Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige’s Memory Box is far more complex and layered than you would expect and hits all the right emotional notes as it asks its audience how they view their own memories and past. A wonderfully satisfying film.
Tag: lff
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
One Man and His Shoes ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Yemi Bamiro explores the rise of Nikes Air Jordan’s and the effects of having a chokehold on supply vs demand in the fascinatingly balanced One Man and His Shoes. A sportsman with once-in-a-generation talent, Michael Jordan was held up as a symbol of Black progress; he had his own phenomenally
Wolfwalkers ★★★★1/2 – LFF 2020
Cartoon Saloon has created another mesmerising picture with Wolfwalkers that proves that hand-drawn animation is not in the past. It’s the mid-17th century and the Irish city of Kilkenny is occupied by Cromwell’s forces. Robyn (Honor Kneafsey) and her father Bill (Sean Bean) arrive from England. His job is to
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
Lovers Rock ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Lovers Rock is the second part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axes series following on from Mangrove. Boy do we have a completely different film this time out. It’s a Saturday sometime in the 80s. Samson preps his sound system for Blues dance while Martha (Amarah-Jae St.Aubyn) shimmies down her drainpipe.
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
Notturno ★★★1/2 – LFF 2020
Gianfranco Rosi sends us to the borders of Middle Eastern countries where conflict, trauma and rehabilitation are now the norm, in his poignant and important documentary Notturno. A young couple smoke together whilst overlooking the city at night; fragile plastic tents in muddy refugee camps bellow in the wind. Female
The Human Voice ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Pedro Almodóvar’s English language debut allows for Tilda Swinton to own the screen in the gorgeous The Human Voice. Madness and melancholy intersect to thrilling effect as Almodóvar reimagines Jean Cocteau’s short play The Human Voice for an era in which isolation has become a way of life. Laws of
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
Cicada ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Cicada is a tender and vulnerable piece of cinema. A powerful, yet graceful debut feature for Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare. Introspective bisexual Ben (Matthew Fifer) drifts from one casual encounter to the next. While his recent relationships barely last past morning, things change when he meets Sam (Sheldon D.
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
Undine ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Undine is an understated, beautifully weaved story. It takes turns that I didn’t expect, and it treads water a tad in the middle which stops it from being better than it deserves. Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski are excellent. A fantastical dream of a film. Undine is at once a
Honeymood ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Talya Lavie’s Honeymood, is an infectiously charming jaunt that grows in confidence. Coupled with a smart script and a funny and relatable cast, this is a sure-fire winner. A bride and groom arrive at their lavish honeymoon suite on their wedding night. When the bride, Eleanor (Avigail Harari) discovers her
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
Stray ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Filmed throughout 2017 and 2019 Elizabeth Lo’s first feature Stray is an intimate and thought provoking study of a dog’s view of the streets of Istanbul. Synopsis Elizabeth Lo’s unobstructed camera follows our three leads Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal as they roam through the streets of Istanbul. Their freedom is
The Painter and the Thief ★★★★ – LFF 2020
Can you ever forgive someone who has stolen from you and if so what can that be like? Benjamin Rees explores this in his intimately beautiful The Painter and the Thief. Synopsis Barbora Kysilkova paints hyper-realistic work, two of which are on show in a gallery in Oslo. One day,
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