Movie reviews of Victor Fraga

Despite the interesting premise and the breathtaking locations, Shambhala is visually and narratively monotonous. Review

This is a documentary with a very specific focus: an album and its 20th anniversary. That’s the movie’s strength but also its weakness. Review

After shockingly dumping her husband-to-be at the altar, African woman starts a new life in Taiwan, in a movie with the visual panache of Wong Kar-Wai. Review

Motherly instincts and extreme violence collide to devastating results, in this Scandinoir prison drama from Denmark. Review

Developments are subtle and slow, however the film never overstays its relatively long duration of 120 minutes. A highly cryptic, jarring exuberant ending will stay with you for a long time. Review

Seven Veils is so concerned with creating a multithreaded narrative, and drawing metalinguistic parallels between fiction and reality that it forgets to raise pertinent questions about the topic that it chose to address. This is an entertaining movie to watch, however with nothing new to say to victims of sexual abuse. Review

Five Italian women living in a Catholic institution join forces in order to confront the establishment, in this extremely cheesy and poorly acted musical. Review

Extremely bleak and gruesome Austrian drama with a touch of Carl Dreyer and exec produced by Ulrich Seidl dissects an unhappily married woman as she slowly descends into madness. Review

Gael Garcia Bernal and Renate Reinsve star in this extremely lame and predictable sci-fi from Italy. Review

Mati Diop's new creation is a deeply poetic rumination on French colonialism; she once again uses the Atlantic Ocean as a dark and sombre watershed. Review

Americans myths of social integration, freedom and tolerance are bust, seared and broiled in this kitchen from hell - caustic social satire. Review

Olivier Assayas's autofictional Covid drama is light and gentle like a spring breeze, however mostly unremarkable. Review

Non-narrative, almost entire sensory film explores the rise and the collapse of the architecture of men and of nature; the outcome is strangely soothing. Review

The multithreaded script is just too disjointed. It took me a good read of the synopsis in order to put the puzzle pieces together, and understand the plot twists and power dynamics. Review

Biologist-turned-journalist living in Southern Ukraine seeks truth and justice, is this extremely clumsy political comedy. Review

Wacky American indie sets out to create a modern-day, metalinguistic Beauty and the Beast with real facial disfigurement as a device. Review

Young Indian woman becomes completely silent after learning about her arranged marriage - quietly poignant and gently humorous drama... Review

Excruciatingly boring drama about Magdalene laundries boasts a top-drawer cast (including Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson) and has absolutely nothing relevant to say. Review

A heartwarming tale about the incessant desire to love, and the quest for freedom in the smallest and most trivial gestures. And a love letter to Iranian women – young and old – who are hungry for love. Review

The Letter Writer rescues the essence of simple and puerile romance. Review

Retrofuturistic animation ponders on authoritarianism and the suppression of individualism; the outcome is loud and messy. Review

Based on the eponymous novel by Andrey Kurkov, Grey Bees provides viewers with insight into the lives of two worn-out human beings at the twilight of life, and dangerously hanging by a thread to the only existence that they have ever known. Review

Mexican psychological thriller about a young man seeking justice for his mother's disappearance boasts multidimensional characters and unexpected twists. Review

We Are on Air boasts some very good moments – such as Fatima’s frustrated attempts at seducing her neighbour, and Vitor’s barely erotic and extremely contrived role play -, but it is also dogged by some flaws. Review