Released online from June 18th and with a Blu‑ray scheduled for the 29th, Game marks the debut writer and producer credit of Portishead and BEAK’s Geoff Barrow, a man who had previously dipped a toe in cinematic waters composing soundtracks for Alex Garland’s Annihilation and Civil War, and releasing OSTs […]
Movies & Documentaries
Kikuyu Land (Sheffield Doc Fest 2026) A journey into the truths a nation keeps buried
Paraphrasing one of the younger subjects of Andrew H. Brown and Bea Wangondu’s documentary Kikuyu Land (fresh from screening at Sheffield’s DocFest), a young man who has probably seen far too much far too young notes that, like any country, there’s the version the world sees and the version kept […]
Familiar Touch (2024): dementia drama without the melodrama
On a recent episode of the Adam Buxton Podcast, Kathy Burke spoke about going to see Alexander Zeldin’s play Care, which chronicles the last year or so of a woman’s life in a care home. After effusively describing it and the effect it had on the audience, the host asked […]
Affection (2026): A Familiar but Disturbing Twist on Memory-loss Thriller
Jessica Rothe, best known for the Happy Death Day films, returns to the horror genre in a much smaller scale project – an indie first time feature from BT Meza. However, it immediately displays a confidence of someone far more experienced as it opens in the aftermath of a car […]
Hi Mom! (1970) De Palma’s Wildest Early Provocation
Brian De Palma has been accused of many things as a filmmaker, from being a Hitchcock copyist to a rampant sexist, whether accurately or not. Outside of the outliers, however, there’s a pretty standardised image of what one of his movies is, from its narrative concerns to the way he […]
Slither (2006) – Silly Schlocky Blast of Smalltown Sci-Fi Fun
There’s always something interesting about seeing the directorial debut of a filmmaker whose work you are very familiar with, and who has carved out their own unique style that is extremely popular with audiences. James Gunn is a mainstay in blockbuster cinema nowadays, turning a D-list group of Marvel characters […]
Hacked: A Double Entendre of Rage-Fueled Karma (2025) A chaotic act of cinematic payback
While not very common, there have been a few occasions in recent years where people have taken an awful personal experience and utilised the trauma for cinema. Starring Jerry as Himself saw someone from the Asian American community exploited through a series of phone calls, with the voice on the […]
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955): audacious thought crimes in Buñuel’s serial killer satire
Luis Buñuel began the 1950s by making arguably his first mature masterpiece, Los Olvidados; he ended with Nazarin, a cult satire that counted Andrei Tarkovsky and Pope John Paul II among its unlikely but influential fan club. The films he made in between are too often overlooked, and it’s easy […]
Diabolic (2026) Conventionally plotted Religious Horror that drips with Dread and Atmosphere
The phrase ‘The following story is inspired by true events’ is a double-edged sword. It can serve as useful marketing, but the presence of such words can smack of lending your film additional gravitas, which raises the question why do we need that gravitas? The phrase will likely invite accusations […]
The Professional (1981) Belmondo Goes Rogue for Revenge
Released to Blu-ray on the Radiance label this week comes The Professional (Le Professionnel), a 1981 action thriller starring French cinema legend, Jean-Paul Belmondo. Once the darling of the French New Wave in films such as A bout de souffle, Pierrot le Fou and Une femme est une femme for […]