Danny Madden’s fantastic feature debut Beast Beast is bold with its perfectly built tension and a final act that hits you like a train, becoming an unmissable and urgent film for young adults in a modern world.
Tag: drama
Black Bear – ★★★★
Writer-Director Lawrence Michael Levine’s Black Bear mesmerises with its three devastatingly good leads. This film is full of ambiguity that keeps you engrossed and unable to look away as these characters destroy themselves.
Reunion – ★★★ 1/2
Jake Mahaffy’s Reunion utilises its slow-burn storytelling to compel its audience. This complex tale occasionally trips itself up, but with a killer finale, it makes it a film that is worth the build.
Sweetheart ★★★ 1/2 – BFI Flare
Marley Morrison’s feature debut, Sweetheart, takes ahold of you with its striking charm and sharp dialogue. Coupled with strong performances, this is as entertaining as it is relatable.
Silk Road (2021) – ★★★
Silk Road sees documentarian Tiller Russell venture into dramatic fare with a story that should be right up his alley. Yet by altering this true story, some of the emphasis is lost, hindering itself from the get-go.
The Winter Lake – ★★★
Phil Sheerin’s bleak Irish drama is held together thanks to its four leads and some superb direction. The Winter Lake slightly lacks in its plot development; however, those wanting a low key mystery drama are in for a treat.
Ashes in the Snow ★★★ – Digital Release
A heartbreaking tale of losing one’s innocence during Soviet occupation, by a regime that cares as little for you or its soldiers. It struggles to remain compelling despite some particularly strong performances.
Lost Girls and Love Hotels – ★★★
Director William Olssen’s Lost Girls and Love Hotels presents a bleak character study of a person trying to numb their senses to forget their past. A film about loneliness and yearning to forget.
Rams (2020) ★★★ 1/2 – Digital Release
Jeremy Sims’ brings us a warm-hearted jaunt in rural Western Australia that keeps the humour while never being afraid to bring the drama and a few tears.
A Ghost Waits – ★★★★ 1/2
A Ghost Waits is a pitch-perfect film. With faultless performances from its two leads, this is a wonderfully empathetic film that won’t be long forgotten. A brilliant must see gem.
White Lie – ★★★★ 1/2
White Lie is an intricate character study that racks up the tension as we follow a character getting further backed into a corner because of her actions. Kacey Rohl is breath-taking as the complex Katie.
Summer of ’72 ★★★1/2 – Digital Release
Summer of ’72 is a strong showing from feature debut writer-director Philip Harder. His film tries to balance two main themes at once. Just getting away with it thanks to some stunning visuals and stand out performances from Natalia Dyer and Marchánt Davis.
Safe Spaces ★★★ 1/2 – Digital Review
Safe Spaces is a touching and emotionally effective comedy-drama that details the challenges of acceptance and taking responsibility for events that happen in one’s life.
Scenes of A Sexual Nature ★★★ – Digital Review
Everyone loves to have a sneaky listen in to their fellow humans’ conversations in a park and this is where Ed Blum’s Scenes of a Sexual Nature free-flowingly takes us.
Force of Habit ★★★★1/2 – Raindance
Nothing will quite prepare you for the awkwardness and pain you will have for these characters and for women overall after viewing Force of Habit. Filmed by seven directors (Kirsikka Saari, Mila Tervo, Elli Toivoniemi, Jenni Toivoniemi, Reetta Aalto, Anna Paavilainen and Alli Haapasalo. We follow a multitude of characters
New Order ★★★ – LFF 2020
Michel Franco’s New Order is punishing film. Unflinching and unforgiving this is a cautionary tale for societies. Marianne’s (Naian Gonzaléz Norvind) wedding at the spectacular family home is besieged by several unexpected incidents: the registrar is late; social disturbances delay guests en route, and former employee Rolando turns up seeking
Siberia ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Abel Ferrara and frequent collaborator Willem Dafoe join forces in Siberia, a film that explores experimental cinema to its fullest. Clint (Willem Dafoe) lives in a snowed-in wooded area of Siberia. Tending to his small desolate bar. Isolated from the rest of mankind until they visit him he gets by
Ammonite ★★★ – LFF 2020
Ammonite succeeds solely by the sheer force of its leads performances and brilliant cinematography, despite an underwhelming script and direction from director Francis Lee. Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) is a self-taught paleontologist who also runs a shop selling what she finds on the nearby beach in Lyme Regis. Her work
After Love ★★★★ – LFF 2020
After Love takes us on a touching journey of loss, with a career turning performance from Joanna Scanlan. A feature debut from Aleem Khan that shows us a talented filmmaker who will be one to watch. When Ahmed Hussain passes away suddenly in his Dover home, his loyal wife Mary
Shirley ★★★ – LFF 2020
Elisabeth Moss is spellbinding in Josephine Decker’s chaotic drama Shirley that has a story that isn’t on the same level as the performances and style. When we first meet Shirley (Elisabeth Moss), soon to become America’s queen of horror fiction. She seems to be a sad, drunken shut-in, married to
Rose: A Love Story ★★★★★ – LFF 2020
Sophie Rundle and Matt Stokoe are wonderful in Jennifer Sheridan’s atmospheric feature debut Rose: A Love Story. Making her a filmmaker to watch out for.
