This big screen take on the hit stage musical, adapted by the show’s director Matthew Warchus, is a rousing, occasionally stirring experience. Excellent newcomer Alisha Weir is the gifted six-year-old child, neglected by her obnoxious nouveau riche parent…

This Afro-futurist queer experimental allegory, helmed by rapper, poet and actor Saul Williams and Rwandan actress Anisia Uzeyman, is probably the most unique and challenging release of the year. Intersex character Neptune (played by two actors, Cheryl Is…

Luca Guadagnino’s latest, a genre juggler adapted from the novel by Camille DeAngelis, is an inspired and audacious melding of road movie, dark comedy and gruesome horror. Taylor Russell is Maren, an awkward teen living with her single father. Her outside…

This lyrical documentary with an ecological message follows two Muslim brothers, Nadeem and Saud in New Delhi, who have set up a clinic in their basement. For seventeen years they have been treating black kite birds who have fallen from the polluted sky. …

Adding a pinch of Greek Weird Wave to the mix fails to redeem writer-director Peter Strickland’s latest slice of dark whimsy: a misfiring art satire. The setting is a Sonic Catering Institute that’s been established in order to monitor culinary and alimen…

This low-budget Brit drama, the feature debut of Marcos Mereles, begins as a compelling chamber piece, chronicling a photoshoot power struggle, before it spins off in an unexpected and unsuccessful direction. In a fashionable London warehouse a photograph…

Director Alli Haapasalo's effervescent, melancholy, and ultimately rousing coming-of-age story, profiles a trio of Finnish teenage girls as they attempt to navigate the adult world of work and relationships. The smart, acerbic Mimmi (Milonoff) works in a …

Korean director Park Chan-wook's latest picture is an immaculately-realised noir puzzle with shades of Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’. Park Hae-il is Hae-joon, a happily-married homicide detective working the Busan beat, who is partnered with the inexperienced hot…

This tale of a middle class teenage artist trying to get a foothold in the underground comics scene marks a cracking debut for actor turned writer-director, Owen Kline. Robert (Zolghadri) is the seventeen-year-old budding artist who outrages his aspiratio…

Made with the consent of the artist’s estate who granted the director access to a wealth of previously unseen footage, Brett Morgen’s David Bowie biopic is an impressionistic and intense (almost overwhelmingly so) collage of Sound and Vision. Narrated by …

Cronenberg is very much in vintage body horror mode in this darkly amusing but conceptually overstuffed piece, set in the obligatory near future in a grotty, non-specific Interzone-like country. Advances in biotech means technology can interact with human…

Multi-hyphenate Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo’s latest picture boasts the deceptive simplicity and profundity of a fine short story. Middle-aged former actress Sangok (Lee) has recently returned home to Seoul after spending some time in the US, and is st…

The slasher movie gets a perky reboot with this entertaining and spirited ensemble piece. It starts with a passionate kiss between Bee (Bakalova from ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’) and her new rich-kid girlfriend Sophie (Stenberg), followed by an awkward d…

Following her wacky sci-fi tale ‘Sky High’, French writer-director Denis returns to more down-to-Earth matters with this unsatisfying relationship drama. An almost kitschy dreamlike opening sequence has Sara (Binoche) and her husband Jean (Lindon) embraci…

A troubled ‘two-spirit’ young Native American man explores his heritage and his sexuality in this handsome but flawed coming-of-age tale. A rather on-the-nose opening scene has Native American, Link (Lewitski) turning his back on his roots by dyeing his h…

The debut from Polish writer-director Woszczynska plays like a cross between one of Micheal Haneke’s ethical examinations and Roman Polanski-style portrait of paranoia. Adam (Dymecki) and Anna (Zuleweska) are the seemingly ideal couple, both tall, blonde …

This satire from Argentinian directing duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat may prove a little too niche for non-cineastes, but boasts spirited turns from the estimable trio of leads. It begins at the joyless birthday party of billionaire businessman Humber…

Jordan Peele’s genre-straddling sci-fi horror western features some genuinely unnerving and eerie moments, but the muddled execution means it feels far less than the sum of its parts. Daniel Kaluuya, who starred in Peele’s ‘Get Out’ is Otis ‘O.J.’ Haywood…

