Beyond the dark loneliness of grief, is the soft light of a shared mourning.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Beyond the dark loneliness of grief, is the soft light of a shared mourning.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is a shocking, visceral work. There are moments of humour, here and there, but it is the gallows laughing.

~ Andrew Robertson -

This is a shocking, visceral work. There are moments of humour, here and there, but it is the gallows laughing.

~ Andrew Robertson -

While Verseau talks about how crucial the surgery was to her mental health, the complexity of the emotions experienced afterwards is also made clear.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While Verseau talks about how crucial the surgery was to her mental health, the complexity of the emotions experienced afterwards is also made clear.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The imagery is almost dream-like, feverish and intense without straying away from reality.

~ Andy Stoeva -

The imagery is almost dream-like, feverish and intense without straying away from reality.

~ Andy Stoeva -

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This playfully filmed coming-of-age narrative never loses its empathetic eye.

~ Sergiu Inizian -

This playfully filmed coming-of-age narrative never loses its empathetic eye.

~ Sergiu Inizian -

Grittily compelling

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Grittily compelling

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Two things elevate it. One is Yasuda’s commitment to looking in depth at the culture of the Edo period, rather than just cribbing from past jidaigeki and trying to distract us with swordplay. The other is seasoned jidaigeki actor Yamaguchi’s wonderfully sensitive and sincere performance.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Two things elevate it. One is Yasuda’s commitment to looking in depth at the culture of the Edo period, rather than just cribbing from past jidaigeki and trying to distract us with swordplay. The other is seasoned jidaigeki actor Yamaguchi’s wonderfully sensitive and sincere performance.

~ 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 -

Nyoni expertly controls her narrative so that it glides effortlessly between the reality of the funeral preparations to the more surreal psychological trauma Shula is working through.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Nyoni expertly controls her narrative so that it glides effortlessly between the reality of the funeral preparations to the more surreal psychological trauma Shula is working through.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

No Other Land brings humanity and particularity to a topic that is too often discussed in the abstract.

~ Jennie Kermode -

No Other Land brings humanity and particularity to a topic that is too often discussed in the abstract.

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

Nickel Boys is a tremendously daring film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Nickel Boys is a tremendously daring film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A creepy one-off.

~ Anton Bitel -

A creepy one-off.

~ Anton Bitel -

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 -

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 -

This is a tactile retelling, inviting us to imagine the sticky feel of Coca-Cola on hot skin in the sun or the heat of a sheepskin coat and the love that goes with it being passed from mum to daughter ahead of a trip abroad.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is a tactile retelling, inviting us to imagine the sticky feel of Coca-Cola on hot skin in the sun or the heat of a sheepskin coat and the love that goes with it being passed from mum to daughter ahead of a trip abroad.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This kind of layered story construction is a difficult thing to pull off and it makes the film shine.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This kind of layered story construction is a difficult thing to pull off and it makes the film shine.

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

The absurdity is one of its delights.

~ Andrew Robertson -

The absurdity is one of its delights.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Illusions are everywhere in this film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Illusions are everywhere in this film.

~ 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 -

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 -

Laloux has woven a dense tapestry of allegorical resonances that link the theological to the political to the anthropological.

~ Anton Bitel -

Laloux has woven a dense tapestry of allegorical resonances that link the theological to the political to the anthropological.

~ Anton Bitel -

Even Kafkaesque ideas are subject to chaos.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Even Kafkaesque ideas are subject to chaos.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Everything here looks grimy, as if the film itself had been lying around in poor conditions for years, and colours and patterns are artfully mismatched.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Everything here looks grimy, as if the film itself had been lying around in poor conditions for years, and colours and patterns are artfully mismatched.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Director Edward Berger and his director of photography Stephane Fontaine have made every frame art.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Director Edward Berger and his director of photography Stephane Fontaine have made every frame art.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Even though we’re essentially talking about a basic shot-reverse shot exchange, framed in creeping wide angles, juxtaposed with close-ups, the feeling is comparable to watching a getaway heist.

~ Nikola Jovic -

Even though we’re essentially talking about a basic shot-reverse shot exchange, framed in creeping wide angles, juxtaposed with close-ups, the feeling is comparable to watching a getaway heist.

~ Nikola Jovic -

The camera drifts through it at a leisurely pace, back and forth, up and down, taking in different details one might when wandering around drunk or half asleep. From these, story and meaning gradually coalesce.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The camera drifts through it at a leisurely pace, back and forth, up and down, taking in different details one might when wandering around drunk or half asleep. From these, story and meaning gradually coalesce.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Although most viewers will find themselves flagging before the end, there is a lot to enjoy here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Although most viewers will find themselves flagging before the end, there is a lot to enjoy here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A hilarious tribute to the best-loved cliches of the genre.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A hilarious tribute to the best-loved cliches of the genre.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Amid all the deprivation Arnold, as is her style, uncovers elements that lift the action out of the ordinary and into the realms of fantasy and magical realism.

~ Richard Mowe -

Amid all the deprivation Arnold, as is her style, uncovers elements that lift the action out of the ordinary and into the realms of fantasy and magical realism.

~ Richard Mowe -

What isn't untrue is that Anora is brilliant.

~ Andrew Robertson -

What isn't untrue is that Anora is brilliant.

~ Andrew Robertson -

There’s incredible world-building here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There’s incredible world-building here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s fitting for a film set in the “City of Dreams” and that is concerned with life’s illusions and how we navigate them as it is about the here and now.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s fitting for a film set in the “City of Dreams” and that is concerned with life’s illusions and how we navigate them as it is about the here and now.

~ 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 -

Having set up all the elements of a thriller, the film proceeds to untangle them in a refreshingly different and mature way.

~ 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 -