Hammer to Nail

(Here at Hammer to Nail, we are all about true independent cinema. But we also have to tip our hat to the great films that continue to inspire filmmakers and cinephiles alike. This week, Jonathan Marlow takes a journey to...

Elliot Page has been nothing but forthcoming about his transition. After a best-selling memoir detailing his experiences, Page is now ready to explore the issues trans people face on-screen in the new drama Close To You. Directed by BAFTA-winner Dominic Savage,...

Over the past few years, a series of exposés and media (see Killers of the Flower Moon) have shed light on various injustices inflicted on Indigenous populations throughout history. But nothing will truly prepare you for the earth-shattering truths uncovered...

Nothing is as haunting as when a mother loses her child. Mothers’ Instinct, the directorial debut of cinematographer Benoît Delhomme (At Eternity’s Gate) stars Anna Hathaway as a 1950s suburban housewife and mother whose son has a fatal fall from...

The Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland has announced the lineup for its 77th edition, taking place August 7 – 17. The variety of films features numerous highly-anticipated new titles and restorations from auteurs. Highlights include Hong Sang-soo’s By The...

Last Summer was written and directed by Catherine Breillat. The film premiered in the main competition of Cannes in 2023. Breillat is a legendary French filmmaker who is responsible for masterpieces such as Fat Girl, Romance and, The Last Mistress....

Director Ramona Diaz (A Thousand Cuts) premiered her latest documentary about the Philippines, And So It Begins, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival (where I reviewed it). In the movie, Diaz covers the 2022 presidential election in that country, embedding...

After bringing audiences to tears with her urgent directorial debut The Fallout, writer-director Megan Park delivers a more lighthearted and hilarious look at female adolescence in her comedy My Old Ass. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year,...

Writer-director Chris Skotchdopole puts a new spin on the home invasion thriller in his feature debut, Crumb Catcher. The film centers on a married couple whose newlywed bliss is interrupted when they are held captive in a remote lake house...

(Check out Chris Reed’s Chronicles of a Wandering Saint movie review, the film startsits theater rollout Friday, June 28. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.) Death may be no cause for joy, but sometimes the absurdities...