Tagged EIFF 2016

On first introduction, Ove (Rolf Lassgård) is a grumbling, busybody stickler whose pedantic neighbourhood rule enforcement and chastisement is likely to be interpreted as over-the-top. The dry comedy of the...

Though The White King’s striking animated opening credits and boy hero Djata (Allchurch) suggest it’s an adventure aimed at children, the film as a whole is utterly confused about who its audience is....

Brady Corbet’s first film as director has several excellent and even jaw-dropping elements, but the glacial pace does try viewers' patience. Explicit division into three acts using title cards does nothing...

The Library Suicides, the first film directed by Euros Lyn (Broadchurch, Happy Valley) is highly accomplished, yet it incorporates an unforgivably hackneyed device in its final minute. Disappointingly this...

The Lure mashes up folklore, vampiric mermaids, ‘80s hair and body horror to create a bewitching and surprisingly touching musical tragedy. The title couldn’t be more fitting; despite the characters’...

Sticky Notes shares its premise with Chris Kelly’s Other People, but mood and characters make it a totally different experience. Like David in Kelly’s film, Athena (Leslie) pauses her attempt to make it in...

Although Slash is undeniably influenced by countless sensitive-boy coming-of-age films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower or The Way Way Back, it is insidiously charming. Both Michael Johnston and Hannah...

At its best River is an exciting, pulse-pumping and fast-paced chase movie, but nothing more than adrenaline fuels its narrative. John, the fugitive doctor, is sketchily archetypal, but if writer-director...

A film is a complex machine of moving parts, and the best built don’t creak but turn smoothly, keeping mechanical secrets veiled and showing only the fictional world they seek to create. Adult Life Skills is...

With its repetitive visuals of water and insistent voiceover, My Name is Emily at first threatens to be claustrophobic and indulgently contemplative. Yet it develops into a well-constructed road movie, and,...

Though Tom Hanks’ performance in Ithaca is surely the briefest he’s ever given, it’s one reason why Meg Ryan’s directing debut feels like it could have been a Spielberg movie. Casting repeat co-stars...