When Spring Came to Bucha ★★★★★ – Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2023

An important and heart-piercing documentary, When Spring Came to Bucha provides a glimpse of the war destruction Russia is leaving in Ukraine, a film that fills you with not only sorrow, but hope – a vital film. In early 2022, the Russian army occupied the small Ukrainian town of Bucha

Continue Reading

I Like Movies ★★★ 1/2 – Glasgow Film Festival 2023

A charming dramedy, I Like Movies knows knows precisely how to get that goofy smile out of a cinephile who grew up in the same era, while doing more than enough for those who weren’t. A great indie film that won’t disappoint. and is full of heart. Socially inept 17-year-old

Continue Reading

I Didn’t See You There ★★★★ – Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2023

A remarkably affecting film, Reid Davenport’s I Didn’t See You There places us in the frustrated position of seeing what the daily struggles are for wheelchair users. A bold and hopefully eye-opening film. When a circus tent is put up outside his apartment, filmmaker Reid Davenport, a wheelchair user, reflects

Continue Reading

The Hamlet Syndrome ★★★★ 1/2 – Kinoteka 2023

The Hamlet Syndrome, by filmmakers Elwira Biewiera and Piotr Rosołowski, is a raw documentary that brilliantly captures the pain that young people in Ukraine have been experiencing for years. A film that will stay with you. A group of young Ukrainians are preparing a modern stage version of Hamlet. Their

Continue Reading

F*cking Bornholm ★★★ – Kinoteka 2023

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the Agnieszka Grochowska show in Anna Kazejak’s dark, dramedy F*cking Bornholm. A film that has chaos etched into its core, a film rife with discontent while managing to sneak in the right amount of laughs to keep us engaged. An entertaining storm

Continue Reading

Bread and Salt – ★★★ Kinoteka 2023

A promising debut from director Damian Kocur, Bread and Salt is a fly-on-the-wall story of xenophobia that, for the most part, is highly effective. It doesn’t wholly stick the landing, but there are a lot of positives layered in throughout to know he has a strong career ahead. When Tymek,

Continue Reading

Predictions for the 2023 Academy Award Nominations

Nothing like getting it in under the wire right? Without further ado, my predictions for what the academy voters will chose as the nominations for the 2023 Academy Awards. (My list would look hella different, but it is what it is I guess). I will come back later today with

Continue Reading

Horror films to watch: Letter P (Part One)

Welcome back to our horror list! We have moved onto the first part of the letter P, we have some great ones in here and maybe a surprise or two as well. Enjoy. Poltergeist (1982) The film where everyone has an open suspicion that Spielberg wanted to direct a horror

Continue Reading

Dear Zoe – ★★★

A frustrating film, that is elevated by performances from Sadie Sink & Theo Rossi, Dear Zoe has just too much going on in the wrong places at times. Gren Wells gives her film a lot of heart making it still worth a viewing. When Tess and her family suffer an

Continue Reading

Something in the Dirt – ★★★★

Another gem of a picture from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, Something in the Dirt, is possibly their biggest triumph. A film that fans of the duo will wholeheartedly adore. With it also becoming a wonderful jumping-in point for new audiences. Benson and Moorhead have firmly cemented themselves as the filmmakers to watch with

Continue Reading

The Sleep Experiment – ★★ 1/2

The Sleep Experiment is a frustrating watch. Some moments work very well, yet the faults are sadly too front and centre to ignore. A film that hinders itself when it has everything going for it. Two detectives begin investigating the ethics involved in the top-secret research facility, Porton Down. One

Continue Reading

Ghostwatch – (Blu-Ray) ★★★★ 1/2

The BBC gives over a whole evening to an ‘investigation into the supernatural’. Four respected presenters and a camera crew attempt to discover the truth behind ‘The most haunted house in Britain’, expecting a light-hearted scare or two and probably the uncovering of a hoax. They think they are in

Continue Reading

Ashkal ★★★ 1/2 – London Film Festival 2022

The sense of dread has a firm grasp of you throughout Youssef Chebbi’s Ashkal. A haunting film that never reveals its hand too much, it is one that will undoubtedly linger in your mind. In the Gardens of Carthage, a district of Tunis initiated by the former Regime whose construction

