critic 8½
8½ (1963) Review: A Italy Classic
★★★★½
Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963) endures as a defining drama landmark from Italy, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
Sarah Chen
Chief Film Critic · Independent & Festival Cinema
Sarah has covered Sundance, Cannes, and TIFF for over a decade, with a focus on first-time directors and boundary-pushing independent cinema.
142 reviews published on Celluloid
Reviews by Sarah Chen
critic A Prophet
A Prophet (2009) Review: A France Classic
★★★★½
Jacques Audiard's A Prophet (2009) endures as a defining crime landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic Arisan!
Arisan! (2003) Review: A Indonesia Classic
★★★★☆
Nia Dinata's Arisan! (2003) endures as a defining comedy landmark from Indonesia, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) Review: An Indian Cinema Essential
★★★★½
S. S. Rajamouli's Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) remains a landmark of Telugu-language cinema from India — Rajamouli's conclusion delivered record-breaking spectacle and cemented pan-Indian event filmmaking.…
Strongly recommended — a defining title from its era.
critic Central Station
Central Station (1998) Review: A Brazil Classic
★★★★½
Walter Salles's Central Station (1998) endures as a defining drama landmark from Brazil, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic I Saw the Devil
I Saw the Devil (2010) Review: A South Korea Classic
★★★★½
Kim Jee-woon's I Saw the Devil (2010) endures as a defining thriller landmark from South Korea, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic Imperfect
Imperfect (2019) Review: A Indonesia Classic
★★★★☆
Ernest Prakasa's Imperfect (2019) endures as a defining comedy landmark from Indonesia, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic Jaws
Jaws (1975) Review: A United States Classic
★★★★½
Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) endures as a defining thriller landmark from United States, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic October 1
October 1 (2014) Review: A Nigeria Classic
★★★★☆
Kunle Afolayan's October 1 (2014) endures as a defining crime landmark from Nigeria, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic Pixote
Pixote (1980) Review: A Brazil Classic
★★★★½
Héctor Babenco's Pixote (1980) endures as a defining crime landmark from Brazil, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic PK
PK (2014) Review: An Indian Cinema Essential
★★★★½
Rajkumar Hirani's PK (2014) remains a landmark of Hindi-language cinema from India — Hirani turns satire into mass entertainment without losing his signature warmth.…
Strongly recommended — a defining title from its era.
critic Santosh
Santosh (2024) Review: An Indian Cinema Essential
★★★★☆
Sandhya Suri's Santosh (2024) remains a landmark of Hindi-language cinema from India — Shahana Goswami anchors this tense police drama with a quietly seething performance, as Sandhya Suri uses a small-town m…
Essential viewing — among the finest films in Indian cinema.
critic Seven Samurai
Seven Samurai (1954) Review: A Japan Classic
★★★★★
Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) endures as a defining action landmark from Japan, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic Sister Midnight
Sister Midnight (2024) Review: An Indian Cinema Essential
★★★½☆
Karan Kandhari's Sister Midnight (2024) remains a landmark of Hindi-language cinema from India — Karan Kandhari's feature debut swerves from deadpan marital comedy into feral horror without ever losing its nerve, powe…
Essential viewing — among the finest films in Indian cinema.
critic Skyfall
Skyfall (2012) Review: A United Kingdom Classic
★★★★½
Sam Mendes's Skyfall (2012) endures as a defining action landmark from United Kingdom, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Essential viewing — a certified classic.
critic The Intouchables
The Intouchables (2011) Review: A France Classic
★★★★★
Olivier Nakache's The Intouchables (2011) endures as a defining comedy landmark from France, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic The Motorcycle Diaries
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) Review: A Mexico Classic
★★★★½
Walter Salles's The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) endures as a defining biography landmark from Mexico, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic The White Ribbon
The White Ribbon (2009) Review: A Germany Classic
★★★★½
Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (2009) endures as a defining drama landmark from Germany, with scores that still shape how audiences discover cinema from the region.
Strongly recommended — a staple of its national cinema.
critic Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome to the Jungle (2026) Review: An Indian Cinema Essential
★★★☆☆
Ahmed Khan's Welcome to the Jungle (2026) remains a landmark of Hindi-language cinema from India — The third Welcome film leans hard on its ensemble's comic chemistry, and critics say that's about the only thing keeping…
Skip unless you are a franchise fan — reception was mixed.
critic Aisha
Aisha Review: Letitia Wright in a Quietly Devastating Study of Ireland's Asylum System
★★★★☆
Letitia Wright anchors Frank Berry's quietly devastating drama about a young Nigerian woman caught in Ireland's immigration limbo for years.
Humane, patient, and quietly enraging.
critic Come See Me in the Good Light
Come See Me in the Good Light Review: Love Facing Mortality With Grace
★★★★★
Ryan White documents poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing terminal illness with humor and unguarded affection—earned tears, not sentiment.
The year's most honest love story is a documentary.
critic Flies
Flies Review: Fernando Eimbcke's Quiet Return to Form
★★★★☆
A grieving woman and an abandoned boy find each other in a black-and-white Mexico City chamber piece that earns its tears without ever reaching for them.
