If we peel back all of the layers of Asteroid City we discover the paradox of the director – specifically, how one can truthfully portray the chaos of the world while still working within film, a medium that itself calls for tight control and planning at every step.

In The Card Counter, the schism between processing trauma and self-forgiveness comes to a head. To Bill, this living prison he has set up for himself is akin to a religion. But salvation cannot be achieved without true consciousness – simply having suffered great punishment is not enough.

Jenna is encouraging you to not only go see The Electrical Life of Louis Wain but also to join her in starting a new electric religion based on Louis’ own quasi-scientific ramblings and psychedelic cat drawings.

Mickey Reece’s Agnes is a religious horror film that spends more time ruminating on trauma than it does on jump scares. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t lean hard into the horror aesthetic – expect some fright wigs and flesh tearing.

Finally a college movie for the rest of us! I’m talking about those of us who spent their so-called “best years” mostly talking on the phone with their parents, eating take-out in their rooms and crying in the shower. Perhaps if I had had Shithouse I wouldn’t have felt so alone.

Watching movies filmed in a place you love when you are physically present in said place but unable to enjoy it has become a strange panacea for Veronica. Between Petulia, Foul Play and The Manitou she almost feels like she’s really in the Bay Area… which she is, but, y’know, it’s weird right now,

Staring into the realm of existential horror can actually be quite liberating, and there’s no surer cure for deep-rooted anxiety than fully embracing nihilism and toasting the end of the world. Join me as we take a closer look at First Reformed, Arlington Road and In The Intense Now / No Intenso Agora.