Film Reviews

Never one to be bound by convention, Jean-Luc Godard decided to shun the customary post-premiere press conference for his new film, Image Book – playing in Cannes as part of the Official Competition – and instead opted to answer the questions due to be posed to him via a FaceTime video link. The actions of a visionary filmmaker making a wry joke about the evolving technologies now available across the media landscape, or of a narcissistic old buffer who desperately...

Not all heroes wear capes. Take Anna (Zsófia Szamosi), for example. From the outside looking in, she lives a simple and secure existence. Mother of three adorable children, living together in a spacious apartment with her husband, and working a job that’s both stable & rewarding. On the page, it sounds perfect. The reality, however, is a little more complicated. Dropping us into the middle of Anna’s life for roughly a 36-hour period – the title is something of a...

There’s a particularly telling scene early on in Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego’s riveting Columbian crime saga, Birds of Passage. Two friends are celebrating in a local shanty bar, reaping the rewards of their latest “business deal” – selling dope to members of the American Peace Corps. They raise their drinks, saluting the role capitalism has played in their newfound wealth. Though not directly related, Birds of Passage is something of a companion piece to Guerra’s previous film (which Gallego...

Though unlikely to be particularly indicative of a wider critical response, it’s impossible to ignore the snorts of incredulity that echoed throughout the Debussy theatre in the Cannes Palais, following a key narrative revelation halfway through Asghar Farhadi’s occasionally compelling but frustratingly contrived festival opener, Everybody Knows. Up until that moment of weakness, Farhadi’s quasi-thriller had displayed plenty of muscle. A modest opening act sets the scene well. Laura (Penélope Cruz) – accompanied by her two children, including her teenage...

About 25 minutes into Revenge, a close up of an ant heralds one of my favourite sequences in a 2018 film to date. For a second it’s just there, large and still in the middle of the screen. Then, in slow motion, with a sound effect like a crashing wave, a drop of blood falls on it. One, two, three, and more drops fall until the film returns to normal speed and the blood becomes a small lake, swallowing the...

Fans of Andrew Niccol will be all too than familiar with the director’s particular brand of Philip K Dick inspired output. From the timeless cult classic Gattaca which is set in a future where people are judged on the strength of their genetic make-up rather than on merit, to the slightly less well received In Time, in which time has replaced money as currency, creating a two-tier society in which only the rich can hope to live beyond the age...

The Young Karl Marx is directed by Haitian film-maker, Raoul Peck, whose previous work, I Am Not Your Negro - a documentary focusing on James Baldwin - earned him an Oscar nomination. His latest effort is an intense period drama of the early life and work of Karl Marx. The film does not make any concessions to the audience in presenting the subject matter from an intellectual point of view rather than an emotional one. This does not mean the film...

What do you come to horror cinema for? For me it’s generally to be scared, to be unnerved, to be thrilled. For that to happen there have to be certain ingredients in place. Most importantly I have to care. The ability to be truly concerned about what happens to a character - whether it be that I want them want them to escape, or that I’m rooting for them to meet an especially gruesome end - means that I’m invested....

Following the critical acclaim of Weekend and 45 Years, director Andrew Haigh returns with a naturalistic and tender tale of a boy’s connection with an ageing race horse. It is a revealing character study that is full of heartfelt and melancholic moments. Lean on Pete follows Charley (Charlie Plummer), a teenager living with his father Ray (Travis Fimmel) in a small dilapidated home. Ray may at times be carless but his love and affection for his son is clear to...