With a light week at the box office this weekend, we wanted to give our critics here on the Banana Meter a chance to highlight some of the films that haven’t hit the Meter. We have a wide range of films selected by our team here to highlight the Overlooked Film Spotlight.
What is the Banana Meter scale, you ask?
When a film hits above 85% or higher from our critics, it means it hit Bonafide Bananas status.
When a film hits between 55-84% or higher from our critics, it means it hit Ripe status.
When the film hits under 55%, it means it hit Sour Status.
2022 Overlooked Film Spotlight
Here is what our Ripe Banana Critics are saying about the films:
Alejandro D Orengo Colon
You Won’t Be Alone
Banana Meter Rating: 80%
A poetic, lyrical, atmospheric piece about the sense of belonging, of never feeling alone. A unique take on the coming-of-age structure, exploring many aspects of the human condition through the lens of someone deprived of such things.
Benjamin Miller
Nitram
Banana Meter Rating: 84%
Seering portrait of what a murderer may have been like without trying to understand them. Caleb Landry Jones might have the best Australian accent I’ve ever heard. I was transfixed by Judy Davis in every scene.
Brian Skutle
Moon Manor
Banana Meter Rating: 88%
The way people live is the subject of this endearing comedy-drama about a man on the day he is planning on dying. As a man with Alzheimer’s who’s throwing a party on the day of his death, James ‘Jimmy’ Carrozo is heartfelt and hilarious in this gem of a movie.
Beta Critic
RRR
Banana Meter Rating: 70%
Underneath the Commercial facade, RRR is a journey of two persons with distinctive personalities towards their glorified destiny.RRR isn’t SSR’s best work, but it’s damn entertaining.
Christer Emanuelsson
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Banana Meter Rating: 95%
This is a work of art that is a joy to behold. There is more in this than meets the eye, but what does meet the eye, makes the film worth seeing alone.
Christian Salazar
Fistful of Vengeance
Banana Meter Rating: 80%
Straight forward and to the point, “Fistful of Vengeance” is an unpretentious and convivial film that kicks plenty of ass
Don Shanahan
Marvelous and the Black Hole
Banana Meter Rating: 80%
Little wonders and big feelings percolate, intersect, smear, and overwhelm a collection of very unique yet relatable people in this film, and the effects could not be more touching and soul-stirring.
Gary Cruise
Benedetta
Banana Meter Rating: 100%
Benedetta is a phenomenal film that showcases Paul Verhoeven at his satirical best. It blends funny, serious and bizarre on such a perfect level whilst telling a very compelling true story with a captivating romance and many scenes highlighting religious hypocrisy. Brilliantly acted and beautifully made, this insane nunsploitation satire is definitely up there as one of my favourite films of recent years.
Gavin Spoors
Belle
Banana Meter Rating: 90%
Mamoru Hosoda’s latest is arguably his best yet. The animation is a feast for the eyes and the story is so full of heart that it’ll make you laugh and cry in equal measures.
Hector Gonzalez
Vortex
Banana Meter Rating: 84%
Vortex is Gaspar Noé’s most approachable and, at the same time, disconsolate film–a slow-burn vetting on the reverberations of tenebrous love amidst the thing that curses us all. Although Enter the Void missed the mark on the topics of death and being a close spectator, it painted the way for Gaspar to reach a new mature light and deliver anxiousness without goading its audience or going into an extremist vexation.
Jack Walters
Ali & Ava
Banana Meter Rating: 75%
What’s most striking about Ali & Ava’s compelling style is just how imperfect it is – the characters, the narrative, the pacing, it’s all extremely messy, but that somehow manages to fit the chaotic and unpredictable way by which the film delicately examines the lives of its central figures.
James Y. Lee
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Banana Meter Rating: 91%
‘World’s Fair’ is one of the most insightful and melancholy zoomer-brand horror films released in recent memory, fully understanding how inextricable the internet is from the transitions and changes of modern adolescence, and how the gradual maturity of modern teenagers tightropes a fine line between genuine revelation and elaborate performance. A deeply inspired video-series-creepypasta-like movie whose expertly deployed ambiguity adds to the unsettling ennui of the film’s bizarre coming-of-age narrative.
Jon Pascuzzi
Kimi
Banana Meter Rating: 80%
Soderbergh adds his voice to the classic Hitchcockian thriller trope led by an outstandingly neurotic, adrenaline-inducing performance by Zoe Kravitz
Jordan Woodson
Scarborough
Banana Meter Rating: 94%
“Scarborough” is one of the most authentic films you will see this year depicting a community that is so often overlooked and can be found in almost every major city in the world. Its impressive writing, directing, and performances make it a must-watch.
Matthew Simpson
The Outfit
Banana Meter Rating: 80%
A well drawn single-location mystery story with an excellent Mark Rylance performance. Next time someone complains they don’t make movies for adults anymore, just point them to The Outfit.
Ripe Banana 