Author Carmen Paddock

At first glance, Greta Bellamacina’s debut feature seems a London version of Frances Ha, as two women navigate their friendship and the odd jobs that keep their artistic aspirations afloat. However, Hurt By...

Adolescence is a time few want to relive, but its inherent dichotomies are inexhaustible fodder for cinema. Cuties, Maïmouna Doucouré’s debut, evokes Céline Sciamma’s vision of youth in Water Lilies and...

How much does a person need to live? And how much does it cost – materially and psychologically, in terms of the immediate present and future possibilities – to be poor? The Cost of Living makes no delay...

There are messy films that have aimed at greatness. Films whose evident care, visionary goal, and meticulous craftsmanship are apparent through the shipwreck of ambition. There are others that are deliberately...

In a year that saw Eurovision cancelled due to Covid, Netflix has swooped in with an imperfect yet heartfelt tribute to the iconic song contest. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (retitled so as...

This film was previously reviewed in October 2019 as part of our London Film Festival coverage. A period drama not focused on the landed gentry is a welcome change. Fanny Lye Deliver’d focuses on its...

USA Gymnastics’ fall from grace has been complete in the years following the 2016 Olympics; as the women’s team came home with their second consecutive gold, Indianapolis local news pieced together...

Oscar-nominated duo Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering open their latest documentary feature by exploring one of the #MeToo movement’s most glaring weaknesses: the absence of stories from those not white, young, and...

The youth road trip movie is a storied genre, and Take Me Somewhere Nice carves out its spot by contrasting a modern setting with a retro production design. The film follows Alma (Sara Luna Zoric), a Bosnian...

Joe Robert Cole’s second feature eschews the usual techniques for establishing audience rapport with its central character: before viewers properly get to know aspiring rapper Jakhor (Ashton Sanders), he...

This film was previously reviewed as part of our Berlinale Film Festival coverage in February 2020. It is still dark when Jane (Julia Garner) gets in a taxi outside her modest flat. She dozes when she can...

In his 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright attempted to undo the long shadow cast by Colin Firth’s pitch perfect Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC miniseries. Instead of watching his romantic hero...

There may be no such thing as a wholly original story, but many narratives earn memorability by bringing new perspectives and urgency to themes and tales heard a thousand times before. Rising High (Betonrausch...

In this new series of articles, our writers are watching classic films for the first time. Here, Carmen catches up on 1984's Paris, Texas. Paris, Texas is grounded in the endless, expansive topographies...

Berlin, 1979. Jürgen Baldiga moves from a rural mining province to Berlin, quickly becoming one of the city’s foremost queer artists. After contracting HIV in 1984, as the AIDS crisis sweeps Berlin’s...