Knocking film review by UK film critic Rachel Willis. Starring Cecilia Milocco directed by Frida Kempff. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Knocking Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Rachel Willis | Posted on: Oct 5, 2021 Directed by: Frida Kempff Written by: Emma Brostrom, Johan Theorin Starring: Cecilia Milocco It’s easy for horror films to pigeonhole the mentally ill into stereotypical terrors that disturb those who’ve never experienced mental illness (or known someone to suffer from it). You often find the “split personality” films where one of the personalities is a murderer, or with a paranoid schizophrenic who can’t tell reality from hallucination terrorizing friends and family. But once in a while, a horror film reminds you there is a real person suffering – someone who is more than their label. And that’s when things get truly unsettling. Working from a script by Emma Broström, director Frida Kempff captures the uncertainty and fear of a woman struggling to be believed in the Swedish film, Knocking. Molly (Cecilia Milocco) suffered a mental breakdown following a traumatic event. After spending time in a mental health facility, she’s deemed capable of being on her own. Moving into a new apartment and advised to turn it into a home, Molly attempts just that. But the nightly knocking on her ceiling keeps her from settling into her new life. What follows is a fairly predictable conundrum – is Molly hallucinating or is the knocking—perhaps attempts at Morse Code and a cry for help—real? This isn’t the sole focus of the film. Kempff isn’t just interested in letting us guess at Molly’s situation, she also digs into the quickness with which people dismiss her. Because of Molly’s often erratic behavior and her past, police, neighbors, and health care workers tend to disregard her fear. Milocco nails her role. She convincingly sells the character’s firm belief yet utter confusion surrounding the knocking. She portrays a woman trying to cope yet infused with obsession. As Molly tries to solve the mystery behind the knocking, everyone in her building becomes suspect. In a particularly captivating scene, we watch Molly confront a group of men who live on the floor above her – the floor from which the knocking persists. The men recognize and respond to Molly’s distress, but they’re not listening to her. Though raising an alarm that someone needs help, the men make their own conclusions based solely on Molly’s behavior. The scene would be flawless if not for some cliché and distracting camerawork. When you’re mentally ill, everyone is quick to disbelieve you (extra skepticism if you’re a woman). In the film, this creates disturbing tension as the knocking reaches a pitch of intensity. It doesn’t really matter if the knocking is real; what matters is that Molly believes it – but nobody believes her. A truly terrifying concept. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Rachel Willis Theatrical Release, World Cinema < All Reviews Next Film Review >

I Want You Back film review by UK film critic George Wolf. Starring Jenny Slate, Charlie Day, Scott Eastwood directed by Jason Orley. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS I Want You Back Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: George Wolf | Posted on: Feb 10, 2022 Directed by: Jason Orley Written by: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger Starring: Jenny Slate, Charlie Day, Scott Eastwood If we’re gonna start talking about I Want You Back , we can’t start at the start, we have to start at the finish. Because no matter what you think about the film’s first 100 minutes, the last five may seriously turn your head. But before that Linda Blair moment, Emma (Jenny Slate) and Peter (Charlie Day) first meet in the stairwell of their office building. Emma works for an Orthodontist, Peter’s with a retirement home company, and they both just got dumped. Noah (Scott Eastwood, finally doing more acting than posing) left her for Ginny (Clark Backo), Anne (Gina Rodriguez) left him for Logan (Manny Jacinto), and the two new “sadness siblings” are all in their feelings. So they start hanging out, giving each other enough emotional support to eventually devise a plan. Emma will throw herself at Logan, while Peter (admitting he’s not hot enough to go after Ginny) will make friends with Noah so he can steer him back to Emma. And with that, the Break Up So We Can Make Up game is on! We all know where this is going, right? If we’ve seen a romantic comedy we do, and once again the trick lies in finding some way to make the characters and their journey to love worth rooting for. Screenwriters Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (the writing duo behind the terrific Love, Simon and TV’s This Is Us ) pair with director Jason Orley for a solid game plan, but it’s the irresistible chemistry of Slate and Day that keeps this madcap setup consistently