Vivarium offers such a completely well-thought out narrative that it hardly matters whether we are dealing with magic realism or a satirical fable.
Peg Aloi
WATCH CLOSELY: Netflix’s “Pandemic” is Harrowing, Prescient
The sheer breadth of information presented here will, at the very least, raise public awareness by deepening our understanding of how pandemics work and why it is important to prepare for the inevitable.
WATCH CLOSELY: A Holland of the Mind — “Ares” is a Cultic Thriller
Netflix’s Ares is a glossy sociopolitical/supernatural thriller from the Netherlands.
WATCH CLOSELY: Peg’s Pandemic Picks — Medieval Plague Edition
This new series will offer ideas for movies and series that have stories or themes at least marginally related to the pandemic we’re all living through.
Film Review: “Swallow” — Unknowable Appetites
This carefully-crafted chamber piece revolves about a woman whose compulsion to eat non-edible things is both fascinating and disturbing.
Coming Attractions: March 8 Through 24 — What Will Light Your Fire
Arts Fuse critics select the best in film, dance, visual art, theater, music, and author events for the coming weeks.
Film Review: “Beanpole” — Hardship Rendered in Searing Color
Beanpole is infused with a profoundly tender intimacy, interspersed with stark portrayals of pain, cruelty, and sacrifice.
Film Review: “The Lodge” — The Horror of Indoors
The Lodge suggests that our money, social privilege, and carefully-crafted stability are not enough to keep the wolves from the door, or to protect us from the dangers that lurk indoors.
Film Review: “Zombi Child” — Alluring Haitian-French Folk Horror
At times, Zombi Child successfully hovers between spooky documentary and an art house coming-of-age film.
Film Review: “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey” — A Harlequin Feminist Manifesto
The apocalyptic mayhem is glorious and certainly cathartic. Still, I have to ask: is this how women will rise up and take what’s ours? With violence?