Hammer to Nail

No matter the production budget and the resources at his disposal, Sean Baker never fails to deliver an unforgettable cinematic experience. The director follows up 2019’s Red Rocket with a new exploration of the lives of sex workers, which is...

Demi Moore goes to quite the lengths to find everlasting beauty in a new jaw-dropping body horror from writer-director Coralie Fargeat (2018’s Revenge). The Substance, one of the most buzzed-about films at this year’s Cannes (where it picked up Best...

(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,...