When They See Us Is A Sprawling And Appropriately Harrowing Artistic Accomplishment

CW: Discussions of sexual assault, racism 

One of the core tenants of Ava DuVernay's filmmaking is her ability to transport the viewer directly into history. Under her directing, the works of Ava DuVernay have an ability to bring you into the past to a harrowing degree, as most notably seen in one of the most emotionally devastating scenes of Selma where Martin Luther King Jr. meets with a man whose son was just killed in a racist hate crime. It's an intimate scene and one where DuVernay captures it with such a raw quality that lays out the emotions of the characters bare that you feel like you're in that same room with that grieving father and Martin Luther King Jr. DuVernay's works like Selma, The 13th or her newest directorial effort When They See Us explore people of color dehumanized in their own eras of American history and proceed to make cinema about those same individuals so powerful that we're right there next to them in their moments of joy, in their struggles and in their humanity.

Wakefield Can't Come Up With Enough Depth For Its Lead Characters Journey Of Self-Discovery

Life has not been easy for Howard Wakefield (Bryan Cranston), a guy who feels like life has been piling up on him between a dissatisfying job, a fractured relationship with his wife and two daughters who'd rather he didn't exist at all. He's looking for some escape from his existence and he finds the chance for just that when he rediscovers the little attic space in his families garage (which is a separate building from their house). Here, he discovers there's a lot of room in here as well as a window through which he can watch his families comings and goings. Suddenly, an attic used to store seasonal decorations and camping equipment is looking mighty inviting.

The Best Parts Of The Promise Frustratingly Tussle With Its Lack Of Substance

In 1914, young Armenian man Mikael (Oscar Isaac) has traveled to Constantinople, a city located in the Ottoman Empire, in order to further his education that he can pursue his career as a doctor. Being a medical student in this prestigious city is not cheap and his family can afford to send him here by way of a donation from a man in Mikael's village who wishes for Mikael to be arranged to marry his daughter. With both an arranged marriage and prospective years of education lying in front of him, the future seems rife with potential for Mikael, though a wrench is thrown into his marriage-related plans when he begins to fall for the already married Ana (Charlotte Le Bon).