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Must Reads

Must reads are the best of the best articles at The Seventh Row. These include reviews, interviews, and essays. If you're new to the site, this is a good place to start to get a sense of what kinds of stories we write. Here is the best of our multidisciplinary approach to reviewing films, our most illuminating and original interviews, and our best essays.

Julia Ducournau Raw

Orla Smith / August 8, 2017

Sisterhood is the saviour in Julia Ducournau’s humanist Raw

In this essay, Orla Smith explores how Raw is as much about the experiences of her sister, Alex (Ella Rumpf), and their relationship — which saves Justine.

Big Little Lies, violence against women

Manuela Lazic / June 6, 2017

Elle and Big Little Lies: Progressive representations of violence against women

Paul Verhoeven’s Elle and Jean-Marc Vallée’s Big Little Lies share the common goal of unmasking the omnipresence of misogyny via its horrific manifestations in violence. In both universes, the best protection from violent men is trusting other women.

Cristian Mungiu, Graduation

Alex Heeney / June 1, 2017

Interview: Director Cristian Mungiu on the sound design of Graduation

Director Cristian Mungiu discusses his approach to sound and framing in his new film, Graduation, which won Best Director at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Alex Heeney / May 17, 2017

Theatre Review: Simon McBurney’s The Encounter has to be experienced live

Simon McBurney’s one-man show The Encounter is a journey into the Amazon and the nature of consciousness, using theatre itself as a metaphor for memory.

Now Playing

Gillie Collins / May 3, 2017

Review: I, Daniel Blake is a declaration of personhood

Ken Loach’s Palme D’Or Winner I, Daniel Blake is a bracing call-to-action against bureaucratic failures to treat citizens like people. But it falters by giving us a character who is uncontroversially the Deserving Poor without challenging this as a concept.

Deep Blue Sea

Alex Heeney / April 23, 2017

Davies’ adaptation of The Deep Blue Sea is a memory film with an unreliable narrator

In Terence Davies’ screen adaptation of Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea, Davies plunges us into Hester’s memories, nudging us to accept her interpretation of events while providing the necessary evidence to doubt her perspective. This is the sixth and final feature in our Special Issue on Davies’ A Quiet Passion, which you can read in full […]

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