How Women Talking reimagines the rape plot
Cinematic narratives of sexual assault are so often formulaic, clichéd and depressing. Sarah Polley’s film asks: what if there was…
ByFilm reviews
Explore the world of cinema with our selection of film reviews, providing in-depth analysis, thoughtful critiques, and captivating insights into the latest releases and timeless classics.
On the “war kitsch” of All Quiet On The Western Front
Edward Berger’s film of the novel has been lauded across the world. But in Germany it has met with negative…
By
How Joyland was deemed an “un-Islamic” love story
Sadim Sadiq’s film about a married man and a trans woman was censored in Pakistan – but has won acclaim…
By
Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a spectacular mess
This take on the dark side of 1930s Hollywood is full of dazzling set pieces – but collapses under their…
By
Top Gun: Maverick and the politics of the action hero
In its Reaganite military pomp, Top Gun seemed to mark the end of an era – but a new sequel…
By
Triangle of Sadness is part satire of the super-rich, part disaster movie
Ruben Östlund’s second Palme d’Or-winning film charts a crisis on a mega-yacht – and appears to endorse what it’s supposed…
By
Moonage Daydream is a lavish and loving profile of David Bowie
In Brett Morgen’s new unconventional documentary, there are no facts, no dates, and a lot of the Starman himself.
By
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: the joy of paid sex
Emma Thompson stars in a touching celebration of an older woman’s erotic discovery.
By
Why the father-daughter drama Aftersun deserves all the awards
This story of an 11-year-old (Frankie Corio) and her dad (Paul Mescal) is a moving, memorable and astonishingly accomplished debut.
By
Living: Kazuo Ishiguro’s ode to Akira Kurosawa
The novelist’s moving new film draws on a Japanese master for its portrait of terminal Englishness.
By
Tár is a crafty, cryptic take on art and morality in the online age
Cate Blanchett stars as a master composer caught in a #MeToo scandal in Todd Field’s genre-bending film.
By
Why Baz Luhrmann’s biopic fails to capture the real Elvis Presley
This conventional, sanitised version of the singer’s life is an endless highlight reel, with no room for the unsavoury or…
By
How Ireland’s violent history haunts The Banshees of Inisherin
Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-nominated film is set during the bloody conflict of 1922, but it is not a neat metaphor for…
By
Michelle Yeoh flits between universes in the hyperactive Everything Everywhere All at Once
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s latest action-comedy brings a 21st-century approach to parallel-reality cinema.
By
Florian Zeller’s The Son is a work of crass melodrama
The decorated playwright and director’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning The Father is manipulative and underwritten.
By
Magic Mike’s hollow feminism
This “empowering” franchise about male strippers peddles an offensive, patronising narrative about women and sexuality.
By
In Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, sexual assault survivors refuse silence
In this Mennonite #MeToo drama, the victims of male violence must choose between faith and their desire for justice.
By Why we need more female monsters like Lydia Tár
Cate Blanchett’s fierce composer is a proxy for all the rage I’m not allowed, as a middle-aged woman, to express.
By
Nan Goldin’s politics of sex
The film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed shows how, from the Aids crisis onwards, the photographer merged steely activism…
By
Empire of Light is a clumsy love letter to cinema
Set in a fictional picture house in Margate, Sam Mendes’s drama is an ode to great film. It’s just a…
By