Author Cathy Brennan

Upon its release in 2008, it was immediately clear that The Dark Knight was an important film. Arriving in the dying days of the Bush Administration, months before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, it’s...

https://vimeo.com/272473179 For millennia, European borders have wrought havoc on countless lives, whether it be through war, imperialism or a toxic mixture of both. In giving its subjects the chance to...

https://vimeo.com/258932602 So much of mainstream cinema is framed around men looking at women. Think of Jimmy Stewart stalking Kim Novak in Vertigo in an extended sequence with nearly no dialogue...

Let’s get something out of the way: high school is hell, and if you enjoyed it then you probably made it miserable for those who didn’t. Adult appreciation of the high school film is more complex than mere...

With the date of the long overdue referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment finally being announced, The 34th serves as a timely reminder of the struggle that led to a successful vote on Marriage Equality in...

One of the criticisms levelled at Call Me By Your Name last year was how the main characters were “almost aggressively isolated from gay culture and politics”. Despite being an insular love story, Hard...

There aren’t enough films like Inferninho. It’s a small tale with an immense capacity for empathy. Set almost entirely in the titular bar that caters to a group of outsiders, which counts among its staff...

It comes as little surprise that a number of the anti-gay pastors in America have actually been practicing what they preach against. Internalised homophobia can manifest in hugely destructive forms, and is...

Watching the trailer for the new Peter Rabbit adaptation, you may ask yourself how we as a species arrived at this point. A cheeky chappy bunny with the voice of an irritating Brit stares directly into the...

Adapting the eponymous novel by Guy de Maupassant, Une vie is a textured film that may just be too dour for its own good. Charting Jeanne’s (Judith Chemla) descent from landowner's daughter to a...

https://vimeo.com/248663904 Channelling the work of comics artist Michael DeForge, Daniela Espinosa has lovingly crafted a dark fairy-tale with Baby Grotesque. Set in a dark, foreboding forest, we are...

Damn, Maddie took my opening line. OK then, The Handmaiden is exquisite. Few films this year feel as complete. Usually the best works have one quality that makes them stand out, whether that be a stellar...

https://vimeo.com/243940584 Beijing based animator Liu Sha conjures up a fantastic netherworld of digital spew with It Is My Fault. Just like Happiness last week, this is a four minute, dialogue-free...

Please note: this article contains descriptions of sexual assault. Takashi Miike is one of the most prolific working directors around. He has made more than one film a year since 1991, and the release of...

Please note: this article contains descriptions of sexual assault. The release of Happy End this week marks the fourth collaboration between European arthouse darlings Isabelle Huppert and Michael Haneke....