The characters of Tenoch and Julio are beautifully realised by Luna and Bernal. They bring energy and verve.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The actors have great chemistry and potently communicate things about human behavior in relationships, universal and specific, self-destructive and kind.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

In the moments when Yeksan's film is good, it is truly stunning.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

With so much built around a prepubescent fantasy of what the perfect romance might look like, it runs out of places to go and often feels too safe for there to be any real tension.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Kandini isn’t interested in stories about cruel, powerful men and helpless girls, or girls who are desperate to devote themselves to some other passion. Everybody here is complicated and insecure on some level.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There's some gory comedy here that will appeal to a certain sort of genre fan, including one of the best uses for intestines since Machete.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It's in dance that the film's strength lies, illustrating, through choreography, Acosta's more abstract - and more negative - emotions, including fear, loneliness and lust.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The human tragedy at the centre of this tale brings historic events crashing into the present and makes the impact of the war on human lives a much more tangible reality.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It presents a radically different cinematic language, childlike, initially amoral, lyrical.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This is far from vintage Allen, yet it's still a cut above most similar dramatic work.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It's as though the director is so in love with the striking visual aesthetic that he forgets the need to narratively connect the dots.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Both girls deliver exceptional performances in the powerful opening section, and if the film struggles to make the same impact afterwards, that serves to bring Hasna’s loss into sharp relief.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The sun shines, friends are endlessly patient (if not always very understanding), and even during its bleak moments, there’s always the promise of a happy ending.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Sex itself is mostly not shown, as its the initial connection with Lila and the emotional aftermath that counts.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A delicate balance is achieved here between telling the girls’ story, exploring the role which Marike’s religion and culture play in her life, and critiquing aspects of the way she is expected to live.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It does its subjects the courtesy of letting them speak for themselves, but this often the equivalent of handing them enough rope.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Arquette’s personal journey reaffirms that wrestling may be one of the most consistently misunderstood sports in the history of Hollywood and beyond.

~ Stephanie Brown -

There’s a lot going on here but first time feature director Kate Dolan weaves all her narrative threads together seamlessly.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It's bold, impetuous and willing to bite off far more than it can chew. One doesn't see enough of this sort of thing these days.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The Tom &Meg Show is feelgood and sugar coated, which is expected, but not witty, funny or original enough.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The film is informationally dense; it must have been exhausting to put together, and watching it all at once highlights just what a roller-coaster ride life with YouTube has been.

~ Jennie Kermode -

What emerges, despite the magic realist trappings, is a classic Coppola tale; Like Kurtz and Michael Corleone, Dominic is a man alone, haunted by his memories and driven to tragedy by the essence of his character.

~ Jeff Robson -

On the visual front, the camera moves harmoniously with the workers' unpredictable gestures.

~ Dalesia Cozorici -

What you get out of Your Sister's Sister is likely to depend quite a bit on the audience you see it with.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This is a lovely, joyful film from writer/director Makoto Shinkai that will, alternately, make you smile and have you perched anxiously on the edge of your seat.

~ Jane Fae -

Uses the conventions of the romcom to explore one woman’s journey to engage with life on her own terms.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Viewers are likely to go away appreciating Aubrey’s frustrations and perhaps, if they share them, feeling validated, but without the tools to do anything about them.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This isn't just about big concepts and whiteboards but the everyday positive reinforcement that helps kids get on in all senses of the phrase.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

De Paoli uses a bagful of cinematic tricks to make viewers identify with Piet at his worst.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film works as well as it does because of the central pairing of Goussens and De Saeger, whose shared glances and stray touches work on an emotional level.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This proved to be the only film that Day and Sinatra made together and judging by the great chemistry they have on screen, it is a crying shame.

~ Caro Ness -

Their provision of few motivational details makes for an unsatisfactory narrative.

~ Richard Mowe -

Emotion stains the walls of this period film like gutter waste.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The film keeps us guessing for quite some time, despite delivering a number of unsettling hints

~ Jennie Kermode -

Shawky allows his characters to sit firmly in the driving seat.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Kurosawa's masterful synthesis doesn't stop with the script. He weaves a late Edo period samurai film, in its painstaking historic detail, into modernity.

~ Donald Munro -

Is it possible to make an interesting film where only one man remembers The Beatles? Probably. Is this it? Probably not.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Heather Croall's film will charm Australian and Glaswegian audiences alike.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This is a low budget film but the production design is full of little touches that carry us back to the same nightmarish place.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Written around the songs as it is, the film makes good use of them and they add to rather than distracting from the narrative.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This is an intense action film that spirals into a veritable orgy of double crosses, ambushes and bloody beat downs during the last third that will re-affirm impressions of Korean cinema as being a masterclass in how to frame exquisite violence.

