Film Reviews

Birds of Passage review - mesmerising Colombian family saga

Markie Robson-Scott Saturday, 18 May 2019

“Do you know why I’m respected?” demands Ursula (Carmiña Martinez), a Wayuu matriarch in La Guajira in northern Colombia, of Rapayet (José Acosta), who wants to marry her daughter Zaida (Natalia Reyes, soon to star in James Cameron’s Terminator reboot). “Because I’m capable of anything for my family and my clan.”

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum review - mayhem in Manhattan

Adam Sweeting Friday, 17 May 2019

Keanu Reeves’s hitman franchise is blossoming into a delirious little earner.

Beats review - Scottish boys seek rave

Graham Fuller Thursday, 16 May 2019

Achingly nostalgic for rave culture, Beats will likely appeal to anyone whose formative experience of ardent friendships and communal joy peaked in a transcendent musical setting with or without the help of Ecstasy.

Diamantino review - loopy satire slaps Brexit

Graham Fuller Saturday, 11 May 2019

Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo, virtuosity intact, as buffed, blinged, and coiffed as ever, but with the sophistication and sexual maturity of an average seven-year-old, and you have a fair idea of Diamantino’s protagonist.

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The Hustle review - rotten scoundrels

Nick Hasted Saturday, 11 May 2019

This third version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ yarn of rival, class-warring con artists on the French Riviera is just something for Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson to do till a better gig comes along....

Destination Wedding review - a misanthropic modern-day romance

Joseph Walsh Saturday, 11 May 2019

Recently, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder have found themselves in a career renaissance. Reeves has made a remarkable comeback as the dog-loving action-hero John Wick, while Ryder won audiences over as the grief-stricken mother, Joyce Byers, in Netflix’s 80s nostalgia-fest Stranger Things.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu review - a cute commercial

Nick Hasted Friday, 10 May 2019

This is the Who Framed Roger Rabbit? of the Pokémon franchise, bringing the video game’s cute critters into a live-action, ...

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Madeline's Madeline review – American indie heralds an astonishing new star

Demetrios Matheou Thursday, 09 May 2019

“You are not the cat.

High Life review - Claire Denis boldly goes where she hasn't gone before

Saskia Baron Thursday, 09 May 2019

Arctic review - The Martian on ice

Adam Sweeting Wednesday, 08 May 2019

This is the first feature film by Brazil-born director Joe Penna (previously best known for his hit YouTube channel MysteryGuitarMan), but you’d never have guessed. Clocking in at a crisp and chilly 98 minutes, Arctic is an immaculately controlled exploration of the theme of man versus the elements, assisted immeasurably by having Mads Mikkelsen as its protagonist, Overgård.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile review - pedestrian Ted Bundy biopic

Saskia Baron Saturday, 04 May 2019

Why make a feature film about Ted Bundy, the notorious 1970s serial killer when you’ve already made Conversations with a Killer, a four-part factual series for Netflix about him?

Vox Lux review – music biz drama with big ideas

Graham Fuller Saturday, 04 May 2019

Common to the recent spate of films about aspiring singers, the theme of fame’s corrupting influence is hardly new.

Woman at War review – timely comedy-drama about an eco-warrior with a difference

Demetrios Matheou Saturday, 04 May 2019

What is it about Nordic women and the environment?

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition, Design Museum review - immersive detail

Tom Birchenough Friday, 03 May 2019

Who would have known that the word “Kubrickian” only entered the Oxford English Dictionary last year? You’d have thought that one of the great film directors of the 20th century would have earned his own epithet long ago.

Tolkien review - biopic charms but never wows

Joseph Walsh Thursday, 02 May 2019

Finnish director Dome Karukoski’s Tolkien follows the same formula of many literary biopics, with a tick-box plot of loves, friendships and hardships that forged the writing career of one the 20th Century’s greatest fantasy writers.

Long Shot review - semi-hilarious odd couple romcom

Nick Hasted Thursday, 02 May 2019

This is a romcom of two radically different halves, vaulting so dizzyingly from insultingly unbearable to daringly hilarious that walking in half-way through becomes a viable option.