Film Reviews

Parallel Mothers review - letting the dead speak

Nick Hasted Friday, 04 February 2022

Almodóvar has rarely returned to the petrified Spain of his youth, flinging off Franco’s oppression by ignoring it in his early films of freewheeling provocation, where anarchic, hot freedom was all of the law. In this sober tale of secrets and lies, though, his nation’s past is literally dug up.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye review - Jessica Chastain pulls out all the stops

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 04 February 2022

US televangelists Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker’s rise and spectacular fall from grace in the Seventies and Eighties has already been covered in a documentary film of the same name, released in 2000 with a voice-over by RuPaul.

Belfast review - coming of age amid the terror of the Troubles

Adam Sweeting Tuesday, 01 February 2022

For all his achievements as actor and director, Kenneth Branagh isn’t immediately thought of as a screenwriter, despite his multiple Shakespeare adaptations. That may all change with Belfast, because Branagh’s deeply personal account (he’s both writer and director) of a Northern Irish childhood in the early days of the Troubles has a little touch of magic about it.

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Long Promised Road review - another attempt to probe the fragile genius of Brian Wilson

Adam Sweeting Saturday, 22 January 2022

There has been no shortage of documentaries about king Beach Boy Brian Wilson, not to mention the 2014 bio-drama Love & Mercy, so the purpose of this new effort by director Brent Wilson (no relation) isn’t altogether clear.

Nightmare Alley review - a dazzling trip through a heart of darkness

Adam Sweeting Friday, 21 January 2022

Director Guillermo del Toro has described Nightmare Alley as “a straight, really dark story”, lacking the supernatural elements in his previous films such as Crimson Peak and The Shape of Water. Nonetheless, Nightmare Alley still feels like a spectral visitation from a weird and menacing dimension.

Memory Box review - exquisitely made drama set in Lebanon

Saskia Baron Friday, 21 January 2022

Memory Box is that rare thing, a glimpse into a lost world from its traumatised inhabitants. Made by the Lebanese artist-filmmakers, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (a husband and wife team), it’s an intergenerational drama split between Beirut during the Eighties (the height of the Lebanese Civil War) and present day Canada.

Munich: The Edge of War review - Jeremy Irons excels in a revisionist portrait of Neville Chamberlain

Adam Sweeting Tuesday, 18 January 2022

The name of Neville Chamberlain and the term “appeasement” have become indelibly linked, thanks to his efforts to accommodate Adolf Hitler’s bellicose ambitions in the run-up to what became World War Two.

Don't Look Up, Netflix review - hitting most targets in high style

David Nice Thursday, 13 January 2022

Most dystopian satires are located in a nightmarish future, but their scripts build on the worst of our world today. Adam McKay's Don’t Look Up is different: this is now, and the notion of a comet hurtling towards the assured destruction of planet Earth is the hub for a heaping-up and jamming-together of how media and government respond to the worst imaginable crisis.

The Humans review - staring headlong into the abyss

Matt Wolf Monday, 10 January 2022

A small film that packs a significant wallop, The Humans snuck into view at the very end of 2021 to cast a despairing shadow that extends well beyond the Thanksgiving day during which it takes place.

A Hero review - a morality tale with no firm conclusions

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 07 January 2022

A Hero, set in the ancient city of Shiraz in southwest Iran, revolves around Rahim (Amir Jadidi), a weak man with gleaming white teeth and a permanent smile.

He’s on leave from prison for the weekend, an odd concept in itself, as there are no restrictions to his movements and the whole set-up seems surprisingly lax and polite for what we might expect from an Iranian jail.

Best of 2021: Film

theartsdesk Sunday, 02 January 2022

Like every other artform, cinema suffered greatly in a year of lockdowns. But despite an ever-changing outlook, theartsdesk still managed to review over 130 films in 2021!

Long-awaited blockbusters and no-budget indies fought for screen space big and small, but only a select few achieved five star status. Here are the 2021 releases our critics deemed perfect:

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Titane review - love under the bonnet

Graham Fuller Friday, 31 December 2021

The restrictiveness of conventional gender identities explains the extreme body horror of Titane, in which a pregnant rookie firefighter frequently invoked as Jesus bleeds car oil from her vagina and from the stigmatic splits in her swollen belly. The miracle of Julia Doucournau’s luridly beautiful Palme d’Or-winner is that the memory of the violence puncturing the film's first half recedes as loving tenderness takes hold.

The Matrix Resurrections review - reboot or remix?

Joseph Walsh Wednesday, 22 December 2021

Back in 1999, The Matrix offered something revolutionary. With a heady brew of William Gibson-influenced cyberpunk, Platonic philosophy and Prada, it proved that blockbusters could be both smart and action-packed. Remember those days?

The Hand of God review - Sorrentino's unsentimental education

David Nice Thursday, 16 December 2021

“It was the hand of God,” says the Neapolitan family patriarch about a rather unexpected consequence of Maradona's coming to play for the city’s team. That gives us a date, 1984, and, while the adolescent protagonist Fabietto remains in Naples, a fleeting sense of time and place.

Spider-Man: No Way Home review - The web-slinger returns

Joseph Walsh Thursday, 16 December 2021

A brief warning to readers: while effort is made to avoid spoilers, I would advise anyone who has somehow missed the massive amount of online speculation about the film’s plot to not read on. See the film first, and please come back.

Hope review - brilliance and honesty from Norwegian director Maria Sødahl

Markie Robson-Scott Thursday, 09 December 2021

The story of a woman with lung cancer that has metastasised to the brain is based on Norwegian director Maria Sødahl's own experience, which is a hopeful sign in itself.