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The Cillian Murphy-starring drama Steve, from director Tim Mielants and Netflix, will open the 2025 Platform competition at the Toronto Film Festival, organizers said Tuesday.

Adapted by Max Porter from his novella Shy, Steve has Oscar winner Murphy playing a headteacher during a pivotal day for students at a last-chance reform school and in a world that has left them behind. As Steve deals with his own trauma, he meets Shy (Jay Lycurgo), a troubled teen also caught between a dark past and an uncertain future.

Tracey Ullman, Simbi Ajikawo and Emily Watson also star in Steve, which will hit Netflix on Oct. 3. On Tuesday, Toronto unveiled in all 10 features for the festival section where international films outside of the Hollywood studio orbit compete.

There’s a rare international premiere in the section for Pauline Loquès Nino, which bowed in Cannes and has rising star Theodore Pellerin playing a young...

The sleepy 2026 Oscar race is about to get a wakeup call, courtesy of Benoit Blanc and the Toronto International Film Festival.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the anticipated third installment in Rian Johnson's wickedly delicious mystery series starring Daniel Craig, will have its world premiere at the film festival — a traditional launchpad for Academy Awards contenders. The sequel, whose starry cast also includes Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, and Kerry Washington, was one of 11 official selections unveiled Wednesday, all of which have Oscar aspirations.

The potential contenders include:

The Choral: Set against the backdrop of WWI, Ralph Fiennes stars as a tough choir director mentoring a group of enlisted British teens in the Nicholas Hytner film.

Franz: Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland directs this episodic biopic of writer Franz Kafka (German actor Idan Weiss), from his birth to death.

Hamnet: Nomadland Best...

Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” which will have its world premiere in Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentation section, has debuted its trailer.

In an exclusive interview with Variety, Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” explained how the film took shape, and her take on Kafka, best known for “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle.” Read the interview here.

German actor Idan Weiss plays Kafka, Czech actor Jenovéfa Boková is Milena Jesenská, German actor Peter Kurth (“Babylon Berlin”) portrays the author’s father Hermann, Poland’s Sandra Korzeniak takes the role of his mother, Czech thespian Ivan Trojan is his uncle, and Czech actor Josef Trojan plays Kafka’s alter ego.

The screenplay was written by Marek Epstein (one of the screenwriters on Holland’s “Charlatan”) in collaboration with Holland; cinematography is by Tomasz Naumiuk, who was Dop...

The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival added several world premieres by prolific filmmakers including Netflix’s Rian Johnson threequel Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Sony Pictures Classics’ Nicholas Hytner title The Choral, Miramax/Paramount’s Derek Cianfrance caper The Roofman, Paul Greengrass’ AppleTV+ movie The Lost Bus, Searchlight’s The Rental Family from Beef episodic director Hikari as well as the Canadian premiere of Hament from Oscar winning Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao.

In total TIFF unveils today 11 more Official Selections in the Gala and Special Presentations programmes. The fest, presented by Rogers, runs from Sept. 4-14.

“Since its inception, TIFF has championed global cinema that opens our eyes and brings us together,” said Anita Lee, Chief Programming Officer, TIFF. “We are delighted to share 11 more titles from our Gala and Special Presentations programmes that showcase the remarkable originality and excellence of today’s most exciting and acclaimed directors.

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Paul Greengrass’s wildfire dramaThe Lost Busstarring Matthew McConaughey,and Rian Johnson’s ensemble Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery led by Daniel Craig, are among 11 Galas and Special Presentations that will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Apple Original Films’ The Lost Bus and the third Knives Out mystery at Netflix receive their world premieres at the festival’s 50th edition running September 4-14. The latter will go on to open the BFI London Film Festival in October.

Zhao’s period drama for...

The Toronto Film Festival has added to its 50th edition world premieres the latest films by Paul Greengrass, Rian Johnson, Hikari, Agnieszka Holland and Canadian auteur Clement Virgo.

Toronto programmers unveiled six news Gala titles on Wednesday, including world premieres for Nicholas Hytner’s The Choral, with the U.K. director reteaming with writer Alan Bennett for a First World War drama that stars Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics.

Also getting a first look in Toronto is Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman, an upcoming Paramount release that stars Channing Tatum as a real-life former Army Ranger who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs. And there’s a Canadian premiere for Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, an adaptation centering on William Shakespeare’s wife that stars Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn. Earlier picked up by Focus Features,...

