ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

Female Film Critics 24/375

Author: Liz Whittemore

Reviews 

COOKIE QUEENS – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , ,

Audiences follow four girls and their extremely different cookie goals over the six-week selling window. At one end of the spectrum is twelve-year-old former record holder Olive’s initial 4000-box goal (spoiler alert: she obliterates that number). On the other end of the spectrum is five-year-old Ara with 55. Shannon Elizabeth’s spirit keeps her nervous parents on track, while Nikki longs to step out of the shadow of her top-selling older sisters’ legacy. Each girl has a vibrant personality. Audiences will fall in love with them.

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Reviews 

FORBIDDEN FRUITS – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , , , , ,

Meredith Alloway’s deliciously campy horror comedy Forbidden Fruits follows three witchy retail queen bees and the new co-worker who dares to defy the clique and its hierarchy. Alloway and co-writer Lily Houghton deliver a cheeky mashup of Mean Girls and The Craft. In the Forbiden Fruits story, Cherry, Fig, and newcomer Pumpkin are dominated by Apple, but Pumpkin suspects that something rotten is in their shopping mall coven.

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Reviews 

BEAM ME UP, SULU – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , , , , , ,

Beam Me Up, Sulu documents how the pure gumption of a young admirer and student filmmaker kicked off decades of friendship and an alliance of like-minded Star Trek fans. In 1985, Stan Woo walked up to George Takei at a political event, with cocktail and his film script in hand. Takei saw in Stan Woo a passion that he recognized in himself, and he agreed to star in Woo’s low-budget indie film Yorktown: A Time To Heal, based on the Star Trek television series.

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Reviews 

THE BELDHAM – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , ,

Angela Gulner’s sinister psychological horror, The Beldham, follows a new mother who moves into an old house that her aging mother is in the process of flipping with the assistance of her new boyfriend and live-in aid. When sounds and visions begin to make Harper feel unsafe, her cries of fear are met with disdain and maternal gaslighting. As signs that something in this house is not quite right mount, Harper must confront the past to survive the present.

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Reviews 

IF THAT MOCKINGBIRD DON’T SING – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , ,

Filmmaker Sadie Bones tells the story of 17-year-old Sydnie, who, upon discovering she is pregnant, uses it as an excuse to get her ex back. In If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing, Sydnie has no plan for college when her boyfriend breaks up with her the morning after prom. Sydnie, depressed and most certainly guided by an underdeveloped and hormonal brain, decides her best bet in getting Lucas to rekindle his relationship with her is keeping the baby despite all her familial advice to the contrary. When Lucas’s religious mother gets on board and pulls her son out of college to take ownership of his behavior, Sydnie’s prospects do not look any brighter.

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Reviews 

AMERICAN SWEATSHOP – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , ,

There is much to unpack in Uta Briesewitz’s new feature American Sweatshop. The film follows Daisy, a 25-year-old whose job is inarguably the worst. She is a social media content moderator. Daisy spends her days watching morally questionable videos reported by the online community. She then decides whether they warrant a pass based on Freedom of Speech or if they are hateful, offensive, gory, or unlawful enough to hit delete.

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Reviews 

A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , ,

A life chronicled most intimately and authentically, the Payne family experiences physical and emotional upheaval following a family tragedy. Choosing to raise their family on a secluded Norwegian farm, Maria and Nik wanted nothing more than to instill a love of nature in their children. Potentially forced to sell the beloved farm that holds all their memories, Nik, Freja, Falk, Ulv, and eldest daughter Ronja, navigate unfathomable loss and fight to remain connected.

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Reviews 

YEAR OF THE FOX – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , ,

In Megan Griffiths’ The Year of the Fox, Ivy finds herself caught between girlhood and adulthood as her parents’ messy divorce pulls her from Aspen to Seattle. Her father is a scientist notorious for his lavish parties. As Ivy struggles with her burgeoning sexuality, a doting older man breaks open the gross truth of her environment.

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Reviews 

TO KILL A WOLF – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , ,

Filmmaker Kelsey Taylor takes inspiration from Little Red Riding Hood in her haunting feature, To Kill A Wolf. The story follows a reclusive Woodsman as he spends his days searching for traps in the wilderness surrounding his cabin. He purposely triggers them to protect the animals. On one of his voyages, he discovers a half-frozen young girl and takes her to his cabin for rehabilitation.

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Reviews 

SHOSHANA – Review by Liz Whittemore

Liz Whittemore , , , , , , ,

As history repeats itself in Gaza, filmmaker Michael Winterbottom brings audiences Shoshana, based on the true love story of Shoshana Borochov, a Jewish woman, and Thomas Wilkin, a British police officer, set against the backdrop of the British Mandate in Palestine during the 1930s. The two must navigate a relationship amid growing political unrest and British colonial presence. Shoshana is more a historical thriller than an epic love story. It is a harsh reminder about the dangers of pride, our moral flexibility during times of war, and the hope that love can prevail.

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