Monday, August 18, 2025
Dead to Rights
At the center of the film is A Chang (Liu Haoran), a postal worker who survives by pretending to be a photo technician. Forced to develop photographs for Japanese officer and photographer Ito (Daichi Harashima), he uncovers images that reveal, in stark detail, the atrocities committed against the Chinese people. The shop's owner, Jin Chengzong (Wang Xiao), hides with his family in the basement, clinging to the hope of escape. Wang Guanghai (Wang Chuan-jun), a translator who collaborates with the Japanese in the hope of protecting his wife and son, uses A Chang to secure the escape of his mistress, actress Lin Yuxiu (Gao Ye). Through A Chang's work, he is able to provide food for the survival of Jin's family and a wounded soldier, Song Cunyi (Zhou You), saved by Lin Yuxiu.
Liu Haoran gives A Chang a quiet resilience, capturing the fear and moral burden of a man trapped between survival and witness. Gao Ye plays Lin Yuxiu with dignity that survives even under crushing vulnerability, while Wang Xiao portrays Jin Chengzong with quiet strength as a father desperate to protect those hiding with him. Zhou You embodies the defiance of Song Cunyi, a reminder that not all resistance was silenced. The ensemble makes the story not just about the victims of war, but about individuals grasping at survival—and ultimately pushing back, finding ways to resist, to fight, and to hold on to a shred of dignity in the face of annihilation.
Wang Chuan-jun brings painful complexity to the translator Wang Guanghai, a weak and self-serving opportunist who convinces himself that betrayal is a form of saving others. He clings to power at the cost of dignity and loyalty, yet remains recognizably human—unable to face the slaughter of his compatriots, shutting his eyes and ears until the end, blind even to the fate of his own family.
Standing in chilling contrast is Daichi Harashima's Ito, a terrifyingly understated Japanese officer and photographer whose cultivated manners and artistic sensibility conceal a deep, insidious cruelty. His polite composure is more chilling than outright violence. Ito embodies a particular kind of evil—one that cloaks itself in refinement and aesthetics while enabling destruction.
If the script leans on the occasional contrivance—such as the near-unbelievable coincidence of Song Cunyi finding his brother's photograph in a darkroom—it doesn't diminish the film's weight. What matters is its refusal to let history fade into abstraction. The film insists that the crimes of the Nanjing Massacre be remembered not as statistics, but as human suffering, captured frame by frame, life by life.
And this is why the film demands to be seen. It is not an easy experience, but it is a necessary one. Sitting through "Dead to Rights" means bearing witness to pain that was real, to crimes that scarred generations, to lives cut short but not erased. The Nanjing Massacre cannot be undone, but it can and must be remembered. This film helps keep that memory stays alive, and in watching it, audiences become part of that act of remembrance.
"Dead to Rights" opens in theaters on Friday, August 15, 2025.
Honey Don't!
Honey O'Donoghue (Margaret Qualley) is a private investigator in Bakersfield, CA, with the clipped voice, cool stare, and vintage aesthetic of a classic noir heroine. She routinely brushes off the unwanted advances of a local cop (Charlie Day) with dry, unwavering confidence: "I like girls!" She is looking into the Four Way Temple, a homegrown religious operation with a twisted core. Its leader, Reverend Drew (Chris Evans), uses his power to manipulate and exploit young women, dressing them in fetish gear under the guise of spiritual guidance. When one of them turns up dead, Honey's investigation spirals into a mess of secrets, cover-ups, and moral decay.
There are several other characters during Honey's investigation. Her sister (Kristen Connolly) is overwhelmed caring for a brood of kids, and her niece (Talia Ryder) is stuck in a toxic relationship. A brief entanglement with MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza), a straight-talking cop, adds some dry humor and another twist to Honey's already complicated world. But they, like a string of other oddball side characters never quite come together into a satisfying whole.
There are amusing moments, and Margaret Qualley brings a laconic charisma to her role. Despite committed performances and flashes of sharp humor, the film never quite comes together. It flirts with crime thriller, dark comedy, and pulp absurdity, but the shifts in tone feel abrupt and disconnected. There's a wry tone throughout, and the twists come fast—often bloody. Some of that bloodshed feels more like spectacle than storytelling. Characters are introduced only to meet sudden, grisly ends, and not all of them earn their place in the narrative.
