cinema

Film review: Everything Everywhere All at Once

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The directorial duo known as the Daniels (Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert) made their debut with ‘farting corpse movie’ Swiss Army Man in 2016, and have joined forces again for another surrealist comedy, this time with an ambitious sci-fi twist. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a multiverse action film that explores the intimate relationships between Chinese-American laundromat owner Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), and Joy (Stephanie Hsu), their angsty teenage daughter. During a visit to a bleak, panel-lit IRS office to discuss their struggling family business with steely faced auditor Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), they’re thrust into a mysterious alternate universe that splits their perception of reality, thus kickstarting an adventure where they must save the world from ultimate destruction.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: The Northman

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Following on from the acclaim of his offbeat efforts The Witch and The Lighthouse, writer and director Robert Eggers returns on an epic scale with a big budget for his third feature The Northman. Based upon the same medieval Scandi legend that inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, this historical blockbuster tells the tale of Prince Amleth, played with an animalistic heft by a bulked-up Alexander Skarsgård. When King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) is brutally murdered by his brother (Claes Bang), who then proceeds to kidnap Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman), it sets up a Viking revenge saga as the protagonist vows to avenge his father, save his mother, and to kill his uncle Fjölnir.

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DVD & Digital

DVD review: The Lost City

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 Perhaps most associated with their indie work within the mumblecore subgenre, the latest collaboration from filmmaking brothers Adam and Aaron Nee takes them into the mainstream. Action-adventure comedy The Lost City stars Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage, an erotic novelist living a reclusive lifestyle since the untimely death of her archaeologist husband. After stumbling over the finishing line with her latest love story, she is to embark on a press tour with Alan (Channing Tatum), her shallow, muscular cover model known to her loyal readership as Dash. Following a disastrous launch event, Loretta is kidnapped by arrogant rich kid Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), the eccentric son of a billionaire who wants to take advantage of the author’s historic knowledge to track down ancient treasure. 

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DVD & Digital · GFF22

DVD review: Happening

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 Taking us back to 1960s Paris, the latest drama from writer and director Audrey Diwan is based upon Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical novel of the same name. Happening, or L’événement in its native tongue, follows young literature student Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) as she attempts to bring an abrupt end to her unwanted pregnancy. During this time, abortions were illegal in France so as the weeks go by, she becomes increasingly desperate, willing to risk a prison sentence to give herself the opportunity to live the life that she wants.

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DVD & Digital

Film review: Paris, 13th District

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 Four years after making his first English-language feature, the acclaimed writer and director Jacques Audiard returns to his roots for his latest drama Paris, 13th District, or Les Olympiades to give it the French title. Loosely inspired by the work of American graphic novelist Adrian Tomine, the script is co-penned with Léa Mysius and Céline Sciamma and follows the intersecting tales of three millennials within a high-rise Parisian neighbourhood. Streetwise but stuck in a dead-end job, Émilie (Lucie Zhang) rents out a room to teacher Camille (Makita Samba), and they quickly become flatmates with benefits. Meanwhile, mature student Nora (Noémie Merlant) arrives in the city to continue her law degree.

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DVD & Digital · GFF22

DVD review: The Worst Person in the World

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This is the third film in what’s being referred to as Joachim Trier’s ‘Oslo Trilogy’, where the acclaimed writer and director shifts his focus to tell a tale from the female perspective. Co-penned with regular screenwriting partner Eskil Vogt, romantic drama The Worst Person in the World spends four years with Julie (Renate Reinsve), a thirtysomething student who finds herself at a crossroads in life. Deciding to embark on a career in photography and a relationship with older man Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie), the film tracks her path to self-discovery in a millennial coming-of-age story.

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