Reviews

The art of documentary-making has been trending to harrowing new extremes in recent years, potentially due to the prevalence of true crime content – be it the podcast Serial or Netflix’s Making a Murderer...

Seriously, who doesn’t want to learn to dance on roller skates? Luckily for all you wannabe gliders, director Kate Hickey has put together this little number that follows some of the finest roller dancers in...

Given recent events, Angels Wear White couldn’t be more timely. Vivian Qu’s latest is an uncannily prescient depiction of the enormous cover-up of child sexual assault and the bravery it takes to be the...

Despite its proficiency in inspiring emotion, Jane can at points feel like it’s a little lacking in depth. There are countless details in Goodall's work that are glossed over in quick montages, details that...

As the title of a film, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s Anchor and Hope raises all sorts of bleak expectations of a film entering maudlin rom-com territory. Fortunately, it is just the name of the East London pub...

Before Summer Ends is a road trip movie, but quite unlike most others. Three 30-something friends decide to finally holiday together in the South of France before one of their number returns home to...

It seems that in horror or particularly dark dramas surrounding teenage girls, the visual metaphor of hunting (normally, with one’s father) is a particularly popular trope. Just look at Stoker and Split,...

Three years ago, The Lego Movie astounded us all with its charm, wit, and heart. February’s fantastic Lego Batman proved it was no simple fluke. Ninjago, the newest brick in the Lego Movie franchise, proves...

Song of Granite is a difficult film to enjoy. Presented in a loose, arty structure of disordered scenes and stock footage, anything after the first 20 minutes or so is extremely hard to get a handle on. A...

Though Greta Gerwig has had plentiful scripting experience to complement her always exciting acting career, Lady Bird marks her debut in the world of directing (and writing alone). We’re very pleased to...

Ah, the Scandinavian noir-thriller, a BBC4 staple, the type of prestige show Mum and Dad recommend each time you catch up. Hyper-stylish, immensely clever and completely engrossing – safe to say, one of the...

Perhaps the most exciting thing about Lynne Ramsay’s long-awaited thriller You Were Never Really Here is just how full of surprises it is. The film begins in rather dark circumstances, as Joaquin...

Portuguese directing duo João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora have crafted in The Dead and the Others an incredibly evocative piece of cinema – almost too much so for its own good. The film is the...

Although ostensibly a children’s animation, just as its source material was a children’s novel, The Breadwinner confronts the brutal reality of living in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a female –...

Navigating the "Dare" strand of the London Film Festival can bring the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Often there is absolutely no way of telling what lies ahead; it is as thrilling as it is...