Film Reviews

Simple Passion review – a case of female amour fou

Graham Fuller Saturday, 06 February 2021

Pushing 40, Simple Passion’s Hélène (Laetitia Dosch) lectures Paris college students on poetry and is single mother to pre-adolescent Paul (Lou Teymour-Thion).

Comment

Rams review – softhearted bush-loving drama

Tom Baily Saturday, 06 February 2021

Kiwi and Aussie screen legends Sam Neill and Michael Caton have teamed up in this heartfelt and humorous remake of Grímur Hákonarson’s 2015 Icelandic original. The template of Hákonarson’s story has been transplanted but all the details and fillings have changed.

Bliss review - simulation or real life?

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 05 February 2021

Bliss gets off to a powerful start.

Malcolm & Marie review - actorly grandstanding in beautiful black and white

Saskia Baron Friday, 05 February 2021

Do you want to spend 105 minutes trapped in a house with two people arguing, or do you already feel that your life under lockdown is quite quarrelsome and claustrophobic enough? If your answer is the former, then Malcolm & Marie is the perfect movie for you.

Assassins review - unravelling the bizarre death of Kim Jong-nam

Adam Sweeting Saturday, 30 January 2021

The 2017 killing of Kim Jong-nam, older half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, was a chilling expression of merciless Pyongyang realpolitik.

The Capote Tapes review - lush portrait of the louche writer

Saskia Baron Saturday, 30 January 2021

"A candied tarantula" is one of the many great descriptions of Truman Capote that light up this conventionally made but enjoyable profile of the American author most famous for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and&nbs

Penguin Bloom, Netflix review - stirringly acted if sentimental

Matt Wolf Friday, 29 January 2021

Two genuinely lovely performances elevate an often-simplistic tale in Penguin Bloom, based on a 2016 memoir of the same name.

The Dig, Netflix review - a haunting exploration of time and timelessness

Adam Sweeting Thursday, 28 January 2021

The Sutton Hoo burial site in Suffolk has proved to be one of the most valuable archaeological finds ever made in Britain, shedding priceless light on the Anglo-Saxon period of the 6th and 7th Centuries.

Persian Lessons review - confusing Holocaust drama

Saskia Baron Saturday, 23 January 2021

This is an odd film, made even odder by a caption near the beginning, which claims it is "inspired by true events" but doesn’t elaborate. Produced in Belarus, it’s a Holocaust drama based on a novella by the veteran East German screenwriter/director Wolfgang Kohlhaase but made by the Ukrainian director Vadim Perelman.

Quo Vadis, Aida review - a Bosnian woman confronts genocide

mark Kidel Friday, 22 January 2021

Jasmila Žbanić’s latest film, once again about the people of her native Bosnia and Herzegovina, is hardly an easy watch. Focusing on Aida, a passionate and highly capable interpreter for the UN forces in former Yugoslavia, she unflinchingly tells the story of the 1995 massacre of well over 6000 Muslim Bosnian men and

Baby Done review - romcom done right

Owen Richards Thursday, 21 January 2021

Romcoms. We all know the tried and tested formula: immature guy, uptight girl, they meet, they like each other, hate each other, and end up in love. It’s as reliable as it is unrealistic, and sometimes it takes a film like Baby Done to remind you there is a better way.

76 Days review - disturbing record of the initial outbreak of Covid-19

Tom Baily Wednesday, 20 January 2021

It is probable that no other document gets closer to the direct experience of frontline workers and victims of Covid-19 than the documentary 76 Days. It is also true that the film is not very enjoyable. Nor, sadly, does it feel especially unique.

Blithe Spirit review - cloth-eared Coward

Matt Wolf Friday, 15 January 2021

Noel Coward's 1941 comedy was one of the theatrical casualties of the first lockdown last March in a Richard Eyre-directed West End revival that aimed to mine the pain beneath this play's abundance of bons mots.

Dear Comrades! review - Andrei Konchalovsky exposes the Soviet past

Tom Birchenough Thursday, 14 January 2021

Veteran Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky has gone back to his beginnings for his latest film.

One Night in Miami review - black history come alive

Joseph Walsh Wednesday, 13 January 2021

In 1964, Cassius Clay, NFL superstar Jim Nathaniel Brown, soul legend Sam Cooke and political firebrand Malcolm X gathered for one night in a dingy room at the Hampton Motel. It was a meeting that became a symbol of hope for black Americans.

Pieces of a Woman review - a home birth ends in tragedy

Markie Robson-Scott Friday, 08 January 2021

This is not a film to watch if you’re pregnant. One of the first scenes, a 24-minute continuous take of a home birth that ends in tragedy, is extraordinarily powerful and painful to watch – almost unbearable sometimes – and Vanessa Kirby as Martha, groaning and growling her way through a very realistic labour, is brilliant and unforgettable.