This is a banner for a review of the movie Chronicles from the Siege. Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

‘Chronicles from the Siege’ Brings Out the Best in Us (Berlinale 2026 Film Review)

There’s a myth that knowing your death approaches brings out the best in you. In these circumstances you will simply rise above the horror of your looming demise to love your family, be kind to your neighbours, save kittens from trees and generally be all excellent until you perish. Anyone …

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‘Homesick’ Documentary Film Review: The Intricacies of Transnational Adoption

In recent years, documentaries have become a space for personal histories. Filmmakers saw the non-fiction form as an opportunity to reflect on their lives and eternalize the memories, shadows, and complexities of their backgrounds. Therefore, throughout archival, diary, and poetic structures, directors expose their intimacies, unveiling their emotions and the …

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‘Allegro Pastell’ is a Non-judgemental Modern Love Story (Berlinale 2026 Film Review)

When the world is a smorgasbord of tastes and sensations you can’t blame someone for wanting to sample it all, but at a certain point you’ve got to admit you know what you prefer. The gimmick of the novel Allegro Pastell is a very good one: it’s the text and …

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This is a banner for a review of the movie The Blood Countess (Die Blutgräfin). Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

‘The Blood Countess’ Film Review: A Deliciously Empty Treat (Berlinale 2026)

A true Europudding includes plenty of gratuitous nudity and loads of sex, but those are the only things missing from the supremely ridiculous The Blood Countess. This movie is not good, but it is such a stupidly fun good time that you should see it anyway. It is always a …

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This is a banner for a review of the documentary movie How to Clean a House in Ten Easy Steps. Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

‘How to Clean a House in Ten Easy Steps’ Documentary Review: The Blurry Lines Between Fiction and Reality

Documentary filmmaking also works as a personal chamber for filmmakers to pour their hearts into films. Throughout the diary or poetic non-fiction, the directors can discuss their personal lives, the formality of cinema, and themes they are passionate about. It is a chance to unveil themselves and the world surrounding …

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‘Lali’ Film Review – Something Old and Something New (Berlinale 2026)

The central couple at the heart of this complex Pakistani movie have known each other from around the village since childhood. They are thrown together because everyone else considers them damaged goods. The way they deal with their damage, separately and together, enables an unusual depiction of the power struggles …

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Two Star Turns Make ‘Sukkwan Island’ Worth Visiting (Glasgow Film Festival 2026 Review)

After the movie is over but before the credits there is some explanatory text that makes Sukkwan Island aka My Father’s Island very difficult to review. For one thing, discussing them spoils the entire concept of the film. For another, it blurs the line between fiction and real life in …

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‘I Grew an Inch When My Father Died’ Movie Review: A Verdant River Village Comes Desaturatedly Alive in P. R. Monencillo Patindol’s Time-Shifting Debut

If you can spot the telltale signs, there’s no second-guessing that Filipino director P. R. Monencillo Patindol’s debut feature I Grew an Inch When My Father Died, now screening at Rotterdam under Bright Future, is in part a spiritual sequel to his previous shorts Hilom (Still) and Abogbaybay (Shoredust), both …

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‘Bauhaus Forever’ Documentary Review: An Incomplete View of Forever

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Europe was boiling with ideas and cultural movements. Modernism, Brutalism, and the Belle Epoqué bloomed with multiple currents that provoked changes in the cultural and societal landscape in the world. In 1919, a particular school in Germany taught and shaped artists whose work …

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This is a banner for a review of the Welsh movie Effi o Blaenau. Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

‘Effi o Blaenau’ Stands Her Ground (Glasgow Film Festival 2026 Review)

Effi (Leisa Gwenllian) is a person and Blaenau Ffestiniog is the name of the village where she lives. In Welsh – everyone’s first language in this wonderful little film – the title therefore means “Effi from Blaenau.” (It’s pronounced Blay-nah.) It is an adaption of a one-woman play by Gary …

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‘Outcome’ Film Review: Jonah Hill’s Star-Studded Misfire

It’s been a while since such a well-mounted cast failed to meet the moment in an ensemble comedy quite like Jonah Hill’s Outcome, the actor’s sophomore outing into fiction filmmaking after his breakout directorial debut, Mid90s. That movie was (very) well received. This one will get the polar opposite reaction. …

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This is a banner for a review of the Chinese animated movie Per Aspera Ad Astra (Xing He Ru Meng). Image courtesy of the filmmakers.

‘Per Aspera Ad Astra’ Film Review – A Spectacular Anti-AI Thrill Ride

It’s so nice to see something uniting the entire world, especially when that thing is a hatred for artificial intelligence. Per Aspera Ad Astra is a Chinese kids’ movie, released for the lunar new year, with some very big Chinese stars at its core, all about the importance of our …

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‘Exit 8’ Review – Horror Film Reminds Us Why We Need Smaller Stories

The instructions are simple: Do not overlook any anomalies.  If you find an anomaly, turn back immediately.  If you do not find any anomalies, do not turn back.  Go out from Exit 8. The instructions hang on the wall, where all who enter the switchback tunnels of this particular subway …

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