engaging. Slate is such an underrated talent. Once again she’s able to confidently take a character from hi-jinx (like the proposed threesome with Anne and Logan) to humanity (an unexpected friendship with a withdrawn kid) while making us care enough to welcome all of it. And while Day is basically bringing another variation of his usual schtick, it’s still funny and, when paired with Slate, endearing. Which brings us back to that ending, one that lands with such a thud I was really hoping it was merely a dream sequence. Any semblance of nuance or modern perspective on romance is suddenly replaced with the easiest, most rushed and shallow wrap up this side of a TV sitcom – with a set design to match. What happened to that other movie? We had a nice thing going, and then it just ghosted us! Come back, I know it can work! Hmmm…maybe we should hatch a plan. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic George Wolf Digital / DVD Release < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Will I See You Again? film review by UK film critic Joe Beck. Starring Hosea Chanchez, Nick Wechsler, Naomi Walley, Anna Maria Horsford directed by Michael Perez-Lindsey. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Will I See You Again? Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Joe Beck | Posted on: Jul 27, 2024 Directed by: Michael Perez-Lindsey Written by: Rhett Lindsey, Michael Perez-Lindsey Starring: Hosea Chanchez, Nick Wechsler, Naomi Walley, Anna Maria Horsford As you may expect from its title, death, and the presence of death looms large over ‘Will I See You Again?’. However, this is not a film about death, though to confuse matters in so many ways it is, but rather it is a film about love, and new life, and how connected those three essential pillars of any human being’s time on this planet are to one another. This helps to make ‘Will I See You Again?”, an interesting film that probes difficult questions about life and love and loss, but in a way that never loses sight of the dramatic elements of its story. ‘Will I See You Again?’ follows Max Palmer - played by Hosea Chanchez - and Paul Jensen - played by Nick Wechsler - in the aftermath of the death of their friend Jim Turner. The three go back a long way and their friend group trio was formerly known as The Bash Brothers, even having a cabin in the woods that they felt was their ‘second home’. However, time has eroded their friendship and now neither of them even follow each other on social media, such was the divide that has grown between them. Paul turns up in the middle of Max’s speech at the funeral, and after their brusque exchange there seems to be no hope of future renewal of their relationship. That all changes when they are both summoned to their late friend’s estate hearing, with the catch being that in order to claim their inheritance they must undergo a polygraph test. This brings to light details of their past relationship, the painful details of which they must mull over and confront with one another in order to have any chance of moving forward in love. Interestingly, this is a film that also features faith prominently, with Max a pastor at the local church, but at the same time a gay man. He had put his homosexuality to one side, even marrying a woman - though they have now filed for divorce - presumably in order to pursue his life and career in faith. This raises interesting questions of the ability for both homosexuality and religion, in particular christianity in this case, to coexist, and writers Rhett Lindsey and Michael Perez-Lindsey navigate this well. The script as a whole is well written, with the monologues moving and profound and the conversations fast moving and not featuring any filler, constantly driving the narrative forwards. Despite this the conclusion feels a little bit extrapolated and forced, and the film could have perhaps benefited from a few minutes longer of the pair in discussion before reaching their resolution. Michael Perez-Lindsey also directs the film, and he does so with vigour and intensity in the tense, dramatic moments, but a calm contemplative outlook in the more touching scenes of loss and grief. This is testament to strong direction, and this is consistent throughout. Overall, ‘Will I See You Again?’ is an excellent film, that moves you in all the right ways and asks pertinent questions not just for its characters but for us all as humans. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Joe Beck Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Wounded film review by UK film critic Brian Penn. Starring Danish Latif, Adam Aziz directed by Zaheer Raja. