Anora
For all its anxiety inducing set pieces, the most masterful thing about Sean Baker's electric "Anora" is that all the controlled chaos only makes the quiet, reflective moments that much more powerful. As the title character, Mikey Madison gives a ferociously alive portrayal of a woman caught up in a spiral of very messed-up hide and seek when her newlywed Russian husband goes missing, and his very powerful family's goons push her along in their sweaty, nocturnal search. Perched between desperate vulnerability and hilarious, Three Stooges-like humor, "Anora" throttles along with the speed and emotional ingenuity that's been brewing in Baker's oeuvre for a long time now. Whether it's the wind-swept beauty of bodies hustling alongside Coney Island or the half-observed face of Madison as she slinks down in the front seat of an SUV and cries, "Anora" is Baker's masterpiece that captures the ragged beauty of both the interior and exterior.
Blitz
Steve McQueen's World War II drama "Blitz" comes at one in unexpected ways. A double story about survival and the fire borne horrors of Germany's incessant bombing of London during 1940, mother (Sairose Ronan, again brilliant) and son (newcomer Elliot Hefferman) are separated early on in the film when parents are encouraged to evacuate their children for safety. From there, the emotional weight is posited on how each one survives the blitzkrieg- mother joining the ranks of those trying to help those sheltering in the underground stations, and son hopping off the train and trying to make his way back to London. If "Blitz" doesn't completely succeed, it's in the Dickinsian tale of George that strikes a few notes of imbalance, namely his short time with a gang of corpse robbers led by the menacing Stephen Graham. At times, McQueen loses ahold of the tone, but it often recovers and becomes an excitingly lensed and movingly scored film about the things that keep people moving forward during times of crisis.