~ Owen Van Spall -

Guo Pei is full of contradictions and Yellow Is Forbidden doesn't try to hide that, quite the opposite.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

There's such a warmth to the comedy here that the inevitable tragic sweep of the film feels all the more steeped in sadness.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's a good sense of place but the stories chop between the two women and their friend and family circle with little structure.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If some of the story is predictable that is mainly down to the tight focus of the script from Casale, which means narrative has a tendency to play second fiddle to atmosphere.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The film provides a beacon of hope to those who are struggling elsewhere.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Figueroa’s genre-infused approach that suits the topic very well.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

The performances are powerful and Idris Elba's ability to recreate the feel of the times is impressive.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

There are times when Godeau seems to lose the way and the pace at such moments lacks drive, but then he’s back on track before long.

~ Richard Mowe -

This may be, ironically, rather stagey, but for all its artificiality and slightness, it packs an emotional punch.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The work by the Japanese director results in a lonely picture, but not devoid of a charming, melancholic sensitivity.

~ Mateusz Tarwacki -

A thoughtful consideration of not just physical prowess but the emotional agility and resilience demonstrated by those growing up in Gaza.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The latter two thirds of the film are a perfectly paced sequence of fights and interludes.

~ Donald Munro -

With its sensationalist approach it is always trying to out do its predecessors.

~ Donald Munro -

The action is nicely choreographed and despite the lengthy running time most of the film is nicely paced, with a number of genre in-jokes to help it hold viewer attention.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It ends up packaging human existence as a photo album of tenuous associations and treacly banalities.

~ Anton Bitel -

Mysterious, surreal and beguiling.

~ Adam Micklethwaite -

Mournful in tone and associative in style and rhythm.

~ Michael Pattison -

There is nothing that ties the stories together apart from the titular character, who is very difficult to like.

~ Gabriella Trybalska -

The whole thing is essentially an extended advert for the Yu-Gi-Oh! games range.

~ David Haviland -

Nothing plays out as you expect, with Ramsay maintaining an unsettling staccato that keeps both the action and the viewer on edge.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If Andersson is good at using the visual to create links, then he accompanies this with a strong aural sense.

~ Daniel Hooper -

If there are people out there who are nervous of going to see subtitled films, this is the perfect introduction.

~ Gator MacReady -

Each episode furthers character development and aids its audience in feeling and caring for this motley band of hired help.

~ Darren Amner -

The film that saw the super-spy become larger-than-life.

~ Stephen Carty -

American comedies are going through a bad patch. Wit is in short supply.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

You Kill Me is light-hearted, never really laugh out loud funny but always amusing.

~ Andrew Robertson -

The festival location works like a charm to inject instant excitement and magic into the story.

~ Susanna Krawczyk -

The subject is fine, but handled with kid gloves.

~ David Stanners -

None of this is fresh, but it's approached with a certain vigour and a disarming lack of pretension.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This intense, yet sidelong glance at a deeply polarising topic might just give new life to a debate that suffers from political hubris set against rather static public opinion.

~ Chris -

Its female-centered narrative hints at a new, rapidly crystallising modern identity which constitutes a conscious and eager shift away from old divisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It avoids sentimentality and explores layers of damage beneath the surface of family relations.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

This film is as shallow as its hero.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The trappings and style more than make up for any lack of substance.

~ Richard Mowe -

Undulating bodies and splattering blood stand in for more explicit imagery and give the impression of spectacular excess.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Like spending two hours with a six year old who has just learned a new naughty word.

~ Jennie Kermode -

LaBute thinks the act of love is an oxymoron. If he wasn't so acerbic and witty, you would wash your hands, walk out and become a monk.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

There is the same sense of warmth and humour that made the film so endearing.

~ Jennie Kermode -

For better and worse the majority of the action is dominated by Step Up 3D wonder-woman Sharni Vinson, an impressive physical presence as Erin but not exactly the world's greatest actress.

~ David Graham -

The film breaks no new ground and feels autobiographical in its testament of trust and betrayal.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

An intimate and rather sad portrait of a shattered and deeply dysfunctional family unit attempting to come to terms with itself.

~ Themroc -

Well framed and assembled, with plenty of good performances.

~ Andrew Robertson -

While, perhaps, too obviously tied to its small screen origins, The Young Stranger is, basically, a competent piece of craftsmanship.

~ Keith Hennessey Brown -

Young Sherlock is a fine example of Chris Columbus' most sophisticated writing.

~ Gator MacReady -

Never has old age seemed so young and alive.

~ Caro Ness -

The film, shot on 16mm by Sean Williams, gives the film a retro out-of-time feel and Betzer gives us room to think, the spartan scripting matched by a minimalistic approach to the music.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Keeps holding out a promise of insight into its young protagonist's mentality and makeup, but ends up merely observing her from a cool distance, as if through the binoculars from the opening scene.

~ Anton Bitel -

The script by Diablo Cody is a real gem, painful and darkly funny throughout.

~ Donald Munro -

You'll Be A Man goes a long way on the strength of its strong script and capable cast.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There are no real scares here but there's still a sense of adventure and the villains are suitably mean.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Fear festers like the cut of a rusty scythe.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

What appears banal in its depiction of a dysfunctional family is a joy to the watch.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Boutefeu's wonderful acting paints a vivid portrait.

