Film Reviews

The Mercy review - Colin Firth's leaking vessel

Jasper Rees Thursday, 08 February 2018

Fakery is promised in the opening image of The Mercy. A smiling beauty water-skis over sunny seas, only for the camera to pull away and reveal she is part of a maritime expo in a vast exhibition hall. One of the other exhibitors is an inventor called Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth), who enlists his beaming sons to demonstrate his Navicator, a simple tool to guide sailors on the high seas....

Makala review - capturing human spirit on film

Owen Richards Saturday, 03 February 2018

We follow Kabwita Kasongo on his morning routine, lingering over the shoulder as he treks through the village. A pastel sunrise greets vast landscapes, the morning breeze visible for miles around. He heads to a tree at the edge of a mountain, and begins a day’s work chopping it down.

Phantom Thread review - Daniel Day-Lewis bows out in style

Matt Wolf Friday, 02 February 2018

A perfectionist says goodbye to an art form he has done so much to nourish by playing – you guessed it – a perfectionist.

Journey's End review - requiem for the poor bloody infantry

Adam Sweeting Tuesday, 30 January 2018

With Dunkirk and Darkest Hour threatening to storm the Oscars, it seems there’s suddenly plenty of mileage in portraits of the British at war.

Last Flag Flying review - Richard Linklater on the lies of war

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 26 January 2018

This Vietnam vet/road movie is a warm-hearted, meandering piece, but any similarities to Linklater’s Boyhood or the Before…trilogy end there. This is a darker story, but not dark enough, and you wish it could have been less conventional and harder-hitting. Set in 2003, its first scene is in a run-down Virginia bar with Sal, a jaded alcoholic ex-marine (Bryan Cranston in a stand-out performance) at its helm.

Early Man review - delight for football fans and kids alike

Saskia Baron Thursday, 25 January 2018

Nick Park’s utterly charming new animation channels the spirits of so many cinema and comedy ghosts that its originality can be overlooked – but it shouldn’t be. This is a fresh narrative in an era where films aimed at young audiences are dominated by sequels, prequels, remakes, comic...

Downsizing review - little things please little

Jasper Rees Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Alexander Payne’s best-loved film is Sideways but that title may as well work for everything and anything in his oeuvre. In Election, About Schmidt, The Descendants and Nebraska, he puts America and Americans under the microscope from a variety of quizzically oblique angles. There’s another tilt shift in his latest satire.

The Final Year review - Greg Barker documents Obama's last year in office

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 19 January 2018

"The Times They Are A-Changin'" has never sounded so menacing.

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The Post review - Spielberg's glorious paean to print

Jasper Rees Thursday, 18 January 2018

It beggars belief that, from the moment Steven Spielberg took delivery of the script by first-timer Liz Hannah, it took a mere 10 months to get The Post in the can. Its subject being the race to publish, that's a fitting rate of production. Introducing the film at its London premiere, Spielberg stressed the urgency of a story about the media under renewed attack. For Richard...

The Commuter review - trouble on the main line

Adam Sweeting Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Nobody is more sensitive about the notion of becoming a geriatric action hero than Liam Neeson (“guys, I’m sixty-fucking-five,” as he points out), but he can still punch bad guys and leap off moving trains with the best of ‘em.

A Woman's Life review - simple but affecting

Owen Richards Friday, 12 January 2018

A Woman’s Life first premiered at the 2016 Venice International Film Festival, alongside the likes of La La Land, Arrival and Jackie. Though it’s taken longer to get to our shores than its contemporaries, the film feels fresh and relevant.

Darkest Hour review - Winston airbrushed for the 21st century

Nick Hasted Thursday, 11 January 2018

The Great Man theory of history is applied by Darkest Hour director Joe Wright to his star Gary Oldman as much as their subject Winston Churchill.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri review - Frances McDormand is on fire

Jasper Rees Wednesday, 10 January 2018

It probably won’t take long for the title to be sawn in half. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri will become casually known as Three Billboards and its specific location will drift into a vaguely remembered background. The place name is of a piece with Martin McDonagh’s previous visits to half-mythical places: Inishmore, Inishmaan, Leenane. Ebbing is everywhere and nowhere, a no-account small town in the faceless epicentre of the Midwest where a teenage girl can be...

Hostiles review – powerful but preachy Frontier fable

Adam Sweeting Friday, 05 January 2018

The last time we saw Christian Bale in a western, he was playing the downtrodden rancher Dan Evans in James Mangold’s punchy remake of 3.10 to Yuma.

Best of 2017: Film

theartsdesk Friday, 29 December 2017

It was the night Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, those old robbers on the run, will want to forget. Thanks to a clerical error, the Oscar for Best Picture briefly ended up in the clutch of the overwhelming favourite.

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Molly's Game review - Jessica Chastain gets her poker face on

Adam Sweeting Tuesday, 26 December 2017

After her brittle and unloveable turn in John Madden’s Washington-lobbyist drama Miss Sloane, Jessica Chastain gets the chance to do it again, properly. This is thanks to Aaron Sorkin, whose directing debut Molly’s Game is.