Director: Aleem Khan Stars: Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard, Talid Ariss Actor Nasser Memarzia barely appears in After Love, but his character - Ahmed - is present in every scene. A Pakistani immigrant married to a white British woman Mary/Fahina (Joanna Scanlan), Ahmed lives a transitory life thanks to his work, which sees him spending as much … Continue reading Review: After Love
Director: Emma Seligman Stars: Rachel Sennott, Fred Melamed, Polly Draper Emma Seligman's Shiva Baby (which I choose to believe is named as such in a nod of respect to '70s Pam Grier action flick Sheba, Baby) arrives via MUBI in the UK on a promising wave of praise; praise that is (yes!) absolutely deserved. Seligman's debut … Continue reading Review: Shiva Baby
Director: Florian Zeller Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Imogen Poots, Olivia Colman Anthony (Anthony Hopkins) would be so much more at ease if he knew where his watch was. Time is a great solidifier, you see. We take it for granted, but when you know when you are then the rest all tends to fall into place. … Continue reading Review: The Father
Director: Ilya Naishuller Stars: RZA, Connie Nielsen, Bob Odenkirk I'm currently under siege from a nudist junkie wannabe-DJ next-door neighbour in his late 40s who insists on playing loud '90s dance music at all hours, often for up to 12 hours at a time. Just recently, this has included a 10-day jag of consecutive all-night … Continue reading Review: Nobody
Director: Karim Kassem Stars: Karim Kassem, Zeinab Hind Khadra, Lyne Ramadan For a new generation of global filmmakers, the lines that separate drama and documentary have become a fertile ground for experimentation and play. One might feel cautious; that the fidelity of the truth might have become watered down after Trump and everything else. But … Continue reading Viewfinder: Only the Winds
Director: Gorô Miyazaki English Voice Dub Stars: Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Henderson, Vanessa Marshall Poor Gorô Miyazaki. It's not easy being the son of one of the most gifted living directors of animated features, especially when you decide to walk the same path. That's one hell of a shadow to step out of. Not only that, … Continue reading Review: Earwig and the Witch
Director: Ira Sachs Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Marisa Tomei, Sennia Nanua Ira Sachs' films have been generally well-received and have played locally, but its taken the involvement of Isabelle Huppert to truly draw me into the fold. From the outside, I had perceived his work to have a kind of low-stakes, mild-mannered and wholly middle class … Continue reading Review: Frankie
Director: Michael Chaves Stars: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, John Noble The eighth film to emerge in this franchise since James Wan kicked it off in 2013, the laboriously titled The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It goes hard embracing the hoariest tropes that make popcorn horror movies easy pickings for criticism, and catnip for punters after … Continue reading Review: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Director: Billie Piper Stars: Billie Piper, Leo Bill, Lily James Pop star... Doctor Who sidekick... national treasure and a very good actor, Billie Piper has run the gamut already. But she's not done. Not nearly. Chiseling into the third decade of a varied career, Rare Beasts finds her working both sides of the camera. Writer/director … Continue reading Review: Rare Beasts
Director: Evan Spiliotopoulos Stars: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cricket Brown, William Sadler The Unholy is comfortably one of the worst films I've seen in my entire life, but I had so much fun. Well, a bit of fun. Well, I stayed 'til the end. Let me explain a bit. I've been writing this blog/site for going … Continue reading Review: The Unholy
Director: Alexandre Aja Stars: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi Cinemas may have reopened across the country (yay!), but there are still plenty of viewing options for those wary of rushing back to 'normal', And, around here at least, something new from Alexandre Aja is usually enough to pique curiosity. If you're cycling endlessly through … Continue reading Review: Oxygen
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman Stars: Chris Rock, Marisol Nichols, Max Minghella The Saw franchise has evolved (devolved?) over the years. It's easy to forget that the wheels and gears and 60 second timers that typified the later installments were all-but-absent in James Wan's taught first film. Jigsaw himself, John Kramer (Tobin Bell), was killed off at … Continue reading Review: Spiral: From the Book of Saw
Director: Simon McQuoid Stars: Jessica McNamee, Lewis Tan, Josh Lawson For better or worse (worse), the Marvelisation of every franchise property available continues apace. Having seen Kevin Fiege's world-conquering stratagem at work for the past decade-and-a-half, its no surprise that everyone else wants a piece of the action. The latest is this casually watchable remix … Continue reading Review: Mortal Kombat (2021)
Director: John Patrick Shanley Stars: Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm John Patrick Shanley is a man of multifaceted talents (playwright, songwriter, director) none of which manifest in the unfathomable Wild Mountain Thyme. Every now and then we're gifted a film so bafflingly incoherent, tonally disastrous and casually awful that it reminds us how easily this … Continue reading Review: Wild Mountain Thyme
Director: Chloé Zhao Stars: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Bob Wells Thus far in a relatively brief but exemplary career, Chloé Zhao has shown a tenderness and sensitivity to microclimates that typify the American Midwest. Be it the reservations of Songs my Brothers Taught Me or the close-knit rodeo bonds of The Rider, her approach has … Continue reading Review: Nomadland
