The limits of friendship are tested in acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s English language debut, The Room Next Door. This lovingly crafted and often moving drama treats the very serious subject of assisted dying with grace and compassion. And despite the subject-matter, it’s not nearly as depressing as you might think. You can see on…
Dreaming of an Italian getaway? Want to go to Naples in particular? Then you’ll want to catch Paolo Sorrentino’s gorgeous but enigmatic new film, Parthenope (pronounced Par-then-o-pay). This sweeping story about the city and its residents hits many of Sorrentino’s trademark beats. And while it can be puzzling at times, I found myself falling into…
Let’s clear up the most obvious question about Better Man, so I can get on with talking about the film. Yes, Robbie Williams’ biopic sees the pop star portrayed as a CGI monkey and that is because he always saw himself as a little less evolved than others. While you obviously do a double take…
Set in Mumbai and in an Indian seaside village, All We Imagine as Light is an empathetic, slice of life film that focuses on the fate of three women. Foremost amongst them is Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a dedicated and highly regarded nurse at a Mumbai hospital, who is largely introspective. She is in an arranged…
Sean Baker is an intriguing filmmaker who doesn’t repeat himself, although most of his films follow characters who are marginalised. His breakthrough film was 2015’s Tangerine, a low budget independent drama about a transgender prostitute looking for her pimp – it was entirely shot on a mobile phone. He followed that film in 2017 with…
Mufasa (the movie) explores how Mufasa (the lion cub who almost drowned in a flood) was separated from his parents and went on to become king of the jungle. His story is told by shaman mandrill Rafiki to another young lion cub, Mufasa’s granddaughter, Kiara (the daughter of Simba and Nala). Lending a mischievous hand…
Before I watched this LEGO movie, I knew only two of Pharrell Williams’ songs, being the hits Get Lucky and Happy. I suspect many who will see Piece by Piece will know many more. Now, having watched this animated documentary, I’m far better informed. The film paints Pharrell as a man-child who felt he didn’t…
Co-written by Marie Drucker and director Stephane Brize, Out of Season is a sensitive, slow-moving romance. Mathieu (Guillaume Canet) is a famous Parisian movie star, married to a prime-time news anchor. Four weeks before making his stage debut, Mathieu gets cold feet and pulls out, leaving everyone in the lurch. While he knows his withdrawal…
Your Monster is one wild, romantic, vengeful ride – Beauty and the Beast never looked so good. It’s about an aspiring actress who gets treated shamefully and then finds the most unlikely of awakenings. Laura Franco (Melissa Barrera) has been with her writer/director boyfriend Jacob Sullivan (Edmund Donovan) for five years. She’s helped him to…
Hugh Grant was once the affable if slightly awkward star of romantic comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. But since Guy Ritchie cast him against type in a couple of his gritty thrillers, Grant has carved out a niche for himself in playing villainous types. He was great as the main…
