‘Ratcatcher’ Shows People, Not Poverty Porn
Lynne Ramsay’s gutting, eerily beautiful first film, Ratcatcher, shows a director refusing to let the impoverished circumstances of her characters define them.
film review
Raindance 2021: Don’t Let the Protagonist of Horror/Thriller Where’s Rose Seduce You
John Mathis’ Where’s Rose, which premiered at Raindance Film Festival 2021, explores the misogynistic darkness behind the charismatic personality.
Film-Noir Thriller ‘The Amazing Mr. X’ Shimmers with Beautiful Spookery
Directed by low-budget maestro Bernard Vorhaus, the restored film-noir ‘The Amazin Mr. X’ is an unpredictable little specimen of spookery-pokery.
Marvel’s ‘Eternals’: Haven’t We Seen This Story Before?
The cast of Eternals may be the broodiest Marvel characters to date, but that’s about the only “new” thing about this film.
BFI LFF: Who Is the Dreamer in the Hallucinogenic ‘Earwig’?
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s subversive Earwig is rooted in the dark origins of fairytales – before they were pacified for modern childhood consumption.
BFI LFF: ‘Boiling Point’ Turns the Heat Up on Work-Life Pressure
Director Philip Barantini’s one-take drama Boiling Point explores the tipping point the modern “rat race” is pushing us toward.
BFI LFF: Terence Davies’ ‘Benediction’ Sees a War-Haunted Generation Through a Poet’s Eyes
Terence Davies’ Benediction effectively evokes wartime suffering via British World War I poet and author Siegfried Sassoon’s story.
Masculinity Has No Meaning in Michel Franco’s ‘Sundown’
Michel Franco’s Sundown, which played in competition for Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival, is an exploration of masculinity in crisis. Or is it?
BFI LFF: Belgian Drama ‘Playground’ (Une Monde) Studies the Bullies
‘Playground’ (‘Une Monde’), winner of the Sutherland Award for Best First Film at BFI LFF 2021, approaches schoolyard bullies like a wildlife biologist.
Spoof and Pastiche and Meringue in Your Eye Goes ‘Bugsy Malone’
Alan Parker’s kids’ gangster movie Bugsy Malone kids about how adults take themselves too seriously.
BFI LFF: Family Drives Iranian Drama ‘Hit the Road’
In Hit the Road, which won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival 2021, the silence between the family members carries the weight of their powerlessness.
BFI LFF: Drama ‘True Things’ Echos a Broken Britain
Harry Wootliff’s ‘True Things’ is a timely exploration of the broken foundations upon which the Conservative Government wants to “Build back better.”