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Wounded Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Brian Penn | Posted on: Jul 12, 2022 Directed by: Zaheer Raja Written by: Zaheer Raja Starring: Danish Latif, Adam Aziz There has always been an intriguing dynamic between older and younger siblings. As they grow up their relationship will develop according to individual circumstances. The loss of a parent will often place the older sibling in a replacement role as they nurture and care for the younger ones. They will become emotionally dependant on each other as the relationship takes on an entirely new dimension. But what happens when the younger sibling wants to break away and live their own life? This short film by Zaheer Raja shows that emotional wounds run just as deep when a sibling flies the nest. Hakeem (Danish Latif) is the older brother, strong and undemonstrative. Following the death of their mother both are forced to quickly grow up. He works to support them both with a quiet stoicism, whilst Waseem (Adam Aziz) can act like the kid brother as he drifts through adolescence. However, times are changing for the brothers as Waseem decides to move on. A letter from the University of Edinburgh drops on the doormat. Waseem is planning to move but his older brother is unaware of his intentions. Hakeem reacts bitterly to the news. His direction and sense of purpose in life is at stake; but will the brothers make peace with each other? Wounded portrays a calm and affecting picture of family life that transcends all cultural barriers. We all want to feel needed; to know others depend on us is in many ways, a validation of our own existence. But when the time comes for change the carer is unprepared for the loss of status and fears the consequences. Hakeem realises his younger brother no longer needs him in the same way. He is confronted with an emotional loose end and the prospect of real loneliness. There are no startling revelations about this piece; similar scenes are being played out for real in families across the globe. But the narrative captures feelings that are tangible and instantly relatable. The only discernible weak spot is that the film makes its essential point very early on, and does nothing to fill the space inadvertently left open. Even so, this is a thoughtful and intelligent film with real heart. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Brian Penn Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Motherland film review by UK film critic Brian Penn. Starring Tiffany Chu, Kim Tae-woo, Kyung Hong directed by Christina Yoon. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Motherland Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Brian Penn | Posted on: Oct 1, 2023 Directed by: Christina Yoon Written by: Minkyu Kang, Christina Yoon Starring: Tiffany Chu, Kim Tae-woo, Kyung Hong All adopted children agonise over one question that picks at a wound that never quite heals. Why did my birth parents give me up? The most loving of adoptive parents offer familiar comfort - they were chosen whilst others had to take the children they were given. Although effective it soon wears thin as a child usually needs to know why, and to meet the people that brought them into the world. Directed by Christina Yoon this film explores the fallout when that child becomes an adult and starts asking questions. Leah (Tiffany Chu) was adopted and raised in America but born in Korea. She returns to the land of her birth to search for her birth mother. Her first stop at the adoption agency hits the proverbial brick wall. They refuse to supply details without the consent of her birth parents. Leah seems to be thwarted but then takes advantage of a lapse in security. She gets the documents translated and sets off to discover the truth behind her adoption. Motherland is a well constructed piece and accurately traces the emotional wreckage that adoption leaves in its wake. It is fundamentally an act of kindness; when people can’t cope with parenthood they decide to give a child the life they deserve. That is the theory, but the reality is often different to the idealistic vision in the adoptee's mind. Some stones are best left unturned, but Leah’s actions are perfectly natural for someone who doesn’t know who she is or where she comes from. There is a delicate balance between dealing with the consequences or just leaving the past behind. Ignorance is bliss but only for those who can afford it. Each scene is sparse and economical in its execution. Clean cinematography frames Tiffany Chu in perfect light and shade. A heart rending tale told with brutal honesty. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Brian Penn Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Being Ola film review by UK film critic James Learoyd. Starring Ola Henningsen, Lasse Kortegaard Kristensen directed by Ragnhild Nøst Bergem. