In Escaped Alone, society as we know it has fallen apart. Survivors are few. Four older women who are among the lucky ones reflect on times past over several summers … as the years run into one another. Vi (Margaret Mills) went to jail for six years after killing her husband. Sally (Caroline Lee) has…
Inspired by events that took place in a powerful African state in the 19th century, The Woman King is the story of a battalion of female warriors. Known as the Agojie, their job was to protect the Kingdom of Dahomey, and its ruler King Ghezo (John Boyega). The narrative focuses primarily on two figures –…
For Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) this was apparently the longest and most painful week. For me this was the longest and most painful movie experience. Anyway I have a strong dislike for a voice-over that begins with “This is …” followed by the name of the main character. This is usually already a bad omen….
A demonic-looking James McAvoy stars as a manipulative monster in the psychological horror-thriller Speak No Evil. An American family meets and befriends a British family while holidaying in Italy. Soon the Americans are invited to spend a weekend at the seemingly idyllic country estate of the Brits. What starts out with promise ends up as…
Gloria Bell is a deliberately awkward film about the difficulties of making your way in the world. Especially if you’re a divorced middle-aged woman yearning for something more. Julianne Moore embraces the title role in yet another stellar performance. She finds Gloria’s vulnerability and, conversely, her strength and resilience. Gloria is a free-spirited divorcée who…
Fortunately, Alexander Skarsgård isn’t by nature a voiceless person. It would have been a strange sight in The Legend of Tarzan. In Mute he’s such a person; with no sound leaving his mouth. And that because of a painful confrontation with the propeller of a motorboat (I suppose). What remains is a guy with the…
She, Grace (Annette Bening) is intelligent, strong willed, heavily opinionated, volatile and fearsome – a force of nature. He, Edward (Bill Nighy) is intelligent, introverted and averse to confrontation. He likes to be left in peace. Married for 29 years, both are unhappy. She wants to work through it, believing they are a couple for…
DC Comics has often played second fiddle to Marvel when it comes to box office success, but perhaps the tide is turning. First we had Wonder Woman, then Aquaman and now Shazam! It plays on the idea that we all have a superhero inside of us. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out…
Even with the best will in the world, the path to finding and sustaining the love of one’s life is often paved with potholes. With two younger sisters, 29-year-old Sahar (Celine Khoury) is smart and gregarious. She studied medicine, but dropped out after two years (the reason becomes a pivotal plot point) and now works as a…
Three Cs describe Hir: confronting, colourful and comedic. By the way, the title is a gender-neutral pronoun. One character also likes being addressed as “ze”, as distinct from “she” or “he”. After three years in the Marines picking up shattered body parts on the battlefield, Isaac is looking forward to coming home and sleeping in his own bed….
