FOREIGN MOVIES. “The Marked Woman.” / “Hounds.” / “Revolver Lily.” / “Lamb.” / “Wetlands.” / “For Ever and Ever.”

“The Marked Woman” (2026, Netflix) Spanish crime thriller. A young, tortured, and amnesiac woman is found bound and gagged inside a shipping container at the Port of Barcelona. While she is recovering in the hospital, someone tries to assassinate her.


       The dark tone. Candela Pena's Det. Anna Ripoll's gloomy backstory. These seemed hard not to bite, at least in the first half of the movie. But from there the pacing drags and Anna's drama gets soapy. Her not-so-cool vibe with fellow cop Quique (Pol Lopez) gets bland and the dramatic ministrations of the victim/witness (“the marked woman”) gets into the realm of predictability.

       And then the film slides to genre stereotypes and human trafficking tropes. Minutes before the ending, we already how'd the movie end. 🎥💻📽


“Hounds” (2023, Tubi) Moroccan/French crime drama. Taking place over one night in Casablanca, it follows Hassan and Issam, an impoverished father-son duo, as they attempt to dispose of a body after a botched kidnapping. 



       The film features non-professional actors, including the leads Abdellatif Masstouri and Ayoub Elaïd. Their portrayal of the beleaguered father and son Hassan and Issam is so authentic and convincing that it'd seem they're trained performers.

       The sequence treatment is written by director Kamal Lazraq so essentially the “actors” improvised the dialogues. The documentary-style approach puts a grainy, rough-textured feel to the underbelly atmosphere. 

       This movie will not make you feel good, certainly. But this is a well-made project. 🎥💻📽


“Revolver Lily” (2023, Amazon Prime) Japanese action-thriller. Set in Tokyo in 1924, the story follows Yuri Ozone, a retired elite spy and assassin with 57 confirmed kills who now runs an underground bar and brothel. 



       The action choreography is remarkable, especially those that involve Haruka Ayase's Yuri. Plus her performance as the lead character is poised, gritty and fiercely focused.

       But this movie's pacing is eerily slow, which sacrifices the narrative's clarity. Plus the slew of supporting characters crowd the story's real conflict and the message gets off-track. 🎥💻📽


“Lamb" (2021, Plex) Icelandic folk horror. A couple adopt a mysterious human-sheep hybrid as their own. Designated “folk horror,” this low-fi film horrifies mentally, disturbing in a way. Still, a fine and promising directorial debut by Valdimar Jóhannsson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. 



       Imaginative in a uniquely macabre way but not in a shock-value sort. Unsettling and sad but the message pierces or reminds us about attachments to animals. The performance of Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snaer Guonason, minimalist and restrained, kept the drama alive, or the narrative moving despite the downcast and slow pace. 🎥💻📽


“Wetlands” (2013, Tubi) German sex comedy drama. An unhygienic and rebellious 18-year-old tries to reunite her divorced parents after a hospital visit. 



       The icky-shock blatantness isn't about Ryan Murphy sort of horror grossness or Euphoria/Industry sexual audacity. Just real stuff that we may not always be honest about, told as a comical shenanigan. Though still whacked, LOL! Yet this movie's warmth and sweetness are undeniable. Certainly a unique and entertaining kind of coming-of-age joint.

       Director David Wnendt succeeded in teasing us via juvenile winks and subversive goofs but it is Carla Juri as Helen Memel's mischievous energy and playful charisma that are the jewels of this movie. 🎥💻📽


“For Ever and Ever” (2017, Tubi) Russian mystery thriller. An aging, depressed writer—separated from his wife and caring for his teenage daughter—rescues a mysterious, freezing young woman named Anna from the forest and brings her to his home. As they grow closer, the relationship develops into a dark, vampire-tinged romance. 



       This movie started quite fine, irrelevant that the opening scene already gave away quite a lot. Midway, the narrative gets exciting and intriguing, despite the slow pace. But everything turned into supernatural tropes contrivance, with romantic confection. 🎥💻📽


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