What emerges is a carefully calibrated, bleak but elegiac picture of an environment where people are being forced to perform rather than allowed to live on their own terms.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

What emerges is a carefully calibrated, bleak but elegiac picture of an environment where people are being forced to perform rather than allowed to live on their own terms.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The warmth between the two leads keeps us rooting for them as everything seems to be going against them, often due to their own poor decisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The warmth between the two leads keeps us rooting for them as everything seems to be going against them, often due to their own poor decisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The writing is sharp and succinct.

~ Richard Mowe -

The writing is sharp and succinct.

~ Richard Mowe -

Eisenberg takes us through the entire journey in a brisk 90 minutes, but the film never feels rushed.

~ Jeremy Mathews -

Eisenberg takes us through the entire journey in a brisk 90 minutes, but the film never feels rushed.

~ Jeremy Mathews -

Nightbitch is of an ilk that is off-kilter. It is unreliable and unstable. It is visceral and dark. It is taxidermy and what I think are freezer potato pancakes.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Nightbitch is of an ilk that is off-kilter. It is unreliable and unstable. It is visceral and dark. It is taxidermy and what I think are freezer potato pancakes.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Junk slush action fiasco.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Junk slush action fiasco.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

It’s funny to begin with, watching Pansy rant with no filter, sharing her negative thoughts on everything from baby clothes with pockets to sofa salespeople, but gradually we realise just how close to the edge she is.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s funny to begin with, watching Pansy rant with no filter, sharing her negative thoughts on everything from baby clothes with pockets to sofa salespeople, but gradually we realise just how close to the edge she is.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Clarke’s utilisation of eerie Irish lore and the supernatural to explore very real horror, and the lifelong lingering aftermath of a single, damning moment, is a potent and unsettling brew.

~ James Gracey -

Clarke’s utilisation of eerie Irish lore and the supernatural to explore very real horror, and the lifelong lingering aftermath of a single, damning moment, is a potent and unsettling brew.

~ James Gracey -

Friedkin's trend-setting handheld-camera gives a documentary-style feel, puting you right in among the tense surveillance and hunch-following legwork.

~ Stephen Carty -

Friedkin's trend-setting handheld-camera gives a documentary-style feel, puting you right in among the tense surveillance and hunch-following legwork.

~ Stephen Carty -

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 -

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 -

The writer/director also zeroes in on the importance of physical contact for Ruth - something concrete in a world that is now full of things that she can’t always grasp.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The writer/director also zeroes in on the importance of physical contact for Ruth - something concrete in a world that is now full of things that she can’t always grasp.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It's worth suspending disbelief for a tale that grips where it matters and, through its superb performances, serves as a potent reminder that there were real human beings at the heart of all the real life horrors.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It's worth suspending disbelief for a tale that grips where it matters and, through its superb performances, serves as a potent reminder that there were real human beings at the heart of all the real life horrors.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Less concerned with scrutinising the playground than the dangerous games adults can play with one another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Less concerned with scrutinising the playground than the dangerous games adults can play with one another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 screenplay written by the filmmaker and Andrea Piva is a proper masterwork, from the basic plotting to the intelligent, insightful dialogue.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

From the start, there is something different about this film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Despite the anger at the unfairness of what has gone before, this is ultimately a warm-hearted, life-affirming film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It is a ride, okay, and it is a bit nauseating and therefore not sterile.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

It’s also striking to think that when Leila is looking forward into the future, she is already, in some senses, looking at our recent past, which only reinforces the sense of the cyclical and ongoing nature of her themes.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Thorne still comes across as being at the stage where many aspects of her work are experimental. She’s yet to settle into her style.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A very effective piece of low budget storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

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 -