AWFJ Presents: THE WHITE KING – Review by Lonita Cook

Frequently when we try to create perfection, something gruesome emerges instead. Unyielding, unforgiving. This is certainly the dystopian nature of the fictitious Homeland where Djata and his mother, Hannah, reside as outcasts after Djata’s father, Peter, is taken as a traitorous prisoner, punished for speaking out. This fairytale isn’t about the bullying fist of a shadowed government and a lean sense of personal autonomy but rather the lifting haze over a child’s consciousness as the authority of their parent’s word wears off. Djata is okay with the way of the world until his mother transforms from a mythological god in his eyes to a mere mortal who lies.

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AMMONITE – Review by Martha K Baker

Dramatizing the intersecting lives of 19th century paleontologist Mary Anning (1799-1847), geologist Charlotte Murchison and fossil-finder Elizabeth Philpot, Ammonite may not be totally true, but it brings these underrecognized women of science, their work and world into the spotlight.

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KINDRED – Review by Liz Braun

Kindred is a psychological thriller, but not exactly as advertised. The film is about a pregnant, grieving woman trapped in the house of her malevolent in-laws; for scary material, ‘pregnant’ would have covered it. All the horror hallmarks are here — ominous ravens, isolated locations, keening string music — but the dark heart of the story is maternal instinct.

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