Continue Reading

Human Flowers of Flesh ★★★ New York Film Festival 2022

Like an artist painting a picture leisurely yet with a strong purpose, Helena Wittmann’s Human Flowers of Flesh never hurries itself while it absorbs you with its gorgeous textures. Ida lives on a sailing yacht with a crew of five men. While on shore leave in Marseilles, she becomes fascinated

Continue Reading

The Adventures of Gigi the Law ★★★ New York Film Festival

A quasi-documentary that is as charming as it is contemplative, The Adventures of Gigi the Law has some very strong moments of emotion that catch you off guard. Alessandro Comodin has made a film that you can’t help but gravitate towards. Gigi, a good-natured, contemplative policeman in a small village

Continue Reading

My Year of Dicks (Short Film) ★★★★ London Film Festival 2022

As relatable a story about your sexual awakening as you will see, My Year of Dicks is a wonderful short film that tells a sincere, funny and honest tale. A female-driven animation than harmonises exceptionally well with the story – a must-watch. It’s 1991, and Pam is trying very hard

Continue Reading

Dry Ground Burning ★★★ 1/2 TIFF

Dry Ground Burning is an absorbing film with a lot to say and punches each of those points home without hesitation. Bold throughout, this hybrid documentary is a film like a few others. Sisters Chitara and Léa are the leaders of an all-female gang who steal oil from pipelines to

Continue Reading

Leonor Will Never Die ★★★ 1/2 TIFF 2022

Absurd, funny, chaotic, self-aware and most importantly heartwarming, Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die an absolute treat for those who love cinema – a clever film that takes you by delightful surprise. After creating a string of successful action films, Leonor Reyes was once a major player in the

Continue Reading

The Banshees of Inisherin ★★★★ TIFF

The trio of Martin McDonagh, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson strike gold again with the utterly fantastic The Banshees of Inisherin. A sublime film, it knows precisely what it is doing. Quite possibly the filmmaker’s best film yet. On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, Pádraic (Colin Farrell)

Continue Reading

Autobiography ★★★ 1/2 TIFF 2022

Director Makbul Mubarak challenges how far loyalty will go in his debut film, Autobiography. A confident film that never loses its way, strengthened by two strong performances from its leads. A young man working as a housekeeper in an empty mansion. When its owner returns to start his mayoral election

Continue Reading

We Are Still Here ★★★★ TIFF 2022

What shines through when watching the anthology film We Are Still Here is how important the scope is of what we are viewing. This is a film that will resonate with you in a multitude of ways, and despite the continual pain that indigenous people go through, hope blossoms through

Continue Reading

Canary (Short Film) ★★★★ TIFF 2022

A lovely story about escaping one’s situation for something brighter, Canary switches up its light-hearted tone for something all the more serious and never misses a step in doing so. A gorgeous and affecting short film. In 1922, a young boy named Sonny worked in an underground coal mine with

Continue Reading

Victim ★★★ 3/4 TIFF 2022

Vita Smachelyuk blows you away in Michal Blaško’s increasingly stressful Victim. Full of socio-political narratives, his film drives through the point that even the most well-intentioned of people can be forced into horrible positions—a great feature debut film. Irina lives with her son Igor in a small Czech border town.

Continue Reading

Ever Deadly ★★★★ TIFF 2022

An immersive experience that is much more than a biographical music documentary Ever Deadly is as much an education as it is a look into Tanya Tagaq’s life. You will undoubtedly come away with something meaningful here. Tanya Tagaq is an avant-garde Inuit throat singer who continually explores sound transformation

Continue Reading

The Flying Sailor (Short) TIFF 2022

Like our titular character, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis have thrown a mixture of animation stylings up into the air and meshed them together in their excellent meditative short The Flying Sailor. Two ships collide in a harbour, an explosion shatters a city, and a sailor is blasted skyward. Then,

