My Week In Film: November 10, 2025
Palmes, Couscous and a Trip To The Stars
I’m back for a second week of this diary, so perhaps it’s something I’ll stick to. It’s been wonderful to be back on the internet after shutting my previous blog down a few years go, I enjoy writing about the films I watch and appreciate the people who have signed up for this account. Ratings are out of 5.
It Was Just An Accident
Yek tasadof-e sadeh
Jafar Panahi, 2025
Rating: BBBB
Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Delnaz Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi, Georges Hashemzadeh
A married couple and their daughter are driving late at night when they accidentally hit a dog and need to find someone to repair their vehicle. The garage they stop at agrees to help them, but what the man who was driving the car doesn’t know is that one of the employees at the shop, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) decides he recognizes him from his past. The next day, Vahid goes in search of this man, beats him, ties him up in his van and drives him to the desert, where he digs a deep hole, throws him in and tells him that he knows him as Eghbal, aka “Peg Leg”, the man who tortured him in prison. The man protests his innocence and creates enough reasonable doubt to make Vahid believe the possibility that he might not be the guy he’s after, so he piles him back into the van and drives him to his friend Salar, who was imprisoned with him, to ask for a backup identification. Salar tells him he can’t help him but sends him to Shiva, a photographer who was also tortured in prison, who is in the middle of a wedding shoot when Vahid finds her and, it turns out, the bride-to-be was also a victim of Eghbal. For further confirmation, they find Shiva’s ex, Hamid, who might be able to help them if he gets his explosive, traumatized temper under control.
A group of characters driving around without a destination, seeking vengeance while confused about the facts, is a situation that is both darkly dramatic and humorously absurd, raising questions about the moral value of revenge: if it means diminishing your own humanity to match the cruelty of those who were inhumane towards you, does it matter so much that you’re right? The message that this film wants to tell us, that moral certainty is not for moral people, is stated plainly and feels a tad stale by the time we reach the conclusion, but for all that it’s not complicated film, it’s not a simple one, the acting is far too good to ruin the experience even if none of the characters ever seem fully three-dimensional. Panahi is so adept at keeping things moving that there isn’t a second of boredom, in fact what it has going against it most is the fact that it reminds one of his best narrative film and won’t provide much of a shock to his established fans. It’s more than wonderful to see this masterful filmmaker, who shot in Iran in secret and finished post-production in France, return to the glories of traditional feature storytelling after having navigated his way through experimental and personal projects while under a (continuing) ban from filmmaking in his home country. For those uninitiated in his works, it’s a marvelous place to start, while those already up on his filmography might find it a happy reminder of the likes of Crimson Gold or Taxi. When my co-host Gregory Rosebrugh and I cover this film and its fellow Cannes competitors on our Palme D’Or podcast, Riviera Rats, it’s likely we’ll have much more to say about this film in relation to its competitors, but for now my early suspicion is that it was given the top prize not because it was that much better than its competitors, but because it had the most to say.
Roofman
Derek Cianfrance, 2025
Rating: BBBB
Cast: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn, Uzo Aduba, Emory Cohen, Melonie Diaz, Molly Price, Lily Collias, Kennedy Moyer, Tony Revolori, Jimmy O. Yang, Punkie Johnson
The true story of Jeffrey Manchester, an army veteran and unemployed father turned career criminal, is given generous but not indulgent sympathy by Cianfrance. Too broke to buy his daughter anything worthwhile and sensitive to his ex-wife’s criticism about his failures, Manchester (played in a career-best performance by Channing Tatum) uses the problem-solving skills that made him so invaluable during his service with the 82nd Airborne Division to pull off flawless robberies at no end of McDonald’s restaurants, hiding in rooftops overnight and robbing the staff at gunpoint in the morning (and, when interviewed, the victims describe him as a really nice guy). Jeffrey’s luck eventually runs out and he is sent to prison, but a slick escape sees him back on home turf again, hoping to get help from his fellow army buddy Steve (LaKeith Stanfield), who has turned to making fake I.D.s since his own service with the armed forces ended. The trouble is, Steve won’t be around for a while and Jeffrey needs to hide, so he creates a private domicile in a Toys ‘R’ Us, where he sleeps during business hours or observes the goings-on in the store on surveillance cameras he has set up back there, then has free reign of the floor (and its candy inventory) at night. The store is managed by a real soul-crusher of a boss (Peter Dinklage) who has little sympathy for his employees’ personal lives, including a struggling, single mom named Leigh (Kirsten Dunst) who captures Manchester’s sympathy. A series of events soon find him visiting her church and eventually romancing her, and it isn’t hard to figure out (even if you don’t know the true story) that his making an emotional connection with someone unaware of his criminal activities will eventually lead to his capture.
