A Real Pain
Exploring the intricate characters of A REAL PAIN creates a surprising emotional authenticity and a sense of transparent peace that leaves a bittersweet aftertaste.
Category Archives: Reviews
Flow
The unique approach of FLOW streams through the entire feature, from its animation style to character behaviour, in a way that deepens the impact of its themes of solidarity, companionship, and harmony.
On Falling
ON FALLING achieves the difficult credit of being both a deeply affecting character story and a compelling indictment of how precarious labour markets undermine our communities.
Sing Sing
If art can be considered a reflection of the artist’s beliefs and values, then the cast and crew of SING SING have wonderfully presented the importance of sincerity and vulnerability in a world that increasingly seems to resent both.
Presence
PRESENCE may be destined to simply be another formally experimental work for Soderbergh, but there is enough compelling drama and character work that it deserves more consideration than that.
The Fire Inside
The tropes of the [sports] genre in THE FIRE INSIDE feel like routine cinematic shadowboxing, but the introspective third act is an unexpected uppercut.
Hard Truths
Mike Leigh’s first film in six years is one of his most poignant and arresting dramas. HARD TRUTHS is nothing less than immaculate in its construction and is bound to resonate deeply with British audiences living in a post-Covid world. During a BFI Q&A, Leigh explained that it was never meant to be interpreted as … Continue reading Hard Truths
Nickel Boys
NICKEL BOYS is a towering achievement from a filmmaker long preoccupied with the documentary artform, an inventive and painful tale of systemic and all-too-close racism that reminds us cinema isn’t solely defined by what it’s about, but also by how it’s made.
Vermiglio
Although VERMIGLIO may be too gentle to impact viewers, the film is a beautiful neorealist throwback that shows the power of detailed, naturalistic characterisation.
William Tell
The first feature film adaptation of William Tell’s story since 1960 feels more like farce than fable. Left behind in the wake of its shortcomings is a film where the craft doesn’t match the potential of its material.