The Greek director Konstantina Kotzamani has a massive short film haul in her career, most of which have played at the world’s central events. Washingtonia premiered at the Berlinale. Yellow Fieber and What Mary Didn’t Know were at Locarno. Electric Swam was at the Venice Film Festival, and Limbo was …
Seven years after the controversial The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars returns to the big screen with the faint whimper of a broken lightsaber. In the years since the conclusion of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars has continued largely through Disney+ streaming shows. The best of these is Andor by …
The existence of art for art’s sake is always wonderful to see. It might not necessarily meet the moment or fill a need, but people have gone to some trouble to create it and this hard work and good cheer is always fascinating. The Man I Love is precisely just …
In A Kiss of Crimson Ash, we bounce between four main characters: Taara, the new queen; Garjan, her new husband; Bhediya, his mistress; and Roland, a thief. Their relationships shape everything that happens in A Kiss of Crimson Ash. The Goddess has chosen them to save the empire; if they fail, all …
In the Stonewater Kingdom, the Omens are the true rulers. There is a king, but of much greater import is the Abbess in Aisling Cathedral and her Diviners who receive portents from the Omens. The interpretation of these portents decides everything that happens in Stonewater, from the spring planting to …
When someone writes, directs and edits their own film, this can be a promising sign of an expert knowing exactly how to deliver the idea they have in their head. It can also be an exercise in the worst kind of self-indulgence, the kind that brooks no feedback and maintains …
One day Zahara’s twin sister Annica walked out the front door and vanished. Not in the “was kidnapped and never seen again” way but in the “walked right out of existence” way. After Annica left the house on April 16th, 1994, the only person in the world who remembers her …
Amara Jones hates angels. You would too if you’d watched them kill countless humans over the past five years without missing a beat. Demons are just as bad, but at least you expect it out of them; they’re from Hell. But Angels are supposed to be the guardians of humanity. …
The easy way to describe Ghost School is if High Noon was set in a small Pakistani village and Gary Cooper was an Urdu-speaking ten-year-old girl. The way in which one single determined person tries to get time-sensitive help shows their society from top to bottom and clearly reveals its …
Someday a movie featuring an argument about Predator vs Hobbit fanfiction will deserve a negative review, but today is not that day. The Incomer is completely deranged (complimentary), and its derangement is entirely character-based, giving the actors the freedom to go as wild as possible, which they did. It’s a …
It makes no sense when a movie spoils itself through its own marketing. The central relationship in Washed Up has a twist that you probably haven’t been able to avoid! This is a giant mistake, because most of the humour and a great deal of the charm comes in how …
Lucile Hadžihalilović has only four works in her filmography, but each of her new releases draws attention from the audience. Directing her feature debut, Innocence, in 2004, starring Marion Cotillard, the Bosnian filmmaker established a connection with the Toronto Film Festival, where she premiered her subsequent two films: Evolution and Earwig. …
In 1972, Singapore, Adeline’s mother dies in an unexplained fire, and Adeline suddenly finds herself alone in the world. Or maybe not. Adeline follows a trail of breadcrumbs to discover who her mother really was and discovers an underground world of gangsters and magic that she never could have imagined. …
Adam grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories of a magical place in Scotland called Craigmar. Now that his grandfather has passed on, Adam is looking for a way to feel connected to him again, so he goes in search of the place that has grown to epic proportions in …
Imagine a world defined by stories. Stories that repeat over and over again, giving power and life to the land that they play out on. That is exactly how it works in the world of Tasha Suri’s The Isle in the Silver Sea. The characters of tales are reincarnated over …
A mishmash of moods held together by preposterous musical numbers is part of the appeal of most Indian cinema, but Telugu-language The RajaSaab holds together worse than most. There are three movies inside The RajaSaab struggling to get out: a haunted-house horror thriller, a paean to the grandmothers who raised …
It may come as a surprise but SpongeBob SquarePants is one of the most successful cartoons of all-time in terms of popularity and longevity. While it doesn’t boast the same quality as cartoons like fellow Nickelodeon juggernaut Avatar: The Last Airbender, its frivolous humour and eccentric-to-a-fault characters are hard not …
Wicked: For Good is one of the most anticipated films of the year. It is the conclusion of the musical saga adapted from the 2003 stage show by Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz, which became a massive success at Broadway, and in various local adaptations of the story of Glinda …
Amir El-Masry is the lucky owner of one of the great faces in modern cinema, and he got to show it off not once but twice at this year’s London Film Festival. Unfortunately in neither case was it shown off to his best advantage. Giant managed somehow not to be …
Eternity feels like the type of movie made 60 or 70 years ago. Charming and romantic, this comedy-drama relies on the on-screen chemistry of its leading stars and whip-smart writing. Set in a version of the afterlife, Eternity explores who from your life you will be destined to spend your …