The despicable nature of workplace harassment comes into sharp focus in The Assistant, a thinly-veiled take on the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Jane (Julia Garner) is the savvy personal assistant to the chairman of a film studio. In the job only five weeks, she completes largely dreary tasks and works long hours. First in the office…
It is extremely satisfying to see an actor that you’ve observed bouncing around various TV shows over the years finally landing, and nailing, the peak role of his career. Billy Campbell is not a name you’ll twig to straight away until you see his sternly handsome face on the screen and then its ‘oh, THAT…
What do you do when you’ve got two great stories, but only one movie? Mash them together of course. And while this can be fraught, director Tom Harper (Wild Rose) masters the technique in The Aeronauts. Working from a script by Jack Thorne, he deftly melds two real-life stories into one cohesive narrative. The first…
There is something so satisfyingly retro about shows featuring kids doing their own thing, and doing it masterfully, without the grownups being entirely savvy as to what their clever and resourceful progeny are up to. Home Before Dark is especially intriguing as it is based on the true story of Hilde Lysiak, a talented American…
Kenya Barris is probably the most popular TV producer you’ve never heard of. Barris made his name as a writer and producer on America’s Next Top Model. He followed that up with his “-ish” series – Black-ish, Mixed-ish and Grown-ish. Now he steps in front of the camera for probably the most meta show of…
Mystery Road has graced both the big and small screens. The first two versions were critically received films (Mystery Road and Goldstone) and the third was the first season of the ABC TV adaptation in 2018. The events of Mystery Road S1 slotted in between the timeline of the two movies. All versions star the…
We find suggestions of child abuse abhorrent; but it wasn’t always so. Traditional fairy tales (like those of the Brothers Grimm) often include elements of adults being unspeakably cruel – or worse – to children. Indeed, in more recent times, writers like Roald Dahl haven’t shied away from including childhood hardship in their fiction. Netflix’s…
Netflix has a whole host of films with interesting premises and solid performers that well suit the streaming platforms rather than the big screen. The Titan is one of these. Perfectly entertaining for a cold night in, but you’d be a bit peeved if you’d ponied up to watch this low key film at the…
A photographer who suffers from PTSD befriends a hardworking Sudanese man with a secret traumatic past. Hearts and Bones is a heavy-hitting drama with a feel-good ending, but more of that later. Daniel Fisher (Hugo Weaving) is an acclaimed war photographer. His work means he leaves his long-term partner, Josie Avril (Haley McElhinney), a ballet…
Deadwater Fell doesn’t mess about, introducing us to a charming village full of adorable villagers right before polishing four of them off in a house fire. We haven’t met any super villains yet so soon in the piece, so where does our suspicious eye cast its ire first? To the only survivor of the fire…