Israeli writer-director Ari ‘Waltz with Bashir’ Folman’s animated fantasy, which attempts to shine a light on current woes via diarist Frank’s experience, is audacious and handsomely-mounted but suffers from an unwieldy structure. It begins in present day…

This fantastic debut from Iranian writer-director Panahi, son of Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi, is a melancholy but zestful road movie that follows a family’s eventful car journey to mountainous North Iran. They are lynchpin mum (Panahiha), grumpy father (M…

Directors: Massashi Ando, Masayuki Miyaji Featured voices: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Hisui Kimura, Ryoma Takeuchi, Anne Watanabe Based on a series of Japanese fantasy novels by Nahoko Uehashi, this beautifully-rendered anime co-directed by Massashi Ando, one o…

This mildly diverting, self-consciously sophisticated sex comedy drama about a scatty thirty-year-old French woman struggling with life choices and romance, feels like a cross between Joachim Trier’s recent ‘The Worst Person in the World’ and 2017’s under…

British visual artist and director Beddington’s documentary, a meditation on migration, exile and longing, is slight but boasts some arresting imagery. Fadia Loubani is a Palestinian refugee who lost her husband when she was nineteen and now lives in a Le…

It’s unclear what attracted the revered multi-award garlanded Colman to this sentimental piece of uncut Irish blarney. Newcomer Charlie Reid is Mully, a twelve-year-old who we first meet at a pub cancer benefit event in memory of his mother who has recen…

Curious narrative choices topple this fanciful biopic of French civil engineering genius Gustave Eiffel. We first encounter Gustave (Duris, ee, he looks nowt like him!) in New York as the Statue of Liberty, which Gustave designed the metal framework for, …

This big screen adaptation of Delia Owens' hugely popular 2018 novel is a total misfire that exacerbates the flaws of the source material. ‘Normal Peoples’ Daisy Edgar Jones is Kya Clark, a reclusive young woman accused of murder in 1969 North Carolina. F…

Commissioned by Turner Contemporary, the MK Gallery and the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, this discursive lyrical travelogue from British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong charts the cross country ramblings of a young Black British woman. The Wandere…

Adapted from a short film, this whimsical fantasy drama, co-scripted by and starring ‘Afterlife’s’ David Earl, struggles to justify its extended running time. Earl plays Brian, an eccentric loner in North Wales who collects scrap for his various ill-conce…

Released on the eightieth anniversary of this death, this engaging documentary charts the career of British artist Eric Ravilious, mainly focused on his World War II work. Freddy Fox narrates from Eric’s correspondence with his wife Tirzah (Tamsin Grieg r…

British director Bedwani’s profile of septuagenarian Trans activist, artist and performer Donna Personna is unassumingly low-key but poignant and ultimately uplifting. Raised as Gus in 50s suburban San Jose, and subject to a strict Baptist upbringing, Don…

Javier Bardem reunites with frequent collaborator de Aranoa for this occasionally amusing but unsubtle capitalist satire. Bardem is Blanco, the smarmy boss of Básculas Blanco, a company he inherited from his father, which is a leading manufacturer of indu…

Australian director Kurzel and screenwriter collaborator Shaun Grant return to the scuzzy antipodean suburbs of their debut ‘The Snowtown Murders’ for this horribly compelling but sensitively-handled retelling of the Port Arthur Massacre that took place i…

Ideally, Australian auteur Baz Luhrmann’s typically over-caffeinated but visually resplendent biopic of legendary rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley should be titled ‘Elvis and Tom’ as Presley’s notorious martinet manager Colonel Tom Parker is given equal…

This latest addition to the Jurassic sage, which unites characters from the old trilogy with the cast of the new one, is a chaotic misfire, the poorest franchise (dread word) entry since ‘The Rise of Skywalker’. The trailers promisingly mooted an adventur…

Home Counties folk may have been out feting some old Queen or other recently, but German acting legend Udo Kier is the real fabulous deal here in this poignant and very funny comic drama.He is retired hairdresser, Pat Pitsenbarger, now spending his days m…

Adapted from a memoir by late collaborator Emmanuèle Bernheim, Ozon’s latest is a moving if slightly mannered family drama with stabs of wry dry humour. After the eighty-five year old André (André Dussollier) suffers a debilitating stroke, his daughters E…

