It's easy to mistake Megalopolis for a Shakespearean drama about American politics. While the political fable is there, the film's true tension is between older generations standing in the way of the next generation's attempt at progress.

Synecdoche, New York is a daunting movie that's actually quite simple. Actually, it's so simple that if I summarized it here, you wouldn't need to check out the article. But I'll tell you anyways: It's about not wasting time, in life and art.

What is Transformers One about? Transformers One introduces the idea of “staying on protocol” as a challenge to viewers. It’s that message that you’re more than meets the eye. You have potential. But it’s easy to get swept up by…

What is Vanilla Sky about? For those who want a quick answer—Vanilla Sky is pretty straightforward. Everything that Tech Support says in the final scene is true. Tom Cruise is having a lucid dream. He did die (sort of) and…

What is Mad God about? On the surface, Mad God is a “what if” that imagines a world in which God has punished human arrogance. This is why the opening cites both the story of the Tower of Babel and…

Speak No Evil has more going on than just an excellent performance from James McAvoy. It has two primary themes. One, the importance of healthy honesty. And two, the influence of parents on children.

What is the point of The Substance? The Substance uses a female perspective to explore aging and the impact of media and the entertainment industry on beauty standards. Elisabeth Sparkle is a negative example. Who not to be. If you…

What is the point of Strange Darling? Strange Darling is about perception and how quick people are to jump to conclusions based on biases and limited information. The movie portrays that through the dynamic between “The Lady” and “The Demon”.…

In The Deliverance, director Lee Daniels uses the horror genre to viscerally explore spiritual warfare, generational trauma, and the quest for redemption. Ebony’s battle to protect her family coincides with her own battle with internal darkness, with systemic oppression.

Blink Twice joins a long line of r*pe-revenge films that started with Bergman’s The Virgin Spring and has continued through the decades with films like The Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, Red Sonja, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Promising Young Woman. Kravitz brings the genre into the social media age, playing on modern aspects of society that involve influencers and reality-versus-Instagram.

What is Longlegs about? Longlegs is about the ways in which parents protect children and how that can often take the form of preventing them from growing up. Ruth lies to Lee about what she does for a living, who…