A Different Man is a brilliant comedy whose title suggests several meanings. The story begins with Edward (Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice), a man whose face is disfigured by neurofibromatosis, affecting his confidence and ability to connect in a world that routinely rejects ugliness. He falls in love with his neighbor Ingrid (Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World), a beautiful playwright, but when a miraculous cure reverses his deformities, he decides to fake his death and start fresh under the identity of "Guy." Things take an ironic turn when Ingrid writes a play inspired by Edward, and Oswald (Adam Pearson) appears, a man who, despite also suffering from neurofibromatosis, is charismatic and leads a full life. The title A Different Man could suggest that naïve, idealized Hollywood empathy for people with physical differences. However, the script and direction by Aaron Schimberg steer the attention in the opposite direction, focusing on our constant aspiration to be something different from what we are, unable to be comfortable in our own skin and, as Lady Gaga (supposedly) says, to accept what is.
No Other Land is a documentary in which a mixed collective of activists and journalists, both Palestinian and Israeli, record the Israeli army’s invasion of Masafer Yatta, a community of Palestinian villages in the West Bank, between 2019 and 2023. Thanks to the versatility of cell phone cameras, the group – led by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham – is able to document, in a direct and immediate way, forced evictions, displacements, demolitions, and repressive violence carried out by Israeli military forces against Palestinian residents, under the protection of an invasive court. This is not only an essential film to understand the conflict between Palestine and Israel but also a vital journalistic and historical document that must be watched to raise awareness about Israeli apartheid against the Palestinians. A small first step, hopefully, to eventually ending it and paving the way for peaceful coexistence one day.
Sons - An intense Nordic drama that follows Eva, an idealistic prison officer who faces a moral dilemma when a young man from her past is transferred to the prison where she works. As she grapples with the tensions between her duty and her emotions, Eva must balance her loyalty to the system with her own feelings. Nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival, this thriller explores complex themes of redemption, justice and how the past influences the decisions of the present.
With Love Lies Bleeding, filmmaker Rose Glass cements herself as one of the promising directors in horror and fantasy. It may sound odd, but her second film is a crime and romance thriller that injects elements of body horror and surrealism, with results as captivating as they are controversial. Set in 1980s New Mexico, the story follows Lou (Kristen Stewart), a gym employee who falls in love with Jackie (Katy O'Brian), a bodybuilder passing through to a competition in Las Vegas. However, a tragedy pulls them both into the world of Lou’s criminal family, and violence becomes inevitable. Through its criminal plot and with a dark, twisted sense of humor also seen in Saint Maud, her previous movie, Glass satirizes romantic ideals that are incompatible with behavioral patterns that, for better and (mostly) for worse, get dragged into love relationships.
The film My Favourite Cake, written and directed by Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, explores the human desire for connection between two lonely individuals in a context where their desires are seen as immoral. In the movie, we follow Mahin (Lili Farhadpour), a widow living alone in Tehran. When she opens herself to new love, she meets Faramarz (Esmaeel Mehrabi), a taxi driver who also shares the same loneliness. My Favourite Cake focuses on the internal lives of its protagonists while not overlooking the country’s politics. The film faced screening challenges due to its content but still won two awards at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival. With great delicacy and charisma from both characters, we are drawn into an unforgettable and unpredictable date that makes us reflect and fall in love with life’s serendipities. Most beautifully, it reminds us that love can "rise" at any age.