Small, sincere, and quietly devastating.
critic Ghostlight
Ghostlight Review: Community Theater Becomes a Lifeline for Grief
★★★★☆
Kelly O'Sullivan's Chicago drama turns a real family cast into something rare — a grief story that earns its Shakespeare without a single false note.
Celluloid Pick and deeply human.
critic It Was Just an Accident
It Was Just an Accident Review: Jafar Panahi's Prison Years Become a Moral Thriller
★★★★★
Jafar Panahi transforms a chance encounter into a tense moral interrogation of state cruelty, channeling his imprisonment into pure narrative tension.
A masterpiece of political cinema that argues through suspense.
critic It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley
It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley Review: A Restless Spirit, Fully Rendered
★★★½☆
Amy Berg's intimate portrait of Jeff Buckley's brief, restless career mourns without wallowing, anchored by home recordings and unguarded interviews.
The definitive Buckley documentary — finally.
critic Molli and Max in the Future
Molli and Max in the Future Review: DIY Sci-Fi Romance With Real Gravity
★★★½☆
Michael Lukk Litwak's lo-fi cosmic rom-com proves charm beats budget, though its 175-minute sprawl tests even patient viewers.
Inventive, uneven, and genuinely romantic.
critic The Crime Is Mine
The Crime Is Mine Review: Ozon's Parisian Farce Has Huppert and Style to Spare
★★★½☆
François Ozon's 1930s murder farce pairs gorgeous production design with Isabelle Huppert in scene-stealing form — frothy, fun, and slightly slight.
Stylish entertainment that critics prefer to audiences.
critic To a Land Unknown
To a Land Unknown Review: Forged Papers and Desperate Cousins in Athens
★★★★☆
Mahdi Fleifel follows two cousins scrambling for fake passports in Athens — Mahmoud Bakri and Aram Sabbagh make every reckless choice feel dangerously plausible.
Tense, lived-in, and morally complex.
critic Viet and Nam
Viet and Nam Review: A Coal-Mine Romance That Refuses to Rush
★★★★½
Minh Quý Trương's nearly three-hour debut turns a Vietnamese coal-mine romance into a hazy, achingly patient study of tenderness under pressure.
A festival discovery that rewards stillness.
critic Jangan Buang Ibu
Jangan Buang Ibu Review: A Tearjerker That Mostly Earns Its Tears
★★★½☆
Nirina Zubir anchors a family drama about elderly abandonment that trades melodrama for something quieter and, mostly, more devastating.
Moving, if occasionally overstuffed.
critic The Invite
The Invite Is the Funniest, Most Uncomfortable Dinner Party of the Year
★★★★½
Olivia Wilde's English-language remake turns one noisy apartment building into a showcase for four actors at the top of their game.
Sharp, uncomfortable, and very funny.
critic Allegro Pastell
Allegro Pastell Review: A Cult Novel's Cool Irony Gets Lost in Translation
★★★☆☆
Anna Roller's adaptation of Leif Randt's beloved novel is a stylish but uneven portrait of a couple who talk more like a manifesto than two people in love.
Handsome but curiously airless.
critic Wait Until I Make It
Wait Until I Make It Review: The Lebaran Comedy That Actually Gets It
★★★★☆
A three-years-unemployed man's race to prove himself before his family's Eid gathering turns into one of the year's most quietly honest comedies.
Funny, sincere, and uncomfortably relatable.
critic Socias por Accidente
Socias por Accidente Review: A Box-Office Hit Built on Star Chemistry
★★½☆☆
Angelique Boyer and Bárbara de Regil turn a formulaic revenge-comedy premise into one of the year's biggest Mexican box-office draws.
Predictable, but the leads make it work.
critic Vier minus drei
Vier minus drei Review: Grief Rendered Without a Safety Net
★★★★☆
Valerie Pachner delivers a devastating performance in this unflinching, autobiographical Berlinale drama about surviving unimaginable loss.
A gutting, unsentimental portrait of grief.
critic ¿Quieres ser mi novia?
¿Quieres ser mi novia? Review: A Sequel That Runs Out of Things to Say
★★☆☆☆
Ludwika Paleta and Juanpa Zurita are game, but this age-gap romance sequel mistakes manufactured jealousy for genuine conflict.
Thin conflicts, thinner insight.
critic Mutluyuz Mu?
Mutluyuz Mu? Review: A Comfortable Sequel That Never Pushes Past Comfortable
★½☆☆☆
A divorced couple's fake-vacation premise has real comic potential that this formulaic sequel mostly leaves on the table.
Familiar, forgettable, occasionally funny.
critic Lady
Lady Review: A Striking Lagos Debut Built on Sisterhood and Grit
★★★★☆
Olive Nwosu's Sundance-winning debut turns a Lagos cab driver's late nights into a vivid study of friendship, survival, and self-invention.
A confident, textured debut
critic Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes Review: A Box-Office Juggernaut With a Thin Script
★★½☆☆
Funke Akindele's record-breaking family drama connects with audiences even as its glossy staging and telegraphed twists frustrate critics.
Crowd-pleasing but creatively cautious
critic 22 Bahnen
22 Bahnen Review: A Faithful, Familiar Bestseller Adaptation
★★★☆☆
Luna Wedler anchors a sincere but overly tidy adaptation of Caroline Wahl's beloved sisters-and-swimming-pools novel.
Earnest, well-acted, a bit too neat.