Nicholas Bell

Chief film critic and reporter for IG: RagingBells

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

🇷🇴 Kontinental ’25 “the latest perambulating spasm from Radu Jude, which navigates an intersection of self-accountability, property, language, & culture as precarious notions in a nation bulldozing itself into capitalism’s future.” ★★★½ #Berlinale2025

https://t.co/kbvOLy6riL

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells reviews 🇩🇪YUNAN يونان “Still, as an exercise on the inherent power which resides in the kindness of strangers, Eldin’s poetic posturing might outstay its welcome, but it’s a welcome message, nonetheless.” #Berlinale2025

https://t.co/zwSh1wqwlF

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells reviews 🇳🇴 Dag Johan Haugerud's DREAMS (Sex Love) the trilogy is complete “Like the preceding chapters, there’s a significant fluidity in the various sexualities being depicted, resisting the rigidity of labels.” @Motlys #Berlinale2025

https://t.co/EMU8a0YLpH

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

What Marielle Knows - “Examining established cultural mores through the lens of marital expectations, Hambalek utilizes a ridiculous scenario to reach the kind of profound truths we obscure within ourselves for the purposes of convenience.” ★★★½

https://t.co/JlFx8NWcVz

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

BLUE MOON “Kaplow’s script expertly dances between these complexities of character, building to painful peaks of emotion as the dialogue ripples outward with repeated sentiments, when initially innocuous passages return with a haunting glory.” ★★★★

https://t.co/o7ka18WNPR

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

@RagingBells reviews MOTHER'S BABY ‍🍼 “A suitably paranoia primed lead performance from Marie Leuenberger ... can’t get around the script’s familiar beats, which also feed us details making everything seem too obvious for any real tension to build.”

https://t.co/GvzYMfdDBu

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Live from #Berlinale2025 our @RagingBells reviews If I Had Legs I'd Kick You “...a film which is both jarring & charming, even when it’s unclear if any of these characters are actually likable.” ★★★½ Rose Byrne & co. are spot on! @A24 #fatcityflicks

https://t.co/gv10I70TbV

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

@RagingBells on Iván Fund 🇦🇷 “The melancholy which hangs over this entire endeavor, underlined by a bittersweet score, makes THE MESSAGE feel like a bluesy mixture of All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and the Marjoe Gortner experience.” ★★★ #Berlinale2025

https://t.co/j6haZHCpYe

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

@RagingBells reviews #Berlinale2025 Girls on Wire “quite a significant disappointment coming from Vivian Qu, whose exceptional Angels Wear White & simmering Trap Street cemented her as one of the most exciting contemporary 🇨🇳 directors of the past decade”

https://t.co/WmSgtN1HYf

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

@RagingBells reviews the unforgettable🇧🇪drama “Tossing us right into the hellfire of an acutely agonizing situation, Charlotte Deville & Arnaud Dufeys’ directorial debut WE BELIEVE YOU is churning potboiler of emotional duress.” ★★★½ #Berlinale2025

https://t.co/Tq9s3XMYU9

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

At the tops of the #Berlinale2025 our @RagingBells reviews 🇧🇷 O Último Azul - “Pleasurably mordant in its critique of governmental propaganda disguising violence and inhumanity, Mascaro showcases Daniela Weinberg as a witty, resourceful woman...” ★★★★ https://t.co/PuXL0UPbxJ

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Live from #Berlinale2025 ! @RagingBells reviews Lucile Hadžihalilović's 4th feature - “THE ICE TOWER depicts a cruel, unhappy realm and successfully elicits a corresponding emotional response.” ★★★½ @WildBunch - starring Marion Cotillard (& Gaspar Noé)

https://t.co/S0wVjQzNua

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells reviews 🇧🇷 Anna Muylaert's The Best Mother in the World aka A melhor mãe do mundo - “Muylaert’s latest feel a bit elemental and straightforward in comparison to her previous filmography”

https://t.co/ttxWcZ3S0j

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells reviews Léonor Serraille's ARI “There’s an earnestness & sincerity to Serraille’s latest which is difficult to convey without seeming mawkish or sentimental, but she strikes a balance which is effectively heartfelt.” ★★★½ #Berlinale2025 https://t.co/YBC0lMHNpO

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @Ragingbells in #Berlinale2025 🇩🇪 reviews HYSTERIA “Deftly exploring the tacit, ingrained power hierarchies within the film community......Büyükatalay reflects a symbolic power struggle which eventually reaches an incendiary pitch.” ★★★½

https://t.co/YPZTsHzkAc

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @Ragingbells in #Berlinale2025 reviews Michel; Franco's DREAMS 🩰

“In the world of Franco, humankind always resorts to base brutality, and this is a hemorrhaging revenge film suggesting the cruelest crimes are those of the heart.”

https://t.co/irAAHu9bDb

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells reviews #Mickey17 “Most similar in scope & tone to Joon-ho’s dystopic class nightmare in Snowpiercer, Mickey 17 is well-executed in its world-building, & is surprisingly charming, including its depiction of the indigenous species” ★★★½ https://t.co/E0qlIRRE7q

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @Ragingbells in #Berlinale2025 reviews 🇲🇽 The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) “does string us along on an eerie path, depositing us into the unsettling without laboring the film’s dalliance with genre.”

https://t.co/eRqutRIOU0

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @Ragingbells in #Berlinale2025 reviews HOT MILK “Similar..to The Lost Daughter (20) & The Eternal Daughter (22), it’s a film about troubled mother/daughter relationships steeped in conflicts regarding repressive social expectations across generations.” https://t.co/Hfk904Eooi

[IONCINEMA @ioncinema]

Our @RagingBells begins the #berlinale2025 with this dud - DAS LICHT “Tykwer’s attempts at enlightenment regarding divided contemporary humans tumble out in a film akin to a chaotic, babbling torrent...." https://t.co/ArpGxfkkE1