Reviews

Aftersun

Review by Nina Alberti While most of its audience will likely be lured to the cinema by the prospect of seeing Paul Mescal’s butt, Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022) has so much more to offer than just its exquisite cast. The Scottish director’s debut feature is a sun drenched coming-of-age story, as well as an intimateContinue reading “Aftersun”

How To Tell A Secret

Review by Ellen Rafferty There is an outstanding collection of films that integrate and dissect the theme of HIV on screen. The most successful of these films rise to the top because of their ability to capture a perspective that has been previously unexplored. For example, Dallas Buyers Club (Jean-Marc Vallee, 2013) looks at HIVContinue reading “How To Tell A Secret”

Bones and All

Review by Eve Smith I’m in a constant state of fear when I eat alone. It’s not the fact of being solitary, but there’s something desperately vulnerable about being walked in on in such a primal state. All pretence goes out the window; you have no choice but to eat. We’re introduced to the worldContinue reading “Bones and All”

The Menu

Review by James Mahon The Menu ( Mark Mylod, 2022), is a new addition to the canon of dark comedy movies taking aim at the pretension and egotism of the cultural and economic elite in our societies. The premise though, of using food as a means of underlining this, ensures that it possesses a somewhatContinue reading “The Menu”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Review by Luke Bradley Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Ryan Coogler, 2022) has every reason not to exist. The tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 threw the future of his character into doubt. Well-founded concerns that Disney would go down the route of CGI renderings or tasteless recasting took hold. It’s a great relief thatContinue reading “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Barbarian

Review by Sarah Murnane Barbarian (Zach Cregger, 2022) is the latest film in the yearly round of horror movies to come out around Halloween. Unfortunately as opposed to some other great horror flicks this season, Barbarian is fairly standard. The film stars Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsgård, who meet when both are double booked forContinue reading “Barbarian”

Black Adam

Review by Will Butler Early in Black Adam (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2022), a character attempts to persuade the almighty yet disinterested Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) to embrace superhero stardom by declaring that “the superhero industrial complex is worth a lot of money.” While it’s ultimately a harmless self-aware joke, in Black Adam — a passionless project thatContinue reading “Black Adam”

The Banshees of Inisherin

Review by Luke Bradley The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) sees Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Martin McDonagh team up once again for an impossibly Irish tale of a falling out between two lifelong friends. It would be difficult to deny that the prospect of an In Bruges (McDonagh, 2008) reunion didn’t excite meContinue reading “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Entergalactic

Review by James Mahon Adult animation normally appears in the form of explicit and irreverent comedy series. There’s nothing wrong with that – see Bojack Horseman. However, Entergalactic (Fletcher Moules, 2022) is one of the first feature length animations that seems to possess the intrinsic creativity of animation, combined with a real emotional heart, thatContinue reading “Entergalactic”

Emily

Review by Lauren Madigan Too often, certain films leave the viewer grappling with the lost potential of “what could have been.” They set up the story tactfully, introduce intriguing characters and create stunning visuals, all elements that could lead to a great film but were abandoned before fully realized. Unfortunately, Emily (Frances O’Connor, 2022) is no exceptionContinue reading “Emily”