Continue Reading

Goliath ★★★★ Venice Film Festival

The stunning scenery of southern Kazakhstan is the setting for an emotionally bruising Euro-Asian western in Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s powerful Goliath. A film that grabs your interest and only pulls you in further as it goes along. The Kazakh village Karatas has long been subjugated by a criminal boss called Poshaev

Continue Reading

The Eyes Below ★★★★ 1/2 FrightFest 2022

Just when you thought that silly childhood fear of something alone in your bedroom had left, Alexis Bruchon comes along with his film The Eyes Below to shatter it all. A simple concept is carried out so effectively that you are left as astonished as you are spooked—a truly sensational

Continue Reading

Burial ★★★ FrightFest 2022

Burial is a period thriller that hits enough of the right notes to leave you satisfied while never striking just the right chord. It remains a compelling film with great performances from Charlotte Vega and Tom Felton. London, 1991. The home of an old woman (Harriet Walter), who watches the

Continue Reading

End Zone 2 – FrightFest 2022

The remaining two acts of End Zone 2 are presented to audiences after the terrific The Once and Future Smash, a brutally authentic 70s trash horror that will leave you wondering just how good that missing 3rd act really was. Fifteen years after the events of End Zone, Smash-Mouth is

Continue Reading

Horror films to watch starting with O

Opera (1987) Dario Argento comes back again to the list with this vicious film. What strikes you most about Opera is just how visually stunning it is, and considering how overlooked this is amongst Argento’s work, that becomes a surprise. Of course, Argento’s weaknesses come to the fore here, but

Continue Reading

Her Way ★★★ 1/2

Laure Calamy owns every second of Her Way, pulling herself every which way emotionally as the exhausted single-parent sex worker. Cécile Ducrocq’s debut is a strong and memorable one full of humanity. Marie (Laure Calamy) is a confident, optimistic sex worker in Strasbourg who is determined to provide a better

Continue Reading

Return to Sender ★★★ HollyShorts Film Festival

Return to Sender is a strong thriller that grabs onto our fears of being watched. With the increasing dependency on the digital world, Russell Goldman shows how we are losing the control we crave for our own lives. Director: Russell Goldman Cast: Allison Tolman, Emma Pasarow,  IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15225028 When recovering alcoholic Julia

Continue Reading

Elevate ★★★ 1/2 HollyShorts Film Festival

A sombre and considerate piece that showcases the importance of compassion and the human touch, Elevate is a striking short that works on you emotionally, accumulating in a powerful ending. Director: Dylan Boom Cast: Tracie Thoms, Jason Butler Harner, Rickey Eugene Brown, Gwyn LaRee  IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15699084 Tiffany (Tracie Thoms) works the

Continue Reading

Bump ★★★★ – HollyShorts Film Festival

Rory Keenan’s debut film, Bump, is a rounding success, ably bringing some biting comedy while finding the perfect chance to wipe that smile clean off our faces. A strong start to a promising career as a director. Director: Rory Keenan, Cast: Gemma Arterton, Macy Nyman, Nylah Sweeney IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12435324 Heavily pregnant

Continue Reading

Sissy – ★★★★ – Fantasia International Film Festival

A horror for millennials, Sissy takes the idea of social ostracism and childhood trauma and runs with it. Resulting in a compelling and unexpected bloodbath of a film, thoroughly tremendous. Writer-directors Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes along with lead Aisha Dee have knocked it out of the park. Cecelia (Aisha

Continue Reading

Incredible But True – ★★★★ – Fantasia International Film Festival

Typical absurdist film from Quentin Dupieux in his tenth feature, Incredible But True. A thoroughly funny tale of a midlife crisis, we have a ridiculously entertaining and charming film that also compels and actually has a lot of heart. Alain (Alain Chabat) and Marie (Léa Drucker) have been together for a

Continue Reading

Mercenaries from Hong Kong – ★★★ – Fantasia International Film Festival

Getting a fantastic 2k restoration from Arrow Films, Mercenaries from Hong Kong is an entertaining slice of action from the early 80s. This relentless film throws everything it can at the screen, and you will love it for it. A notorious assassin (Philip Ko) must be eliminated at all costs. A mysterious