The film is more interested in bizarre detours than narrative payoff, and its obsession with provocation eventually wears thin. Too often, the film trades momentum for indulgence. As Ethan Coen's second solo directorial effort without brother Joel Coen, this film feels like a creative side project indulging in chaos for its own sake.
"Honey Don't!" has flashes of charm and cleverness, but it barely leaves a mark. For all its noise and bloodshed, the film feels scattered and superficial, a stylized diversion that fizzles out instead of telling a mesmerizing story.
"Honey Don't!" opens in theaters on Friday, August 22, 2025.
Ne Zha II
Picking up after the catastrophic battle of the first film, Ne Zha (哪吒) and Ao Bing's (敖丙) souls survive, but their bodies disintegrate. With help from Taiyi Zhenren (太乙真人) and the mystical Seven-Colored Lotus, they are reborn into a new struggle involving ancient conspiracies, divine politics, and the fate of both gods and humans.
The film teems with characters and subplots, but it's also sprinkled with sly humor and absurdist touches, befitting the spirit of its director, Yang Yu (杨宇), who cheekily goes by the pseudonym "Jiaozi" (饺子), meaning dumplings in Chinese. It's remarkable that after the ground breaking "Ne Zha" (2019), this sequel is only the second feature from the talented director.
"Ne Zha II" doesn't just dazzle, it has also become the most successful movie ever at the box office, the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and the top earner in a single market, raking in over US $2.2 billion worldwide on an $80 million budget. Yet the English-dubbed version blunts the impact, with flattened emotional beats and awkward tonal mismatches. Keeping the original Mandarin with subtitles would have preserved both its cultural richness and its emotional punch.
While the nonstop battles and elaborate set pieces can sometimes feel like watching a high-budget video game unfold in real time—thrilling but not always deeply engaging—this sequel remains a record-shattering cultural phenomenon: a visual tour de force that's as epic as it is mischievously fun. There is no question that a franchise has been born and with more sequels to come.
"Ne Zha II" opens in theaters on Friday, August 22, 2025.
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Nobody 2
If John Wick went on a family road trip, slammed a bunch of energy drinks, and lost all sense of realism, you'd get "Nobody 2" (USA 2025 | 89 min.). The first film, "Nobody" (2021), flirted with plausibility; this one smashes it to pieces in a delirious celebration of consequence-free carnage. Indonesian action stylist Timo Tjahjanto takes the director's chair and pushes the sequel into sun-drenched, summer-vacation chaos with every punch bloodier, every set-piece bigger, and every moment of logic gleefully thrown overboard. It's the most violent movie of the year, and it's proud of it.
Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk), still working as a hitman to pay off a $30 million mob debt, is worn out and growing distant from his wife Becca (Connie Nielsen) and kids Brady (Gage Munroe) and Sammy (Paisley Cadorath). To fix things, he plans a road trip to Plummerville, home to the rundown Wild Bill's Majestic Midway and Waterpark where he once vacationed as a kid with his brother Harry (RZA). His dad David (Christopher Lloyd) joins in, and Hutch promises to stay out of trouble. That promise lasts about five minutes.
A fight at an arcade pulls the family into the orbit of shady park owner Wyatt Martin (John Ortiz), his crooked sheriff Abel (Colin Hanks), and the town's deadliest resident: ruthless crime boss Lendina (Sharon Stone). Soon Hutch is knee-deep in chaos including duck-boat brawls, sword fights, and a waterpark shootout. He shakes off stab wounds and bullet hits like they're nothing. His pain-proof, can't-be-killed routine makes the whole thing feel more like a violent cartoon than a thriller.
Timo Tjahjanto stages thirteen fight scenes with a mix of brutal hits and dark humor, including the showpiece duck-boat fight meant to top the first film's famous bus brawl. Callan Green's colorful camerawork and Michael Diner's carnival-inspired sets turn Plummerville into a bright, deadly playground, while Dominic Lewis's wild score blends blues-rock and fairground noise. But the standout here is Sharon Stone, who plays Lendina like a Bond villain turned up to eleven—cool, cruel, and clearly enjoying every second.
