A family movie about the impact of war on children, The Railway Children Return is a sequel 52 years in the making. It’s 1944 and a new wave of German bombing has British families on edge. Parents scramble to get their children onto steam trains bound for the country to families who will care for…
Food, sex and art are three of the key ingredients in Flux Gourmet. This is the latest bizarre cinematic concoction from British director Peter Strickland, who’s based in Hungary. This black comedy is an absurdist satire of the contemporary art world with its provocateurs, sycophantic backers and receptive audiences and the creative process itself. Over…
Heavyweights Julia Roberts and George Clooney work together for the sixth time on the feel-good romcom Ticket to Paradise. And their chemistry remains strong. Twenty-five years ago a love story between David (George Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) played out, which saw them marry and soon after have a child. That daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Dever), is…
True Things is the sophomore feature for director Harry Wootliff, following 2018’s Only You. Kate (played by Ruth Wilson, who also produced the film alongside Jude Law) is a self-destructive woman in her early thirties who works as a clerk in a government welfare office. She is insecure, lonely, and a little bored with her…
David Bowie was unquestionably a creative genius for whom “safe” and “middle of the road” didn’t cut it. He was innovative. He pushed himself. He liked to live life on the edge and admired others who did. According to the family-endorsed documentary Moonage Daydream, he was heavily influenced by his older half-brother Terry Jones who…
In Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies, five 20-somethings gather at a “hurricane party” to see out an impending cyclone. The venue is David’s (Pete Davidson) family’s remote mansion. With the gathering underway, a couple of others walk in. Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) – David’s childhood friend – has had a stint in rehab and has a…
It seems to be a film a year in the “After” teen-romance franchise, and now we’re onto the fourth. Unless you’ve seen the others you might find it difficult to follow the threads because the action just starts with a presumption of character knowledge. The series began with After in 2019, followed by After We…
Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl is a deeply affecting work – I had tears running down my cheeks on the final scene. We’re in rural Ireland in 1981. Cait (Catherine Clinch) (aged 9) is one of five children who keeps to herself, says very little but observes much. There is no love shown to her…
A deceptively clever period crime drama, director Graham Moore’s The Outfit is a slow burn mesmeriser. Set in Chicago in 1956, all the action takes place at the premises of a bespoke tailor. Leonard (Mark Rylance) is a well-spoken, nondescript British “cutter” who takes great pride and pleasure in his work. His narrative about what…
French auteur Claire Denis (White Material) often explores fragile relationships in her films, looking at the tension between her characters and the corrosive effects of the lack of trust. Her latest film Both Sides of the Blade (known as Fire in some territories) explores a romantic triangle that spirals out of control and the emotional…
