London

The Worst Person in the World

by Oris Aigbokhaevbolo | Jan 20, 2022 | Cannes, El Gouna, Festivals, Jerusalem, Karlovy Vary, London, Oscar shortlist, Spotlight, Sundance, Toronto, Vancouver

An insightful exploration of youth, ambition, romance, and meaning through the lens of a young woman you both identify with and love to hate.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

by Stephen Dalton | Jan 14, 2022 | Festivals, London, Spotlight

Originally reviewed Oct. 12, 2021 – NOW ON APPLE TV Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand and a solo Joel Coen turn Shakespeare’s bloodthirsty classic Macbeth into a ravishingly beautiful game of thrones.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

by Clarence Tsui | Jan 9, 2022 | Busan, Festivals, London, Oscar shortlist, Spotlight

Boasting stunning imagery and a great back story, Bhutan’s first film to make the Oscar shortlist works a well-trodden premise into a beautiful, humanist and accessible picture.

The Tender Bar

by Stephen Dalton | Jan 7, 2022 | Festivals, London, Spotlight

George Clooney directs Ben Affleck in The Tender Bar, a warm-hearted but flat coming-of-age drama.

Titane

by Stephen Dalton | Nov 13, 2021 | Cannes, Festivals, London

A gloriously extreme Oscar submission, French writer-director Julia Ducournau’s prize-winning erotic thriller about a gender-blurring serial killer with a fetish for sex with cars is funny, fast and furious.

A Hero

by Stephen Dalton | Nov 3, 2021 | Cannes, Festivals, London, Oscar shortlist, Spotlight, Toronto

Feted Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s latest Oscar contender is a classy but underpowered drama about moral complexity and social media shaming.

White Building

by Jay Weissberg | Oct 31, 2021 | El Gouna, Festivals, London

Cambodia’s Oscar submission is a semi-autobiographical critique of how the country’s rampant capitalism frays the traditional social fabric, told with sympathy yet short on dynamism.

Clara Sola

by Deborah Young | Oct 27, 2021 | Cannes, El Gouna, Festivals, London

Costa Rica dancer Wendy Chinchilla Araya gives an eerie, riveting perf but it only goes so far in this unstructured tale of magic realism and female power from debuting director Nathalie Alvarez Mesen.

Dashcam

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 25, 2021 | Festivals, London, Spotlight

Controversial LA musician Annie Hardy plays an obnoxious American tourist battling demonic forces in the English countryside in director Rob Savage’s profane, provocative, hilarious found-footage horror comedy Dashcam.

BFI London Film Festival 2021: The Verdict

by Stephen Dalton | Oct 19, 2021 | London, The Festival Verdict

The 65th London Film Festival was a welcome return to pre-Covid notions of cinema as communal celebration and politically conscious art form, but a bumpy ride for press and industry professionals.

65th BFI London Film Festival 2021

Festival Reviews