Author: Juliette Howard
-

Emilia Pérez (2024) – Jacques Audiard’s hot mess takes the music out of the musical
•
Though comparing a film to others is not necessarily the best way to go about reviewing it, it…
-

A Real Pain (2025) – Jesse Eisenberg’s touching call to feel more deeply
•
A Real Pain begs the question – how efficient is a film that tucks you into an emotional…
-

Hard Truths (2024) – Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s Pansy is a bottomless well in Mike Leigh’s return to the big screen
•
There are surprisingly few hard truths to be found in Mike Leigh’s latest release, a tale of a…
-

Queer (2024) – Daniel Craig takes a bad trip in Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs
•
Daniel Craig is ravenous in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novella of the same…
-

12 Films of Christmas – Numbers 3 to 1
•
3. Woman of the Hour – three bachelors Anna Kendrick adds remarkable directing to her panoply of skills…
-

12 Films of Christmas – Numbers 6-4
•
6. Kneecap – rappers rapping “A country without a language is only half a nation,” declares an activist…
-

12 Films of Christmas – Numbers 9 to 7
•
9. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – inventors inventing (yet more stuff his poor dog has to…
-

12 Films of Christmas – or, a colloquial recounting of my mission (à la Santa) to watch and rank twelve 2024 releases
•
12. Red One – security guards guarding Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson adequately stars as Callum Drift, the North…
-

Conclave (2024) – Ralph Fiennes leads Edward Berger’s excellent cardinal cat fight
•
Ralph Fiennes leads a star-studded cast with the perfect blend of hesitation and conviction in Edward Berger’s papal…
-

Paddington in Peru (2024) – Threequel takes furry hero on an enjoyable, if slightly muddled adventure
•
Hold onto your red-stained bucket hats – everyone’s favourite British bear is back on the big screen. The…
-

Anora (2024) – Sean Baker’s Palme d’or is a worthy winner
•
It only takes Anora’s first shot to be fully sucked in – a pan across a row of…
-

Blitz (2024) – Caricatured London wastes away in Steve McQueen’s wartime drama
•
Steve McQueen has never been one to shy away from difficult topics. 12 Years a Slave, perhaps his…
-

Heretic (2024) – Hugh Grant expertly shepherds faulty religious horror
•
Only Hugh Grant can portray two sides of devilishly charming and get away with it. In Scott Beck…
-

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) – A sequel as conflicting in reception as it is in subject
•
Living up to Joker is no small task. Winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, first R-rated film…
-

The Outrun (2024) – Saoirse Ronan navigates between chaos and calm in tempestuous recovery tale
•
Everything feels painfully real in Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, a tale of loss and recovery in which Saoirse…
-

Lee (2023) – A splendid portrait of the woman in Hitler’s bathtub
•
The list of films based on women plucked out of obscurity is infinite, such important stories from the…
-

The Substance (2024) – Coralie Fargeat does what she wants
•
Here is a film that doesn’t shy away from anything. The Substance, directed by Coralie Fargeat, is one…
-

Blink Twice (2024) – Zoe Kravitz’s stylised horror says too much all at once
•
There is a lot to like – and to be disgusted by – in Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut…
-

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) – Tim Burton’s sequel is a gory feast for the eyes (and the memories)
•
It’s only taken thirty six years for Tim Burton to get round to Beetlejuice the second – and…
-

A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) – A shaky but enjoyable third instalment to John Krasinski’s Quiet franchise
•
From (half) the mind of original director John Krasinski comes the genesis of the quiet world as we…
Recent Posts
- Sirāt (2025) – in the desert no one will hear you scream
- Pillion (2025) – Harry Lighton brings the new genre “dom-com” to light
- I Swear (2025) – Kirk Jones’ biographical drama about a man with Tourette’s syndrome is a delightful celebration of difference
Social Media
Looking for a film to watch?