Under the garb of a thriller, writer-director Seabold Krebs’ feature debut, “Bury Me When I’m Dead” (2025), aims for a profound exploration of grief and regret. However, despite its noble intentions, the film’s generic plot-driven story thwarts its effort to become something more than a genre film. It tests Krebs’ skill, and unfortunately, “Bury Me When I’m Dead” dwindles. The slow and meditative pace comes across as a vapid stylistic choice, not a conducive environment to pull the audience into an examination of the characters’ psyches. As a result, the intended cinematic dignity remains out of reach.

The film starts well, with an intriguing premise. Henry (Devon Terrell) and Catherine (Charlotte Hope) seem to be a happily married couple. They run a cutesy flower shop together. However, their lovey-dovey world is wrecked by the hardest curveball life can throw at you. Cancer. Catherine is diagnosed and said to have only a few weeks to live.

Agnieszka Holland, the director of Oscar nominated films like “Angry Harvest,” “Europa Europa” and “In Darkness,” has completed post on her latest film, Franz Kafka biopic “Franz,” which will make its world premiere in Toronto Film Festival’s Special Presentation section.

Speaking exclusively to Variety in her suite at the baroque Grandhotel Pupp in Czech spa town Karlovy Vary – an establishment reminiscent of the hotel in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and a key location in James Bond movie “Casino Royale” – Holland explains how the film took shape, and her take on Kafka, best known for “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle.”

Idan Weiss stars as Franz Kafka in “Franz” Courtesy of Marlene Film Production

The Polish filmmaker, whose varied career has included directing multiple episodes of prestigious U.S. shows like “The Wire,” “The Killing,” “Cold Case,” “Treme,” “The Affair” and “House of Cards,” says that Kafka’s work...

Polish writer and director Agnieszka Holland discussed her new biographical film Franz, about author Franz Kafka, at the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Monday, saying the movie tries to uncover the “essence” of the novelist and explores themes that are still topical, including Kafka’s thoughts on the dangers of totalitarianism.

The filmmaker unveiled the trailer for the movie, starring German actor Idan Weiss, before talking about the creative process of the film. The cast also includes the likes of Jenovéfa Boková, Peter Kurth, and Ivan Trojan. Holland wrote the script for the co-production between the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, and France, with Marek Epstein (Charlatan), with Mike Downey serving as executive producer.

Holland has in the past described how she feels about Kafka as akin to a brother since reading him for the first time at age 14. “He stayed with me as writer,...

If Stick Episode 5 were a golf swing, it wouldn’t be a clean eagle; it’s more like a wobbly birdie that barely scrapes the cup but leaves an emotional divot deep in your chest. It’s awkward, heartfelt, manipulative, hilarious, a bit morally questionable, and … one philosophical putt away from a therapy session in khakis.

At its core, this episode is a deep dive into Pryce Cahill’s frayed psyche, Zero’s ethical awakening, Santi’s fragile confidence, and Mitts’ desperate attempts to be the group’s conscience. After the previous ‘bittersweet’ episode, the latest one has its shafts and shanks, but it’s oddly moving, comically poignant, and layered like a parfait of pain and performance anxiety.

I’ve got thoughts. You bet I do. From Zero learning golf through covert hand signals like she’s in a Cold War golf match, to Santi’s romantic hiccups messing with his swing,...

“Our economy is in the midst of a beautiful metamorphosis, turning from a simple caterpillar into a dead caterpillar” — so went Jon Stewart’s decidedly literary opening (giving Franz Kafka a run for his money as far as transformations go) during this week’s installment of The Daily Show.

The political comic and host naturally tackled the “Trade Wars,” as stylized on his show in Star Wars‘ signature font as seen above, and overlaid with its “Main Title” theme. Stewart unpacked President Donald Trump’s mixed messaging on the permanence vs. negotiation approach of his tariffs and the Republican Party’s staunch support of such a jumbled rollout.

Addressing Trump’s tweet about the so-called “Panican” party (“a new party based on Weak and Stupid People!” as Potus wrote), Stewart joked, “The genius who gave us classics like Sleepy Joe and Crooked Hillary, just sh– out, ‘You’re a Panican’? How about Hysterocrats?...

Released the year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Karen Shakhnazarov’s absurdist satire Zerograd captures the disorientation and terror of gradually coming to realize that you live in a reality you no longer recognize. Arriving in a remote city in order to get a replacement for his company’s dysfunctional air conditioning unit, ordinary worker Alexei (Leonid Filatov) expects a short, uneventful visit before returning to Moscow. But when he runs into a secretary working in the nude at the manufacturing plant and witnesses a chef committing suicide after Alexei refused to eat a slice of cake that’s a full-size replica of his head, our protagonist is increasingly confronted with a world whose rules, behaviors, and morals are patently absurd. And, it turns out, he’s the only one that sees them as such.

