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What stands out first about The Lovers is the confidence with which Azazel Jacobs establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Lovers asks Debra Winger and Tracy Letts to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Lovers is established with useful clarity: Debra Winger and Tracy Letts play a long married, dispassionate couple who are both in the midst of serious affairs. That direct approach lets The Lovers use its 1h 37m run

What stands out first about The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the confidence with which Yorgos Lanthimos establishes its horror film identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Killing of a Sacred Deer asks Barry G. Bernson and Herb Caillouet to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Killing of a Sacred Deer is established with useful clarity: Steven, a charismatic surgeon, is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice after his life starts to fall

What stands out first about The Resurrection of Gavin Stone is the confidence with which Dallas Jenkins establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone asks Brett Dalton and Anjelah Johnson Reyes to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Resurrection of Gavin Stone is established with useful clarity: A washed up former child star, forced to do community service at a local megachurch, pretends to b

What stands out first about Jeepers Creepers III is the confidence with which Victor Salva establishes its horror film identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Jeepers Creepers III asks Stan Shaw and Gabrielle Haugh to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Jeepers Creepers III is established with useful clarity: Sheriff Dan Tashtego and a team of creeper hunters enlist the help of officer Davis Tubbs to help stop the monster's eating spree. That d

What stands out first about Papillon is the confidence with which Michael Noer establishes its crime drama identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Papillon asks Charlie Hunnam and Damijan Oklopdzic to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Papillon is established with useful clarity: Wrongfully convicted for murder, Henri Charriere forms an unlikely relationship with fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter, Louis Dega, in an attempt to es

What stands out first about Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! is the confidence with which Kunihiko Yuyama establishes its animated adventure identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! asks Unshô Ishizuka and Rica Matsumoto to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! is established with useful clarity: Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town is 10 years old today. That direct approach lets Pokémon t

What stands out first about T2 Trainspotting is the confidence with which Danny Boyle establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, T2 Trainspotting asks Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of T2 Trainspotting is established with useful clarity: After 20 years abroad, Mark Renton returns to Scotland and reunites with his old friends Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie. That direct approach lets T2 Trainspo

What stands out first about Mary and the Witch's Flower is the confidence with which Hiromasa Yonebayashi establishes its animated adventure identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Mary and the Witch's Flower asks Hana Sugisaki and Ryûnosuke Kamiki to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Mary and the Witch's Flower is established with useful clarity: Based on "The Little Broomstick" by Mary Stewart, a strange flower grants a girl magic powers. T

What stands out first about The Rider is the confidence with which Chloé Zhao establishes its western identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Rider asks Brady Jandreau and Mooney to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Rider is established with useful clarity: After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America. That direct approach lets T

What stands out first about Tulip Fever is the confidence with which Justin Chadwick establishes its romance identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Tulip Fever asks Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Tulip Fever is established with useful clarity: An artist falls for a young married woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of seventeenth century Amsterdam. That direct approa

What stands out first about You Were Never Really Here is the confidence with which Lynne Ramsay establishes its thriller identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, You Were Never Really Here asks Joaquin Phoenix and Judith Roberts to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of You Were Never Really Here is established with useful clarity: A traumatized veteran unafraid of violence tracks down missing girls for a living. That direct approach lets You Were

What stands out first about Do It Like An Hombre is the confidence with which Nicolás López establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Do It Like An Hombre asks Mauricio Ochmann and Alfonso Dosal to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Do It Like An Hombre is established with useful clarity: Raúl, Eduardo, and Santiago have led a happy, "straight" life since their childhood, until one day, Santiago tells the others that he is