Review-Lite: Hong Kong Family (2023)

Teresa Mo, Tse Kwan-ho, Edan Lui and Hedwig Tam in Hong Kong Family When teenager Yeung's (Edan Lui) Chinese family gather for a winter solstice dinner everything goes disastrously wrong fracturing the family leading to eight years of estrangement and resent. However in the build-up to the winter solstice a visit from a distant cousin …

Review: Alcarràs (2023) – Waining Summer

Ainet Jounou in Alcarràs There is a almost perfect simplicity to Carla Simón's Alcarràs, a film that makes a promise in its opening moments and never detours or dodges its inevitable conclusion. It's in this self assured storytelling that writers Arnau Vilaró and Simón manage to tell a story of family that feels both unique …

Review-Lite: Call Jane (2022)

Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver in Call Jane There is a timeliness to Call Jane, a feature that follows a cloistered housewife called Joy (Elizabeth Banks), who upon hearing she needs an abortion for medical reasons and is denied by the hospital board, finds herself seeking an illegal alternative while finding herself assisting women all …

Review: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) – Guiness and Boredom

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin Since the start of his career, director Martin McDonagh has shown an unparalleled ability to mask darker themes behind some of the blackest comedy out there. In Bruges in particular was a discussion of guilt, shame and morality but one that wasn't afraid to mock …

Review-Lite: Medieval (2022)

Ben Foster and Alice Lowe in Medieval If you said the name Jan Žižka (Ben Foster) outside of the Czech Republic you'd be hard pressed to find someone, outside of historians who know the rebel general. Petr Jákl's film Medieval seeks to remedy that by giving a look at the young life of the man. …

Review: My Policeman (2022) -Everything Old Is Still Old

David Dawson, Emma Corrin and Harry Styles in My Policeman Willing to leave Don't Worry Darling in the rear-view mirror and move on to other opportunities, Harry Styles latest feature, My Policeman, is not the star making vehicle that many hoped it would be. It has excellent performances and a loving tone that carries through …

Review-Lite: Mr Harrigan’s Phone (2022)

Jaden Martell and Donald Sutherland in Mr Harrigan's Phone Of all the Stephen King adaptations, Mr Harrigan's Phone, a film following the relationship between Craig (Jaeden Martell), a young man and his lasting friendship with the titual Mr Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), is easily the most infuriating. Framed as a mystery film, the real mystery here …

Review: Black Adam (2022) – How To Hate Friends and Tolerate People

Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam When Marvel was looking to start their cinematic universe, they didn't look to Captain America or even Spider-man (Movie rights are complicated), instead they started with the lesser appreciated Iron Man to kick things off. Looking back, it was either a massive risk or a smart tactical choice for a …

Review : Girls Girls Girls (2022) – Uniquely Mundane

Aamu Milonoff, Linnea Leino and Eleonoora Kauhanen in Girls Girls Girls Alli Haapasalo's Girls Girls Girls is a totally relatable coming of age story of three women so therefore it must follow the same tried and tested formula of each Hollywood story of its ilk. Only it doesn't. Nothing is sensationalised for the sake of …

Micro-Review: The Courier (2021)

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan and Angus Wright in The Courier Although this Benedict Cumberbatch led period piece is impressive when you consider the true story it tells, it isn't what makes it so excellent. Telling the story of real life amateur spy Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) and how he was recruited to ferry Russian secrets to …