Continue Reading

A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot – ★★★★

Shinichiro Watanabe provides a melancholic outlook on the apocalypse with his latest short A Girl Meets a Boy and a Robot. As gorgeous to watch as it is emotionally painful, this is a beautiful short. A girl without memory wanders the ruined wastes of the world that once was, where

Continue Reading

The Oil Machine – ★★★ 1/2 Sheff Doc Fest 2022

We know that we must reduce the drilling and use of oil, yet here in The Oil Machine, we are presented with a difficult watch of seeing just how deeply rooted our society is in fossil fuels. Emma Davie’s documentary takes us on an urgent journey that only speeds up

Continue Reading

Off The Rails – ★★★ 1/2 Sheff Doc Fest 2022

Trauma has taken hold of our two subjects in Peter Day’s Off The Rails. As they battle through their pain, we become all the more concerned for them —an empathetic and engaging piece that is well worth your time. Rikke Brewer and Aiden Knox struggle with the death of their best friend

Continue Reading

Peace and Tranquillity – ★★★★ (Short) Sheff Doc Fest 2022

Director Myro Klocho, Country: Ukraine, 12 Mins  Two weeks after Russia invaded his country, acclaimed playwright Andrii Bondarenko focused on the life he had lived. A peaceful childhood had followed bloodshed. And now, in adulthood, he faced the threat that previous generations of his family had witnessed. These thoughts took

Continue Reading

Neo Horizon Strand: Odyssey Chinese Cinema Film Festival

Sarira 舍利 Director: Mingyang Li – 28 minutes When an excavator attempts to destroy a temple, a monk’s ancient faith is finally confronted by modern society: it is from then that he must begin his interrogation of the world. Sarira is the type of drama that takes you by surprise

Continue Reading

We’re All Going To The World’s Fair – ★★★★

You will be hard-pressed to find a film that portrays isolation effectively and unsettlingly as We’re All Going To The World’s Fair does. Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror hits harder than you ever expect it to, thanks to a terrific turn from Anna Cobb. A fantastic debut feature. Alone in her

Continue Reading

The Novice – ★★★★★ (BFI Flare)

An extraordinary debut feature from writer-editor-director Lauren Hadaway, The Novice is as compelling and physically tense inducing film as you will see this year – a stunning film.  Alex (Isabelle Fuhrman), a college freshman, joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it

Continue Reading

Walk With Me – ★★★ (BFI Flare 2022)

When Isabel del Rosal’s feature debut Walk With Me works, it really works. Sadly though, when the film needs to be more direct, it, like its protagonist, hesitates. Nevertheless, there is a solid to great film here, if only it had been bolder. As she braves life after divorce, young

Continue Reading

Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang – ★★★★ 1/2 (BFI Flare 2022)

Every once in a while, a film will come along and just leave you speechless; Ultraviolette and the Blood-Spitters Gang is that film. Showcasing both the beauty and pain of your first love, this is a remarkable piece of cinema. After the death of his grandmother Emma, Robin Hunzinger and

Continue Reading

Bangla Surf Girls – ★★★★ 1/2 (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

Elizabeth D. Costa’s Bangla Surf Girls shows us the struggle with being pressured into conforming to tradition despite your aspirations and the resilience in young women to push against the social tide. At times brutal with its honesty, this beautifully compelling documentary is fantastic. Shobe, Aisha and Suma break away

Continue Reading

Boycott – ★★★★ (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

Julia Bacha’s impressive documentary Boycott takes you down a rabbit hole that is truly disconcerting as it reveals how those in the US have unknowingly lost some of their civil liberties. A consuming and essential watch. Within the United States, thirty-three states have introduced anti-boycott laws, which require individuals and

Continue Reading

Judges Under Pressure – ★★★★ (Human Rights Watch Film Festival)

With engaging subjects, Kacper Lisowski can focus his rightfully angry documentary Judges Under Pressure on the fight for Poland’s independent judicial system. A vital documentary. Democracy in Poland is hanging by a fragile thread. Facing arrest and fines if they issue rulings that are not to the government’s liking, judges