There are certainly shades of Franz Kafka in this unnerving portrait of labyrinthine bureaucracy and existential despair,...

A mysterious stranger arrives in a small town in western Poland soon after the second world war, and embarks on a string of messy, equally enigmatic affairs

This cult 1960 Polish film is a political absurdist nightmare from director Kazimierz Kutz, written for the screen by Józef Hen and featuring a clamorous, disturbing orchestral score by composer Wojciech Kilar (later to win awards for his music for Coppola’s Dracula and Polanski’s The Pianist). It feels like a European new wave picture by Antonioni or Resnais, but has something of the romantic travails of Franz Kafka, and even appears to anticipate the coming vogue for paranoia thrillers.

Like Andrzej Wajda’s Ashes and Diamonds from 1958, but weirder in tone, this is about a man who is part of the Polish anti-communist underground insurgency, who refuses to carry out an order to kill a communist. It was therefore a subject congenial...

Body horror offers some of the most discomforting viewing experiences of any subgenre. The mere concept that these fragile, fleshy bodies could betray their owners offers allegorical horrors that can represent everything from addiction, disease or even the inescapable process of aging. From the early writings of Mary Shelley and Franz Kafka to modern cinematic works by the likes of David Cronenberg, body horror shows that true hell is the human body.

The works of Franz Kafka have left an incredible mark on literature and culture, shaping the way we understand themes of alienation and absurdity through its thought-provoking, existentialist narratives. Over a century after his most famous works were written, Kafka's influence is stronger than ever. Whether we're talking about viral Internet memes or literary discussions about his astounding works, his writing continues to touch generations and even thrive in the age of social media.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSInland Empire.Former MoviePass CEO Ted Farnsworth pleaded guilty to defrauding the company’s investors by making “materially false and misleading representations” of the company’s operations. In the words of a Justice Department official, Farnsworth “concealed that MoviePass’s subscription model was a money-losing gimmick and falsely claimed that [the company] used artificial intelligence to monetize MoviePass’s subscriber data,” the latter tactic described as “AI washing.”Shout! Studios has acquired the worldwide rights to the Golden Princess movie library, a collection of 156 Hong Kong action cinema classics that have been unavailable in Western markets for decades. The collection includes John Woo classics like The Killer (1989), Bullet in the Head (1990), and Hard Boiled (1992), as well as Tsui Hark’s...

In 1967, when he was only 21, the late David Lynch moved to Philadelphia with his pregnant wife, Peggy. The city would change him forever. He moved into a cheap home in an impoverished neighborhood that was lousy with crime. He also felt he wasn't prepared to be a father, although he did very much love his daughter, Jennifer. In the interview book "Lynch on Lynch," the filmmaker said that Philadelphia was a city of fear. People regularly broke into his house, and his car was stolen. "There was violence and hate and filth," he said. He took a job as an engraver, and his thoughts turned dark.

From 1967 to 1970, Lynch began making his first short films, including "Six Men Getting Sick," and "The Alphabet." The former was to be projected on a specially sculpted screen that Lynch made himself, with six human figures emerging from the wall. At about the same time,...

Existential horror is a subgenre that deals with ideas of insignificance, isolation, and the unsettling fact that humanity is just a speck in a dark, uncaring universe; in short, it's perfect horror movie fodder. Horror is filled with subgenres that are as basic as "slasher" to as specific and obscure as "screenlife". There are just so many ways to pluck fear and terror out of the world, almost everything can be molded into something frightening. Existential horror is somewhere in the middle of well-known and vague, an unofficial grouping that includes some famous movies.

Existentialism is not a new or unique idea. Dealing with the very aspects of humanity that are unknowable and lonely has long been a subject of art. It's a philosophical viewpoint associated with 19th and 20th-century philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. The novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky often includes themes of existentialism in his work and...

If there was one person in the last 40 years who most likely looked into a time machine, all bets are on Terry Gilliam, who predicted our bizarre and bleak future in his black comedy/dystopian sci-fi masterpiece, Brazil. While hardly a cultural phenomenon upon release in 1985, an era when escapist blockbusters about American exceptionalism thrived at the multiplexes, Gilliam's take on an anonymous, totalitarian society imbued with paranoia and consumerism was an equally uproarious and sobering cross between George Orwell and Franz Kafka. Many of cinema's acclaimed satires on society and culture have aged poorly in the wake of our rapidly changing world, but Brazil hasn't lost an ounce of relevance, which is no doubt a troubling sign. Gilliam warned us of a world deprived of privacy, personal autonomy, and ornate but empty technology, but we clearly didn't listen.

