“Pepe”
Stream it on Mubi.
Call it “cocaine hippo.” Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias' wonderfully bizarre new film takes a deeply bizarre part of modern South American history and gives its sordid ridiculousness the cinematic treatment it deserves. In the 1980s, Pablo Escobar imported four hippos to his property, where he kept a number of exotic animals. In the decades that followed, the herd increased in numbers, with an estimated 170 individuals by 2023, making it an invasive species in Colombia. One hippo, named Pepe, escaped from the property and was killed by authorities in 2009.
In “Pepe,” the ghost of this multilingual martyr with a comical and menacing bellow tells the long, winding story of how he came to his death on the ocean floor, thousands of miles from his home. speaks to us. -Sahara Desert Africa. We accompany German tourists on safari on a winding transcontinental journey, from the swamps of Namibia where they watch hippos, to the rivers of Colombia where Pepe's friends terrorize and haunt local fishermen. Masu. His stories are sad, deranged, inspiring, and often uproariously funny. However, the joke is on us. A bold fever dream that alludes to European colonialism, cartel violence, and environmental destruction, “Pepe'' is a warning about how humanity's arrogant interference with nature causes a disaster that threatens to swallow us whole. It's a fable.
“Roman Cham”
Stream it on Hulu.
Malayalam cinema, which originates from the southern Indian state of Kerala, has been on a roll in recent years, and director Jitu Madhavan's delightful comedy-horror embodies this exciting new wave in the region's storied heritage of independent filmmaking. 'Romancham' is a full-fledged entertainer, offering genuine laughs and chills in equal measure, but without any big stars, flashy special effects or other extras. Its strengths lie in its original script and lively acting. The story begins in a hospital, where the protagonist Jibi (Soubin Shahir) is recovering from some kind of shock. We see his amazing story unfold as he tells the nurse how he got there.
Seven young people share a small apartment in the city, and as most unemployed single people do, they don't argue, they party, they rarely clean, and they're always looking after each other. I live a life that violates my privacy. One day, Zibi brings home a Ouija board, and suddenly their apartment feels a little crowded – perhaps there's an invisible spirit there. Many pranks ensue, but what makes “Romancham” (meaning “goosebumps” in Malayalam) so entertaining is that both the humor and the horror are driven by humans rather than supernatural devices. Rather than terrorizing the characters, the ghosts in this film give them reasons to clash, provoke, and abuse each other, adding another layer to what is essentially a beautifully observed drama of friendship and cohabitation. is added.
“Luise”
Stream it on Tubi.
Told in a series of sparse, quiet scenes set in a remote hut in 20th century Alsace, Louise is an emotional historical thriller constructed with clinical precision. Setup is easy. In 1918, Alsace was located on the border between the warring French and German empires.
On a secluded hilltop, Luise (Luise Aschenbrenner) lives alone. However, as a clever twist early in the film makes clear, that's a recent occurrence. One fateful morning, she receives two unexpected visitors. A French woman (Christa Teller) attempts to escape across the border to the Netherlands, and a wounded German soldier (Leonard Kunz) is on the run from a mission. Luise knows German, Alsatian and French and is able to communicate with both new guests. The two cannot communicate and look at each other with hostility. This linguistic triangle of mystery, anxiety, and intimacy sparks a love triangle fueled by the French woman's bold sexuality, the soldier's Catholicism, and Louise's confused yearnings. Captured in breathtaking panning shots, the remote little house and its surrounding desolate forest lend the weight of history and geography to these erotic tensions, and the film's tense stillness is subtly subdued by the sounds of gunfire. Heading towards the finale, which will explode like this.
“Parkland of Decline and Fantasy”
Stream it on Metrograph at Home.
The word “dreamlike” is often used to describe movies, but few films have imitated the experience of dreaming as convincingly as Zhu Chenliang's mesmerizing docu-fiction hybrid. An abandoned amusement park on an island in Shanghai, once used as the setting for a popular TV show, becomes the backdrop for a series of bizarre episodes with no clear beginning, end, or clear connection, much like a dream. Each vignette winds its way into the next, whether through clever cuts and zoom-outs, transitional interludes through winding tunnels, or images that shrink to reveal windows on the desktop. I'll give it to you. In the light of a fire, a man talks about the underground artists who once gathered here. A few influencers made their way to the park (I couldn't see them, just the GPS screen), but then one went missing. A close-up of what looks like a petri dish turns into a stunning sequence where the camera follows a goose, and then into a section featuring a guy building a robot. Is this place haunted or a blank canvas full of hopes, desires, and history? “Parkland of Decline and Fantasy” blurs the lines and excavates this distinctive place as a kind of dream ethnography.
“Anytime Now”
Stream it on Film Movement Plus.
Inspired by director Haymie Ramezan's own life as an Iranian refugee in Europe, “Any Day Now'' is delicate and bright, like a patch of grass in the sun, but with a hint of light on its edges. Clouds are lurking.
In many ways, 13-year-old Ramin Medipour's life seems idyllic. His parents and sister are part of a loving and kind family. They enjoy an active social life with their neighbors. And high school life is off to a promising start for Ramin (Alan-Sheena Keshvari). Ramin has his best friend Jiji by his side, and he already has a crush.
However, there is a catch here. The Medipour family lives in a Finnish asylum for asylum seekers, and early in the film they receive a letter of rejection from the authorities. Parents are trying valiantly to keep their children's lives normal, but uncertainty is weighing on them now as they contemplate the difficult process of appeals.
Much like the Mehdipoor family, “Any Day Now” leaves this reality in the background and instead focuses on the joys of Ramin's daily life. Beautifully shot and tactile, the film provides up-close views of the boy as he stoops to smell the scent of flowers, explores a mossy forest with his friends, and tries out a dance with the girl of his dreams at a school event. Follow with. But these familiar scenes of youth are tinged with tragedy and suspense as families await their fate, demonstrating how displacement violence can deny victims even life's most mundane pleasures. remind us.
