60 DAYS OF CINEMA

Director Levan Akin centers the vital spirit of Istanbul’s trans community in this poignant story of unlikely connection. With three exquisite performances that vividly transcend generational divides, Crossing is a defiant city symphony and a compassionate tale of hope, identity, and forgiveness.

Three lovers spin in a vortex of pent-up desire and resentment in Ira Sachs’ fresh, honest and acerbically funny take on messy, modern relationships. Just like its dynamic leads—Franz Rogowski, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Ben Whishaw—this refreshingly fluid relationship drama simply oozes sex appeal.

In this seductively twisted, modern romantic thriller, obsession is taken to wondrous and vertiginous extremes. Without a doubt one of the most electrifying minds working in cinema today, Park Chan-wook won the Best Director award at Cannes for his sumptuous, Hitchcockian masterwork.

After the discretion of Wendy and Lucy Kelly Reichardt surprised us with her own take on the Western genre: intensely focused, fascinatingly observant, and loaded with portent. It continues Reichardt’s rich partnership with Michelle Williams, but it is Bruce Greenwood as Meek who steals the show.

This deeply personal short from Yann Mounir Demange is incandescent with love and vulnerability. Beautifully led by Riz Ahmed and featuring designs by fashion house AMI, Dammi conjures a uniquely transportive vision of Paris for its dreamlike exploration of cultural identity and family ties.

With sharp wit and cathartic intensity, Coralie Fargeat turns toxic beauty culture inside out in her mind-blowing latest feature. Powered by a career-best performance from Demi Moore, The Substance fearlessly bulldozes its way into the midnight-movie pantheon and the feminist canon.