If the prospect of several days alone with your loving family over the holidays fills you with a sense of dread, or if you just need some me time to fill those lazy winter days, The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual pick of the best binge-worthy international TV series has you covered. Take a break with an intoxicating Japanese-French family drama about wine and power, deconstruct the life and work of Franz Kafka with in a new Austrian mini-series or dive deep into the cutthroat world of international fishing with a new Norwegian comedy that’s Succession… with salmon.

All This I Will Give to You Where to Watch: MHz Choice

A deliciously twisty French murder mystery that’s like a sophisticated, sexier version of a British country-house drama. Follow Manuel, the widowed husband of a secretly wealthy man, as he unravels a complex family mystery with a retired cop. Expect cold aristocrats,...

Found-footage documentary Trains, directed by veteran Polish auteur Maciej J. Drygas, has won the best film award of the international competition at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). It comes with the €15,000 cash prize.

Trains is an archive-based film made without voiceover or commentary other than an opening quote from Franz Kafka. It comprises footage of trains sourced from a reported 45 archives across the world. Much of the imagery is disturbing - wounded and deformed soldiers, dead bodies from concentration camps, Nazi officers on their way to war zones. There is also material of Hitler and Charlie Chaplin.

Drygas’s...

The small Balkan country of Bosnia and Herzegovina has faced particular energy challenges for years, complicated by corruption and ecological threats. Bosnian filmmaker Zlatko Pranjic teamed with Danish co-director Nanna Frank Møller for a troubling look at the toxic fallout of a chronic polluter, the ArcelorMittal steel plant near Zenica.

The result, the doc “The Sky Above Zenica,” won Ji.hlava Film Festival’s Testimonies section, focused on films that take on urgent contemporary issues, which this year screened docs that inform and inspire on subjects ranging from pollution to climate change by way of Nixon-era archival discoveries and advance research on insects.

As the filmmakers put it, with the fall of the communist regime in the former Yugoslavia, “predatory capitalism invaded Bosnia and Herzegovina” and “ArcelorMittal, the largest global steel producer, shows the repulsive face of ruthless subordination to profit to the people of the Balkan state.”

As their film captures,...

Spoilers ahead for the "Simpsons" season 36 episode "Desperately Seeking Lisa."

Since time immemorial, "The Simpsons" has done countless pop culture parodies. Its annual "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, in particular, have been responsible for spoofing famous horror movies like "The Shining," and "A Nightmare on Elm Street," as well as darker TV series such as the popular anime show "Death Note." Among the iconic animated sitcom's more frequent targets, however, is Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning filmmaker whose classics like "Goodfellas," "Taxi Driver," and "Raging Bull" alone have inspired multiple episodes of "The Simpsons."

Without a doubt, though, the show's best Scorsese sendup to date was the one based on his 1991 thriller "Cape Fear," which became the basis for one of the all time greatest episodes of "The Simpsons" — "Cape Feare." It's a classic installment that not only has the Simpson family terrorized by Sideshow Bob, but is also full of memorable slapstick gags.

Warning: This article contains Spoilers for The Simpsons season 36, episode 3, Desperately Seeking Lisa

While The Simpsons season 36, episode 1 isnt the shows weirdest episode ever, Desperately Seeking Lisa does take significant inspiration from director Martin Scorseses oddest outing. Whether The Simpsons season 37 renewal happens or not, no one can accuse the long-running series of resting on its laurels. After seasons 30-33 earned some of the shows worst reviews ever, seasons 34 and 35 saw The Simpsons radically revise its approach to writing. The Simpsons started prioritizing character comedy over an onslaught of jokes and surreal wackiness, and the result was the show entering its most critically acclaimed era in years.

Related The Simpsons Season 36's Lisa Episode Was A Huge Risk That Paid Off Brilliantly

The Simpsons season 36 episode 3 took a big risk in the way that it centered Lisa, and the outing proved that the show's experiments pay off.

From YouTube to Vulture,...

Netflixs 100 Years of Solitude adaptation is a deeply ambitious project, and there has been a lot of hesitation around the streamer's ability to bring the magical realism classic to life on the screen. However, recently released images, which show the cast and set of the TV series, seem to bode very well for the limited series.

The photos, published by Deadline, grant fans a first look into the live-action world of Macondo, the fictional town in Colombia where the story transpires. The images show the town being flooded, and people and animals wading through the water, as well as two of the characters meticulously engaged in an alchemical endeavor. From the set design, to the costuming, the previews for the Dynamo-produced series demonstrate a great attention to detail, which elicits much of the charm of the novel.

Related Prime Video's God of War Series Gets Unfortunate Update 2 Years After...

