Nearly five decades ago, it was a close encounter with a UFO that resonated with audiences (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977). Five years on, it was all about helping a friendly alien return home (ET: the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982). Next, an alien invasion threatened the future of humanity (War of the Worlds, 2005). And…
A supernatural horror thriller, Backrooms is a phenomenon that has grown through the internet. Co-writer and director of the film Kane Parsons was just 16 when he used open-source software to create what was initially intended as a visual effects test. The nine minute short The Backrooms (Found Footage) was uploaded to YouTube in 2022….
Three outlandish, revelatory stories told to an unseen voice, who pushes those in the proverbial hot seat to go on, to say more. At first these tall tales appear unrelated and yet, as more and more is revealed, the threads start to weave together. They intersect and congeal. The yarns capture our attention and imagination…
Writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson’s rigorous commitment to excellence in filmmaking (Magnolia) pays off again big time in One Battle After Another. Featuring stellar performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and others, it is an epic, darkly comedic, dramatic, action thriller. As Pat Calhoun, DiCaprio is in a frenzied relationship with…
A gripping psychological thriller, Job pits a patient against a psychiatrist in a battle of wits and wills. Jane (Jessica Clarke), who is a content moderator in Big Tech, is on paid sick leave following a mental breakdown. Video recorded of the incident went viral, but now she is desperate to get back to work….
A thriller centred around a fixer who negotiates deals between corrupt corporations and whistleblowers, Relay becomes more tightly wound as it reaches its climax. Tom (Riz Ahmed) is that middleman or fixer I speak off. An IT whiz, he is a problem solver for those who can’t see any other way out. He makes money…
A murderous plan, oh most foul. That is at the heart of Dial M for Murder, written by Frederick Knott in 1952 and popularised by Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful movie two years later. TV crime writer Max Halliday (Leon Walshe) visits Margot Wendice (Bridget Bourke) in her London apartment a year after the pair had a…
British intelligence is under the microscope in Black Bag. George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is an elite operative at Britain’s closely guarded National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). He can’t stand liars. He seeks them out an exposes them. That has included his own father. Now there appears to be a mole in the ranks of the…
Passion, intellect, history and legacy explode on stage in the masterfully written, acted, directed and produced romantic, dramatic, thriller Berlin. Australian Tom (Lachlan Hamill) has just landed in the German capital, keen to get to know the real city, not the tourist offering. He’s directed to a small watering hole, where he meets and is…
Be careful what you wish for. That is one of the takeaways from the psychological thriller Companion. It is a decidedly awkward first meeting at the supermarket for Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), but their connection is immediate. Iris falls hard for Josh and they become a couple. Sometime later, they take a…
