https://youtu.be/L6P3nI6VnlY Directed by Sam Hargrave Screenplay by Joe Russo ★★★ Hiring an unsavoury sort of chap to secure to the safety of a loved one has seemingly grown into its own genre these days, hasn’t it? From director and stunt-coordinator Sam Hargrave, Netflix is looking to secure viewership with the draw of high-stakes action, visuals and … Continue reading Extraction – Netflix
https://youtu.be/2apnlrZmv28 Directed by Terry Loane Writer: Tom Dalton ★★★ n 1926, for eleven days history’s best-selling novelist Agatha Christie underwent her most elusive mystery as she disappeared – the events of which are still unknown. This, as one can imagine, enables a tremendously tempting narrative tool: speculation. From plotting violent revenge against her husband, to … Continue reading Agatha Christie and the Truth of Murder – Review
https://youtu.be/hsab-HJ7kqc Directed by Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar & Anurag Kashyap Written by Various ★★ Prospects begin highly with a creative, richly designed title sequence from Studio Kokaachi, the team behind Netflix’s Lust Stories, scored to a notably foreboding composition by Benedict Taylor. This time, they’re attempting to make the heart stop, rather than pump, with a quintet of Ghost … Continue reading Ghost Stories – Netflix
https://youtu.be/OEgysK5W5bI Written & Directed by Neasa Hardiman Ireland / 2020 / 89 mins ★★★ The sub-genre of ecological horror usually finds itself graced by the ‘marvels’ of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening or Cody Duckworth’s Harbinger. These narratives regularly push the ethos of ‘mankind bad – nature good’, with limited tact or subtlety, when, with reworkings and deft narratives, the films’ intentions … Continue reading Sea Fever – Review
https://youtu.be/IR-Ao4LOBtM Directed by Sonejuhi Sinha Written by Sonejuhi Sinha & Charlotte Rabate One little crime, that’s all it takes. Someone may commit this out of greed or coercion, perhaps you just want to experience that thrill, or maybe you do it to survive in a cruel, unbalanced society. Sonejuhi Sinha’s directorial feature debut, ‘Stray Dolls’ (2019) … Continue reading Stray Dolls – Review
https://youtu.be/s0sZtjE2MXg Written & Directed by Prentice Penny USA/2020/104 minutes On the subject of wine, The United States not only seems intent on procuring a namesake for their product, but American cinema too has a steadily dripping reserve of films where vineyards sit as a central theme. For every Bottle Shock or Sideways, which take a predominately middle-class approach, there … Continue reading Uncorked – Netflix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TvL5ZL6Sc Written & Directed by: Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, the last person you’d call is the driving instructor, right? Well, in quaint, middle-of-nowhere Ireland, this is precisely who to reach out to for all your ectoplasmic queries. Where other than rural Ireland could you stumble upon satanic … Continue reading Extra Ordinary – Netflix
https://youtu.be/e2p9bCvDryM Wirrten & Directed by Annabelle Attanasio The prospect of forging one’s path at the cost of leaving others behind is certainly far from an original narrative for the coming-of-age drama. For first-time writer & director Annabelle Attanasio however, what she achieves with Mickey and the Bear is a heart-wrenching, visceral piece on the pursuit of personal … Continue reading Mickey and the Bear – Review
https://youtu.be/ZUa0Mtdv1HQ Directed by Phillipa Lowthorpe Written by Rebecca Frayn & Gaby Chiappe ‘Beauty with a Purpose,’ was the slogan for the longest-running beauty pageant, Miss World; one which didn’t come into effect until around 30 years after the contest’s conception. This saw the addition of intelligence and personality ‘points’ to deter from the previous, purely … Continue reading Misbehaviour – Edinburgh Filmhouse
Written by Frederick Knott Directed by Anthony Banks Let’s admit one thing; if at one time or another you haven't concocted the ‘perfect’ murder – you're likely the one to worry about. How we would get away with it, tying the loose threads together to ensure no slip-ups or the lavish costumes involved - we've … Continue reading Dial M For Murder – King’s Theatre
