With seething social commentary at its centre, BAD APPLES feels contemporary and culturally accurate to the landscape of public education in the UK. Normality becomes quickly warped by extenuating circumstances, and director Jonatan Etzler wields the school setting with skill.
Nora Fingscheidt’s third feature film, THE OUTRUN, offers a raw and honest look into the life of an addict in the Orkney Islands of Northern Scotland. Based on Amy Liptrot’s critically acclaimed memoir of the same name, this film proves to be a faithful adaptation of a source that is part journal and part nature textbook.
FOE feels lethargic rather than slow-burn, a throwback rather than progressive and misjudged in too many key aspects, and its disservice to Ronan and Mescal is unfortunate. It’s left to the audience to determine who the foe of the title might be, but on the evidence presented, the strongest candidate would seem to be the script.
With inconsistent characterisation and the film’s lack of romantic chemistry, even the glimmers of legitimate social commentary cannot stop AMMONITE from succumbing to blandness and adding very little to an already overcrowded genre. Megan Christopher reviews.
Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel is a moving and fresh tale with an expertly handled tone. Jim Ross reviews.
There are many jewels in this crown, the crown itself just needs a bit of extra polish. Jim Ross reviews MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a delightful chocolate box of a film, with Wes Anderson beginning to show his artistic soul, writes Jim Ross
Apocaromanceadrama HOW I LIVE NOW is another sideways tonal and genre leap for director Kevin Macdonald, writes Jim Ross.