When discussing The X-Files, many fans are drawn to the show because of its complex depictions of the paranormal and its sinister undertones. Mulder and Scully are often seen as the perfect duo, with the former being all in when it comes to aliens and the latter being a complete skeptic. As such, the combination of unique character profiles and unexplained circumstances makes this a great watch for avid sci-fi fans.

Yet, the main reason fans love The X-Files is that it's just so creepy. Whether the pair are dealing with a shape-shifting being or are being tormented by an unknown extraterrestrial, audiences can't help but think if there is a slither of truth to Mulder's claims. Thus, it's clear that some of the show's weirdest episodes are also some of its best.

Related The X-Files: What Actually Happened to Mulder's Sister

The X-Files episode "Closure" finally provides resolution to...

A string of auteur directors – from Orson Welles to Steven Soderbergh to Lorenza Mazzetti – have fallen for Kafka’s visionary brilliance, with always-intriguing results

There are director’s cuts, special editions, redux versions – and then there’s Mr Kneff. Normally, a recut film is the prerogative of a film-maker who feels abused by the studio they worked for, or for whom a streaming platform has given the opportunity to enlarge on their “vision”; but this isn’t quite the case for Steven Soderbergh. In 1991 Soderbergh released Kafka, a tricksy fiction-slash-biopic, which – notoriously – managed to extract nearly all the heat from a film-making career that had got off to a stellar start with the Palme d’Or-winning Sex, Lies and Videotape. Soderbergh, though, is nothing if not a trier, and after years of tinkering, has completed Mr Kneff, a whole new version of Kafka, under a whole new title.

Mr Kneff...

If you are a film fan and have been following this homepage, you are undoubtedly familiar with the works of Japanese auteur Shinya Tsukamoto. While it draws from several inspirations such as the Punk movement or even the works of classic painters, Tsukamoto never fails to be unique, even in his works which rarely ever are mentioned such as the “Nightmare Detective”-series or “Kotoko“. The director himself has often referred to his features as experiences which often make the viewer feel uncomfortable and/or disgusted. Whether you like his body of work or not, his films leave a lasting impression on the viewer and we are going to take a look at some of the elements that make it unique while also hopefully drawing attention to his some of his major works and those which sometimes fall under the radar.

False Idols and heroes

If there is one thing...

Belgian artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, whose “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” won an award at this year’s Sundance, will be the guest of honor at the 37th edition of IDFA.

The documentary festival, which will take place from Nov. 14 to 24, has also unveiled curated program Dead Angle and Spotlight on Cuba, which focuses on the island’s cinema, alongside live cinema section IDFA on Stage and new media program IDFA DocLab.

IDFA will highlight Grimonprez’s “uncompromising approach to challenging narratives and reinterpreting historical events through a critical, contemporary lens,” the festival said.

Grimonprez first gained international acclaim with his 1997 film “Dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y,” which examined the history of airplane hijackings and the media’s role in shaping public perception. His most recent film, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” unravels the decolonization of Congo, using jazz as a “means of protest” in the examination of the international context behind...

Belgian artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, whose latest documentary Soundtrack To a Coup D’Etat is expected to be an Oscar contender, has been named Guest of Honor at the upcoming International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.

The honor recognizes a distinguished career that includes Blue Orchids, and his debut feature film, the 1997 documentary dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y. IDFA, which runs from Nov. 14-24, will be highlighting the filmmaker’s “uncompromising approach to challenging narratives and reinterpreting historical events through a critical, contemporary lens,” the festival said in a statement.

‘dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y‘

“Grimonprez first gained international acclaim with his 1997 film dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y, which examined the history of airplane hijackings and the media’s role in shaping public perception,” IDFA noted in a release. “His most recent award-winning film, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, unravels the decolonization of Congo, using jazz as a smokescreen and means of protest in the examination of the international context behind...

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam — or IDFA — has unveiled its first wave of programming and named its guest of honor for 2024. The edition, the festival’s 37th, runs November 14 through 24.

Belgian artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez will be IDFA’s guest of honor. Grimonprez first gained international acclaim for his 1997 film “Dial H-i-s-t-o-r-y,” about the media’s part in shaping the public perception of airplane hijackings. His latest film, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” looks at Congo’s decolonization through the smokescreen of jazz as protest. Other films screening as part of the Grimonprez retrospective will include “Double Take” (2009), “Shadow World” (2016), and “Blue Orchids” (2017). The program will include an extended talk with Grimonprez.

This edition of IDFA will also introduce the multi-year curated program titled Dead Angle, which uses documentary storytelling to illuminate cultural blind spots past and present. This year, the program looks at borders of both the metaphoric and physical varieties.

