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DEVS: MIYA MIZUNO/FX. BERLIN: COURTESY OF BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL (3).GUNDA
Shot in black and white and dialogue-free,
the astoundingly beautiful new doc from
Aquarela director Victor Kossakovsky
centers on a sow raising her piglets. The
world’s most famous vegan, Joaquin
Phoenix, has signed on as an executive
producer, and his name could surely be
a draw. But this is far more than a plea or
argument; it’s a gorgeous, gripping series
of encounters — and, finally, an unforget-
table drama. — SHERI LINDENLITTLE GIRL
French documentary maestro Sébastien
Lifshitz’s latest centers on Sasha, a
child in rural France who has to fight hard
to be accepted as a girl. With immense
warmth and generosity, the moving film
chronicles the toll that outside opposi-
tion takes on Sasha and her loved ones as
well as the care and attention needed to
support someone struggling with gender
dysphoria. — BOYD VAN HOEIJMINAMATA
Johnny Depp in the role of acclaimed
photo journalist W. Eugene Smith, who
brought attention to an environmental
tragedy in Japan, is the main thing this
film has going for it. Otherwise, director
Andrew Levitas and his co-screenwriters
rely on groanworthy cliches in re-creating
the battle waged by the titular town to
stop a factory from pouring toxic waste
into the nearby sea. — DEBORAH YOUNGMINYAN
Documaker Eric Steel makes an engross-
ing narrative feature debut with this film
starring a terrific Samuel H. Levine (who
turned heads this season on Broadway inThe Inheritance) as the 17-year-old gay
son of a Russian Jewish family in Brooklyn
in the 1980s. The shadow of AIDS looms as
religious tradition and community expec-
tations weigh on the protagonist’s search
for identity in a minor-key drama observed
with a compassionate gaze. — DAVID ROONEYMOGUL MOWGLI
British star Riz Ahmed (HBO’s The Night
Of) draws on his side career as a musician
in this semi-autobiographical drama that
he co-wrote with New York-based director
Bassam Tariq. Following a rapper who is
diagnosed with a serious autoimmune dis-
order, the modestly scaled passion project
is thoughtfully crafted and thematically
rich, even if one wishes it had more dra-
matic bite in places. — STEPHEN DALTONMY SALINGER YEAR
Philippe Falardeau (The Good Lie) directs
Margaret Qualley as the assistant to a
high-powered New York literary agent
played by Sigourney Weaver in this
adaptation of the 2014 memoir by Joanna
Rakoff. More jocular than insightful or
touching, the film has an emotional tem-
perature that doesn’t rise until late in the
proceedings — and then mostly thanks to
Weaver’s lip-smacking verve. — B.V.H.UNDINE
The myth of Undine, the water nymph who
has to kill her lover should he ever betray
her, gets a 21st century German makeover
courtesy of Christian Petzold, reuniting his
charismatic Tr a n s i t stars Paula Beer and
Franz Rogowski. The result is a romance
that’s sometimes uncomfortable, often
confounding, but also heartfelt and pro-
found in all its simplicity. — B.V.H.Berlinale Buzz
THR critics weigh in on new movies starring Johnny Depp
and Riz Ahmed, docs about gender dysphoria and a
charismatic pig, and more from the Berlin Film FestivalMy Salinger Year (top), Minamata (left) and Mogul Mowgli.Get an early brief of what matters
in entertainment now.
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