Sugar Hill’ Worth Watching
This voodoo-heavy revenge thriller is so-so, but Bey’s steely performance gives it some charge.
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‘Ghostwatch’ is a Found-Footage Masterwork
‘Ghostwatch’’s blacklisted quality only heightens the good time.
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Terror and Transformation in ‘The White Reindeer’
Recognized as one of Finland’s first genre movies, Erik Blomberg’s feature debut is a chilling story of domestic malaise and transformation.
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‘Five Dolls for an August Moon’: A Stylish, Silly Riff on ‘And Then There Were None’
Mario Bava’s waterlocked mystery is far from his best, but it’s at least predictably great to look at.
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Love and War in ‘Strange Way of Life’
On Pedro Almodóvar’s new short.
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The Force and Fury of ‘The Last of the Mohicans’
Still unlike anything he’s ever done, Michael Mann’s 1992 historical epic is spectacular in a how-did-they-do-this kind of way without letting its astonishing presentation eclipse everything else.
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François Truffaut’s Taming of a ‘Wild Child’
The French filmmaker’s dramatization of the real-life case of Victor of Aveyron is frequently moving, but it’s hampered by its aloof presentation and Truffaut’s casting of himself in the lead role.
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Short Takes: ‘Fremont,’ ‘Cassandro,’ and ‘The Origin of Evil’
Movies about immigration, wrestling pioneers, and rich people behaving badly.
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‘Swept Away’: A Shrill, Smart Survival Movie
Lina Wertmüller’s celebrated 1974 movie is an endurance test nearly equal parts offensive and perceptive.
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You Wish ‘Geronimo: An American Legend’ Unfolded from a Different Vantage Point
Walter Hill’s movie is both clear-eyed about the monstrousness of the American government and prone to preferencing the perspectives of white characters.
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‘Clearcut’ is Far Sharper Than Most Revenge Movies
Graham Greene is a force in Ryszard Bugajski’s chilling, thought-provoking 1991 thriller.
NOVEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Sibling Bonds’
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‘Visible Secret’ is a Low-Key, Surprisingly Spooky Romantic Comedy
Ann Hui’s 2001 movie posits what a rom-com might look like with a ‘Sixth Sense’-esque underlay.

October 16, 2026

August 19, 2026

May 25, 2026
Smoke and Mirrors
Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s inventive documentary isn’t just about the disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes.
October 19, 2026


Ghost World
Kaneto Shindō’s ‘Kuroneko’ is still forward-looking in its contempt for patriarchal devastation.
October 15, 2026
Strong, Stoic Types
Director-star Paul Newman’s 1971 treatment of Ken Kesey’s ‘Sometimes a Great Notion’ perceptively observes the corrosiveness of toxic masculinity.
August 7, 2026












