Wilson Kwong

Toronto

Freelance Writer at Freelance

🇨🇦Writer/Film Enthusiast | 🍅 Tomatometer-Approved Critic | Founder/Editor https://t.co/u4ikG5qp1y | Contributor @vcinemashow @FilmInquiry @easternKicks

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Articles

'Gundala' Fails to Replicate the MCU's Early Success

2 weeks ago | theasiancut.com | Wilson Kwong

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 2.5 out of 5. In Hollywood, attempts at replicating the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) have come and gone over the past decade. Other studios have yearned for both the creative and financial success of the MCU, but, as the saying goes, lightning never strikes twice.
Cannes 2025: Leave One Day (Partir un Jour) and Enzo

3 weeks ago | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

In what feels like a very natural fit, I’ll be pairing together two of the festival’s opening films as part of my Cannes 2025 coverage: Leave One Day (Partir un Jour), the festival’s opening film at large, and Enzo, which opens up the festival’s sidebar Directors’ Fortnight program. Neither film served as the strongest start to this year’s festival, but both have interesting elements to them nonetheless.
Cannes 2025: The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo and Case 137

4 weeks ago | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

While The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo sees Diego Céspedes returning to Cannes with his first feature (having previously screened his short films at the festvial), Case 137 is another entry from Dominik Moll, who has competed for the Palme d’Or twice before. Both filmmakers return to La Croisette with fictionalized stories about real life issues.
Cannes 2025: Two Prosecutors and Eddington

4 weeks ago | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

As films that criticize a country’s sociopolitical system, Two Prosecutors and Eddington approach this task in markedly different ways. Sergejs Loznica’s Two Prosecutors is quiet and reserved, whereas Eddington, despite not being a prototypical Ari Aster experience, is still an Ari Aster experience nonetheless.
Cannes 2025: Sound of Falling and A Pale View Of Hills

1 month ago | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

The following two films playing at Cannes both explore the collective, and often generation-spanning traumas experienced by women. With A Pale View of Hills, Kei Ishikawa adapts Kazuo Ishiguro’s award winning novel, which recounts the emotional and physical traumas following the Nagasaki nuclear bomb attack. Mascha Schilinski‘s Sound of Falling, on the other hand, is entirely fictional, but explores the lingering impact of death and abuse across a few generations of women.
'Missing Johnny': A Quiet, Yet Impactful, Character Study of Everyday Living

1 month ago | theasiancut.com | Wilson Kwong

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. Hou Hsiao-hsien can simply do no wrong. Seeing his name grace a film’s opening credits is probably the most accurate litmus test for cinematic quality, and with Missing Johnny, this cardinal rule of contemporary Taiwan cinema remains the case. Although not void of any imperfections, Missing Johnny serves as a thoughtful examination of modern day existence from first time director Xi Huang.
Cannes 2025: Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

1 month ago | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

When Tom Cruise asks you to trust him one last time, it’s hard to say no. And with life mimicking art, and vice versa, the hope is that everyone will flock to the theaters for Ethan Hunt’s last mission. But as the presumed final entry of a film franchise spanning almost 30 years, The Final Reckoning doesn’t carry the weight of finality one might expect.
'The Gangster's Daughter' Avoids Tropes and a Committed Direction

2 months ago | theasiancut.com | Wilson Kwong

⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 5. The gangster genre has been a staple of cinema for as long as I can remember, and filmmakers continue to find new ways of exploring society’s fascination over a life of glamorized crime. Chen Mei-Juin aims to do just that with The Gangster’s Daughter by shedding light on paternal dynamics within the gangster world.
‘Mickey 17’ Has Bong Joon Ho Written All Over It

Mar 7, 2025 | theasiancut.com | Wilson Kwong

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Following Parasite’s historic awards season run, anticipation was at an all-time high for Bong Joon Ho’s next project. And after multiple delays, Mickey 17 has finally arrived. This bonkers science fiction satire fits perfectly into Bong’s ambitious sensibilities, and continues to cement him as one of the most talented and versatile filmmakers working today.
Sundance 2025: Twinless and Train Dreams

Feb 24, 2025 | filminquiry.com | Wilson Kwong

Most audiences attending Sundance 2025 virtually this year were likely disappointed when distributors pulled Twinless off the festival’s online platform – after clips from the film were illegally uploaded online – and they have every reason to harbour negative sentiments. The film is an audacious exercise in storytelling, and features Dylan O’Brien at his very best.