Parallel Mothers – Review Tom Bond January 29, 2022 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. Parallel Mothers is a twisting tale of two single mothers, Janis (Penélope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit),...
ORWAV’s Top 20 Films of 2021: #5 – The Power of the Dog Tom Bond December 31, 2021 Analysis, Features, Top 10 A darkened interior frames a lone man striding across a dusty plain. It’s one of the most well-worn images in cinema, and it provides a powerful visual shorthand for the themes of any Western: domesticity vs...
The Lost Daughter – Review Tom Bond December 17, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. Directing your debut feature as an established actor has its pros and cons. You can call in favours to land...
The Power of the Dog – Review Tom Bond November 18, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. Jane Campion’s latest film, an adaptation of Thomas Savage’s The Power of the Dog, is a masterful...
The Card Counter – Review Tom Bond November 5, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our coverage for Venice Film Festival. The Card Counter marks a highly anticipated return for Paul Schrader, after his career-best First...
Spencer – Review Tom Bond November 4, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. Pablo Larraín’s Princess Diana biopic, Spencer, gets about as far away from a cradle-to-grave template as...
Last Night in Soho – Review Tom Bond October 29, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2021 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. Last Night in Soho starts shakily, with the slow establishment of Ellie’s (Thomasin McKenzie) move to...
Freshman Year – Review Tom Bond September 27, 2021 Reviews The college coming-of-age story is such a tried-and-tested subgenre that it’s impressive when someone offers a new take. Freshman Year, the debut feature from writer, director and lead, Cooper Raiff, shows...
The Falls – Venice 2021 Review Tom Bond September 13, 2021 Reviews There are sure to be countless Covid films tackling the biggest global disruption of our lifetimes, and The Falls takes an interesting approach, relegating this cataclysm to a sub-plot. We begin in Taipei,...
Official Competition – Venice 2021 Review Tom Bond September 10, 2021 Reviews Official Competition brings a mischievous premise worth the admission fee alone: acclaimed director Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) is hired to make a prestigious adaptation with two of Spain’s finest actors,...
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon – Venice 2021 Review Tom Bond September 9, 2021 Reviews Some films have a profound message in the gaps between their 24 frames a second, and some just want to show you a damn good time. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon spirits up a woozy vibe that thrills for every...
The Inner Cage – Venice 2021 Review Tom Bond September 5, 2021 Reviews The Inner Cage’s rural Sardinian prison is due to be shut down, but an administrative hiccup forces a skeleton staff to remain and guard a dozen prisoners who can’t be moved elsewhere yet. Every frame...
The Hand of God – Venice 2021 Review Tom Bond September 4, 2021 Reviews The Hand of God is Paolo Sorrentino’s most personal film yet, re-telling key events of his youth in Naples, including the tragic moment that left him orphaned. His films have always had an air of melancholy,...
Frankie – Review Tom Bond May 28, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in May 2019 as part of our Cannes Film Festival coverage. Any film not made for mass audiences is always at risk of sliding into a montage of first world problems, such is...
Ten Unforgettable Films That Have Haunted Us Since Childhood Tom Bond December 23, 2020 Analysis, Features, Top 10 The greatest films linger in your memory long after the credits have rolled, but there’s a particular power to those we watch as children: impressionable young minds latching onto striking images and twisted...