Where the Crawdads Sing is a lesson in how not to adapt a bestselling novel
The film version of Delia Owens’s novel incorporates many genres: misery memoir, courtroom mystery, romance. None is executed with distinction
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.
Netflix’s The Gray Man is a dire example of movie-making by algorithm
The service’s most expensive film yet is blatantly tailored to suit streaming viewers’ boredom, impatience and desire for familiar faces.
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Brian and Charles: a witty robot bromance
David Earl softens his abrasive comedy alter-ego in a novel mockumentary full of visual gags and inspired touches.
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Emma Thompson’s new film is an absurd view of what a middle-aged woman’s life is worth
In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Nancy says that paying for sex has been her only adventure in life.…
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Ninja Thyberg: “Instead of trying to erase the bad porn, I was like, ‘We need to do good porn!’”
The Swedish director of Pleasure was an anti-porn activist – until she saw how sex workers valued their “erotic capital”.
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My Name is Leon: a horribly preachy drama
This BBC film about a child dealing with racism in 1980s Birmingham promises real-world lessons but delivers saccharine platitudes.
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All My Friends Hate Me: a sharp swipe at class that doesn’t quite land a killer blow
Andrew Gaynord’s crisply British comedy takes the rural antics of Withnail & I and adds a horrific twist.
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Bergman Island seems intolerably meta – but it’s not just for cinephiles
Mia Hansen-Løve’s latest work is delightful and persuasive, and leaves you feeling better for having seen it.
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Alex Garland’s Men is a thesis on misogyny, masquerading as a movie
The film’s 100 minute run time feels a whole lot longer with just the one idea behind it.
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The meaning of Taxi Driver
Impressions on re-watching Martin Scorsese’s classic 1976 film.
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The Quiet Girl is an artfully muted masterpiece
With his remarkable film about a timid child sent to live with relatives in rural Ireland, Colm Bairéad provides a…
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Terence Davies’s Benediction is a perfect portrait of an outsider
In this new biopic of the wartime poet Siegfried Sassoon, Davies beautifully renders, in quasi-autobiography, a life unredeemed.
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Laura Wandel’s Playground is a study on the cruelty of children
The writer-director’s first full-length film takes a close look at bullying in a Belgian primary school.
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The Worst Person in the World is an exuberant portrait of a young woman flailing as she approaches 30
The third instalment in Joachim Trier’s Oslo trilogy is warm and fast-moving, with a whiff of the pop promo about…
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The Phantom of the Open is a very British tribute to failure
Mark Rylance is charming as the golf hoaxer Maurice Flitcroft, but there’s not quite enough here to sustain a feature.
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Clio Barnard’s Ava & Ali is an endearing account of an unlikely romance in Bradford
This beautifully shot film is a British love story of two people who are drawn to one another despite their…
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Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II lacks the toxic glamour of the original
This was always intended to be a film in two parts, but the second installment, a Bildungsroman, is a tonal…
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Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is a bone-headed reassessment of Princess Diana
The grand biopic opts for heavy-handed symbolism over any grounding in reality.
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Rose Plays Julie is The Parent Trap with teeth
Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor take a familiar long-lost-family story – and add a dark, vengeful twist.
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BBC Two’s Together is cheap and obvious pandemic piggybacking
In this tedious and excruciating film, Sharon Horgan and James McAvoy play a warring couple trapped together in lockdown.
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