This film doesn't try to be realistic, its plot is just a thin excuse to set up bigger and bloodier action scenes. But if you can roll with its ridiculousness, it's a loud, fast, and gleefully violent ride where Hutch Mansell gets to do what he does best—over and over again.
"Nobody 2" opens in theaters on Friday, August 15, 2025.
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Weapons
The story begins with a chilling mystery: Justine (Julia Garner), an elementary school teacher, arrives at school to discover her entire class missing except for one boy, Alex (Cary Christopher). Archer (Josh Brolin), a distraught and furious father, sets out to find his child when the authorities fail to provide answers. Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), a recently sobered police officer, finds himself pulled into the case. Marcus (Benedict Wong), the school principal, tries to keep order as the situation spirals.
The film is structured as a series of character-titled chapters, with each section told from that character's point of view. Rather than isolating its characters into standalone episodes, the film uses this shifting perspective to expand and intensify the central mystery. As each chapter unfolds, new questions emerge, and what once seemed clear becomes unsettling. The narrative keeps evolving without losing momentum, pulling the audience deeper into a story that becomes stranger, scarier, and more compelling the further it goes. The ensemble cast brings conviction and complexity to every scene, adding tension and weight to the unraveling story.
Much of the film's creepiness comes from what isn't shown. Cregger and cinematographer Larkin Seiple often allow the camera to sit still, letting the frame breathe while building unease. A window, a doorway, or an empty street becomes a source of dread simply by how long the shot holds. This deliberate camera work invites the audience to imagine what might be just out of sight, and that uncertainty becomes part of the fear.
Cregger also infuses the film with sharp, unexpected humor and bursts of gore, making it as entertaining as it is disturbing. The absurdity never dilutes the horror—it enhances it, catching the audience off guard and keeping the tone unpredictable. The film manages to be playful without ever losing its bite.
Rich in atmosphere and full of surprises, "Weapons" is a bold and exhilarating ride from beginning to end. With this film, Zach Cregger proves he's a filmmaker with vision and nerve, unafraid to take horror in wild new directions.
"Weapons" opens in theaters on Friday, August 8, 2025.
Sunday, August 3, 2025
The Oslo Trilogy: Sex, Love, Dreams
Seen individually, each film in writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud's Oslo trilogy—"Sex" (2024), "Love" (2024), and "Dreams" (2025)—stands on its own as a thoughtful portrait of people navigating love, intimacy, and self-understanding. But experienced together—as audiences in San Francisco will be able to do this August and September at the Roxie Theater—they form a quietly remarkable whole: not a traditional narrative trilogy, but a thematic one, bound by conversation, curiosity, and emotional honesty.
The films aren't connected by plot or character, but by a shared interest in how people try (and often fail) to articulate what they want. In "Sex," two men reconsider the meaning of fidelity, desire, and masculinity after unexpected experiences shake their assumptions. In "Love," a pragmatic doctor and a warm-hearted nurse challenge ideas of emotional and physical intimacy. And in "Dreams," a teenage girl's infatuation with her teacher sets off a ripple effect across three generations of women, each reflecting on their own past and present desires.
All three films are built around dialogue, and Dag Johan Haugerud's writing captures the rhythms of real conversation—hesitations, contradictions, people talking their way into and out of understanding. The films unfold through careful listening, not dramatic conflict, with emotional shifts that feel earned and deeply human.
The Oslo Trilogy screens at the Roxie Theater as part of a limited series:
- "Love" on Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at 6pm
- "Sex" on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at 6pm
- "Dreams" on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 6pm, followed by a Q&A with writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud in person
Here are my reviews of the three films.
Sex
What's most striking is how relaxed and unforced this exchange feels. Haugerud allows the story to unfold entirely through dialogue, and yet the film is never static. The conversation flows with surprising clarity and tension, touching on fidelity, sexuality, gender roles, and what it means to understand yourself, and be understood by someone else. These men aren't engaged in a philosophical debate; they're just trying to process something that doesn't easily fit into the categories they've grown up with.
The dynamic shifts again when the Chimney Sweeper shares the experience with his wife (Siri Forberg) who receives the news with anger, confusion, jealousy, and some thoughtful questions. Their conversation becomes one of the film's strongest stretches. It's not about betrayal in a traditional sense, but about what this moment reveals about the shape of their relationship, and the dynamic between sex and marriage.
