Review: Pinocchio (2020) – Darker Than Your Average Puppet Show

Federico Ielapi in Pinocchio Pinocchio, for all its ardent fans was never one of the Disney mainstays I was was introduced to as a child. For all the talk of growing noses and his desire to be a real boy, the rest of this outlandish fable eluded me. Upon further research, the original source material …

Review: Onward (2020) – Ordinary Myths and Legends

Onward Since cinemas reopned, viewers have been starved for reliable content in a time of delays that has caused an unfortunate drought for flailing companies like Cineworld and Odeon. The one noticeable difference however is that child friendly fare such as Disney Pixar's Onward seems to be holding up quite well with the more busy …

Review: The Night Clerk (2020) – The Lifeguard

Tye Sheridan in The Night Clerk The Night Clerk for all its conspiracy trappings and unconventional romance motifs isn't quite the film it wants to be. Believing itself to be a fresh take on autism, a tale for those who aren't quite neurotypical, the misunderstood wallflowers resigned to sit and watch instead of getting involved. …

Review: Chemical Hearts (2020) – Teenage Philosophy

Austin Abrams and Lili Reinhart in Chemical Hearts Just before 2020 took a nosedive and we all rushed inside our houses and plugged ourselves into Amazon Prime, Netflix and other streaming services, Netflix released the similarly themed yet vastly superior All The Bright Places onto their service. Much like Chemical Hearts it handled mental illness, …

Review: Babyteeth (2020) – Dead Already

Essie Davis, Toby Wallace, Eliza Scanlen and Ben Mendelsohn in Babyteeth Among last year's Little Women remake's many achievements is the fact it put Eliza Scanlen on the map as an actor to watch and Shannon Murphy's Babyteeth further solidifies her impending stardom. However it does so in a film that despite some occasionally heartbreaking …

Review: Proxima (2020) – Pull The Ripcord

Eva Green and Zélie Boulant in Proxima My first trip back to cinemas was to see Alice Winocour's Proxima at the end of July. That trip didn't go to plan, you can read about it here. On first watch Winocour's relationship drama felt like a discussion of compassion, empathy and understanding all through various forms …

Review: An Easy Girl (2020) – Rudderless

Mina Farid and Zahia Dehar in An Easy Girl Just from the title of Rebecca Zlotowski's An Easy Girl, its easy to jump to a judgemental conclusion about the films storyline and at first glance it does seem like a film about the conflicting interpretations of femininity and sexuality and how easy it is for …

Review: Project Power (2020) – Everyone’s Medicated

Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback in Project Power Project Power isn't just an interesting idea, a entirely fresh take on the modern day superhero film but also an interesting allegory for the modern day drug trade, race and the power and fearlessness it can harness to disastrous extents. While not exactly an origins story, Project …

Review: The Assistant (2020) – Side Effects Include Nausea

Julia Garner in The Assistant When your mind thinks of the phrase 'it takes a village', it always brings up this notion of community, the idea that we are stronger together than we are apart. To truly affect positive change, it takes everyone. People never think of the nefarious when contemplating the power of a …

Review: Unhinged (2020) – Toxicity In My City

Russell Crowe in Unhinged Opening on a rainy night, a imposing 4x4 sits outside a house as the man inside it works up the courage to do something that deep down he knows he shouldn't but really wants to. It's all very Shawshank but instead of turning around, going home and sobering up, The Man …