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Being Ola Film Review average rating is 5 out of 5 Critic: James Learoyd | Posted on: Feb 24, 2026 Directed by: Ragnhild Nøst Bergem Written by: Ragnhild Nøst Bergem Starring: Ola Henningsen, Lasse Kortegaard Kristensen Documentaries don’t get any more moving than Being Ola , Ragnhild Nøst Bergem’s recent film about a man named Ola Henningsen who enjoys gardening and writing. The film focuses most prominently on how Ola navigates living with an intellectual disability. In this 70-minute feature, we see him reflect on a challenging, confusing childhood and adolescence; and the painful but, ultimately, socially beneficial and emotionally constructive decision to find a home amongst a close-knit rural community, consisting of many also living with learning disabilities – a safe space of growth, cohabitation and surrogate family. His journey is one of grappling with self-doubt, learning to love one’s imperfections and becoming more independent. But it’s also about looking towards the future, as Ola questions whether he may one day wish to live outside of the village wherein he’s forged such a valuable home. This is a beautiful piece, and a story that will touch many. The first thing you fall in love with while watching Being Ola is the cosiness of the physical location itself. One of the best decisions the filmmakers make on a level of immersion, is allowing the audience to slowly acquaint themselves with each and every place and landscape inhabited by those in the village of Vidaråsen. By letting the viewer grow to have a sense of visual familiarity, the narrative being crafted before you becomes all the more inviting. This is a movie you truly enjoy spending time in. You love the people it paints a portrait of. You love the various activities it documents. And, perhaps most of all, you love the always optimistic spirit of Ola – an endlessly charismatic, amusing and kind screen presence. This is also a wonderfully put-together work of art, both in terms of camera and audio. There’s so much to love about the quaint beauty of the cinematography. Defined by a subtlety and simplicity, both in its composition and in-the-moment capturing, so many shots feel like a colourful, affectionate meditation on the environments and people of Norway. And then, in turn, the very carefully crafted sound and calming choice of music go a long way to build a mood and provide the technical side of the filmmaking a finished quality. Like all great documentaries, all of this then comes together in the editing, which manages not to rush any moment whilst also maintaining a steady, purposeful direction of pace. There’s one clear highlight of movie, for this critic at least. On the celebration of another occupant’s seventieth birthday, many of village’s residents perform for her as a form of gift. For Ola, he’s been rehearsing Chopsticks on the piano. When he begins performing, things go a little wrong, and you can see his heartbreak at being unable to follow through with the performance. Later that day, though, he returns to the piano with his teacher, and together they perform a duet. After this performance, Ola receives a rapturous round of applause. In testimony captured later in the day, he turns the event into a most moving and optimistic philosophy about not giving up. It’s such a perfectly imperfect, almost overwhelmingly – yet effortlessly – emotional instance of captured reality, and the sequence which takes Being Ola into five-star territory. Being Ola gets its UK premiere at the opening night of Oska Bright film festival, on March 28th. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic James Learoyd Indie Feature Film, Documentary, Film Festival, World Cinema < All Reviews Next Film Review >

The Defectors film review by UK film critic William Hemingway. Starring Lyud Hristov, Mike Kirk, Charlie Ann Upton, Stephen Vatikiotis directed by Ollie Killip. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS The Defectors Film Review average rating is 2 out of 5 Critic: William Hemingway | Posted on: Aug 15, 2026 Directed by: Ollie Killip Written by: Ollie Killip Starring: Lyud Hristov, Mike Kirk, Charlie Ann Upton, Stephen Vatikiotis In a near future, police state Britain, the leader of a rebel group is gunned down on a stage that he was never supposed to have been on, as a member of the ruling authority tries to play both sides in an effort to bring back everything the UK has lost along the way. In 2028 the Prime Minister was assassinated and a new power seized control for what was supposed to be only a temporary period. By 2032, The Interim Authority still has a stranglehold on the power in the country and has created a surveillance state where everybody’s movements are monitored and everyone’s details are registered in order to control them. Casey Rock (Vatikiotis), the leader of a rebel group, has managed to infiltrate an IA conference and has got himself on stage to deliver a message to the people, helped there by double agent, Detective Reed Stanford (Hristov), but before he can get his first sentence out, he’s blasted through the head and falls down dead on the stage. Detective Reed rushes to help, oblivious to who might be watching, and is helped out of