In a parallel thread, the Department Head confesses to having recurring dreams where he's perceived as a woman. These dreams unsettle him, not because they threaten his sense of masculinity, but because they expose how much of his identity may be shaped by others' expectations. He brings these dreams to his wife (Birgitte Larsen). She listens with compassion and caution, unsure of what to make of it, but open to the conversation.
There are echoes here of Hong Sang-soo's dialogue-heavy dramas, where long takes and rambling conversations slowly reveal the contradictions and emotions beneath the surface. But Haugerud's tone is gentler, his characters are careful and considerate. They say too much, or not quite enough. And that's what makes them feel so real.
*Sex* is a film that doesn't offer judgments or conclusions. It gives its characters space to be confused, thoughtful, contradictory, and still deeply human. It's a rare film where conversation is the action, and where honesty is both the risk and the reward.
"Sex" screens at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 at 6pm.
Love
The first character we meet is Heidi (Marte Engebrigtsen), a city employee leading a tour of Oslo's government buildings. She offers her own interpretive reading of the building's sculptures, suggesting they reflect a society that embraces same-sex couples, single mothers, and nontraditional domestic arrangements. Her tone is lightly ironic, hinting at how culture and politics shape what kinds of relationships are seen as acceptable or ideal.
Heidi's friend Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig) is a doctor who works with prostate cancer patients. She's self-contained and unhurried, not in pursuit of love or particularly bothered by its absence. She is introduced by Heidi to Ole (Thomas Gullestad), a single father with two daughters and an ex-wife next door. Their brief interaction is warm and open, but also makes clear that his life is already defined by family commitments.
Marianne's conversations with her colleague Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen) nudges Marianne into a different kind of reflection. Tor, a nurse with a quiet, steady presence, talks openly about seeking casual sexual encounters with men on Oslo's ferries. He doesn't link sex to love, or romance to commitment. For Marianne, who has spent much of her life apart from relationships, this idea is new and oddly freeing. It doesn't lead to an immediate change, but it leaves her thinking: perhaps there are other ways of being close to someone, or of letting pleasure into her life without reshaping everything else.
Tor, meanwhile, finds himself in unfamiliar emotional territory when he begins treating Bjørn (Lars Jacob Holm). What starts as routine patient care grows into something more affectionate. There's no confrontation or confession, but Tor's attention to Bjørn becomes personal in a way that clearly moves beyond his usual detachment. His view of intimacy begins to shift, even if he can't fully explain how.
The film moves among these characters without urgency. Haugerud doesn't build toward a dramatic payoff, but instead lets small moments accumulate. The emotional tone is steady and precise, allowing room for questions rather than conclusions.
This is a film about people quietly reshaping what connection means to them. It offers no prescriptions, no judgments, just the suggestion that there are many ways to care for someone—and that sometimes, allowing that care to exist without definition is enough.
"Love" screens at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at 6pm.
Dreams
Johanne (Ella Øverbye) is a 17-year-old student who develops a deep affection for her French teacher, Johanna (Selome Emnetu). At first, she expresses her feelings privately in a diary. But as she begins spending time with Johanna outside of class—under the pretense of learning how to knit—her emotions grow stronger and more difficult to handle.
Unable to manage the intensity on her own, Johanne shares her diary with her grandmother, Karin (Anne Marit Jacobsen), a poet. Recognizing both the honesty and literary potential in the writing, Karin shows it to Johanne's mother, Kristin (Ane Dahl Torp). To Johanne's surprise, they don't treat it as something shameful or inappropriate. Instead, they see it as something worth sharing, and encourage her to consider publishing it.
The film is built around Johanne's voice. Her diary entries are read throughout in voiceover, giving shape to her inner experience with precision and emotion. Haugerud leans fully into this structure, and it works beautifully. The narration isn't used as explanation but as a way of staying inside her perspective, where the most important shifts are internal.
Ella Øverbye gives a sensitive, unaffected performance that captures both the intensity and uncertainty of Johanne's feelings. Selome Emnetu plays Johanna with calm and warmth, fully present in their shared scenes without ever overstating or undercutting their dynamic.
