In The Fade
A story about terrorism in a time that seems ravaged by it, IN THE FADE excels in its heartfelt portrayal of grief in the wake of an attack.
Twin Peaks: The Return
By retaining what made the original series so groundbreaking and doubling down on the weirdness, Twin Peaks shines in a very welcome return.
Alien: Covenant
Remember how Sam Mendes’ SPECTRE felt like it was trying to be both a sequel to every Daniel Craig-era 007 entry as well as a big fat homage to the entire Bond franchise, but failed to do justice to any of them?
How To Talk To Girls At Parties
Punk rock rules! There are extra-terrestrial goings on in Croydon as John Cheshire discovers, reviewing John Cameron Mitchell’s latest feature film at Cannes Film Festival.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
An eye for an eye. Is it time to break up the nuclear family to balance the scales of justice? Jack Toye reviews the latest feature film from Greek auteur director Yorgos Lanthimos at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Okja
This year’s Cannes Film Festival has sparked a certain degree of controversy around its inclusion of films produced by Netflix, one of which is acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s sixth directorial project, OKJA. Concerning itself with the peaceful life of farm girl Mija (Ahn Seo-Hyun) and her giant pet pig Okja, the film follows [...]
Frantz
Appropriately for a sombre story set after the First World War and adapted from Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 melodrama BROKEN LULLABY, Francois Ozon shoots most of FRANTZ in a glowing monochrome, except for the plentiful moments of high emotion, when the film blossoms into colour (rather like Gary Ross’s 1998 film PLEASANTVILLE, where colour represents sexual [...]
Blade of the Immortal
Takashi Miike’s samurai bloodbath is an exhilarating, bloody action thrill ride that will live long in the memory, writes Harry Jones at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Levelling
The waterlogged fields and blighted farmland of Somerset provide The Levelling’s director, Hope Dickson Leach with the perfect setting for her debut feature. An unsettling, realist drama with the Somerset levels as its backdrop. The story follows Clover (Ellie Kendrick) who returns to the family dairy farm following the sudden suicide of her brother Harry [...]
Raw
RAW is an intense and undefinable blend of skilled shotmaking, ramping discomfort and disturbing juxtapositions that mixes carnivores with the carnal to enormous effect. Jim Ross reviews.
Free Fire
Continuing his recent string of genre defying hits, director Ben Wheatley takes a scenario usually reserved for the finale – the tense firefight – and stretches it out into ninety minutes of famous actors crawling around on a dusty warehouse floor, yelling insults and firing off potshots at each other. The biggest surprise that emerges [...]
Fences
FENCES is a powerful and engaging family drama, but it always seems a little fenced in cinematically by its theatrical origin. Jim Ross reviews.
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s first feature as director is a confident step away from his previous television exploits: Mad TV (2002) and Key & Peele (2012), throwing off his sketch-show jacket and donning a more provocative and thoughtful attire. While still holding on to his satirical voice, Peele allows the film to linger within the fringes of [...]
Moonlight
MOONLIGHT is not a portrait painted in broad brushstrokes, but a tapestry – any one strand can be admired for its own technique and qualities, but standing back to observe the whole is where the power lies. Jim Ross reviews.
Logan
LOGAN tells an involving and impactful story, with Hugh Jackman’s send off the best use of a superhero property in years. Jim Ross reviews.