the building by shady agents of no description. What follows is an unfolding of events, where we are caught up in flashbacks, while Detective Reed tries to keep playing his hand as a member of the IA and the rebel group simultaneously. Alongside him on either side are his wife and fellow rebel, Maddie (Upton), and his new boss, Detective Monk (Kirk), who both need Reed to keep doing what he’s doing as long as they each believe that he’s on their side. Sold as a Children Of Men (2006) style look into the future of Britain, where the police state runs everyone’s lives and home-grown terrorism lurks on every corner, The Defectors rushes us straight into the action with very little setup, throwing characters and scenarios at us that we have no clue about until we are caught up in the round. Very quickly we have to deal with people shouting in rooms at each other in one scene, and quiet conversations of subterfuge and revolution in another, while everybody moons around in black and grey without necessarily giving up just which side they are on. There is quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the script, as Detective Reed switches between sides, trying to play all angles, and we are thrown around from past to present as we are furnished with the details that we never got in the beginning, through flashbacks that try to tell us which side Reed is really on. It can be quite tricky to keep up with what’s going on in The Defectors , as people can look pretty similar in their black and grey, with their ratty facial hair and turned up collars, standing in the shadows, and the dialogue doesn’t help us any as it rattles through its exposition from a writer’s standpoint, telling us its facts as though we have already lived the past four years with these people. In the space of twenty-minutes we should really be able to get a good handle on our characters and scenarios, if they were introduced and handled properly, but here we are faced with stylised cinematography and bad synth chords instead, as a crutch to expose the near-futurism of the piece, without really focusing on the main things that any good story needs. In the end The Defectors gets caught up in itself and its character play, twisting threads around each other in ways that don’t feed the main idea or the over-arching scenario, but instead keeping the pieces moving around the board until they are so far up each other’s backside that it’s hard to tell them apart. It’s also hard to tell what the point of The Defectors really is, when it jettisons the overall narrative to instead focus on the Internal Affairs of a few bent coppers and a tiny home-cell of supposed rebels. There’s no real commentary on the state of the country as it is today, and no real warning of where we could be heading if we don’t fix the unnamed things that are broken. Without taking a standpoint against anything in particular, The Defectors just becomes a play about people in a future that doesn’t exist, talking about things that don’t affect us. Their machinations are entirely self-ingratiating and only look inward at the characters rather than expositioning a world that we could believe in, and with that it leaves itself more as a poor man’s Line Of Duty (which is poor enough itself in the first place) than any sort of revolutionary statement on life in the UK. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic William Hemingway Digital / DVD Release, Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Red and Blue Make Purple film review by UK film critic Jason Knight. Starring Ruby Wasserman, Amber Kase directed by Olivia Medrano. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Red and Blue Make Purple Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Jason Knight | Posted on: Jul 3, 2022 Directed by: Olivia Medrano Written by: Olivia Medrano Starring: Ruby Wasserman, Amber Kase Hoping to escape her troubled household, a young woman spends time with her friend. Lily (Wasserman) lives in a home where there are constant arguments. She contacts her friend Natalie (Kase) and the two of them go out together and have a great time. Natalie will be going away soon and Lily must decide whether to remain where she is or join her friend. This is a heart-warming short drama that focuses on two individuals who have reached a stage in their life where they have to make life-changing decisions and decide what is best for them. It is a story that deals with a variety of subjects, including self-discovery, the desire to move on to better things, friendship and the challenges of living in a dysfunctional home. The narrative begins quite intensely, with Lily in her house, listening to a nasty argument. In order to escape, she retreats into her bedroom, where she puts on music on her earphones. The atmosphere changes dramatically, becoming very uplifting as she phones Lily and a montage begins, which shows them having fun together by attending