A relatively new addition, TLHH Seal of Approval denotes that a new release is thoroughly recommended. This category will show you just the films that have received this accolade.
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples Stars: Nicole Beharie, Alexis Chikaeze, Kendrick Sampson The bond between a mother and daughter is at the centre of Channing Godfrey People's gently pleasing Miss Juneteenth; a film which uses the American tradition of pageantry to advance a subtle probe into what it means to be African American in the Southern States. … Continue reading Review: Miss Juneteenth
Director: Rose Glass Stars: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lisa Frazer How does one quantify faith? What is the yardstick or barometer? Placing metrics on the quintessentially unquantifiable has been the cause of frustration and burden for as long as there have been organised doctrines to follow. As in film criticism, objectivity is scarce, possibly futile. … Continue reading Review: Saint Maud
Director: Harry Bradbeer Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Helena Bonham Carter, Susan Wokoma Few if any fictional characters have been brought to both the large and small screens as exhaustively as Sherlock Holmes. Truth be told, this ubiquity has led to a certain weariness, on my part. Being confronted with yet another iteration? Fine, okay. Here, … Continue reading Review: Enola Holmes
Director: Kantemir Balagov Stars: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilia Perelygina, Andrey Bykov A pretty young woman, Masha (Vasilia Perelygina), is fitted for a green dress with a floral pattern. She is giddy with excitement over the prospect of the thing, and in a moment of unbridled delight asks, "Can I twirl in it?" This might've been the … Continue reading Review: Beanpole
Director: Charlie Kaufman Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis I get anxious when I have to go home to see family. It's only a 10 mile trip, thereabouts, but it takes a lot to go and I feel bad that that's the case. Seeing family makes me feel infantilised in ways that frustrate and … Continue reading Review: I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Director: Jayro Bustamante Stars: María Mercedes Coroy, Julio Diaz, Sabrina De La Hoz Horror cinema has long reached hard for ways and means of isolating characters within a specific, claustrophobic space, be it through hazardous weather, clapped-out cell phone reception or even - in the case of Babak Anvari's excellent 2016 film Under the Shadow … Continue reading Review: La Llorona
Director: Rebecca Zlotowski Stars: Zahia Dehar, Mina Farid, Benoît Magimel The low-stakes French film about a summer of love and sexual awakening is, at this point, a subgenre all of it's own. Comfortable, nostalgic movies that feel like mini holidays all by themselves. Beautiful countryside, beautiful beaches and beautiful people. Male directors incuding Éric Rohmer, … Continue reading Review: An Easy Girl
Director: Shannon Murphy Stars: Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Essie Davis Ten years ago, going to the movies got strangely uncomfortable. Following the smash hit Avatar, 3D became the new fad, with all the big studios (and a handful of curious auteurs) jumping on the bandwagon. This repackaging of an old gimmick had its moment of novelty … Continue reading Review: Babyteeth
Director: Alice Winocour Stars: Eva Green, Matt Dillon, Zélie Boulant With some trepidation today I took my first steps back into a cinema in nearly five months. A humid Saturday afternoon was cooled with an uneasy but pleasantly air-conditioned matinee. From behind my mask I was able to catch-up with familiar members of staff (behind … Continue reading Review: Proxima
Director: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter Stars: Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Kelly Rowland, Lupita Nyong'o The visual album has become a linchpin of Beyoncé's release schedule for the past decade now - since she reclaimed her artistic vision from her father - and has increasingly belayed an artist's interest in the medium, something she more than capitalised upon last year … Continue reading Review: Black is King
Director: Chinonye Chukwu Stars: Alfre Woodard, Wendell Pierce, Aldis Hodge Clemency is a film about two people who are disappearing. The first of these is Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard), warden of a prison, borderline alcoholic and absentee wife. Her increasingly stifling and stressful work environment is eroding her attachments to life. Her marriage to Jonathan … Continue reading Review: Clemency
Director: Kelly Reichardt Stars: John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones Under the thumb of lockdown for months on end, one of the pervasive trends to sweep the UK has been a renewed interest in home cooking and baking. With restaurants and bakeries shuttered for months on end, social media networks became flooded with sourdoughs, farmhouse … Continue reading Review: First Cow
Director: Nimrod Eldar Stars: Menashe Noy, Zohar Meidan, Sarit Vino-Elad Methods of communication are at the heart of this handsome Israeli debut from filmmaker Nimrod Eldar. Yoram (Menashe Noy) is a 50-year-old veterinarian and recent widower who is having trouble relating to his teenage daughter Roni (Zohar Meidan). She disappears for days or comes home … Continue reading Review: The Day After I’m Gone
Director: Spike Lee Stars: Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Chadwick Boseman First, a little bit of business Before I get to my thoughts on the film, here are links to reviews written by Black film critics that I've found elsewhere with a quick search. Leila Latif for Little White Lies Odie Henderson for RogerEbert.com Kambole Campbell … Continue reading Review: Da 5 Bloods
Director: Pablo Larraín Stars: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera Pablo Larraín's most well-known features of the last decade have all delved into the past and into politics, be that through the lens of activism (2012's No) or personal trauma (2016's Jackie). Now, the Chilean returns to the present for this fierce portrait of … Continue reading Review: Ema
