Film Reviews

Oscars 2023 - the favourite lives up to its title

Matt Wolf Monday, 13 March 2023

Everything Everywhere All at Once lived up to its title Sunday night at the 95^thAcademy Awards by managing to win nearly everything everywhere almost all at once. The fragmented, seriocomic celluloid head trip won seven of the 11 Oscars for which it had been nominated, entering record books several times over not least for having two Asian actors amongst the recipients.

The Middle Man review - dark Danish-Canadian comedy about the decaying of hope

Helen Hawkins Friday, 10 March 2023

The opening shots in The Middle Man show a brooding urban landscape lit only by refinery flames at night. The streets are deserted, with a lone car scuttling across them at an intersection. It’s Nowhereville, North America, though officially it's called Karmack.

Creed III review - boxing clever

Nick Hasted Monday, 06 March 2023

This third Creed film outgrows Rocky, leaving Stallone’s bridging presence behind for a wholly renewed series. Starring again as Adonis Creed, the illegitimate son of Rocky’s late rival Apollo, Michael B. Williams’ directorial debut builds a richly conceived African-American world in and out of the ring.

I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking) review - quietly impressive debut film

Saskia Baron Saturday, 04 March 2023

I’m Fine (Thanks for Asking) is an object lesson in how it was possible to make a feature on a tiny budget despite the restrictions of the pandemic lockdown. The film-makers stuck to the classical unities (time, place, action), cast themselves and members of the crew, called in favours from performer friends, and shot the movie over 10 days, mainly outdoors.

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What's Love Got to Do With It? review - Jemima Khan's feelgood romcom

Veronica Lee Monday, 27 February 2023

Here's a question. A romcom stars a man and woman, friends from childhood, both straight and with no romantic history. He's a Muslim and has decided to pursue an arranged marriage; she has a chaotic love life. What are the odds that they will end up together at the end of the film?

Joyland review - a tender tragedy

Nick Hasted Saturday, 25 February 2023

Partially banned in Pakistan, Saim Sadiq’s debut uses a young man’s affair with a trans woman to reveal the sadness and brutality of the nation’s patriarchal norms. It’s also a deeply sympathetic character study written from under the country’s skin, which Sadiq calls “a heartbroken love letter to my homeland”.

Cocaine Bear review - comedy horror lacks the bare necessities

Saskia Baron Saturday, 25 February 2023

This is one of those films where it’s really best to stick with the trailer. The incompetence of the directing and screenwriting is easy to disguise when a crafty promo-maker has picked out the good bits from a large pile of bear scat.

Creature review - Asif Kapadia shines light on a dark dance piece

Helen Hawkins Friday, 24 February 2023

Filmed ballets involve a different way of watching: you may know a piece well, but you aren’t used to staring into its lead dancers’ eyes as they perform their roles. Not all dancers give good close-up, either. But a new film by the Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia of Akram Khan’s Creature, made for English National Ballet in 2021, has transformed the original live version into a moving drama.

Broker review - baby-selling in South Korea

Saskia Baron Thursday, 23 February 2023

The Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda chose to make Broker in South Korea, with Parasite star, Song Kang-ho. He plays one of two dodgy chaps who make a living selling abandoned babies to desperate couples.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania review - Marvel head into infinity and beyond

Nick Hasted Sunday, 19 February 2023

We’ve now reached film 31 and Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s increasingly baroque franchise. Four years after Avengers: Endgame’s false finale, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is still basking in his role in reversing Thanos’s genocidal Blip, and reacting to the MCU’s version of the pandemic by semi-retiring from Avenging for some Me time.

Nostalgia review - returning to Naples after 40 years

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 17 February 2023

“He’s my best friend, a brother,” says Felice Lasco (Pierfrancesco Favino) of his childhood buddy, Oreste Spasiano (Tomasso Ragno). After 40 years away, Felice, a successful, married businessman, has returned to Naples from Cairo to see his aged mother (Aurora Quattrocchi).

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Marcel the Shell With Shoes On review - small fry with a big heart

Graham Fuller Friday, 17 February 2023

Marcel the Shell the Shoes On tells the story of a one-eyed little shell who lives with his grandmother Connie in a house that became an Airbnb after its former occupants divorced. The man inadvertently carried away Marcel’s extended family in a drawer when he left. Marcel pines for them, and he tugs at our heartstrings more relentlessly than should be allowed by a one-inch carapace animated by stop motion.

The Son review - is each unhappy family unhappy in its own way?

Saskia Baron Wednesday, 15 February 2023

The Son is one of those movies where everyone is acting their socks off, exhibiting their range and sensitivity to the point where one can imagine there was a bucket on the set positioned to drop in the expected awards. It may well work for Florian Zeller’s theatre fans used to a lot of intense anguished dialogue, but it’s very claustrophobic as a film and lacks the tricksy double casting of key characters that made The Father intriguing.

Magic Mike's Last Dance review - ludicrous and radical gyrations

Nick Hasted Saturday, 11 February 2023

Magic Mike began as a cautionary tale rooted in Channing Tatum’s spell as a teenage stripper, then morphed into a franchise of reality and theatre shows. Now this second sequel brings original director Steven Soderbergh back, and leaps into pure fantasy.

Women Talking review - abused Mennonite women find their voice

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 10 February 2023

Women Talking is very powerful. It was adapted by writer-director Sarah Polley from the novel that Miriam Toews, raised a Mennonite in Canada, based on terrible events that took place in an isolated Mennonite community in Bolivia between 2005 and 2009.

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Town of Strangers review - a whimsical foray into the meaning of home

Sarah Kent Wednesday, 08 February 2023

“They say there are only two stories,” explains director Treasa O’Brien. “A person goes on a journey and a stranger comes to town.” O’Brien was born in Dublin to a naval family that had to up sticks and move every two or three years. Her first school was in Malta, where the other kids would neither speak to her nor play with her since she was an outsider.