an amusement park, eating ice cream and going to the beach. It is clear that these two have a rather strong bond between them. The atmosphere is joyful when they are together and there is a feeling of sadness as they worry that circumstances might cause them to separate. The acting is OK, with both leads delivering sympathetic performances as they portray individuals who find happiness and support when they are with each other. Regarding the soundtrack, there are two wonderful, uplifting songs that signify the positive emotions that emerge for the two protagonists, when they share each other's company. This is a moving coming-of-age story that explores the bond between two friends. It carries the message that one must follow their heart when it comes to making difficult decisions and do what will make them happy. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Jason Knight Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Life After film review by UK film critic Jason Knight. Starring Torri Yates-Orr, Jessejames Locorriere, Patricia Taber, Parker Bradway, Mykie Fisher directed by Jesse Edwards. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Life After Film Review average rating is 5 out of 5 Critic: Jason Knight | Posted on: Nov 17, 2021 Directed by: Jesse Edwards Written by: Jesse Edwards Starring: Torri Yates-Orr, Jessejames Locorriere, Patricia Taber, Parker Bradway, Mykie Fisher A troubled police officer trying to come to terms with the loss of a loved one must resolve a hostage-taking situation. Ashley (Orr) is a young member of the police force who is dealing with the aftermath of a devastating loss. Her life has been turned upside down and she sees a therapist who appears to be unable to help her. Then someone claims to be holding three people as hostages in an abandoned storehouse and she, along with a large number of armed police officers rush to the scene. The perpetrator has left a note on the front door of the building which says that he has lost all purpose in life and also contains a phone number for people to contact him and three names that are apparently the names of the hostages. After a tense conversation, the captor agrees to let Ashley enter and talk to him, as he is covinced that she understands what he is going through. This is a very tense thriller with nail-biting moments that take the viewer on quite a ride. There is threat, drama, people pointing guns at each other, a great deal of fear that someone is going to get killed and the chances that there is going to be a peaceful resolution seem rather slim. However, the two main themes in this story are grief and the importance of empathy. The hostage taker (Locorriere) is a man who is torn apart by the death of a person who meant the world to him and he believes that Ashley might be able to explain to him how someone can keep on going after that person is gone. The screenplay effectively explores the lives of Ashley and the perpetrator. Ashley is a strong and determined person who struggling to cope with a loss and her life life has become lonely and empty and Orr brings this character to life very convincingly. Locorriere delivers an outstanding performance as a broken and dangerous man who is desperate to find out if there is meaning in life after someone has lost the person who was so important to them. Both protagonists play characters who have lived different lives but are now partially similar due to the loss that they have experienced and neither of them seems to know how to deal with their loss. The mise-en-scene is quite interesting and it includes police cars and a large number of uniformed police officers, armed with a variety of guns and wearing protective gear. When Ashley enters the storehouse, the well-organised surroundings and lighting create a rather sinister and menacing atmosphere and give the impression that she is entering another world, one that is dark and hopeless. Ryan Taubert makes a great contribution with the music, which accompanies the scenes very well, especially when the situations are dramatic and tense. Aaron Seldon delivers wonderful cinematography. This is a very well made short film that contains strong acting and an intriguing plot that focuses on the lives of two people who are going through unbearable emotional pain. Some scenes will keep the audience on the edge of their seat, while others are moving. To conclude, this is an achievement that stands out. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Jason Knight Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

