Die My Love
DIE MY LOVE is unlikely to be considered the pinnacle of Ramsay’s career. Still, even when revisiting themes, the intense clarity of vision ensures Ramsay’s work continues to feel fresh and ominously vibrant.
All posts by Jim Ross
Anemone
ANEMONE is fortunate in being able to call upon Daniel Day-Lewis’s first film performance in eight years. Although Ronan Day-Lewis manages to garner a performance of simmering intensity from his father, their co-written script is flat and opaque to the point of tedium.
Frankenstein
If Shelley’s novel can be considered the dense and sprawling sheet music for an orchestral symphony of ideas, then Del Toro’s arrangement here is sparser. However, even if the result lacks some of the richness laid out on the page, the tune of FRANKENSTEIN extracts tension, horror and beauty that harmonises with the full version.
Ballad of a Small Player
BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER rarely fails to be entertaining, with the visuals and performances taking the film a long way. However, they are fleeting thrills in the service of an unmemorable story. Edward Berger’s film looks like a high roller, but it’s playing with buttons and matchsticks.
LFF25 Shorts: Are You Kidding?
Overall, the ARE YOU KIDDING? strand of short films at London Film Festival 2025 has (for the most part) a commanding understanding of tone, pitching the collection into a tradition of morbid, dark and absurd humour.
The Smashing Machine
THE SMASHING MACHINE is an accomplished enough film, but the narrative seems to be all exploratory jabs and no haymaker. Safdie’s film skips deftly around several cliches, but fails to use that fancy footwork to advance something memorable of its own.
One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson’s proven filmmaking ability makes ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER a technically accomplished picture that is gripping and entertaining, taking sides in the battle for history without losing its capacity for doubt.
From Ground Zero
If any short contains the thesis of presenting the Gazan anthology FROM GROUND ZERO together, it is arguably a line from Mustafa Al-Nabih’s OFFERINGS: “We know they had a past, dreams, a life, and a future”.
Sinners
Ryan Coogler continues to grow as a filmmaker: the choice not to water down the more challenging ideas underneath the blockbuster sensibilities of SINNERS proves to be the lifeblood of the film.
Late Shift (Heldin)
The specific events in LATE SHIFT don’t especially matter, but the resilience Leonie Benesch conveys in the face of whatever they may be matters hugely.