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Jacked (Short) – LFF Review

Featuring a pair of performances that wouldn't be out of place in a feature, Rene Pannevis' Jacked nicely showcases the continued growth of a promising director. The constant utilisation of  narrow...
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My Scientology Movie – LFF Review

Hamstrung by the Church of Scientology’s understandable lack of cooperation, Louis Theroux borrows meta recreation techniques from the likes of The Act of Killing to ingenious effect. Actors’...
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Light Years – LFF Review

Light Years has the kitchen-sink stylistic trappings of an Andrea Arnold film, yet the conflict that drives the narrative is far less apparent. As a result it is at times laboriously low-key, but there are...
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Mr Gaga – LFF Review

Somewhat understandably, Mr Gaga is overly reliant on enchanting and hypnotic footage of Naharin’s shows, and the film is bolstered by frank interview input from its subject. Rather than answer the...
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My Golden Days – LFF Review

In blending Jean-Pierre Jeunet-esque whimsical adventure with a sentimentalised recollection of past love Desplechin straddles and ultimately crosses the line between charm and irksomeness. Stylistically...
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Sunset Song – LFF Review

Sunset Song’s chronicling of rural wartime hardship is nothing we haven’t seen before. Abusive patriarchs, repressed women and traumatised soldiers are unoriginal ingredients, but Davies turns them into...
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My Skinny Sister – LFF Review

This painfully intimate family drama depicts the intense bond between sisters with uncanny power. Together Josephson and Deasismont embody both the joy and rivalry of siblinghood so recognisably that it’s...
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Desierto – LFF Review

A pulpy, old-fashioned cat-and-mouse thriller, Desierto pulls no punches - but offers few surprises - as it exhaustedly staggers towards its high-octane conclusion. Desierto makes no bones about what it...
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Yakuza Apocalypse – LFF Review

Take a look at that still up there. If it takes your fancy, then the ever-prolific Takashi Miike's latest, Yakuza Apocalypse, is probably for you. If not, turn back now. Gloriously trashy, Yakuza...
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Francofonia – LFF Review

Simultaneously philosophical, sombre and pretentious, yet playful, fun and firmly tongue-in-cheek, Francofonia employs a whimsical and varied approach - not unlike that of Chilean master Patricio Guzmán - to...
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One Floor Below – LFF Review

A promising plot collapses into a completely shapeless and tedious film beefed up to feature length by the inclusion of a huge amount of irrelevant mundane detail, such as an odd obsession with the...
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Queen Of Earth – LFF Review

Queen of Earth's opening could be deleted footage from Perry’s Listen Up Philip, but the quality of this follow-up's script and performances soon distracts from the repetition. Moss and Waterston offer...
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A Perfect Day – LFF Review

From its striking opening A Perfect Day is grubby and real, filled with weathered props and beautiful aerial shots of the suffering landscape. Though it has a well-defined style – established in part by...
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Cemetery of Splendour – LFF Review

Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is best known for his beautiful, strange, but patience-testing films - Cemetery of Splendour is mainly just one of these, and unfortunately it's the last one. Never...