“Every human being is a universe within themselves floating about in eternal darkness, aimless, lonely . . so lonely. Or maybe it’s just me”

We quickly learn these are the words of a traveling magician, the titular “Mr. K” (Crispin Glover), the first of several nods to the singular writer Franz Kafka. He performs his outdated magic in outdated clubs filled with diners who are too busy concentrating on their meals and conversation to pay attention to his wondrous craft. After packing up his battered bag of ticks, he leaves the dreary cafe, finding himself outside a decaying Victorian estate.

Writer-director Tallulah H. Schwab focuses on the tactility of the landscape around this estate. The verdant greens of the grass. The rustling of the leaves in the trees. You can even hear the ants as they crawl through the ruddy earth. The camera zooms closely on the insects, until their universe fills up the whole frame.

After gracing fans with a reunion interview involving the majority of the cast for the Resident Evil live-action cutscenes, the folks at Residence of Evil have surprised us again with not only getting a sit-down interview with Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, but also bringing along Grasshopper Manufacture’s Suda51! Hosted by RoE’s JJ Trulock and Andreas Sperling, Mikami and Suda51 chat mainly on their upcoming Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, but also tackled questions about Killer 7, Dino Crisis, and of course, Resident Evil.

Recorded at Gamescom, Mikami and Suda51 kicked things off with Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered. When asked how the game compares to action titles of today, Mikami stated that the remake has the “same taste” as it did 13 years ago. “So, today’s games are becoming more realistic. While the action and pace are still not so realistic, I think it’s...

The 1980s were synonymous with the advent of music videos. Thanks to channels such as MTV, songs were now depicted through a brand-new medium that found a way to weave complex stories and performances together. Bright colors and catchy hooks accompanied some of the most notable ones, but one particular video that popped up in the latter half of the decade scarred the senses of many viewers. Metallica, who had just recorded their fourth full-length album, And Justice for All, had joined the ranks of other artists who had utilized the new medium to its full advantage with their video for "One."

In a decade synonymous with color and excess, the video for "One" was its complete antithesis. Footage of the band playing in an empty warehouse was interspersed with clips from a film, showing a solider in a hospital bed, a mask over his face, and having an internal monologue about having no arms,...

The following article contains graphic descriptions of bodily and self-harm that some readers may find offensive. Reader discretion is advised.

The body horror genre can be a bit too gruesome for even the most staunch horror fans, but what it can offer in scares, philosophy, storytelling, and filmmaking makes it a critical part of the beloved genre. Often making the lists of the best horror movies ever made, body horror has been a fixture of the genre for nearly as long as the genre has existed. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, and H. G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau are classics, all with elements of body horror.

There is something beautiful, fascinating, and grotesque about the human body. It's both completely personal and at times completely alien. Many horror directors have taken this paradoxical relationship and used it to craft some of the best-known horror stories ever put to film.

An installation narrated by Tilda Swinton will lead London Film Festival Expanded, a new lineup of immersive art, extended reality, and gaming experiences at this year’s event.

The 68th BFI London Film Festival, running Oct. 9-20, has in partnership with American Express unveiled the fest’s program addition in a bid to celebrate moving images “in all its forms,” from shorts and features to television, immersive, and, for the first time, video games.

Central to the expanded program are five major installations set to be presented across London at iconic city venues including Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf, BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX and Outernet London.

Impulse: Playing With Reality from U.K. studio Anagram, narrated by British star Swinton and informed by over 100 hours of interviews, playfully explores Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) and provides deeper insight into the condition and neurodiversity in general.

Arcade, a major immersive audio installation from Darkfield,...

Crispin Glover is a man in search of an exit — from a hotel — in the TIFF-bound “Mr. K.” The cult-favorite character actor — known for “Willard,” “River’s Edge,” “Dead Man,” and, who could forget, Cousin “I’m making my lunch!” Del in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart” — stars in Tallulah H. Schwab’s surreal tale headed for the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform section. IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for the film ahead of the festival, which runs September 5-15 in the thick of the fall fest season.

Here’s part of the synopsis courtesy of TIFF: “The ordeal for Mr. K’s misfortunate protagonist — a traveling magician played by Crispin Glover in one of the richest performances in his long and continually surprising career — begins when he checks into a once-stately hotel. The following morning, Mr. K is understandably confused by his inability to find the exit. Then again,...

Some horror movies take time to find their audience, like Annihilation and The Lords of Salem, that deserve a rewatch. Gems like Knock Knock and Under the Skin were misunderstood upon release but are now gaining appreciation for their unique takes. Films like A Cure for Wellness and Doctor Sleep were critically acclaimed but faced challenges translating that into box office success.