Another Round (Druk) ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Another Round is a comedy with tragic undertones. Our four leads guide us to the perils of not knowing or accepting your limits in Thomas Vinteberg’s brilliant film. Four friends, all teachers at various stages of middle age, are stuck in a rut. Unable to share their passions either at
Herself ★★★1/2 – LFF 2020
Co-writer and star Clare Dunne shines in this pure story of a mother trying to do what is best for her children. In the most difficult of circumstances in Phyllida Lloyd’s empowering Herself. Sandra (Clare Dunne) is a mother of two girls (Molly McCann and Ruby Rose O’Hara) who has
Wildfire ★★★ – LFF 2020
Wildfire conflicts, there are moments that work tremendously, with great performances from Nora-Jane Noone and the late Danika McGuigan. Yet a disconnect arises and the emotionally connection there at the start of the film loses itself by the end. Kelly (Danika McGuigan) was missing, believed dead. But now she’s back
One Night in Miami ★★★★ – LFF 2020
One Night in Miami is one of the most engrossing films of the year, it sweeps you up and takes you with it until it is ready to leave you. A wonderful feature directorial debut from Regina King. Based on Kemp Powers’ award-winning stage play, One Night in Miami is the imagined story of what
Supernova ★★★★★ – LFF 2020
Supernova is a restrained, gentle, heart wrenching tragedy. Carried by two pitch perfect performances, this is without a doubt one of the best films of the year. After twenty years together, Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker’s (Stanley Tucci) blissful life has been shattered following Tusker’s diagnosis with early-onset dementia. Intent
Never Gonna Snow Again ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Malgorzara Szuniwska and creative partner and co-director Michal Englert provide a magically offbeat film in Never Gonna Snow Again that hypnotically reels you into a world where being wealthy isn’t the be-all and end-all of life. A Ukrainian immigrant, Zhenia (Alec Utgoff) was born several years after Chernobyl works as a masseur in Poland and
Kajillionaire ★★★ – LFF2020
The performances from our main cast (Especially Evan Rachel Wood) help drive Kajillionaire. Despite the opening struggles it becomes a touching, tender film. Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) and her parents Robert (Richard Jenkins) and Theresa (Debra Winger) are a trio of small-time hustlers who live in an abandoned and
Mangrove ★★★★★ – LFF 2020
The first instalment in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series, Mangrove is powerful, eerie and depressingly still relevant today. An important film that excels most during its quietest and intimate sequences.
Relic ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Natalie Erika James’s impressive debut feature Relic is an uncomfortable tension-filled horror drama that will play at your emotions more than you would want it to. An elderly woman named Enda (Robyn Nevin) has gone missing from her secluded home in the countryside. Her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter
Mogul Mowgli ★★★★★ – LFF 2020
Riz Ahmed brings a career-best performance as a fledgeling rap star struck down with an autoimmune disease days before his big break in Bassam Tariq’s Mogul Mowgli. Synopsis Zed, a British-Pakistani rapper has been based in New York for two years. Taking heed from his girlfriend Zed returns home to
Tokyo Story (1953) ★★★★★
What makes cinema such a special medium is that no matter the language we can relate to a story. This week on our World Cinema journey we look back to Japan and to a masterpiece of a film and one that everyone who loves cinema needs to watch Yasujiro Ozu’s
50 Mondays of Sci-Fi: Moon (2009) ★★★★★
On Mondays, we look back at 50 great science fiction films. So far we have looked back at Alien, The Thing and Sunshine. This time out we look at Duncan Jones 2009 debut feature, Moon. Synopsis Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of a three-year contract in solitude
World Cinema Friday – Utøya: 22 July review
Last time out we looked back at Shoplifters. This week for we go to Norway and to the controversial film, Utøya: 22 July that asks the moral question, should a film show the events of a massacre? There will be a very select few films more difficult or harrowing to
World Cinema Friday – Shoplifters (2018)
Every Friday we will aim to show you some of our top choices in world cinema. This week we review Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters. For those who are still on a high from Parasite, then Shoplifters is the perfect film for you. A stunning Japanese drama that will captivate and ask
Lillian Gish, The Wind (1928) – Retrospective Review
This month we will be looking at performances of pioneering actresses. Starting us off will be Lillian Gish who is known as being one of the pioneering actresses in the silent era of film. Instead of having a retrospective of her many films. We have chosen one specific film that