Category: DVD & Digital

Reviews of the latest UK DVD & Digital releases.

DVD & Digital

DVD review: Armageddon Time

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Filmmakers often tell the story of their childhood through their pictures; recent examples of this include Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. Acclaimed writer and director James Gray looks back at his own formative years in Armageddon Time, a coming-of-age drama set in Queens, New York City in 1980. The semi-autobiographical plot follows schoolkid Paul (Banks Repeta) who becomes friends with black student Johnny (Jaylin Webb) on his first day of sixth grade, bonding over their fascination with space travel. His mother Esther (Anne Hathaway) and father Irving (Jeremy Strong) struggle to cope with their son’s regular mischievous behaviour, but he always listens to his grandpa Aaron (Anthony Hopkins) who inspires and mentors the youngster, delivering nuggets of wisdom and teaching him about the importance of his family’s Jewish roots.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Tori & Lokita

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Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have been favourites at Cannes Film Festival for many years and were awarded the special 75th anniversary award for their latest effort. The film, their twelfth collaboration as both writers and directors, is Tori & Lokita, a drama which follows two youngsters seeking asylum in modern-day Belgium. Posing as brother and sister though in fact they are really good friends who met on the boat from Benin, Tori (Pablo Schils) and Lokita (Mbundu Joely) turn to petty crime to make ends meet whilst they wait for their immigration paperwork.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Watcher

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Maika Monroe attracted the attention of cinema audiences in 2014 with a double whammy of excellent turns in creepy horror It Follows and neon-synth flick The Guest. Since then, she’s largely been relegated to supporting parts, but returns to centre stage for Watcher, the feature debut of writer and director Chloe Okuno. The psychological thriller follows Julia (Monroe) who moves to Bucharest with her husband Francis (Karl Glusman) when he lands a new job. He speaks the language thanks to his Romanian family roots, but she begins to feel isolated, and is unnerved when she spots a man in the building opposite who appears to be looking into their apartment.

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DVD & Digital · LFF22

DVD review: The Banshees of Inisherin

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 Over a decade on since the trio collaborated on cult classic In Bruges, writer and director Martin McDonagh reunites with actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for his latest black comedy. The Banshees of Inisherin tells the tale of dairy farmer Pádraic (Farrell) and fiddle player Colm (Gleeson) who have an abrupt falling out after years of friendship. Reeling from the news that his old pal doesn’t like him anymore, Pádraic turns to his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and local idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan) for support. Their row has repercussions across the small rural island where they live, and soon takes a very sinister turn.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Vengeance

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 B.J. Novak will be best known to many as Ryan in the American version of The Office, but he has many strings to his bow. As well as being an actor, comedian, TV writer, and children’s book author, he has now written and directed his first feature film. Vengeance is a black comedy thriller which follows New York-based journalist Ben (Novak, casting himself in the leading role), who flies to Texas for a funeral when his ‘girlfriend’ Abilene (Lio Tipton) dies of a suspected drug overdose. Her brother Ty (Boyd Holbrook) suspects foul play and asks for help to avenge her death, which gives Ben an idea for a new true crime podcast series.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Don’t Worry Darling

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Amidst a series of sensationalised tabloid rumours that led to a much-talked-about premiere, the anticipation around Olivia Wilde’s latest film has been rife. Following on from her acclaimed debut Booksmart, she’s back in the director’s chair for psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling. Florence Pugh stars as mid-century housewife Alice who enjoys steamy marital bliss with Jack (Harry Styles) in suburban company town Victory, California. After a few red flags, she becomes suspicious of the community around her, in particular of her husband’s mysterious boss Frank (Chris Pine), and soon their idyllic existence is called into question.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Clerks III

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Almost thirty years after the seminal original, Kevin Smith brings his layabout trilogy to a close with his latest comedy Clerks III. Back at the Quick Stop convenience store where it all began, Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) team up with drug-dealing duo Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) to make their own autobiographical movie, taking them down memory lane and putting their friendship to the ultimate test.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Bodies Bodies Bodies

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 Moving from in front of the camera to behind it, Dutch actress-turned director Halina Reijn takes a stab at a social satire slasher with her English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies. Adapted from an original story by Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian, the plot sees Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) and her new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova) join pals for a hurricane party thrown by David (Pete Davidson) at his family’s mansion. The couple, along with Alice (Rachel Sennott), Greg (Lee Pace), Jordan (Myha’la Herrold) and Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), decide to do a murder mystery roleplay, but when quietly held grudges and scandalous secrets bubble to the surface, it takes a very dark turn.

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DVD & Digital · EIFF22

DVD review: The Forgiven

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 John Michael McDonagh is perhaps best known for black comedies set in the sinister, sprawling vistas of Ireland, but he’s arrived in sunnier climes for his latest feature, The Forgiven. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne, the drama sees functioning alcoholic David (Ralph Fiennes) and his glamourous wife Jo (Jessica Chastain) arrive in Morocco to attend the luxury desert retreat of friends Richard (Matt Smith) and Dally (Caleb Landry Jones) for a weekend fuelled by booze and narcotics. Tragedy strikes whilst on their way to the party, and the couple are soon forced to face the consequences of their actions.

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