To Hell With You film review by UK film critic Joe Beck. Starring Andrew Bourne, Brett Brooks, Erin Ownbey directed by Jason Sheedy. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS To Hell With You Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Joe Beck | Posted on: Nov 23, 2024 Directed by: Jason Sheedy Written by: Jason Sheedy Starring: Andrew Bourne, Brett Brooks, Erin Ownbey Exorcisms aren’t a new thing in cinema. Though obviously most famously portrayed in William Friedkin’s masterpiece ‘The Exorcist’ in 1973, they have been shown on screen ever since early horror films in the silent era. In recent years there has been a bizarre revival of exorcism on the big screen, notably beginning with ‘The Conjuring’ in 2013, this has snowballed in the past few years to mixed effect with the likes of ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ and two films starring Russell Crowe - ‘The Exorcism’ and ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’. Therefore, with such proliferation of exorcism films, it is remarkable that ‘To Hell With You’ manages to feel fresh, even if it isn’t always as witty or humorous as it wants to be. ‘To Hell With You’ begins with a botched exorcism of the high-flying young student Brennan (played by Andrew Bourne), who has his promising career, and life, cut short when the priest shoots him in order to remove the demon from his body. With his mother (played by Claire Christie) collapsed on the floor out of shock and the priest nowhere to be seen, Brennan, or Brennan’s soul, is visited by a stubborn demon, called Doyle (played by Brett Brooks) and a tenacious angel, called Esme (played by Erin Ownbey) who quarrel about his fate. It’s a little bit like ‘Good Omens’ the Neil Gaiman story recently adapted for television with Michael Sheen and David Tennant. It has that same sort of pulpy energy, with colours that are popping and a funk infused soundtrack. There are times where it is extremely witty, and where the jokes flow seamlessly, however it doesn’t quite have the heart to sustain the deeper and more personal moments. This is a flaw in Jason Sheedy’s screenplay, which is otherwise very well written, with strong dialogue that helps all the actor’s involved give solid performances. Brett Brooks in particular is excellent as Doyle, the demon, and is perhaps the character with the most weight and emotional development over the course of the films fifteen minutes. Jason Sheedy also directs the film, and this is where his talent really comes out. Sheedy gives the film a visual style that perfectly matches the script, and enhances the film to make it stand out from a bog standard exorcism story. ‘To Hell With You’ is a fun film. It revels in its grisliness and its attempts to be anarchic. Though this doesn’t always work it nonetheless makes for a fun spectacle. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Joe Beck Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Baba film review by UK film critic William Hemingway. Starring Amir Zavosh, Maziyar Khatam, James Choy, Sina Djamshidiat directed by Meran Ismailsoy and Anya Chirkova. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Baba Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: William Hemingway | Posted on: Jan 26, 2023 Directed by: Meran Ismailsoy and Anya Chirkova Written by: Maziyar Khatam Starring: Amir Zavosh, Maziyar Khatam, James Choy, Sina Djamshidiat Baba's life appears to be falling apart but the thing is he doesn't seem to be helping himself either. Right now he's expecting a visitor who is coming over to his small flat to buy something from him but the smoke alarm is going off, the landlord has descended to demand months of backdated rent and everything around seems to be total chaos. Baba (Zavosh) is an Iranian immigrant who despite living in the West for some time still doesn't speak or understand English, so his landlord's (Choy) pleas and protests keep falling on deaf ears. Rather manipulatively though, Baba has called his son Reza (Khatam) over from out of one of his university lectures, by feigning an emergency, just so that he has someone to translate for him as he deals with the multiple problems that seem to keep mounting up. Soon the buyer (Djamshidiat) arrives, knocking on the door and being led into the already busy scene. He is there to buy a painting, something created by Baba's ex-wife which looks like a panel from Persepolis (2007) and which still holds significance and emotional resonance for the rest of the family. Right now though, Baba is willing to sell it on for a few hundred bucks which he reckons is going to get him out of the hole he's in, at least for now, and then he'll be able to get back on with his hedonistic, self-destructive lifestyle. So, with everyone at odds with one another and the buyer trying to extract whatever advantage he can from the situation, Reza is left trying to put all the pieces of his father's life back together despite Baba seemingly doing his best to keep things fractured and chaotic. It's all very stressful and intense and if something isn't released soon from this pressure cooker of a tiny flat then something is bound to break. Billed as a 'fever dream dark comedy', Baba is a lot of the time so intense and confrontational that it can be hard to see where the