Movie reviews of Victor Fraga

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

This is about as much as I could make out of the barely coherent movie plot. Review

The performances are entirely auspicious, however secondary to the gently framed imagery. Some of the most intense and dramatic moments are toned down in favour of the photography. Aesthetics often prevail above dramaturgy. Review

Psychosexual thriller about naked stranger gatecrashing into a family villa in Greece ruminates on philosophy, psychoanalysis, dance, overgrown pubes and mysterious holes. Review

Spanish drama about mistaken identity and death in an ugly and decadent port city is beautifully dissonant and strangely elegant, with a distinctive auteurial voice. Review

Anti-fairytale movie without images sets out to subvert the essence of the film experience, but instead just poisons and kills it. Review

76-minute drama is in reality a heartwarming tribute to individual and artistic freedoms. Review

A woman losing her memory reclaims her connection to reality after seeing Monica Vitti on film, in this highly intertextual drama. Review