While THE SURFER does not deliver many surprises beyond the details of Cage’s character’s trials, humiliations, and triumphs, fans of Cage, Australian dramas, and a B-movie’s relish for the extreme will find it lives up to the promise of its premise with aplomb.
Although VERMIGLIO may be too gentle to impact viewers, the film is a beautiful neorealist throwback that shows the power of detailed, naturalistic characterisation.
BABYGIRL is festive family fun in the least traditional sense. Finding levity and grace in human weakness and the messiness of navigating human desire and dynamics, the film gives generational acting talents a phenomenal showcase that will ignite conversation, not offer the final word.
CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT threatens to prioritise style and depravity over substance, but perhaps that excess is the critique. While the new version does not elevate the material to masterpiece status, McDowell’s fearless turn and the curiosity of an unsanitised release make this worth watching.
GRAND THEFT HAMLET is a relic of a strange time made with love, ingenuity, and originality, a testament to the enduring, almost addictive appeal of live theatre and human connection no matter what obstacles arise.
EMILIA PÉREZ is heavily inspired by the shocking twists and family secrets of telenovelas. Unfortunately, the film is aurally and visually ugly, and the way in which it uses Mexican drug violence and cartels as scenery without engaging with the social reality leaves a bad taste.
SINCE YESTERDAY joyously celebrates the work of groups that, by all rights, should be better known today, and paints a vibrant picture of their artistry but also a damning picture of sexism, classism, and London-centrism that still plagues the UK’s arts scene today.
THE CRITIC approaches a dynamic historical era whose high stakes parallel today’s with a dearth of imagination and humanity. It looks handsome, but its heart is hollow.
JERICHO RIDGE understands the pure thrill of a well-executed standoff, and never once lets the pace drop.
THE DEAD DON’T HURT is a clear labour of love and a throwback to an earlier era of Western, for better and worse. Carmen Paddock reviews.
