The Wasteland List: 35th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Day 7
How often do you sit there thinking about what to watch? You might have an endless watchlist that keeps piling up (I certainly have one myself). Sometimes you are just in the mood for a type of film or a certain filmmaker or actor and want to take yourself into a deep dive. As someone who watches so many movies, I have people asking me for recommendations all the time. One of the best feelings as a cinephile is recommending a film and that person loves it. Take this wealth of cinematic knowledge and experience and enjoy some recommendations on me. Genre. Subgenre. Filmmaker. Actor. Composer. Writer. Genre. Story. Trope. Cliché. Any other cinematic elements or them. Here is The Wasteland List:
35th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Day 7
Who Killed Alex Odeh? (2026)
What makes the story of Alex Odeh’s murder so relevant all these years later? When the conflict between Israel and Palestine is raging strong, the murder of a Palestinian American activist sure feels relevant. This is a timely story that certainly bears impact and emotion. There are a few key moments that feel like the filmmakers understand the significance. The presentation of Who Killed Alex Odeh? leans heavily into true crime stylizations. Slow motion archival footage, ominous tones in the score, and intensity show that even if it does truly match what this film is truly telling. The film also struggles to deliver a payoff or climax that makes the film’s structure fall flat. This is still an important story that has its weight, but the presentation and lack of fresh contributions makes this film feel a bit lackluster.
Wolfram (2026)
What makes Australia so ripe for the western genre? The Outback is desolate and vast in many the same ways as the American West. The brutality and danger in this place also make for plenty of tension and suspense. Warwick Thornton seems to be one of the leading creatives in Australian westerns today and his latest film, Wolfram, certainly shows that. Visually, this is both a beautiful and disgusting experience. The cinematography (also shot by Thornton) is breathtaking as the sun, landscapes, and death are all captured in such specific and poignant ways. The film never shies away from the gross side of westerns with so many flies buzzing around with the sound design and mixing on this film is truly engrossing. The cast is game with plenty of the performers selling their characters well from brutal and evil cowboys to young indigenous servants. The characters could have used more work in deepening the experience and the narrative is loose (and takes a bit to come together at the beginning). A flawed and methodical experience, Wolfram still has an impact and shows why it is one of the strongest westerns in recent memory.
Vertiginous (2026)
What the hell does French director Quentin Dupieux have up his sleeve next? One of the most truly unique filmmakers working today, Dupieux dives headlong into the realm of animation with a film that feels like you are playing a 2000s video game. Except Dupieux is not going to keep things simple when an outlandish idea is right there. Vertiginous begins with a man visiting his friend to inform him of a theory…the world is a simulation. This meta-contextual joke is wild and Dupieux commits fully to this bit and still finds ways to subvert expectations with how this simulation idea plays out. This idiosyncratic film has plenty of ideas for a lean 67-minute experience. The voice performances by Alain Chabat and Jonathan Cohen are fully committed to them selling all the insanity of this experience. There is some good dark and awkward humor (like Dupieux can only deliver) sprinkled throughout the experience with plenty of twists and turns in the narrative. Clever and committed, Dupieux offers up yet another strange and compelling cinematic experience.
Leave a Reply