The film focuses entirely on Johanne's experience, which clarity gives the film its strength. Haugerud doesn't shape the story toward a resolution or life lesson, he allows us to sit with Johanne's confusion, longing, and need to express herself. Writing becomes her way of holding onto something that feels too large to carry alone.
Of the trilogy, "Dreams" is the most emotionally open and sharply realized. While "Sex" explores the complexities of adult identity and "Love" lingers in spaces of solitude and quiet negotiation, "Dreams" captures the moment when love first takes shape—raw, consuming, and unforgettable.
"Dreams" screens at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 6pm, followed by a Q&A with writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud in person.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
The Naked Gun
Director Akiva Schaffer's reboot walks a fine line between affectionate homage and overstuffed misfire. While the film makes some thoughtful nods to the original—including casting the sons of the iconic characters in the same roles—it struggles to match the sharp wit and rapid-fire brilliance that made the 1988 film a classic.
Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), the son of the legendary Police Squad officer, is now a detective himself, tasked with saving the world from a tech billionaire's diabolical plan. His mission: stop Richard Cane (Danny Huston), a cigar-smoking throwback villain with a scheme involving a "P.L.O.T. Device" meant to incite chaos and usher in his version of a better society. As Frank stumbles through increasingly ludicrous situations such as high-stakes interrogations, chaotic investigations, and awkward dates, he is joined by love interest Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) and loyal partner Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter Hauser).
Liam Neeson brings a heavyweight presence, but he plays Frank with such sincerity and seriousness that it undercuts the silliness around him. He's game for the absurdity, but he approaches each moment as if he's still in a gritty thriller, which saps the comedic tension instead of enhancing it. It's a bold casting choice that doesn't quite pay off.
Paul Walter Hauser, an actor with proven comic range, isn't given enough to do playing as Frank's loyal partner. His chemistry with Liam Neeson is promising, and he delivers when called upon, but he's too often sidelined. A missed opportunity.
Pamela Anderson, on the other hand, strikes a careful balance between sultry and silly, channeling old-school noir glamour with a touch of modern sincerity. She never pushes too hard for laughs, and that restraint gives her scenes an unexpected charm.
The film has its moments. A few visual gags and silly one-liners hit their marks, and there's some joy in watching practical effects and in-camera stunts executed with care. But the physical comedy never reaches the inspired mayhem of the original, and several set pieces feel like sketches in search of a punchline.
The plot tries to spoof modern tech paranoia, but it quickly veers into nonsense. Even though the movie leans into the ridiculous, the story lacks the internal logic that made earlier spoof comedies work. That said, a handful of sharp lines and clever sight gags provide momentary laughs.
There's plenty of love for the franchise in this film, and the decision to pass the torch from father to son, both in story and casting, is a nice touch. But homage can only carry a film so far. "The Naked Gun" has flashes of fun, but overall, the movie comes up short.
"The Naked Gun" opens in theaters on Friday, August 1, 2025.
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Set in a vibrant 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, the film introduces Marvel's First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach)—as they face off against Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a cosmic god intent on consuming Earth, and his mysterious messenger, Shalla-Bal /Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). The stakes become heartbreakingly personal when Galactus offers to spare Earth, only if Reed and Sue surrender their newborn child.
As expected in a superhero movie, the visual design is often impressive. Chrome-heavy laboratories, neon-lit spacecraft, and space-age-inspired interiors give the film a distinctive look that feels pulled from vintage comic book pages. But the highly stylized aesthetic lacks texture, making the world feel artificial rather than immersive. The environments may be vivid, but they rarely feel real.
That same flatness affects the characters. While the cast is strong on paper, their performances are undercut by thin writing and shallow dynamics. Reed and Sue share little chemistry, and their scenes lack dramatic weight, even given the gravity of the dilemma they face.
The film hints at themes of sacrifice, duty, and the strain of balancing heroism with family, but rarely allows these ideas to land. Even the central moral crisis is rushed through, treated more as a plot device than a character-defining moment. What should be deeply unsettling ends up feeling oddly procedural.
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" reboots Marvel's First Family with confidence in its style but a lack of storytelling depth. The characters may be familiar, but this version struggles to make them matter. It's bold in appearance, but emotionally under powered.