Cianfrance tells us a story of small lives in a small town without ever capitalizing on exploitative poor-shaming, instead placing his focus on America’s failure to capitalize on its own resources. With an exceptionally high I.Q. and an impressive reserve of survival skills, Manchester’s talents are wasted on the wrong side of law and, while there is no sense that Cianfrance is asking us to forgive or excuse his crimes, we do find ourselves wondering why this person hasn’t had more opportunities to put his strengths to good use (and maybe we’re also wondering why the richest country in the world has so many people desperately fighting to hold on to low-level retail jobs). The characters are all mesmerizing, neither charmingly quaint or bitter trash, and the sexy chemistry between the leads allows us to feel like we’re watching an escapist fairy tale without ever minimizing the seriousness of Manchester’s personal issues. The humour is calibrated at the perfect frequency alongside a plot that never falters, it’s a deeply felt and impactful experience.
The Secret of the Grain
La graine et le mulet (aka Couscous)
Abdellatif Kechiche, 2007
Rating: BBBBB
Cast: Habib Boufares, Hafsia Herzi, Hatika Karaoui, Bouraouïa Marzouk, Farida Benkhetache, Abdelhamid Aktouche, Alice Houri, Cyril Favre, Sami Zitouni, Sabrina Ouazani, Mohamed Benabdeslem, Henri Cohen, Violaine de Carné, Carole Franck, Bruno Lochet
A French Arab family living in the seaside town of Sète have their lives upended by one member’s desire to start a new business. Slimane and Saoud have been divorced for quite some time, he now spending his time with his hotel-owning mistress Latifa and caring for her daughter Rym as lovingly as he does his own children (though they don’t feel that way about it). When he is fired from his meagre living at the local shipyard, Slimane is inspired to pivot his life goals at the age of sixty-one and open a restaurant on a derelict boat that he owns, relying on his ex-wife’s cooking to make him a success. Everyone who tries Souad’s fish couscous declares it to be the best they ever had, so Slimane, despite all the subtle but ever-present frictions between everyone in this group, teams up with Rym and takes on the even more daunting nightmares of business bureaucracy as they deal with permits, investors and loans. Lest you think this is a story about triumph over adversity, however, keep in mind that what we are setting up is not a tale of the heroism of the underdog, but an examination of the incredible amount of noise that we mere mortals, always at odds with each other in our conflicting desires and passions, are perpetually making in this life, the result always a disaster regardless of whether or not it turns a profit. Kechiche is much more interested in energy than in plot, training his camera on the buzzing activities of shouting, and even louder eating, being expressed by the vibrant members of his cast, letting all concerns about resolving narrative threads fall well by the wayside. That doesn’t mean, however, that the film is formless, building a great deal of interest, tension and, thanks to the magnificent characterizations, affection towards an ulcer-inducing climactic final hour aboard the proposed restaurant, topped off by a belly-dance-ex-machina that feels like it could set the screen on fire. An astounding work of art.
Audition
Ōdishon
Takashi Miike, 1999
Rating: BBBB
Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Jun Kunimura, Tetsu Sawaki, Miyuki Matsuda, Toshie Negishi, Shigeru Saiki, Ken Mitsuishi, Ren Ohsugi, Renji Ishibashi
The tragic loss of his wife is hard on television producer Shigeharu and his teen son Shigehiko, but time passes and the man’s loneliness soon has him looking to find companionship again. Yasuhisa, his colleague at work, suggests killing two birds with one stone by bringing women in to try out for a program they are producing, and see if one of the candidates won’t be perfect to ask out on a date as well. Shigeharu agrees and ends up feeling a strong attraction to Asami, a young, mysterious woman who happily agrees to go out with him. Their romance progresses nicely even though Yasuhisa says he cannot find any proof of the references she provided in her audition, and wonders if she isn’t running a scam on his friend. We, the audience, get a glimpse of what Asami has tied up in a bag at home, and know that our hero being defrauded is the least of his worries. A high point in tense horror filmmaking, this superb nail-biter builds character and drama in the quietest and most subtle manner, saving its explosive (to say the least) revelations for a terrifying final act. It’s a magnificent work held aloft by confident direction and a flawless cast.
Beyond The Stars
David Saperstein, 1989
Rating: BBB
Cast: Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, Robert Foxworth, Sharon Stone, Olivia d’Abo, F. Murray Abraham, Don S. Davis, William S. Taylor, Babz Chula, Terence Kelly
An Oklahoma teenager (Christian Slater) obsessed with following his dream of becoming an astronaut has ideas about building rockets that he pours into personal projects, but gets into trouble when a test launch on the grounds outside his school results in broken windows and damaged school property. As punishment, he is sent to Oregon to spend his suspension with his father (Robert Foxworth), who was laid off by NASA and is motivated by bitterness to oppose his son’s goals. His dad’s kind-hearted girlfriend (Sharon Stone, in a truly lovely performance) is more sympathetic, as is a waitress (Olivia d’Abo) with whom he begins a romance, but what really changes his fortune is meeting his hero, an ex-astronaut (Martin Sheen) who has retired from the space program and is concealing the truth about his terminal illness. Unfriendly and unwilling to indulge the whims of what he thinks is a misguided and annoying kid, Sheen eventually softens and lets Slater help him around the house for the summer, and a mentor relationship develops that has positive effect on the kid’s connection to his father. Good acting and a genuine desire to put across a poignant story make this one worth your while, but there are strange eccentricities to the experience that are hard to ignore. A third-act cameo by F. Murray Abraham as an obsessed whale watcher who delivers a message about ecological preservation feels forced in from a different film, and a touch of science-fiction in literally the final frames of the film is beyond bizarre.