Sometimes it takes a couple of years for a film to find its audience, and in the past decade, this was the case for several horror movies that have proven more than worth another watch. The horror genre has long been considered a proving ground for young up-and-comers, so its a crowded chock-full of talent, and some of those bold visions haven't always immediately landed.

The 2010s were a decade so rich with horror movies, from slasher movies to the rise of psychological horror movies in the 2010s,...

There’s a Ghost in Me: Zurcher Explores the Necessity of Destruction

Amidst all the existential dread in Franz Kafka’s body of work, silver linings abound, perhaps no more succinctly than in an oft quoted phrase from his diaries, “The relief of giving intro destruction.” In their third feature, the Swiss filmmaking duo Ramon and Silvan Zürcher complete their metaphorical animal themed trilogy with a scream of significant anguish (and relief) with The Sparrow in the Chimney (Der Spatz im Kamin), a culmination of the interconnected miseries and joys wrought through microcosmic communal situations explored previously in 2013’s The Strange Little Cat (review) and 2021’s The Girl and the Spider (review).…...

"Please Hold" blends futuristic technology with real-life injustices faced by prisoners in America. Mateo's nightmarish journey through an automated court system highlights the consequences of uncaring AI. The film serves as a chilling reflection of the harsh reality many people, especially in the Latino community, face in the criminal justice system.

Please Hold is a 2020 short film that combines the real injustices prisoners in America face with the almost surreal experience of trying to navigate modern society's technological "advances". Mexican American filmmaker K.D. Dvila made her directorial debut with Please Hold after spending the first part of her career as a writer, working on the 2017 movie The Labyrinth and writing 13 episodes of Salvation. Many major movie directors have made short films and if the success of Please Hold means anything, Dvila will likely have a feature film of her own soon.

The film was nominated for Best Live Action...

Exclusive: Israel’s yes Studios has struck a deal with Jewish streamer ChaiFlicks for a suite of shows including award-winning pre-#MeToo era series Unsilenced.

ChaiFlicks has also taken on the upcoming fourth season of breakout comedy Checkout, while renewing its license for the prior three.

Starring Yaakov Zada Daniel (Fauda) and Avraham Shalom Levi (Shtisel), Israeli Television Academy Award-winning drama Unsilenced is based on novel The Confidante. It follows the newly elected Israeli president with rumors of sexual assault and rape of a staffer swirling around him. His top adviser realizes that if news of this leaks out, the scandal could destroy the President’s career and his own.

July August Productions’ Checkout, meanwhile, has been one of ChaiFlicks’ most-watched series since it debuted in 2021, according to the streamer. Created by Nadav Frishman and Yaniv Zohar, it takes place in the Yavne branch of a fictional supermarket and follows...

Inspired by Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Sui Ishida's Tokyo Ghoul has similar themes. It touches on the meaning of humanity, mutation, finding one's purpose, and tons of suffering to go around. Starring Ken Kaneki, Tokyo Ghoul tells the tale of a boy who finds himself the victim of a not-so-accidental accident that resulted in unethical human experimentation that turned him into a half-ghoul.

Now, his human side is in a constant game of tug-of-war against his newfound monstrous side. Unfortunately, Tokyo Ghoul's anime adaptation disappointed avid manga readers. Certain events and arcs were rearranged, redone, or entirely omitted from the anime.

Updated on July 22, 2024, by Antonio Samson: Tokyo Ghoul is infamous for making changes to the anime adaptation of the original manga story. Here are some changes fans might not have known. This article was updated to include more changes and to meet Cbr's editorial and formatting standards.

Mark Cousins’ portrait of a British modernist painter, “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” took the Karlovy Vary Film Festival top prize Saturday, winning over a jury that included Christine Vachon and Geoffrey Rush with its perceptive take on art and seeing.

Cousins said the film’s subject, painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, “lived completely, truly and utterly – let’s try to do that.”

Norwegian divorce story “Loveable” won the Crystal Globe jury prize, as well as three other awards categories, taking home the Fipresci, ecumenical and Europa Cinemas Label prizes with its nuanced look at a woman morphing into a new life.

Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir scored big with her first feature-length drama with “Loveable,” telling the audience at the Hotel Thermal Grand Hall the story helped her “find barriers we have built against connections.”

The directing prize went to Nelicia Low for the Singapore/Taiwan/Poland production “Pierce,” an intricate account...

Steven Soderbergh is taking a page from Taylor Swift’s playbook.

“People laugh that there is a college class being taught about her and I go, ‘There should be,'” the director tells Variety during a roundtable interview at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. “What she is doing, the way she is doing it… Nobody has ever done this before. The amount of control she has taken over. She is relentless.”

