cinema · EIFF26

Film review: Capsized

This year we’ve already seen Odysseus charter choppy waters to get home on the biggest of screens and in the feature debut from NY-based director Lindsey Ryan, a hard-up Irish-American family plead with Poseidon for good fortune at sea. Loosely inspired by the filmmaker’s own upbringing, comedy drama Capsized follows Diane (Lily Rabe), her husband (Rhy Ifans), their daughter Nicole (Sarah Catherine Hook), son Pat (Griffin Gluck) and the rest of their kids as they take an impromptu vacation on their houseboat. Reeling from the discovery of an eviction notice, they enter a potentially lucrative fishing competition in the hope of turning their luck around.

Continue reading “Film review: Capsized” →
cinema · EIFF26

Film review: Bodyhackers

‘Surgery is the new sex’ was the suggestive tagline of veteran filmmaker David Cronenberg’s recent body-horror piece Crimes of the Future and this appears to have inspired the latest work from Angolan-Portuguese writer and director, Carlos Conceição. His third feature and notably his English-language debut, Bodyhackers follows Renée Welles (Joana Ribeiro), a former ballerina who becomes obsessed with surgical procedures. After a consultation at a suspiciously dystopian clinic, she meets environmental activist Denver Blake (McCaul Lombardi) who is investigating the dangerous toxins used in their treatments, and the pair embark on an unusual relationship.

Continue reading “Film review: Bodyhackers” →
cinema · EIFF26

Film review: The State of Us

Within the ‘buddy movie’ sub-genre, often the story revolves around one last blowout before one or all of the friends leaves town or goes off to college or university. In comedy drama The State of Us, the feature debut from directorial duo Ollie Gardner and Jake Harvey, the central night out for two working class pals is a matter of life and death.

Continue reading “Film review: The State of Us” →
cinema · EIFF26

Top 5 Must-See Movies of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2026

Tucked in amongst the biggest arts festival in the world, the latest edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival is nearly upon us. Back with its Midnight Madness strand, amazing In Conversation events, retrospective screenings, and a host of world and UK premieres, the programme is brimming with promise and potential. I have perused the offering to select five films to keep an eye out for this August…

Continue reading “Top 5 Must-See Movies of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2026” →
cinema

Film review: The Odyssey

Known for his mind-bending stories and practical filmmaking prowess, writer and director Christopher Nolan has embarked on his most ambitious feature to date. Shot entirely with unwieldy IMAX 70mm cameras to craft immense scale and textured quality, action fantasy The Odyssey is an adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek poem. The plot follows Odysseus (Matt Damon), the ruler of Ithaca who left his kingdom to fight in the Trojan War. With his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and their son Telemachus (Tom Holland) left behind to fend off potential suitors such as Antinous (Robert Pattinson) in his absence, he encounters gods and monsters including the wise Athena (Zendaya) and mysterious Circe (Samantha Morton) on his long and perilous journey home.

Continue reading “Film review: The Odyssey” →
cinema

Film review: Backrooms

In 2022, a photograph within a 4chan messageboard thread inspired teenager Kane Parsons to publish a web series on YouTube that expanded upon the initial prompt to post “disquieting images that just feel off”. Four years later as his creepypasta videos have gone viral, he has fleshed out the idea by directing a feature-length film.

 Sci-fi psychological horror Backrooms follows furniture salesman Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who is recently divorced and struggling with alcoholism. After discovering a strange portal within the basement of his showroom, he confides in his therapist Mary (Renate Reinsve) who is battling demons of her own. When he goes missing, she enters a mysterious dimension to find him.

Continue reading “Film review: Backrooms” →
cinema

Film review: Obsession

It’s been said that horror and comedy are two sides of the same coin so it should come as no surprise that a sketch-show performer might shift into crafting cinematic terror. Similar to Jordan Peele before him, writer and director Curry Barker was one half of a comic duo before his film debut, 2024’s found-footage piece Milk & Serial. His latest feature is Obsession, a supernatural chiller that follows twenty-something ‘Bear’ (Michael Johnston) who has a longstanding crush on his music store colleague Nikki (Inde Navarrette). Eager to cheer her up after she loses a necklace, he buys her a ‘One-Wish Willow’, a novelty trinket that claims to grant one wish once broken. After dropping her off one night and fumbling the opportunity to express his true feelings, he himself snaps the gift in half out of frustration, wishing that she would “love him more than anyone else in the world”. Nikki then experiences a sudden change of heart, and becomes obsessively infatuated with her admirer.

Continue reading “Film review: Obsession” →
cinema · GFF26

Film review: My Father’s Island

 Based on the autobiographically-inspired novella by David Vann, the latest feature from French writer and director Vladimir de Fontenay is My Father’s Island. Known by the book’s title Sukkwan Island in some countries, the psychological family drama centres around teenager Roy (Woody Norman) who lives with his mother Elizabeth (Tuppence Middleton) after her divorce. Seeking an opportunity to bond, his estranged father Tom (Swann Arlaud) suggests that they spend a year together at a lakeside cabin on a remote island in Norway. The pair’s trip begins as a wholesome soul-searching adventure, but soon becomes an intense fight for survival.

Continue reading “Film review: My Father’s Island” →