Paris 1900
Nicole Vedres, 1947
Rating: BBBB
Cast: Claude Dauphin, Mistinguett, Monty Woolley
Director Védrès puts together a fascinating assemblage of historical footage covering the history of the City of Lights, from the turn of the century through to the beginning of the first World War. Released after the finish World War II, Védrès is reminding the French of the strong history of culture and survival that their capital city is built on, from festivals and celebrations to the enduring of natural disasters. It’s a magnificent time capsule compiled with skill and sensitivity. This film played at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival, and will be covered on a forthcoming episode of the Riviera Rats podcast.
The Seduction
David Schmoeller, 1982
Rating: BB
Cast: Morgan Fairchild, Michael Sarrazin, Vince Edwards, Andrew Stevens, Colleen Camp, Kevin Brophy, Betty Kean, Wendy Smith Howard, Joanne Linville, Marri Mak
A highly successful news anchorwoman (played by a terrific Morgan Fairchild) thinks nothing of the amorous messages she receives from a fan, but it isn’t long before they take on a dangerous tinge and she begins to worry for her safety. Sending flowers to her station is one thing, but when the obsessive psycho (played by Andrew Stevens) starts breaking into her dressing room and then shows up at her home, she is genuinely terrified for her life. The police tell her they can’t do anything unless the guy actually attempts to harm her, while her colleague and boyfriend (Michael Sarrazin) is at first quick to treat her like an oversensitive hysteric until his encounter with the man reveals that he needs to help protect her. Despite the fact that this film is entirely made as an excuse for its steamy (literally) hot-tub love scenes and the occasional chance to see Fairchild naked, it actually does have moments that feel sincere about presenting the vulnerabilities of a woman who is subjected to a man’s aggression (in the guise of a compliment) while getting little help from everyone around her. It has a terrific third act, in which the lady decides to take things into her own hands, but it sags somewhere along the way, there isn’t enough plot for its feature length and the unflattering comparisons to something de Palma would make of this story become unavoidable once the proceedings run out of energy. In an era when plenty of movies of its type were being made, this one falls far behind The Fan, but it could be a hell of a lot worse and it does have its worthwhile thrills.
Shadows In Mind
Mark Schwab, 2023
Rating: 0
A volunteer at a call centre geared towards the LGBT community is bored with the whiny phone calls he is constantly fielding when someone calls in and announces that he plans to kill his friends and wants this stranger to know why. We flash back to the tale of a young, entry-level Silicon Valley employee who finds love with the perfect boyfriend and has found the cure to his loneliness. Two dinner dates with his boyfriend’s friends, however, opens his eyes to the fact that he is being groomed for exploitation by pornographers who won’t take no for an answer. Made on a miniscule budget with little characterization or atmosphere that is convincing, from the empty, brand-new houses to the plastic dialogue, this laughably bad attempt to reveal the dark underside of the glamorous world of sex work has far too little suspense to convincingly deliver a message about anything important, its cheapness making it come off as moralizing lecture. Originally released in 2019 as Crisis Hotline, later re-edited and reissued under the new title, this film was just covered on the BGM podcast as well.
Good Old Daze
Le Peril Jeune
Cedric Klapisch, 1994
Rating: BB.5
Cast: Romain Duris, Julien Lambroschini, Joachim Lombard, Nicolas Koretzky, Vincent Elbaz, Lisa Faulkner, Julie-Anne Roth, Hélène de Fougerolles, Élodie Bouchez, Caroline Damiens, Coco Bouiller, Eric Andreini, Jackie Berroyer, Caroline Proust
Four men in their twenties show up in a hospital neonatal ward and announce that they are there to witness the birth of a baby whose father, their friend from high school, has recently died of a drug overdose. As they wait for the blessed event, and make more noise than the nursing staff can handle, they flash back to their salad days when they struggled with exams and conflicts with teachers, and did their best to negotiate the distance between their desire to succeed and their late friend’s dedication to rebellion. Romain Duris makes his film debut in this early film by Klapisch, with whom he would collaborate many more times, here showing star quality from the very beginning of his highly successful career as a leading man in the French film industry. The rest of the cast, including Élodie Bouchez, four years before her Cannes-winning performance in The Dreamlife of Angels, is terrific, but the screenplay has no central strength beyond its general desire to capture a renegade spirit of youth as it bumbles through each successive sequence. It feels like an overlong jeans commercial more than a feature film with a tight focus, for some it will be downright boring, but it keeps enough of an ironic distance from its complicated lead character to at least not feel manipulative in its desire to turn him into a romantic icon.