Justin Chang

Joanna Hogg's movie, which centers on a young film student, is the first of a projected two-part drama drawing from Hogg's life. It won the top prize in Sundance's world cinema dramatic competition.

Writer-director Olivier Assayas has a knack for turning abstract ideas into stimulating cinema — which is exactly what he does in Non-Fiction, a modern-day talkfest centering on the Parisian elite.

Critic Justin Chang says he couldn't tear his eyes away from Elisabeth Moss, who gives a spectacular performance as an out-of-control punk musician struggling with substance abuse.