Tropic
Although some structural issues weigh it down, TROPIC’s allusions to sci-fi horror elevate the story, mainly told through unspoken expressions and gestures. Simon Bowie reviews.
Category Archives: Festival Coverage
Other People’s Children
With OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN (LES ENFANTS DES AUTRES), Rebecca Zlotowski crafts a wonderfully mature romantic comedy-drama that tackles adult themes with grace and boldly positions itself in the canon of modern romance films.
Nightsiren
Tereza Nvotová’s second feature NIGHTSIREN (SVETLONOC) uses the genre trappings of folk horror to explore patriarchy and sexual norms for women, and benefits from a dreamy expressionism in cinematography and editing.
Sanctuary
SANCTUARY is a well-considered film that draws the audience into the tangled and shifting power dynamics of sub-dom kink and keeps the audience guessing until its unfortunate final moments.
Polite Society
Nida Manzoor’s POLITE SOCIETY closed Glasgow Film Festival 2023 on a high as one of the festival’s strongest and most creative films.
Glasgow Short Film Festival 2023
Associate Editor Simon Bowie reflects on the 2023 edition of Glasgow Short Film Festival, and its themes of machine learning, ‘weak’ artificial intelligence, and taking control of your own life or the tools you use.
The Artifice Girl
Intelligent filmmaking with soul ought to be treasured when it comes along, and THE ARTIFICE GIRL is just that. What could be inaccessible due to its scientific subject matter or off-putting over the fervour AI discourse provokes is anything but.
Great Yarmouth
GREAT YARMOUTH rushes comeuppance slightly too neatly and swiftly. However, director Marco Martins’ Norfolk retains some of the county’s folk horror sensibilities; the forced propulsion does not preclude its haunting staying power once credits roll.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE is a tense heist thriller about ecoterrorism that doesn’t hold back from clear and explicit recommendations about what property we need to trash to lessen planetary catastrophe.
Therapy Dogs
Ethan Eng’s debut feature THERAPY DOGS is an astonishingly inventive blend of documentary and drama exploring the high school experience.