Following a plane crash a group of schoolboys find themselves on a deserted island. They appoint a leader and attempt to create an organized society for the sake of their survival. Democracy and order soon begin to crumble when a breakaway faction regresses to savagery with horrifying consequences.

A friend involved in A Free Palestine (a series of events marking the anniversary of the Nakba) recommended me this film.

Palestine ‘36, directed by Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, portrays village life during the Great Arab Revolt of 1936 — the largest and longest uprising against Britain’s three decades of colonial rule in the region. Through a tapestry of characters from distinct walks of life, the film weaves together overlapping tensions: colonial oppression, deep religious identity, an unbreakable love for the land, and the rise of rebel groups pushing back against both the British establishment and Zionist colonial ambitions.

Shot on location in Palestine — remarkably, the only feature film to do so in the past two years — it premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival to a 20-minute standing ovation.

After watching it, I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to broaden their understanding of the Palestinian political conflict — particularly its historical roots, which are often absent from contemporary coverage.

What stays with you is the weight of knowing this happened nearly 90 years ago, and that the situation has only deteriorated since.

Arriving just after Hitchcock’s Psycho and at the early rise of the psychological thriller era¹, “Red Desert” carves out a space that is wholly its own. Instead of focusing solely on its protagonist’s mental struggles—a mother navigating her unease—Antonioni’s first venture into color directs attention outward. The result is a vivid meditation on industrialization, rendered through evocative visuals and atmospheric sound.

Richard Brody of The New Yorker notes, “The characters in his movies seem thin because their environment is developed so thickly; yet that environment, he suggests, is, though exterior to them, an inextricable part of them.” This captures the film’s spirit: the landscape and inner life are woven together, making “Red Desert” far more than a study in psychological distress. It’s an exploration of how the world and those who inhabit it shape one another.

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles. While successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted and confused, he finds temporary solace in the decadent Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to his daily pain, and every encounter brings him closer to finding his place in the world.

An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.

Carol White, a Los Angeles housewife in the late 1980s, comes down with a debilitating illness with no clear diagnosis.

An innovative approach in retelling the tale of Judas Iscariot, known for his biblical betrayal of Jesus when he disclosed his whereabouts for 30 pieces of silver. About to die, Judas reflects on his life and his relationship with Jesus and the disciples.

I’ll admit it—Pamela Anderson’s closet picks led me here.

Helen, a London ad executive, is fired from her job and rushes out to catch a train, but, as she runs down, her life suddenly splits off. In one version she catches the train; in the second, she misses it. Her whole life changes in that one second, and the rest of the film depicts what happens in each scenario.