He continues, “These stories about doing the whole show on a treadmill, just to make sure she can do it?! It’s a success story and I am fascinated by that. [Screenwriter] David Koepp took his daughter to see the show and said, ‘You cannot believe what it’s like to be there.’ I would go if I could. There aren’t any tickets! But I watched the film.”

The Eras Tour is also on his mind when developing new work.

Steven Soderbergh has been all over the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary in recent days. On Monday, he shared his takes and insights on such topics as AI, sex scenes, movie release windows, Hollywood’s current “correction,” new projects and even the success of Taylor Swift with a group of reporters.

The prolific director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer is a featured guest at the 58th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) that is running through Saturday. In its Franz Kafka retrospective, timed to the 100th anniversary of the author’s death in June 1924, Soderbergh is introducing his two films about Kafka, namely Kafka (1991) and its 2021 re-edit Mr. Kneff — both starring Jeremy Irons as a set-upon insurance man and writer.

The filmmaker has been warmly welcomed by appreciative festival audiences. In between other appearances, he took time for a roundtable conversation with members of the press that...

The programme of the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which opens on Friday (June 28), is typically wide-ranging, befitting its reputation as a platform for both fresh discoveries and world cinema highights.

The Crystal Globe competition has the world premiere of UK director Mark Cousins’ A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, a documentary portrait of UK painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. Also in competiton is Beata Parkanova’s Czech-Slovak title Tiny Lights which follows a family break up as perceived by a child. Parkanova won the best director award at Karlovy Vary in 2022 for Word.

Rising Norwegian writer director Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s...

Agnieszka Holland, who won the special jury prize at last year’s Venice Film Festival for her film Green Border about refugees on the Polish-Belarussian border, believes it serves as “collective psychotherapy” for those affected by the situation.

Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival, the thrice Oscar-nominated director said she was “a storyteller” and hopes the film touched people’s hearts, but when asked if it could change the world, she replied: “I don’t think so.”

Holland said she feels destined to make films about the political situation on her nation’s doorstep and had been tackling difficult topics since she was a teenager in communist Poland, and later as a student in communist Czechoslovakia:

“I am also a person of border identity. My mother is from a Polish Catholic family, she was a member of the Polish army during the Second World War and a member of the Warsaw Uprising.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) on Monday added a David Lynch short and an episode of his iconic series Twin Peaks to its Franz Kafka retrospective and unveiled the program of its Out of the Past section, featuring classic, cult, rare and “unfairly overlooked” films, screened in their original or restored versions.

Among the highlights are restored versions of Wim Wenders’ 1984 neo-Western drama Paris, Texas and Two English Girls, François Truffaut’s 1971 period drama about a love triangle.

The Wenders film is part of a three-film program presented by Alexandre O. Philippe, the creator of documentary essays about the history of cinema, offering perspectives on the American landscape in cinema. He will also present his 2021 documentary The Taking (2021), which explores American mythology through the socio-philosophical dimensions of the American landscape.

Also part of the Out of the Past program is Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s documentary about...

100 years after the death of Franz Kafka, a new mini-series aims to dive beneath the surface of an author who remains enigmatic even as his influence on the culture continues to grow.

Kafka, an ambitious German-language meta-drama written by Austrian writer/director David Schalko (Braunschlag) and best-selling author David Kehlmann (Measuring the World), is based on Reiner Stach’s exhaustive three-volume biography of Kafka and weaves together the writer’s life and work, finding the connections and gaps between the two.

Schalko, who spent more than a decade developing the series, and directs all six episodes, says he was well aware of the perils of trying to capture Kafka on screen. “Everything we think we know about Kafka has become a cliche,” says Schalko.

Kafka

There is a temptation to depict Franz Kafka, the writer, as a “Kafkaesque” character, and his work as simply a heightened reflection of his life.

TrustNordisk has sold Georg Maas and Judith Kaufmann’s Franz Kafka biopic The Glory Of Life to several key markets, including North America and France.

Centered around Kafka and his great love Dora Diamant, the film had a closed market screening in Cannes and has now been sold to North America (Menemsha Films), France (Condor), Benelux (September Film), Spain (Divisa Red), Italy (Wanted Cinema), Turkey (Ozen Film), Former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group), Taiwan (Swallow Wings) and Australia (Moving Story).

Based on the bestselling novel by Michael Kumpfmüller, the film is directed by Georg Maas and Judith Kaufmann, and written by Georg Maas and Michael Gutmann. Synopsis reads: Because of the power of love, the last year of Franz Kafka’s life becomes his happiest. He has never before been able to allow himself to experience intimacy, he suffers from tuberculosis and is dependent on his overbearing family. But the worldly-wise Dora...