The historical drama Chevalier pulls no punches. Director Stephen Williams sets out to push buttons – and push buttons he does. Set in France, it is the story of Joseph Bologne, who was born in 1745 on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. He was the son of 16-year-old Sengalese slave Nanon and a…
The sophomore feature from Spanish filmmaker Carla Simon (Summer 1993) Alcarras is a lyrical, leisurely paced, beautifully observed slice-of-life drama. The plot concerns a family of peach farmers whose livelihood is under threat from developers. The film was Spain’s official submission for the Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars. The film is set in…
Loosely inspired by Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen, this melodrama updates the timeless story to a more contemporary setting along the US/Mexican border. The film centres around Carmen (Melissa Barrera) who is on the run from a ruthless Mexican cartel that killed her mother. While attempting to cross the border into the US Carmen is caught…
Bloodlust features prominently in Sisu, an anarchic actioner, set towards the end of WWII. It is 1944. Finland has signed an armistice with the Soviet Union and the Germans are in full retreat. However, the Nazis have adopted a scorched-Earth policy, destroying everything in their wake. A legendary Finnish warrior – Aatami (Jorma Tommila) –…
Christopher Nolan has never shied away from the audacious. From his breakthrough in Memento (2000) to the time-travel twists of Tenet (2020), he embraces the challenge of doing the impossible and making it seem easy. His most notable work to date – Inception, the Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar – has been in the sci-fi arena….
The hype has been enormous, but does Barbie, the movie, live up to expectations? Well, some elements do and others not so much. The film is populated by the Barbies and Kens of Barbieland, where women rule the roost and men trail in their wake. The chief Ken (bleach blonde Ryan Gosling, with a six-pack…
The genius, the arrogance and the madness of Spanish artist Salvador Dali (played by Ben Kingsley) is front and centre in Daliland. Mary Harron’s (American Psycho) film presents a picture of a 70-year-old man obsessed with sexual creativity, but who doesn’t actually have sex. Dali deeply loves his volatile wife, Gala (Barbara Sukowa), who controls…
Director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell began the Insidious franchise in 2010. The first Insidious featured Patrick Wilson as Josh Lambert, Rose Byrne as his wife Renai, Ty Simpkins as their son Dalton and Lin Shaye as the medium Elise Rainier. It concerned a family looking to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose…
Think of the hijinks in Crazy Rich Asians, Bridesmaids and The Hangover and you go some way to understanding why Joy Ride will be a fan favourite. There are laughs, silliness and good times aplenty. As five-year-olds, Audrey and Lolo meet by chance in 1998 at a New York park. Born in Asia, Audrey –…
An indigenous lad (Aswan Reid) reshapes the lives of those living at a remote monastery in 1940s Australia in Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy. The outback facility serves as a mission for Aboriginal children. It’s run by a feisty, renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). At the time only men could operate missions. But the…
