Is it real or a fake? That was the $64,000 question … or, in the case of The Lost Leonardo, a lot more. The film examines the tale of Salvator Mundi, a painting that could be (but probably isn’t) the work of Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. Depending on the source, as few as 15…
Genre-bender Edgar Wright goes fully belter in his new film, Last Night in Soho. While it’s most recognisably a horror (specifically giallo, the bloody Italian inspired sub-genre) movie, Wright also dabbles in romance, mystery and musicals along the way. And although the film bursts with ideas, they clash to the extent it all becomes a…
No Time to Die is, in many ways, the perfect send-off for Daniel Craig in his last appearance as James Bond. That’s not to say it’s a perfect film, but it pays deep reverence to the work Craig has done in re-defining the character for the 21st Century. The producers tapped Cary Joji Fukunaga –…
I Shot the Devil by Ruth McIver was the winner of the 2018 Richelle Prize for emerging writers. Entrants must submit the first three chapters of their work and a synopsis of the rest. While the prologue of this book is a little disjointed and confusing, just the first chapter has enough style and hooks…
You don’t have to look hard to see the shadows looming over Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence. The film is essentially a re-working of Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, with futuristic elements overlaying the noirish story. What Joy does with the tale is clever, but it never surpasses the original. Joy is better known as a screenwriter, notably for…
Alex Michaelides burst on to the thriller scene with his well-received debut The Silent Patient. That book featured a psychotherapist doing his own investigating, competing narratives and a thread of Greek mythology. Given that worked for him once, Michaelides brings some of the same ingredients to bear in his follow up outing The Maidens. Mariana…
After spending time with international trouble shooter Olivia Wolfe (Devour and Prey), Australian thriller writer LA Larkin returns with a slightly more grounded, but no less feisty when push comes to shove, main character in Widow’s Island. But thematically, Larkin stays on familiar ground anchoring the action around themes of climate change and the power…
Jack Beaumont is not the real name of the author of The Frenchman, a book that itself is full of pseudonyms, nicknames and operational code names. Beaumont was, apparently, a member of the French secret service after a career as a pilot and has, since retiring, moved to Australia. Following in the footsteps of authors…
The trashy Fatale is a latter day noir thriller that’s part Fatal Attraction and part Basic Instinct. But the longer it goes the more convoluted its plotting becomes and some plot twists become a little too unbelievable. Derrick (Michael Ealy) is a sports agent who has built a successful business with his best friend Rafe…
Set on the eve of WWII, Six Minutes to Midnight is a moderately engaging spy thriller. The film is set mainly in the Augusta-Victoria College, situated in a sprawling old mansion in Bexhill On Sea, near Brighton. It’s an upmarket British finishing school for the daughters and goddaughters of high-ranking Nazis. The girls are learning…