Continue Reading

Blue Moon – ★★★ 1/2 (Glasgow Film Festival)

Raw and continually on edge, Alina Grigore’s Blue Moon is a chaotic family portrait that purposely overwhelms poor Irina and its audience. Throwing everything at our senses, her restless camera never gives you a moment to breathe—a strong debut. 22-year-old Irina (Iona Chitu) lives in the mountains, where her family

Continue Reading

Silent Land – ★★★★ (Glasgow Film Festival)

Aga Woszczyńska brings us a fantastic tale in Silent Land through themes of guilt and denial. This is a confident and compelling debut, filled with perfect stillness and two knockout performances from Agnieszka Żulewska and Dobromir Dymecki. The cracks of a ‘perfect’ couple begin to show as their holiday in

Continue Reading

The Vault – ★★ 1/2

While The Vault is an enjoyable enough heist film, it never quite steps itself out from being a paint by numbers endeavour. Its predictability hurts it, but there is still plenty here to have fun with. When an engineer (Freddie Highmore) learns of a mysterious, impenetrable fortress hidden under The

Continue Reading

Adventures of Success – ★★★

Filled with charm, Adventures of Success at times works wonderfully, but even with fleshed out and interesting characters, led by Lexie Mountain, there are some issues as the film stutters in the middle. Regardless there is a lot to enjoy with Jay Buim’s movie. Led by a mystical female founder

Continue Reading

Hive – ★★★★ Glasgow Film Festival

A powerhouse performance from Yllka Gashi in Blerta Basholli’s enthralling film Hive, giving us an insight into how grieving women dealt with a patriarchal society that limits them at every turn – a marvellous drama In March 1999, the Kosovan village of Krusha e Madhe was the site of a

Continue Reading

Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic – ★★★ 1/2

Maria Demeshina Peek’s documentary, Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic offers a disturbing glance at what goes on online when parents cannot see. A difficult, yet important watch for everyone. “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic” tackles extremely disturbing yet timely subject matter and is an investigation into the world of online grooming and

Continue Reading

Ashgrove – ★★★★★ Glasgow Film Festival

Ashgrove is a film that reels you in effortlessly and by the end has you entirely emotionally invested in Amanda Brugel and Jonas Chernick’s troubled couple. Jeremy Lalonde has delivered a subtle yet powerful move – a marvellous film. A pandemic has affected the world’s water supply; Jennifer (Amanda Brugel)

Continue Reading

Bird Atlas ★★★ 1/2 – Glasgow Film Festival

Olmo Omerzu latest film Bird Atlas, is filled with bitter sweetness that showcases that greed and self-reliance are not the be-all and end-all of life. With a cast on top form, Bird Atlas Hits all the right notes. Ivo Rona (Donutil) may have serious health issues, but he believes that

Continue Reading

The Gravedigger’s Wife – ★★★★ Glasgow Film Festival

Wonderfully directed, Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife tackles societal issues in Djibouti City, giving a voice to those who need it. A touching and thoughtful film that fills you with hope despite the hardship around those involved. Guled (Omar Abdi) works hard to support his wife and son. The

Continue Reading

Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It – ★★★

Slapstick aplenty is served to us by Yernar Nurgaliyev’s horror-comedy, Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It. With an added generous helping of gore to keep us going, we are left with a film that struggles to break the one-dimensional stereotypes. After accidentally witnessing a murder by a group of thugs, the

Continue Reading

2022 Academy Awards Nomination Breakdown

Well the Academy Award Nominations have been and gone, did you try and predict any? How did you do? We are going to have a breakdown of what has been nominated with the added bonus of seeing how well I did in having a guess! My Best Picture Predictions Belfast, Don’t

Continue Reading

Edicius (Short Film) – ★★★1/2

Uzo Oleh’s stylish short film Edicius is a gorgeous look at the trappings of money over all else. Aided by the marvellous Michael Socha, Oleh gives us a visual treat. Jason (Michael Socha), an ambitious lawyer in his 30s, should be on top of the world, but his love for

Continue Reading