Mia Hansen-Løve’s film boasts some clever nods to Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, his influence, and the industry he’s spawned. Consequently, this is more likely to appeal to buffs than the casual viewer. Filmmaking couple Chris and Tony (Krieps and Roth…

The feature debut from writer-director Lentzou feels a little affected at times, but boasts a luminous performance from Sofia Kokkali. She is Artemis, a young woman returning to Greece after some time away to visit her sick father in Athens. Dad, Paris …

Adapted from her short picture of the same name, this punishing but essential feature debut from Swedish writer-director Thyberg charts one young woman’s journey through the porn industry. Sofia Kappel is Linnéa aka Bella Cherry, a twenty-year-old relocat…

Shades of Ken Loach in this involving and complex realist Maltese drama. Jesmark (Scicluna) is a fisherman struggling to support his wife Denise (Farrugia) and their new-born son. In the opening scene his boat ( or ‘luzzu’) springs a leak meaning expensiv…

This sequel to the iconic but flimsy Reagan-era adventure is superior to the original in every respect. Tom Cruise playing ‘Tom Cruise’ returns as top navy pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. Still feeling the need for speed, Mitchell has avoided promotions s…

Mooted as a hipper alterative to ‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ this sci-fi comedy, from the directing duo behind the endearingly oddball ‘Swiss Army Man’, is ingenious but exhausting. Yeoh, is Evelyn Wang, a put upon Chinese immigrant run…

This second solo outing for Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme, and the third feature-length sojourn into the Marvel multiverse following the superior Spidey outings, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, is alas, a muddled disappointm…

Based on a short story by Claire Keegan, the feature debut from writer-director Bairéad, is part coming-of-age tale and part soulful rumination on family bonds and grieving. It’s summer 1981 and withdrawn nine-year-old Cáit (Clinch) is living in a rundown…

Writer-director Emil Vogt’s second feature is a slow-burning and genuinely unsettling sic-fi horror. Seven-year-old Norwegian girl Ida (Fløttum) has just moved with her family, mum (Petersen), dad (Svartveit) and severely autistic older sister Anna (Ramst…

In 2016 Joe Corré, the son of shop assistant turned couture designer Vivienne Westwood and the late provocateur and Svengali Malcolm McLaren, announced he was going to burn millions of pounds worth of punk memorabilia as a statement against the commodific…

Heartfelt and elegiac but hugely disappointing, Terence Davies’ portrait of War Poet Siegfried Sassoon and his social circle of wits, artist and aristos, surprisingly the director’s first with an openly queer character, is a dramatically inert and poorly-…

Stunning photography, unsurprisingly, is the best reason to see this, at times, overly verbose nature documentary, a massive hit in France, from wildlife filmmaker Marie Amiguet and wildlife photographer Vincent Munier. On a frozen Tibetan plateau, Munier…

What this flawed Morocco-set picture musical drama lacks in originality it just about makes up for with youthful energy. Anas (Basbousi) a former rapper, now reduced to living out of his car, gets a job as a teacher working at a cultural centre on the out…

Documentary opuses are rarely as magnum as Guiseppe ‘Cinema Paradiso’ Tornatore’s exhaustive, and at three hours, pretty exhausting chronicle of the recently departed Italian movie music maestro’s career. Morricone himself, interviewed at home, and spor…

Nicolas Cage plays Nicolas Cage in this ambitious but disappointing Meta comedy adventure. When we meet this particularly self-absorbed version of the actor, he is feeling creatively uninspired and is beset by money problems. He’s also struggling to conne…

Following his debut, the dread-imbued portrayal of religious hysteria ‘The Witch’, and heart of darkness-plumbing nightmare ‘The Lighthouse’, writer-director Robert Eggers goes full-on sensory maximalist with this intense and bloody Viking saga. It was co…

That increasingly rare thing, the Star Vehicle returns with this aggressively adequate adventure comedy in the ‘Romancing the Stone’ mould. Bullock is Loretta Sage, a writer of romances in which her heroine is paired up with hunky hero Dash McMahon. We me…

The third instalment of the Fantastic Beasts series is the bleakest chapter of the ‘wizarding world’ since 2010’s ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Pt 1’. The dark mood is established in an opening sequence, easily the film’s best, as Professor Albus…