Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is no Lego Movie. This adaptation of the classic kid's cartoon doesn't even try to come up with anything new; the reveal of the villain is half-hearted at best and, frankly, when...

Within the crowded canon of war films, few capture the horrors of combat with such authenticity and bombast as Fury. The pertinent violence and chaos that punctuates throughout supplies the film with a...

It started with director Elaine Constantine remortgaging her house and has ended up the sleeper hit of the autumn box office. This boisterous, bubbling slice of 1970s small-town "oop North" tells a familiar...

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them has the makings of a stellar offbeat romance: confidence, intrigue, pathos and a dream cast in Chastain and McAvoy. However this undoubtedly accomplished and artistic...

In what is essentially a classic father-son tale played out in a courtroom, The Judge could easily fall into clichéd coasting. And yet what a surprise this was. Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast as the...

The Salvation launches into action with a tense and life-changing encounter for Jon (Mikkelsen) and his family. Unfortunately, from there the plot becomes increasingly ludicrous and lightweight. The...

Most filmmakers can only dream of having made five features and winning the Jury Prize at Cannes by the age of 25. Most filmmakers aren’t Xavier Dolan. With Mommy he shows off his frighteningly assured...

At the heart of Whiplash lies an uncomfortable truth, relentlessly hammered home with the force of a thousand drumbeats. To be truly great at anything you need to work till you bleed, work until you hate...

Is it possible to love not too little but too well? This is the question posed by Saverio Costanzo’s incisive and inquisitive script that follows the battle of wills as Jude (Driver) and Mina (Rohrwacher)...

It’s ironic that a film about living forever is so insufferable it makes you want to kill yourself. Sussberg and Alvarado openly laugh at the deluded follies of the oddball scientists trying to cure aging...

James Kent has lavished care on this searing story of love and war so as to produce a familiar yet fresh adaptation. The emotions exposed throughout Testament of Youth are sagaciously measured, truthful and...

Zvyagintsev’s direction builds small character moments into a powerful story of corruption, betrayal and despair. This is Russia, and it’s not pretty. Farcical comedy clashes with the downtrodden hopes...

If you’ve got the cheek to basically rehash Vertigo in post-war Germany then the result better be good. This isn’t. Criminally devoid of drama or character developments, Petzold and Farocki’s script...

Authentic, genuine and affecting. In careers littered with big roles, Molina and Lithgow provide a masterclass. Their skill is evident in the subtle, gorgeous humanity they draw from their roles, baring souls...

Desiree Akhavan’s near-autonomous feature debut brings honest edge to well-travelled ground. Though tonal comparisons to both Girls and Frances Ha are easily made throughout, Akhavan’s acute sense of...