Challenging films often pay off in ways that you can expect. You go into a film thinking that the subject matter will be titillating, even shocking, and you walk out with a sense of relief in knowing that you got exactly what you bargained for. That is not the case with Elle.

The new film from controversial filmmaker, Paul Verhoeven, is an adaptation of Philippe Djian’s French novel, Oh, and stars the inimitable Isabelle Huppert.

The story follows a successful entrepreneur, Michèle, who is attacked and violently raped in her home by a masked man. It is a film about identity, violence, body possession, and personal responsibility, and it’s a fucking doozy.

I’m just going to come out and say it right away: The Arrival is one of those movies that make me remember why I love going to the movies. That’s been said before about a lot of movies, each time valid for the writer. But these types of movies don’t come around very often, especially ones so firmly steeped in genre.

The basic setup is that mysterious aliens have come to earth and humanity must discover what they want from us. Is it war, friendship, or something more sinister? Beyond this premise, at the heart of the film is Louise (Amy Adams), a linguist that’s tapped by the US Military to break the barrier of communication with them.

The Witch is a calculatedly slow burn. It’s setting is one of serenity, deep-wooded seclusion, of stark, eerie isolation. It takes place in the time of the pilgrims and folklore, of god, suspicion and lawlessness. This is how American life came to be.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie because few horror films with such an audacious setup have succeeded. There are none that come to mind, in fact. And yet with an unflinching confidence, first time film director/writer Robert Eggers takes us on an unsettling, terrifying journey into the deterioration of one family’s way of life. It is a bold, surprising, and dare I say, original, modern genre film.

As a serious film fan and admitted cinefile (fine, nerd), there are fews movies that leave such a strong impression on me. I love extreme cinema, and the weirder and/or more unusual and mind-blowing, the better. I like the rush of something new and shocking, a journey so original that I’m left speechless.

Walking into Green Room, the only thing I really knew was that Anton Yelchin and Patrick Stewart were both in it. What starts off as an innocent, though slightly scuzzy, road trip film quickly turns into a claustrophobic bloodbath with a single turn of the screw. When the credits rolled and my speech returned, I was left with two words: holy and shit. This is one of those movies that come around once in a decade, leaving legions of film fans raving mad for more.

Artful commentary on social structures and class divides are always messy. Oftentimes they end up as lame amalgamations of what the privileged folks think they look like to the less privileged, gnashing their teeth with witty banter and expensive clothes. But High-Rise, the new Ben Wheatley film, is adapted from the cult novel of the same name by legendary author, J.G. Ballard. If you’re not familiar with his work (he wrote the novel Crash), the Ballard influence is in so many director’s works. He’s famous for taking a machete to modern society and all those therein, shredding it all to bits with grace and gore. The source material of High-Rise, needless to say, is second to none.