cinema

Film review: Oh, Canada

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Self-reflection is almost always on the cards for veteran writer and director Paul Schrader, who has returned with his first feature since his thematically linked ‘Man in a Room’ trilogy; a trio of tales which boldly explored redemption through lost souls living in solitude. In his latest drama Oh, Canada, the room is crowded and the man is Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), a dying documentary filmmaker turned professor who has agreed to sit for an interview about his illustrious life and career. Based on the 2021 novel Foregone by Russell Banks, the plot sees the acclaimed creative revisit his checkered past as his wife Emma (Uma Thurman) and former students Malcolm (Michael Imperioli) and Diana (Victoria Hill) watch on.

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cinema

Film review: It Was Just an Accident

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 A key player within the new wave of Iranian cinema, writer and director Jafar Panahi has pushed boundaries for decades through his metacinematic tales of contemporary state surveillance. His latest piece is It Was Just an Accident, a darkly comic thriller that centres around a bizarre mystery. When mechanic Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) recognises the distinctive squeak of a prosthetic leg from a customer (Ebrahim Azizi), he suspects him to be his former tormentor from a stint in prison. Impulsively, he kidnaps the man, bundling him into the back of his van. However, as doubts set in over his true identity, he rallies together a line-up of fellow victims to help uncover the truth.

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cinema

Film review: Sentimental Value

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 The works of director Joachim Trier are often tied together by their tender explorations of existential emotions, the last of which, The Worst Person in the World, catapulted him into the hipster cinephile consciousness. This closed the chapter on his acclaimed ‘Oslo trilogy’ but his latest feature dabbles in the same thematic territory. Family drama Sentimental Value centres around theatre actor Nora (Renate Reinsve) who’s appearing in a stage production but suffers a severe panic attack backstage. When her mother passes away, she unites in grief with sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) and reconnects with her estranged filmmaking father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) who wants her to star in his new movie.

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cinema

Film review: Bugonia

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 Since they first collaborated on period piece The Favourite in 2018, director Yorgos Lanthimos and actor Emma Stone have had a fruitful working relationship which led to the latter’s Best Actress win at the Oscars for fantastical comedy Poor Things. They have come together again for their fourth feature with satirical thriller, Bugonia.

 An English-language remake of South Korean sci-fi Save the Green Planet! from 2003, the plot follows conspiracy theorist cousins Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis) who kidnap ‘big pharma’ CEO Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), convinced that she is an alien sent to destroy the planet. Tying her up in their basement and shaving her head, they begin torturing her in pursuit of the truth.

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cinema · EIFF25 · Interviews

Dragonfly Interview: Paul Andrew Williams – ‘If there’s a story I can tell that makes people feel something, I want to do that’.

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Since breaking into the British independent film scene with his excellent low-budget debut London to Brighton, writer and director Paul Andrew Williams has worked extensively in television and cinema from directing episodes of ITV dramas such as Broadchurch to crafting his own stories like 2021 revenge flick, Bull. His latest feature is Dragonfly, a social-realist drama with psychological thriller elements set in a working-class English town. When old-age pensioner Elsie (Brenda Blethyn) feels neglected by the nurses that visit her daily, her rough-around-the-edges neighbour Colleen (Andrea Riseborough) steps in to care for her, accompanied by her enormous bull terrier, Sabre. The women strike up an unlikely friendship but Elsie’s son John (Jason Watkins) worries that all is not as it seems.

I was fortunate enough to sit down with filmmaker Williams to discuss the piece… 

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DVD & Digital

Film review: After the Hunt

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Since the #MeToo movement ripped through Hollywood a little under a decade ago, there have been a spate of misconduct stories on the big screen, from Kitty Green’s The Assistant to Maria Schrader’s She Said. The latest in this contemporary sub-genre wave is psychological thriller After the Hunt by director Luca Guadagnino. Unravelling in and around Yale University, the plot follows esteemed philosophy professor Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts) who is up for tenure. After she and her husband Frederick (Michael Stuhlbarg) host a dinner party, her PhD student Maggie (Ayo Edebiri) accuses Alma’s colleague and close friend Hank (Andrew Garfield) of sexual assault.

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cinema

Film review: The Smashing Machine

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Benny Safdie is best known for making acclaimed indies such as Good Time and Uncut Gems alongside his older brother Josh, their films noted for their chaotic camerawork and scuzzy New York City energy. Like the Coens and Wachowskis before them, the directing siblings have gone their separate ways, and sports biopic The Smashing Machine marks Benny’s debut solo effort. Based on the 2002 documentary of the same name, the plot follows former MMA fighter Mark Kerr (Dwayne Johnson) through his career in the ring, his turbulent relationship with girlfriend Dawn (Emily Blunt), and his dangerous addiction to prescription painkillers.

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cinema

Film review: One Battle After Another

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 The challenging postmodern material of author Thomas Pynchon was first brought to the big screen just over a decade ago when Paul Thomas Anderson adapted stoner-noir tale Inherent Vice, and the filmmaker has once again looked to the novelist for inspiration in his latest feature. Loosely based on his 1990 book Vineland, action thriller One Battle After Another shifts the story to the chaotic landscape of modern-day America.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

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 After six series of television, five festival specials, and two features, the curtain is drawn on the historical franchise with a third and final film. Written by Julian Fellowes who created the show, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is set in 1930 as the Crawleys prepare to embrace change with head of the table Robert (Hugh Bonneville) set to retire. Simon Curtis returns as director for a plot that centres around his eldest daughter Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) as the scandalous news of her divorce spreads through their high-society. Meanwhile, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) hosts her brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) and his friend Gus (Alessandro Nivola) who are visiting from across the pond, bringing news of financial hardship for the family.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: I Swear

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 Tourette’s syndrome activist John Davidson is no stranger to our screens, having been the subject of groundbreaking Q.E.D. television episode titled ‘John’s Not Mad’ among many other documentaries over the years.  His campaign to raise awareness of the disorder led to an MBE award in 2019 and his incredible story has been dramatised in the latest feature from writer and director Kirk Jones. Based in the Scottish Borders town of Galashiels, biographical comedy drama I Swear follows John through a challenging adolescence (Scott Ellis Watson) and into adulthood (Robert Aramayo) as he comes to terms with his diagnosis. After mental health nurse Dottie (Maxine Peake) takes him under her wing, he meets Tommy (Peter Mullan) who presents him with a rare opportunity and encourages him to speak out about the condition.

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