Zhuo-Ning Su
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Perfect Days (2023) |
Considering how little the protagonist speaks, it takes a performance of great charisma for the film to work, and Yakusho radiates such elegance and humanity he just about glows. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 26, 2023
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Last Summer (2023) |
Those who have a cursory knowledge of Breillat’s filmography would not be surprised by her decision to remake this particular film, the subject matter is right up her alley. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 26, 2023
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Sleep (2023) |
Written and directed with an unerring sense for rhythm, Sleep builds its tension with continuous, propulsive momentum. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2023
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Omen (2023) |
While a little rough around the edges, it’s daring, ambitious, visually arresting, all of which signs of promise one looks for in a first-time filmmaker. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2023
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Fallen Leaves (2023) |
Clocking in at just 81 minutes, it’s a lovely little dramedy about finding happiness in the darkest times. Quirky, sweet, big-hearted, it’s everything you’d expect from a Kaurismäki joint, and that’s never less than wonderful. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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Club Zero (2023) |
I had a great time with this movie. It’s funny, disturbing, provocative and full of interesting observations about our relationship with food. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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The Zone of Interest (2023) |
For its unflinching vision and staggering artistry, The Zone of Interest is an instant candidate for film of the year. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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Anatomy of a Fall (2023) |
While Triet’s direction is, for the most part, formally reserved and not drawing attention to itself, the excellent screenplay and a cast of fantastic actors keep the fireworks coming. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) |
Expertly written, directed, acted and edited, the three-and-a-half-hour crime drama swooshed by with remarkable ease. It’s an at once highly entertaining and thought-provoking look at a piece of native American history. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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May December (2023) |
The hypnotically high-camp drama has real bite and betrays ever more layers the closer you look. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 24, 2023
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Youth (Spring) (2023) |
What Wang has created, compounded by the epic runtime, is in essence a singularly immersive experience. You feel like you’re witnessing life as it happens, in all its precious messiness. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 19, 2023
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The Animal Kingdom (2023) |
The screenplay by Cailley and co-writer Pauline Munier is bold, original, thought-provoking. With great efficiency they set up the strikingly bizarre premise. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 19, 2023
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Strange Way of Life (2023) |
Working with such a limited runtime requires all the more instinct for structure and rhythm of a filmmaker, and Almodóvar just goes ahead and -- seemingly effortlessly -- shows you why he’s one of the greatest there ever was. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 18, 2023
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Monster (2023) |
Monster is a moving, shape-shifting youth drama that bears many hallmarks of [Koreeda’s] previous work but also sees him explore new thematic territory. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 18, 2023
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Jeanne du Barry (2023) |
If you are like me and unfamiliar with the history surrounding its titular character, you might well find yourself engaged and entertained by this confidently told, gorgeously styled biopic. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 17, 2023
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Living Bad (2023) |
With striking compositions and a hypnotically rich color palette, DP Leonor Teles has created images of lingering beauty. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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Bad Living (2023) |
As stand-alone narrative works, Bad Living and Living Dead are driven by a tremendous ensemble and stunning visuals. The first film, in particular, is essentially about the inability of three generations of women to connect with each other. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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Afire (2023) |
A film devoid of formal or stylistic stunts, yet there’s a richness to the narrative, including its dream-like quality and metaphorical possibilities, realized with complete assurance... - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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Tótem (2023) |
The whole cast is fabulous but Sentíes shines as Sol. Without the antics of most child actors who try too hard to play precocious, her performance feels completely unaffected and genuine. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Here (2023) |
Gorgeously lensed by Grimm Vandekerckhove, Here is visual storytelling at its most instinctive and tender. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Past Lives (2023) |
Captivating and profoundly moving... - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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White Plastic Sky (2023) |
[It] morphs into a contemplation on what it means to be alive, with a beautifully realized ending that’s poignant, wordlessly heartbreaking. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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BlackBerry (2023) |
Baruchel and Howerton, especially, impress with their convincing, fiercely committed portrayals of two vastly different characters whose partnership is doomed from the start. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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The Shadowless Tower (2023) |
An unassuming, lyrically dispassioned endeavor, but one I suspect will grow on me for a long while. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Manodrome (2023) |
A thought-provoking piece of queer filmmaking that should not be missed. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Feb 23, 2023
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Blonde (2022) |
