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She Said – Review

Let’s get the inevitable comparison out of the way; is She Said to Hollywood what 2015’s Spotlight is to the Catholic Church? Both films document painstaking journalistic investigations into abuse...
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The Swimmers – Review

The Swimmers is a respectful and accessible refugee story focussing predominantly on the Mardini sisters – the titular athletes – and chronicling their 2015 journey from Syria to Berlin. The longish...
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The Good Nurse – Review

Tobias Lindholm, perhaps best known as the writer of Another Round and The Hunt, has returned with a turgid and morose slog of a movie. Despite being billed as a thriller, The Good Nurse has sacrificed most of...
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Granada Nights – Review

The premise of Granada Nights heralds a Linklater-like Europhilic jaunt through the titular city, yet it’s quickly apparent that the dialogue isn’t up to Jesse and Celine standards. Before protagonist Ben...
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The Last Photograph – Review

This film was previously reviewed in June 2017 as part of our EIFF coverage. The Last Photograph is a unique, gently experimental film which offers two distinct yet equally well considered and touching...
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Emma. – Review

This is the most visually striking Austen adaptation since Clueless. But unfortunately efforts have gone into the Grand Budapest-hued aesthetic above all else, leaving Emma with absolutely nothing new to...
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Unicorn Store – Review

Brie Larson’s Unicorn Store seems to take place in a neighbouring universe to that of Boots Riley’s celebrated Sorry to Bother You. Though it has less of an anarchic agenda, Unicorn Store combines surreal...
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JT LeRoy – Review

This review was originally published as part of our BFI Flare coverage on 05/04/2019. There’s no denying that the scandal and secrecy of writer JT LeRoy make for a fascinating story. In this retelling, it...
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Disobedience – Review

With his second release of 2018, Sebastián Lelio attempts to trade one fantastic woman for two. But don’t be fooled by the promotional images of Rachel-on-Rachel (Weisz and McAdams). Disobedience isn’t a...
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The Skier – CFF 2018 Review

Like Cartoon Saloon’s The Breadwinner, The Skier launches headlong into the vivid and colourful world of a determined child on a critical mission. Similarities between the two Middle East-set films end there...
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Nancy – CFF 2018 Review

Christina Choe’s superb feature debut Nancy is paradoxically both compelling and repulsive. Andrea Riseborough anchors the narrative by embodying a character whose odd behaviour is as riveting as it is...
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Skate Kitchen – Review

Skate Kitchen is a fantastically evocative low-key tale of a teenage girl’s coming of age within the skate subculture of New York City. Of course, this subject matter recalls Drew Barrymore’s Ellen...
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Crazy Rich Asians – Review

Crazy Rich Asians begins like an all-Asian Gossip Girl yet ascends to very dizzy heights, offering a worthy twenty-first century update of Ang Lee’s ‘90s romantic comedies. Once Rachel (Wu) and Nick...