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We rely on readers to keep our website open to all. Help sustain a public space for collective reasoning and imagination—make a tax-deductible donation today.
Browse our essays and reviews on film and TV.
A long line of films tracks the solidarities that arise when prohibition makes friendship too perilous.
Fifty years ago, the American Indian Movement occupied the site of a historic massacre. They won real gains in the face of brutal counterinsurgency tactics.
The novel Kindred reminds us—emphatically, gruesomely—that white supremacy is us too.
From street demonstrations to song, dance, film, and poetry, women are advancing a long legacy of struggle against authoritarianism in Iran.
Its illegitimacy goes far beyond the war on drugs.
Recent works depict the agonies and rage of being a low-wage housekeeper or nanny. But all fail to identify capitalism itself as the culprit.
In the 1974 cult-classic teleplay Penda’s Fen, the past holds the key to escaping the catastrophic present.
Ron Howard’s Netflix adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy continues a long tradition of seeing hillbillies as a symbol of pristine American whiteness.
Current contempt for age gap relationships serves to strip both men and women of their agency.
Alternate histories like Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America—newly adapted by HBO—force us to imagine a different America.
A timely new documentary celebrates Morrison’s novels, but downplays the enduring power of her work as an editor and essayist.
‘Amazing Grace,’ the long-lost film of Franklin’s gospel album, offers a lesson in the deep connections between gospel and soul music.
Boots Riley's film, Sorry to Bother You, roasts racial capitalism and issues an unapologetic call for revolution.
‘Happy End’ is the culmination of Haneke’s obsession with how technology mediates our desires.
A new book takes on the titans of twentieth-century cinema, fetishes and all.
When your father is trans, memoir is both personal and political.
Tilda Swinton, icon of indy cinema, is masterful in A Bigger Splash.
Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups is lost in its own symbolism.
In Paolo Sorrentino's Youth, the crossroads of despair and integrity.
The Wonders subverts the typical female coming-of-age story.
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That’s what sociologist Alondra Nelson says of Boston Review. Independent and nonprofit, we believe in the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.
That’s why there are no paywalls on our website, but we can’t do it without the support of our readers. Please make a tax-deductible donation to help us create a more inclusive and egalitarian public sphere—open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
That’s what sociologist Alondra Nelson says of Boston Review. Independent and nonprofit, we believe in the power of collective reasoning and imagination to create a more just world.
That’s why there are no paywalls on our website, but we can’t do it without the support of our readers. Please make a tax-deductible donation to help us create a more inclusive and egalitarian public sphere—open to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
