Tagged London Film Festival 2016

Zoology is torn between grotesque body horror and the aesthetics of naturalism and handheld camerawork. The latter helps produce an atmosphere which emphasises the extremely lonely life led by Natasha (Natalya...

The best aspect of Una is its scrambled chronology. Flashbacks break up what could otherwise be a rather repetitive two-hander, albeit one made up of fine performances from both Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn....

A Dark Song makes its first impression as a slow-building drama, opening atmospherically with a mournful score and moody timelapse photography of stormy skies. Leads Catherine Walker and Steve Oram walk a fine...

Tower stands as a proud example of how documenting humanity's worst moments will always show humanity at its best. This moving film sidesteps typical breakdowns of killer Charles Whitman's identity and...

It’s a surprise with this subject matter, but Antonio Campos’ Christine is deliciously witty. The Florida TV station where Christine works is expertly decked out in period ephemera showed off with dynamic...

Punchy, profound and deeply enchanting, A Monster Calls is a home run for all involved - particularly a stacked cast who all give moving performances tied to a tricky subject, and a director who balances...

The Eagle Huntress is a documentary that is full to the brim with girl power. Narrated by Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley, the film follows Aisholpan, a 13 year old girl who is the first female to become an Eagle...

The Pass is a dramatic tour de force. Its simple conceit – a triptych of pairs of people talking in hotel rooms at five-year intervals – is masterfully executed thanks to clever ellipsis, cast chemistry,...

Porto opens with the unmistakable sound of Anton Yelchin’s gravelly voice in monologue. In light of the actor’s recent death this has an amplified power and is instantly attention-grabbing and emotive....

Paul Schrader’s new film Dog Eat Dog begins as it means to go on for the proceeding 90 minutes: a coked-up Willem Dafoe terrorises a woman and her daughter in a scene that has pretty much zero relevance to...

Casey Affleck is Lee, the quiet, unassuming face of Manchester by the Sea. Working as a janitor in snow-crusted Boston he busies himself in the background of other people’s lives. He does his work, he goes...

After some ropey exposition - necessary to set up the chessboard - The Worthy dives headfirst into a cracking game of cat-and-mouse. Director Ali F. Mostafa’s tight hand on the reins ensures that the film...

Wùlu smartly explains its title at the outset - Wùlu is the final stage of tribal development, where a man is enlightened to a place in society. So what happens if you realise your role is to traffic...

Houston, We Have a Problem is a compelling piece of revisionist and utterly manipulated history. Although input from cynical Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek in a framing device...

Indivisible has a tragicomic parable-like plot that, while rather bare, predictable and sometimes tedious, also has great thematic depth. The almost supernatural levels of religious fervor directed at the...