Category: DVD & Digital

Reviews of the latest UK DVD & Digital releases.

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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DVD & Digital · EIFF22

Film review: The Score

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Combining tragedy, comedy and romance into a crime thriller musical, The Score is an admirably ambitious feature debut from Malachi Smyth. The plot follows crooks Troy (Will Poulter) and Mike (Johnny Flynn) as they stop off at a roadside café to carry out a deal. As they await their criminal counterparts, they meet waitress Gloria (Naomi Ackie), and an unexpected relationship develops.

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DVD & Digital · EIFF22

DVD review: Resurrection

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 Off the back of her leading role in haunting horror The Night House a couple of years ago, Rebecca Hall finds herself at the centre of another tense mystery in Resurrection, written and directed by Andrew Semans. From the outside looking in, Margaret (Hall) very much has her life together, excelling in a high-powered job at a pharmaceutical company and raising her teenage daughter Abbie (Grace Kaufman) to share the same strong values and success. However, when she spots David (Tim Roth) at a conference, she begins to spiral out of control as her dark past catches up with her.

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DVD & Digital · EIFF22 · LFF22

DVD review: Aftersun

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Writer and director Charlotte Wells gets nostalgic for 90s package holidays in her first feature Aftersun. The drama looks back at a father-daughter trip to a Turkish family resort, as Calum (Paul Mescal) takes his 11-year-old, Sophie (Frankie Corio) for a week away. We see their tale through the shaky lens of a camcorder, or through the sun-soaked memories of an older and wiser Sophie, remembering the happy-go-lucky version of her dad as he hid the severity of his problems behind wit and a charming smile.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: The Black Phone

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 After a brief foray into the MCU, writer and director Scott Derrickson returns to his horror roots for child-killer thriller The Black Phone. Set in Denver, Colorado in the late 1970s, the plot follows young teen Finney (Mason Thames) who dodges school bullies by day only to go back to a tricky home life with little sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) and their abusive, alcoholic father. When a string of kids go missing in the neighbourhood, rumour spreads of a crazed kidnapper known as ‘The Grabber’ (Ethan Hawke) and Finney soon finds himself bundled into the back of his van. 

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

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Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is the third fictional feature and latest in a run of Sundance hits for Australian director Sophie Hyde. The dramedy plot centres around retired widow Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) who, after years of unsatisfying sex with her late husband, hires escort Leo (Daryl McCormack) for an adventurous night of passion at a local hotel. Their initial encounter is expectedly awkward, but the pair’s relationship soon develops into something far more intimate.

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