Justin Chang
Justin Chang is a film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Fresh Air, and a regular contributor to KPCC's FilmWeek. He previously served as chief film critic and editor of film reviews for Variety.
Chang is the author of FilmCraft: Editing, a book of interviews with seventeen top film editors. He serves as chair of the National Society of Film Critics and secretary of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
-
A young environmental activist transforms herself into a beaver in this off-the-wall eco-themed comedy. It's the liveliest film to emerge from Pixar in years. -
A new psychological drama from Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco centers on the torrid affair between a wealthy San Francisco philanthropist and an undocumented immigrant who aspires to be a dancer. -
Emerald Fennell's extravagant adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic cares little for subtlety. Ultimately, this love affair is more photogenic than it is deeply moving. -
A mild-mannered young man enters into a dominant-submissive relationship with the leader of a gay biker gang. Pillion approaches the subject without judgment and with a great deal of sly humor. -
Chalamet stars as a scrappy shoe salesman who dreams of becoming the greatest table tennis player in the world — and is willing to steal, cheat, sweet-talk and hustle his way to the top. -
A firebrand fundamentalist is stabbed to death at church in Rian Johnson's new film, Wake Up Dead Man. This over-the-top whodunit uses mystery conventions to open up a spiritual inquiry. -
Fresh Air film critic Justin Chang says most of his favorite films this year were made overseas, including his No. 1 pick, Sirāt. -
My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow follows Russian journalists who report on the country's abuses. Reviewer Justin Chang calls it one of the most engrossing films he's seen all year. -
A new film, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel, posits that the death of Shakespeare's 11-year-old son may have inspired one of the greatest fictional tragedies ever written. -
Sirāt tells the story of a man searching for his lost daughter at a rave in the Sahara Desert. Though it carries echoes of earlier cinema, nothing about this film feels derivative or secondhand.