It's an artful reconstruction of Marilyn Monroe's life that may alienate some viewers for its notably experimental approach, but one that offers an exciting alternative to the traditional biopic driven by a strong auteurist point of view. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 15, 2022
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The Whale (2022) |
The Whale captivates from start to finish. For a film that has one set and stars an actor who’s barely mobile, that’s a remarkable achievement however you slice it. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Other People's Children (2022) |
Moving [and] deeply perceptive. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Love Life (2022) |
A chilling, constantly surprising, at times downright creepy portrayal of the secrets we keep from those closest to us. It exposes family as a construct and reveals hypocrisies that are deeply disturbing to watch. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) |
Good storytelling has magic, and when Martin McDonagh tells you a story, you know you’re in the hands of a real magician. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Master Gardener (2022) |
What it lacks in spectacle, it more than makes up for in ideas and allegories. People who like their thrillers smart and cool-headed will get a kick out of this. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Bones and All (2022) |
It’s a cannibal romance that’s grotesque, beautiful, horrific, tender. It is fearlessly unique and will likely offend many people’s sensibilities. But what a story it tells. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Saint Omer (2022) |
Alice Diop’s narrative feature debut Saint Omer is a heart-stopper of a film dealing with madness, sorcery and the profound mystery of womanhood. Breathtakingly, soul-shakingly intelligent, beautiful, empathetic, this one gets a 10 out of 10. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 08, 2022
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Tár (2022) |
There’s no kitsch, no promise of closure, no redemption arc. From the writer/director to the performers and technicians, everyone was on the same page to tell a story without sentimentality. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 02, 2022
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White Noise (2022) |
It’s a highly intellectualized, metaphorical take on the existential angst with a narrative beat that might prove tricky to lock into. As a reflective, idiosyncratic piece of art, however, it offers plenty to chew on. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 02, 2022
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Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022) |
A 3-hour directorial tour-de-force, showcasing epic filmmaking at its most sincerely, messily personal. - Awards Daily
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| Posted Sep 02, 2022
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Close (2022) |
The screenplay is an exercise in restraint, cutting out all unnecessary subplots to focus on the development of the central relationship. Dhont directs with a sharp eye for naturalism and palpable love for his young protagonists. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 27, 2022
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Broker (2022) |
While not as immaculately constructed as Shoplifters, the screenplay for Broker is another feat of original storytelling. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 27, 2022
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Pacifiction (2022) |
A weird, mysterious, beautiful fever dream. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 27, 2022
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Elvis (2022) |
It’s obviously too early to call these things but I would be surprised if Elvis doesn’t factor prominently in the next Oscar race. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 26, 2022
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Tori and Lokita (2022) |
For all its narrative and technical simplicity, Tori and Lokita is touching, revealing, sobering work indeed. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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Triangle of Sadness (2022) |
When it works, this thing is a beast. This applies especially to the mid-section of the film, which is rich, observant, biting, outrageous -- satirical comedy at its finest. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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R.M.N. (2022) |
It’s a densely written script that weaves together the backgrounds and beliefs of the characters and I likely missed some of these, but the skill with which it approaches the subject matter is easily recognizable. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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One Fine Morning (2022) |
Greggory and Poupaud are both very good in this but the film is really the showcase for Seydoux that she deserves. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) |
[It's] a mythical extravaganza that packs an unexpected humanistic punch. Fans of historical fantasy will have a field day and those of us who just love storytelling in all its forms will also get a beautiful reminder as to why. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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Enys Men (2022) |
Using bold compositions featuring many close-up’s, Jenkin directs your attention to motifs in the protagonist’s environment which later all turn into objects haunted by memory. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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Holy Spider (2022) |
As brilliantly portrayed by Amir-Ebrahimi and [Mehdi] Bajestani, Holy Spider boasts an investigator/villain duo for the ages. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 25, 2022
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Armageddon Time (2022) |
Shot by Darius Khondji, the film looks moodily, nostalgically beautiful, bringing you back to a place in time and most importantly, to a world seen through someone else’s eyes. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 20, 2022
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Final Cut (2022) |
The film doesn’t hit all the high notes of the original, but the DNA it inherited is so funny and full of heart that it still -- for the most part -- works like a charm. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 19, 2022
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Tchaikovsky's Wife (2022) |
Clocking in at 143 minutes, it’s neither the easiest nor the breeziest watch, but its investigation of a troubled relationship carries such a unique perspective it proves as unsettling as it is unsparingly enlightening. - Awards Daily
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| Posted May 19, 2022
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