~ George Williamson -

There's no denying that they make some good points, well substantiated with damning words straight from the horse's mouth.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Charming and heartfelt.

~ Owen Van Spall -

Carrey has managed to find a middle ground for his divisive brand of comedy, using his natural humour to its fullest extent but steering clear of excessive slapstick.

~ Robyn Jankel -

There are hints of a plot line, but everything is racing along at such a pace - only lit by the flash of muzzles - that it is difficult to spot it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Amazingly for a film so teeming with ideas, it unspools in clean, lucid scenes of near Spartan simplicity.

~ The Exile -

This is no ordinary underdog boxer story. Mariko's film instead shares DNA with Taxi Driver or Raging Bull.

~ Owen Van Spall -

A model of economical film-making and story-telling.

~ Keith Hennessey Brown -

This is, in places, a deeply disturbing film... yet the touching scenes, when they come, have a surprisingly emotional depth.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This might have seemed like a barrel of laughs but it's actually just a barrel of shit.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Although there are no real surprises plot-wise, the film feels refreshingly different.

~ Tony Sullivan -

One of the rare chick flicks that doesn’t appear to hate women, Year Of The Dog contains its essentially sappy narrative within a membrane of stabbing humor and ingenious reaction shots.

~ The Exile -

A clear and succinct overview of the case at hand.

~ Michael Pattison -

If the film's ambition far outpaces its budget, that only makes it resemble its hero, who is funny precisely for being dumb, hyperviolent, and far too big for his boots.

~ Anton Bitel -

Fukasaku can be relied upon to deliver the goods.

~ Keith Hennessey Brown -

At nearly three hours long, The Yacoubian Building often comes across more like a soap opera than a movie, but its richly drawn characters and the confident way it handles situations which could easily disintegrate into melodrama place it in a class of it

~ Jennie Kermode -

The delight of the drama stems from the well crafted characters, while its heft hinges on toxicity that may not be immediately obvious.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The script is lean, the sword edges keen and the characters mean.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

An extraordinarily thorough film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s the acting that carries it, and naturally Farahani, one of the finest talents of her generation, does not disappoint.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Subtle observations about the racism that underpins this superficially idyllic society pepper a film which repeatedly forces its hero to question his assumptions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film concludes with what is probably the most influential special effect in the history of cinema.

~ Donald Munro -

Bethmann understands the situation well, but her closeness to the teenager and the personal character that the film takes on as a result is something else.

~ Jennie Kermode -

So carefully balanced is this that the film could almost have emerged as a romcom, and it’s that possibility, that clash between the absurdity that cinema has taught us to expect and the bitterness of real life, that makes it so effective.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Through the lens of the men’s romance, Onir takes in a good deal more, exploring the complex realities behind assumptions of prejudice and the myriad factors that go into making each of us who we are.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Throughout the film there is a sense of play, and even as the story evolves to take on darker material, something of that lightness, that happy-go-lucky quality remains.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film hinges on amazing vocal work by Lalama.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There’s a genuine unpredictability to Honey Bunch, both structurally and thematically.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Where the episodes work is when they have a driving, kinetic energy about them. When they don't it's repetitious loop.

~ Donald Munro -

The film, directed by feature debutant Shaun Dozier, retains the density of dialogue you might expect from a stage play but, by leaning into the theatrical nature of the proceedings, Dozier is in some ways able to make this into a virtue.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A very effective piece of low budget storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Coogan is well cast in this tricky role, moving easily from humour to heartbreak..

~ Jennie Kermode -

Manizha Bakhtari may not be a household name but after watching Natalie Halla’s documentary you’re likely to think she ought to be.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Sung’s own camera plays tricks, placing objects too close in the foreground so that parts of an image are out of focus, like an incomplete memory.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The concept, narrative, dialogue, cinematography and action sequences are elements of Scanners that can't be faulted.

~ Donald Munro -

The film hangs on Pemberton’s performance, and he imbues Doug with a sweetness that makes us feel for him despite his deeply misguided actions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The delight of the drama stems from the well crafted characters, while its heft hinges on toxicity that may not be immediately obvious.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A very effective piece of low budget storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

An extraordinarily thorough film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Writer/director Sandhya Suri - who has a documentary background - is keen to show that everyone plays their part in the prejudices and corruption of the legal system.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Once again, Guiraudie proves himself the master of setting up a mystery by the means of perfect script economy that functions strictly on “need to know” basis.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

The director shows how it’s not just Julie’s tennis skills that have been groomed by the coach but large aspects of her life.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cat’s viewpoint predominates, and Zilbalodis has an acute understanding of how the world looks from its point of view, of what catches its attention and how its body follows instinctively.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s ironic that a film about a family who have built a perfect facsimile of a life for themselves should feel so overly constructed itself

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Lin and Sun studiously maintain the enigma around Shuo so that we are left guessing as to whether he’s just a disadvantaged teen trying to make his way in the world or a cuckoo in the nest.

~ Amber Wilkinson -