NYFF 2020 Film Reviews Portal

All of my 2020 New York Film Festival Coverage in One Place

Welcome to my coverage of 2020’s New York Film Festival! Very much like TIFF before it, NYFF is a major predictor of Academy Awards success, screening some of the best films the world has to offer. This year’s festival sees a variety of special film events, such as a 4K restoration of Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, the premiere of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, and Pedro Almodóvar’s English language debut. This year marks my first year as accredited press, and I’m so excited to be able to review a selection of films from the festival. You can find my entire coverage here.

The Human Voice

Acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar makes his English-language debut with The Human Voice. A raw and emotional one-hander starring Tilda Swinton, the short film expertly combines an exquisitely staged production with a fiery element, breathing cinematic life into Jean Cocteau’s stage play. A mesmerizing cross section of Almodóvar’s directorial style, Swinton’s artful performance, and Cocteau’s monodrama, The Human Voice is a tour de force on multiple levels. Read my full review here.

French Exit

Azazel Jacobs directs a memorably salty Michelle Pfeiffer in his adaptation of Patrick deWitt’s acclaimed novel, French Exit. The story of a wealthy heiress who moves to Paris with her son in the wake of financial insolvency, the film hews closely to its source material, but has difficulty accessing the text’s spirit. Even with Pfeiffer’s wickedly funny performance, an eclectic supporting cast, and deWitt’s own screenplay, French Exit wobbles in a scattered capriciousness that’s difficult to shake. Read my full review here.

NYFF 2020 Dispatch

Because of COVID-19 pandemic this year, it was impossible for me to write full-length reviews for everything I saw at NYFF. So, here’s a special edition of Strange Harbors Capsule Reviews, covering an epic philosophical debate, the premiere of director Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, and new films from Jia Zhangke and Sofia Coppola. Read the capsule reviews here.