Bones and All – Review Tom Bond November 25, 2022 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in September 2022 as part of our Venice Film Festival coverage. With Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino combines the romantic coming-of-age story of Call Me By Your Name with...
A Beginner’s Guide To… Douglas Sirk Joseph Bullock June 6, 2021 A Beginner's Guide To..., Analysis, Features Douglas Sirk is a tough sell in a cynical age. Perhaps he would be in any. His plots are often shallow and seeped in wish-fulfilment; the performances are overwrought and slightly archaic; his sets, despite...
Ammonite – Review Rafaela Sales Ross March 26, 2021 Reviews This film was previously reviewed in October 2020 as part of our London Film Festival coverage. Following his sublime directorial debut, God’s Own Country, Francis Lee once again delves into feelings of...
Lovers Rock – LFF 2020 Review Tom Bond October 17, 2020 Reviews Lovers Rock is a humble prospect on paper- just over an hour long and set at an ordinary blues dance in Notting Hill in the early ‘80s. But with those simple ingredients, writer/director Steve McQueen and...
The Kissing Booth 2 – Review Joseph Bullock July 25, 2020 Reviews Following on from a film populated by weird, inconsistent montages and a manipulative, creepy male lead, audiences were probably not expecting a masterpiece from this second instalment of The Kissing Booth....
His Girl Friday – My First Time Film Review David Brake March 27, 2020 Reviews In this new series of articles, our writers are watching classic films for the first time. Here, Sophie catches up on 1940's His Girl Friday. His Girl Friday begins with the phrase “once upon a...
All the Bright Places – Review Rob Salusbury February 29, 2020 Reviews There is an odd, comforting sort of familiarity to coming-of-age films, with their busy high-school corridors filled with jocks and geeks, and those impossibly elaborate house parties. Though we do get a...
Suk Suk – Berlinale 2020 Review Rhys Handley February 24, 2020 Reviews Pak (Tai Bo) is a taxi driver entering his twilight years yet still providing for his family. A long-closeted gay man, he spends his lunch breaks cruising in parks and public bathrooms. When he meets retiree...
Gloria Bell – Review Jack King June 6, 2019 Reviews 2017's A Fantastic Woman, Chilean director Sebastián Lelio's fifth film, was celebrated as a critical darling for a multitude of well-earned reasons – not least being Lelio's rich characterisation of Marina...
If Beale Street Could Talk – Review Rhys Handley February 8, 2019 Reviews This review was originally published as part of our London Film Festival coverage on 21/10/2018. New York in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk is pulsating, alive and wholly authentic – populated...
Life Itself – Review Rhys Handley January 4, 2019 Reviews This review was originally published as part of our London Film Festival coverage on 15/10/2018. You know the dude in Starbucks, the one with the thick-rimmed glasses, chequered shirt and a macchiato...
If Beale Street Could Talk – LFF 2018 review Rhys Handley October 21, 2018 Reviews New York in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk is pulsating, alive and wholly authentic – populated with little fanfare by people of all shades. Following up Moonlight – a watershed achievement...
Life Itself – LFF 2018 review Rhys Handley October 15, 2018 Reviews You know the dude in Starbucks, the one with the thick-rimmed glasses, chequered shirt and a macchiato who’s forever working on his screenplay? Well, Life Itself is that very screenplay, and somehow it’s...
The Return of the Romantic Comedy Olivia Luder June 20, 2018 Analysis, Features, One Off Dust off the wedding bells, dig out the confetti, it’s time to celebrate: the romantic comedy is back! It’s been a long drought but thanks to Netflix, Trump, and possibly Harry and Meghan, the age of...
A Matter Of Life And Death: Grief and Hope Tom Bond December 6, 2017 Analysis, Close-Up, Features Matters of life and death were not hard to come by when Powell & Pressburger’s classic love story was released in 1946. Every family across Europe and beyond had become far too familiar living their...