Zhang Yimou’s landmark Red Trilogy started with this stunning debut feature.

Andrei Tarkovsky’s post-apocalyptic meditation on faith is one of cinema’s most mysterious, transfixing films.

Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland’s trip to save the Sun is about the danger of putting mysticism over science.

Fritz Lang’s 1931 masterpiece remains an urgent critique of groupthink and mob mentalities.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s unclassifiable 1999 masterpiece is still a revelation. The new essay is exclusive to DFR’s Patreon.

Part Western, part film noir, this Spencer Tracy classic is a vital American story about standing up to xenophobia masquerading as patriotism.

Pedro Almodóvar’s most awarded feature is a celebration of women in every form.

Jules Dassin’s prison-break film offers a potent metaphor for how Americans must fight against fascist tyrants to preserve their freedom and humanity.

Gillo Pontecorvo’s landmark 1966 feature is political and anticolonial filmmaking at its best.