Editor-in-chief Goh Cheng Hao examines the programmes Out of Nowhere and Can You Hear Me? from the incoming SYFF, tracing the resonances within its varied narratives. If these films represent our current milieu, what concerns or anxieties might they reflect?

Guest Writer Megan Lin considers how Wake Up Dead Man succeeds in being a memorable addition to the murder mystery genre–and the Knives Out franchise–not simply due to the performances in the film, but also through its exploration of power dynamics within religious institutions and narratives. And in extension, how the film is able to examine the complexities of faith earnestly and respectfully.

Staff Writer Kyle Ashley Pillai explores Jacques Tati’s arthouse classic PlayTime (1967), examining his visions of the future and how its celebration of the human spirit amidst modern chaos still resonates with contemporary urban life 50 years later.

Staff Writer Wong Dao En examines Malaysian filmmaker Yiwhen Chen’s documentary Queer as Punk (2025), which chronicles the experiences of openly-queer rock band Shh…Diam! Foregrounding the deep connection between rock music and politics, to confront audiences with the knowledge that progress can only be achieved through continuous resistance.

Editor-in-Chief Venesya Mayvelie Kosasi considers how Pluribus (2025-) serves as an allegory for colonialism, revealing that the real horror of the show is rooted in the inequalities and marginalization already transpiring in real life. And even beyond that, through its nuances, that the show challenges our conception of what it means to be human–who are we, if we must rethink reality?

Staff Writer Isabel Ng Cardoso ruminates on the different forms of love and relationships explored in David Freyne’s Eternity (2025)—a breathe of fresh air in the romcom genre that is sure to leave an impression for eternity.

Staff Writer Yu Ke Dong surveys all four Singapore Panorama Shorts Programmes at the 36th SGIFF: with his finger on the pulse of contemporary filmmaking, what’s the prognosis for local programming and cinema?

Staff Writer Adrian Ho reflects on the harsh depiction of contemporary life in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s Human Resource (2025), relating the film’s endless toil and alienation to our own realities.

Staff Writer Mohamed Shafiullah examines what he terms as ‘get-hyped’ films in Kollywood, looking beyond the tropes that dominate these films and delving into its ties to the politics of the region–as well as the consequences of having Tamil cinema and Tamil politics so strongly intertwined.

Staff Writer Isabel Ng Cardoso examines the patchwork of narratives that Alice Winocour weaves in Couture (2025), ruminating on whether the film and its title is an accurate reflection of the definition—or simply an echo of it.

Editor-in-chief Goh Cheng Hao reflects on Natalie Sin’s The 4PLY Clandestine System, premiering at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), amid our culture of the viral online persona, representation, and tissue paper.

Staff Writer Mohamed Shafiullah reconsiders the elements that made Oz Perkins’ Longlegs (2024) such an effective thriller while anticipating his new film Keeper (2025).

Staff Writer Kyle Ashley Pillai tracks the cycles, cynicism, and beauty of decay in his review of Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest work.

Editor-in-Chief Venesya Mayvelie Kosasi reviews the second block of this year’s Transfiguration International Film Festival and recounts how the selection of films explore history and memory in fragments that ultimately foreground the personal narratives of the marginalised.

President Rhea Chalak reviews Kiwi gothic horror film Mārama (2025), which surrounds the journey of a young Māori woman fighting to reclaim her identity in 19th-century England.

Staff Writer Agastya Polapragada ruminates on what makes La Haine such a beloved classic in the cinematic world following NTU Film Society’s screening of the film earlier this semester.

Staff Writer Angelica Ng reviews the revolutionary epic Farewell My Concubine (1993), examining the beauty of theatre in the face of tragedy, tradition and love during a tumultuous period—brought to life by Leslie Cheung’s luminous performance.

Leading up to the Singapore premiere of the 4K Restoration of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (2001), staff writer Adrian Ho exorcises the concerns of the director’s preternatural filmography: the malaise of loneliness, and the banality of violence at the heart of modern technology.

Staff Writer Isabel Ng Cardoso ponders the futility of putting someone on a false pedestal in her exploration of how romantic idealisation is utilised or denounced in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) and Marc Webb’s 500 Days of Summer (2009).

Staff Writer Yu Ke Dong ruminates on film-as-archeology and the ways we engage with, reimagine, and supplement histories — through the eye of the camera, and the experience of the body.