Discontents

‘Who by Fire’ Review: Masculinity and Its Discontents

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‘Who by Fire’ Review: Masculinity and Its Discontents

One enduring storytelling strategy is to put some characters in a cage and watch them fight it out. There’s a reason so many mysteries, thrillers and horror movies take place in close quarters: Lockdowns have a way of turning people into lab animals. And whatever the cause — nature, nurture or screenwriting contrivance — when … Read more

‘Freud’s Last Session’ Review: Film Adaptation and Its Discontents

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‘Freud’s Last Session’ Review: Film Adaptation and Its Discontents

In “Freud’s Last Session,” when the Oxford academic C.S. Lewis (Matthew Goode) arrives late to the London home of Sigmund Freud (Anthony Hopkins), Freud’s chow chow, Jofi, brushes him off. The dog, Freud explains, values punctuality. The men’s encounter — concocted for Mark St. Germain’s 2009 play of the same title — is imaginary, but … Read more