funny lies. It is in there though, with the over the top caricatures represented on screen using filthy, offensive language on one another while their psychopathic natures are given free rein to play out without much fear of reprisal. This is all underpinned though by a deep seated seriousness which is firmly embedded in the scenario as well as the background characterisation. Baba's issues arise from his psychoses, created by the fallout of his divorce and his inability to integrate into his new surroundings whilst simultaneously drowning himself in the vices of its open and permissive culture. No wonder Reza is having a hard time trying to sort it all out. The performances from all four leads are very strong with Amir Zavosh as Baba coming across as a perfectly odious narcissist with a playful twinkle in his eye and Sina Djamshidiat giving a decidedly perverse turn as the shifty buyer. Co-directors Meran Ismailsoy and Anya Chirkova do a great job with an over-the-shoulder point of view which helps the viewer gain the feeling that they are also caught up in the melange while everyone tries to get what they want from each other. Baba is not an easy watch and not necessarily a fun(ny) one either but it does make its point very well. Some very personal writing from Maziyar Khatam helps Baba to hit home where it hurts and if you can find your way through to spending fifteen minutes with some truly terrible people you may also be able to find the wry humour in some rampant self-destruction. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic William Hemingway Short Film, World Cinema < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Limbo film review by UK film critic William Hemingway. Starring William Ferdinand Hansen, Ronar Rødberg Evanger directed by Arin Aksberg-Kristensen. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Limbo Film Review average rating is 2 out of 5 Critic: William Hemingway | Posted on: Apr 26, 2022 Directed by: Arin Aksberg-Kristensen Written by: Arin Aksberg-Kristensen Starring: William Ferdinand Hansen, Ronar Rødberg Evanger In Norway, a man struggles to come to terms with the ailing health and memory of his father whilst also trying to figure out his own place in the world – if indeed he still exists within it. Limbo , from film-maker Arin Aksberg-Kristensen is a long, slow-burn of a movie, despite only being thirteen minutes long. It takes an age to fade up from black and uses post-rock soundscaping to create its ominous atmosphere long before any plot is exposed. When we do get to the characterisation and dialogue, they are used sparingly, with short declarative sentences being the order of the day. The cinematography keeps things in black and white to enhance the ethereal feel while the aspect ratio shifts to signify that everything may not be as it seems. This, is Scandi-noir at its most basic. Produced by the Arctic University of Norway, Aksberg-Kristensen seems to have leaned on the Scandinavian greats to create his vision of Limbo . There are more than shades of Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) at play here, with the plot revolving around Lukas (Hansen) trying to stave off death while he gives himself some time to figure things out. Scenes are punctuated with moments of black static to further increase the feeling of an unwaking nightmare and there's some clever use of repetition and character switching to keep the audience guessing. Technically, Limbo is well put together with the music (also by Aksberg-Kristensen) and sound editing working well with the images on screen. There are plenty of slow moving pans and dynamic shots which give the feel of being an anonymous observer to Lukas' story, while a few quick cuts and camera tricks remind us that there is another level to what's going on. Ultimately though, Limbo ends up feeling rather slow and empty. There is very little characterisation as to just who Lukas, or the people in his life are, and the minimal conversations that are included come across as either banal or confusing. The Limbo in which Lukas supposedly exists may be one of death, or of impotence in the face of his father's decline, but this never becomes clear, even in what is apparently the film's resolution. There may be those who find Aksberg-Kristensen's film intriguing or fascinating but there is too little here that is anything new and it takes a long time for an awful lot of nothing to happen. There are plenty of ideas borrowed from other slow-burning, thoughtful movies but here they don't get the space to breathe or the right level of exposition to truly create something unique. Of course, in Limbo, the overall sense is one of not getting anywhere, but in film it's not a particular feeling that an audience enjoys. Treading water is just not the way to go. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic William Hemingway Short Film, World Cinema < All Reviews Next Film Review >