PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘The Novice’ is an Intense Filmmaking Debut
Plus: HBO Max’s ‘The Fallout’ examines a sensitive subject with empathy and care.
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‘Alone Together’ is a Riveting Portrait of an Artist in Quarantine
Plus: ‘Flee.’
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In ‘Scarecrow,’ the Small Details Count the Most
Photographer turned filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg’s unpolished, expansive direction complements his characters’ dawdling, their ever-changing relationship, and the wide-open possibilities of the road.
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‘Vera Drake’ is Devastating
The arc of ‘Vera Drake’ engenders some thriller-like tension but never rises into the sensationalism it easily could.
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‘Duelle’ Feels Neither Here Nor There
This is a willfully unpindownable gambol of a movie whose mysteriousness and dream-like quality are hypnotic virtues rather than alienating setbacks.
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‘The Package’ Does Exactly What It’s Supposed To
‘The Package’ is all smart and watchable without being transcendent.
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The Exhausting Cleverness of ‘Scream 5’
This nonetheless fun sequel’s nonstop self-awareness can tread into overkill territory.
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Penélope Cruz Gives One of Her Best Performances in ‘Parallel Mothers’
Plus: Vanessa Kirby is the reason to see new VOD release ‘Italian Studies.’
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‘Bacurau’: Thoughtful Thrills
Filho and Dornelles seamlessly prop up fun without curtailing the very-real horrors of colonialism and political malfeasance their story evokes.
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In ‘A Hero,’ A Good Deed Goes Bad
In ‘A Hero,’ an act of good samaritanism slowly morphs into what feels like the onset of a curse.
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‘Heist’ Energizes the One-Last-Job Cliché
The performances are universally good. Everyone has a tight handle on so-called “Mamet speak”; no one ever comes across merely as a device for the wicked games to continue.
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‘Night Moves’: It’s Hard to Be a Hero
The most interesting thing about ‘Night Moves’ is not the details of its snarled-up narrative but the psychological and emotional complications that inform it.
NOVEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Sibling Bonds’
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‘Twins of Evil’ is Sharper Than You’d Think
Though mostly made to capitalize on the newly minted sex symboldom of identical-twin sisters Mary and Madeleine Collinson, this 1971 horror movie ends up being a decent critique of puritanical hypocrisy.
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
