First-look reviews
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Blackbird review: this euthanasia drama trades hard truths for tasteful bromides
Susan Sarandon stars as a dying woman who gathers her family for one last weekend in Roger Michell’s prettified remake of Bille August’s Silent Heart, writes Tom Charity.
Tuesday 10 December 2019 -
True History of the Kelly Gang first look: a proudly unstable portrait of the Australian outlaw
George MacKay’s Ned Kelly writes his own would-be legend against the warts-and-all backdrop of Justin Kurzel’s gruesome and empathetic biopic, writes Elena Lazic.
Tuesday 29 October 2019 -
Instinct review: a woman’s dark fantasy of male validation
A study of a prison psychologist’s dangerous crush on a sexually violent patient, Halina Reijn’s accomplished and hypnotic film goes to some secret, lonely places, says Elena Lazic.
Wednesday 16 October 2019 -
Greed review: Coogan and Winterbottom take idle aim at the grim rich
The veteran actor-director duo target Philip Green and the preening kleptocrat class with this satire of gilded follies, but they’re hitting a broad mark with a blunt stick, says Tom Charity.
Thursday 10 October 2019 -
La Llorona review: the ghosts of Guatemala’s disappeared come calling
A new Mayan maid in the household of a genocidal Guatemalan general heralds the return of the repressed in Jayro Bustamante’s powerful postcolonial supernatural fable, writes Andrew Simpson.
Thursday 10 October 2019 -
Hope Gap review: Annette Bening puts some puff into a little English separation story
Bening makes a brilliantly bitter new divorcée opposite a button-up Bill Nighy in screenwriter-turned-director William Nicholson’s crisp but all too modest drama of a couple parting ways, says Tom Charity.
Friday 4 October 2019 -
The Goldfinch review: an adaptation shackled to Donna Tartt’s source saga
In their adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer-winning coming-of-age novel – a story of a motherless boy’s loss and guilt and obsession – John Crowley and Peter Straughan honour the novel’s Dickensian range and colour but lose track of its purpose, says Graham Fuller.
Friday 27 September 2019 -
Just Mercy first look: Michael B Jordan leads a legal rescue drama on the front lines of death row
Jordan brings his ever-ready charisma to bear as American activist lawyer Bryan Stevenson, inspiring a comparably strong turn from Jamie Foxx as a framed murder convict in Destin Daniel Creton’s impassioned, upstanding adaptation of Stevenson’s memoir, finds Kambole Campbell.
Wednesday 25 September 2019 -
The Cave review: a painterly portrait of Ghouta’s last, unwavering doctor
Feras Fayyad’s follow-up to Last Men in Aleppo is a experiential documentary of a Syrian hospital-cum-refuge manager and the layers of pressure she shoulders, from bombs to misogyny, writes Ela Bittencourt.
Wednesday 25 September 2019 -
Knives Out first look: Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson give Agatha Christie a fond tweak
Not so much a whodunnit as a whollbethefallguy, Rian Johnson’s modern remix of the classic country-house detective mystery is a hoot, not least when Daniel Craig’s flamboyant detective is on screen, says Wendy Ide.
Thursday 19 September 2019 -
Rocks review: Sarah Gavron follows a London girl growing up fast and letting go slowly
In Sarah Gavron’s sweet but gritty new film, Bukky Bakray’s teenager is burdened with adult responsibilities when her mother leaves the family home, writes Ela Bittencourt.
Wednesday 18 September 2019 -
Le Mans ’66 (Ford v Ferrari) review: a makeshift motor-men drama that comes alive behind the wheel
James Mangold’s racetrack buddy movie casts Christian Bale and Matt Damon as a Ford motor-race team driver and designer – but the real romance is inside the metal, writes Beatrice Loayza.
Wednesday 18 September 2019 -
Synchronic review: Anthony Mackie trips lightly through the Benson-Moorhead time fantastic
Time travel is the hardest drug for buddy medics Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan in this high-concept if under-polished pop mystery from indie sci-fi darlings Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, writes Beatrice Loayza.
Wednesday 18 September 2019 -
Waves first look: a sibling melodrama that surges with emotion but never breaks
An operatic family tapestry with Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Taylor Russell as a Miami teen wrestler and his sister, Trey Edward Shults’s third film risks drowning the audience in its deep feelings, but never loses sight of dry land, writes Ella Kemp.
Tuesday 17 September 2019 -
Uncut Gems first look: the Safdies chase Adam Sandler’s gambler into the discomfort zone
Josh and Benny Safdie’s new movie is another compelling and grisly NYC pulp crime thriller, with a career-best Adam Sandler as a wheeling and dealing jeweller taking a steep bet against fate, writes Tom Charity.
Tuesday 17 September 2019 -
Dolemite Is My Name: Eddie Murphy stars in a bawdy biopic of Rudy Ray Moore
Eddie Murphy is surprisingly restrained as the countercultural comedian and rapper in this fond account of how he brought his lubricious alter ego to the screen in 1975, finds Kambole Campbell.
Thursday 12 September 2019 -
Judy review: this moving biopic rings with Renée Zellweger’s star quality
Rupert Goold’s drama about Judy Garland’s last days probes sentimentality and self-obsession head on in this fullhearted tribute to a Hollywood legend, brought to quivering life by Zellweger, writes Lisa Mullen.
Thursday 12 September 2019 -
Jojo Rabbit review: Taika Waititi laughs in the face of fascism
In this bravely brazen ‘anti-hate satire’ a Führer with halitosis and a misguidedly fervent member of the Hitler Youth provide an outlet to poke fun at prejudice and cherish innocence, writes Ella Kemp.
Tuesday 10 September 2019
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