"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" opens in theaters on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Eddington
Set in the fictional town of Eddington, New Mexico, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story centers on small-town sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), who finds himself in open conflict with the town's progressive mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), over plans to build a massive data center. But what begins as a local power struggle soon ignites wider tensions. With lockdowns in effect, tempers flaring, and national protests simmering across screens and streets, the town is swept into a wave of unrest. As social divisions harden and conspiracies bloom, the citizens of Eddington fall into factions, feuds, and free fall, until the chaos erupts in an absurd, shocking climax that feels both inevitable and utterly deranged.
Director Ari Aster populates the town with a volatile mix of characters: restless teenagers trying on activism like a new identity, deputies entangled in personal and political rivalries, a tribal sheriff watching warily from the margins, and a raving outcast who becomes an accidental oracle. The result is not just a narrative of collapse, but a chaotic mosaic of fear, self-righteousness, and the desperate need to be heard.
Filmed on location in southern New Mexico, the film is visually arresting. Darius Khondji's cinematography captures the stark beauty of the Southwest while transforming the town into a surreal stage for American unraveling. The physical spaces—overstuffed homes, decaying storefronts, impromptu protest sites—feel both intimately real and eerily symbolic.
Though there are moments of absurdity and sharp comedy, Aster never loses sight of what's at stake. The film refuses to flatten its characters into simple stereotypes; instead, it digs into how isolation, economic anxiety, and online feedback loops turn ordinary people into extremists, or casualties. As protests swell and misinformation seeps into family living rooms, "Eddington" lays bare the fragmentation of shared reality in a country more connected and more divided than ever.
This is Ari Aster's most expansive and most urgent film to date. "Eddington" doesn't tie things up neatly, it lets the chaos speak.
"Eddington" opens in theaters on Friday, July 18, 2025.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Set in Zimbabwe in 1980, as the country emerges from the violent aftermath of its war for independence, the film follows seven-year-old Bobo Fuller (Lexi Venter) on her family's crumbling Rhodesian farm. Her mother Nicola (Embeth Davidtz) is brittle and unwell, her father Tim (Rob van Vuuren) clings to a fading colonial order, and her older sister Vanessa (Anina Hope Reed) watches it all with guarded detachment. Caught in the whispered racism, untreated grief, and political upheaval, Bobo can't make sense of the world around her. But the family's Black housekeeper Sarah (Zikhona Bali) offers her stories, myths, and a different kind of truth. Through Bobo's confused but observant eyes, the film reveals a portrait of a country, a family, and a child shaped by a violence that is deeply felt but barely understood.
What makes the film remarkable is its commitment to Bobo's point of view. Her misunderstandings—some comic, some heartbreaking—become the vehicle through which colonial trauma, family dysfunction, and cultural transformation are revealed. Without ever spelling out its themes, the film allows Bobo's innocence to expose the harsh truths the adults around her refuse to face.
Lexi Venter, in her mesmerizing debut, is a revelation. With no trace of artifice or affectation, she delivers a performance of remarkable naturalism, infused with quiet humor, emotional depth, and an instinctive sense of truth. It's one of the most astonishing child performances in years. As Nicola, Embeth Davidtz is raw and complex—a mother who's both protective and dangerously unstable. Zikhona Bali illuminates the film with her gentle, soulful portrayal of Sarah, whose presence becomes increasingly central as Bobo begins to see beyond her inherited worldview.
Embeth Davidtz's direction is precise and deeply personal. Drawing from her own South African childhood experience, she handles the material with emotional clarity and historical honesty, refusing to simplify either the characters or their contradictions.
Cinematographer Willie Nel impressively captures the sharp light and dry dust of Zimbabwe with unforced beauty, balancing sweeping shots of the land's vastness with intimate, tightly framed glimpses of Bobo's inner world. The contrast mirrors the tension between a country in flux and a child's private reckoning within it.
Through the eyes of a child raised in a broken system, the film shows how the personal and political become inseparable, and how understanding begins when inherited narratives start to crack. "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" is not a coming-of-age tale in the traditional sense, it's a confrontation with legacy. Through the narrow lens of a child, it paints a vast canvas of colonialism, displacement, and identity.
"Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight" opens in theaters on Friday, July 18, 2025.
