So I Erased His Face film review by UK film critic Amber Jackson. Starring Sophia Haslé and Benjamin Kauffman directed by Yimeng Yuan. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS So I Erased His Face Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Amber Jackson | Posted on: Dec 8, 2022 Directed by: Yimeng Yuan Written by: Yimeng Yuan Starring: Sophia Haslé and Benjamin Kauffman Trigger warning for the film: abuse So I Erased His Face is a twelve minute short drama that uncovers the traumatic wounds of an aspiring painter. Apparently inspired by true events, the female protagonist is wounded and worrisome as she must process very complex thoughts and emotions throughout the film. Saddening and with vulnerability, this is a delicately beautiful film that pairs aesthetics with grief to convey a strong message. The painter is ultimately recovering from a toxic relationship which is understandably very upsetting. As a result, she has selectively forgotten moments of a toxic relationship much like a response to trauma. Yet at the same time, she still wants to remember fonder moments of this time perhaps in an attempt to make peace with what happened to her. This is all explored through her sensational artwork and a fixation on paint during every scene, which director Yimeng Yuan builds up to very quickly and thereby creating a kaleidoscope of imagery and expression for the viewer to gaze at. Consistent metaphors of painting and artistry are constantly present in the film, as the artist speaks on the journey of conception to completion of a piece of art. It is a very quotable script mostly in part due to its intensity as every line is intended to be raw and palpable as we are invited to experience the painter’s life alongside her. This allows for the short to feel very avant-garde, as the camera intrudes upon the painter and holds our gaze obsessively on painting as well as following the characters interacting with the art. Yimeng Yuan allows us into the space, but also challenges us within it. Atmospherically, the film feels foreboding and forlorn. Alongside the up-close-and-personal camera, most scenes being dimly lit is an intriguing contrast and makes the tone ominous. This is definitely explicit insight for the viewer with regards to how the painter feels. Likewise, it is a very quiet film, with some score that reflects a sombre mood. As the painter over-analyses past events and her responses to them, it is equal parts pensive and painful to see her struggle alone. Yet, it does not feel exploitative for her inner psyche to be deconstructed on screen, rather validating and empowering for her to share her story even though she has perhaps not come to terms with it. This short film about abuse and agony is brilliant and challenging watch with the sensitive subject matter tackled on screen. Although painful for the protagonist, there is a slither of hope for her future that the viewer must hold on to. Ultimately, So I Erased His Face is a very moving and powerful watch. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Amber Jackson Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

An Imperfect Cadence film review by UK film critic William Hemingway. Starring Louisa Connolly-Burnham, Jennifer Preston directed by Nathan Haines. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS An Imperfect Cadence Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: William Hemingway | Posted on: Apr 26, 2025 Directed by: Nathan Haines Written by: Nathan Haines Starring: Louisa Connolly-Burnham, Jennifer Preston A young, aspiring harpist gets tangled in the strings, as well as in her relationship with her mother, as the biggest audition of her life looms. Yvonne (Connolly-Burnham) is a session musician who is on the up-and-up. She has gained a mastery of the harp and is managing to impress those who are paying her to play, so much so that she has been offered an audition for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. At home, Yvonne’s mum, Maria (Preston), who is also a harpist, is just as excited as she is, except for the fact that her years of experience in the industry are telling her that they both need to keep their feet on the ground. This sort of tough love and hard-won appreciation from her mother is something that Yvonne has had to deal with her whole life, and it’s written all over her face. Still, she knows it’s time to get down to some hard graft, and so she sets about practising the prescribed compositions of Henriette Renié with all the vigour of a seasoned performer. However, in a nod to The Witches Of Eastwick (1987), Yvonne begins to practise so hard that she breaks a string and severely cuts her finger, introducing a thread where we find out that she has a pre-existing problem with her hands. This condition remains undisclosed throughout the entire film and is never mentioned outright. Instead, we watch as Yvonne continues to pop pills at regular intervals and we see that her hand gradually becomes more and more discoloured the longer that she plays. Maria, far from being Mother of the Year, then begins to get a twinkle in her eye and an idea pops into her brain which could help them both out as Yvonne struggles to get herself ready for the all-important audition. The relationship between mother and daughter then becomes the main driver of conflict, more so than the relationship between musician and instrument. The main themes then, in An Imperfect Cadence , are well handled by writer/director Nathan Haines. The double hander of the women’s relationship adding pressure to the life-changing audition works well, and the two themes intertwine seamlessly with each other. The acting from both leads adds to the realism of the story, with Louisa Connolly-Burnham and Jennifer Preston each naturally embodying their characters, keeping the everyday actions of living together as much in the foreground as the more performative aspects of what they are trying to achieve. With neither actress having previously played the harp before this film, the stand-in shots integrate perfectly into the scenes, and it’s impossible to tell that it’s not them creating the music we hear. However, there is at times a slight mismatch between the audio and the visual, where the ADR takes the audience out of a scene and causes a disconnect between the viewer and the film. This, along with a few continuity issues, such as a finger obviously not getting caught in a drawer as it’s played to be, and Maria somehow being trapped inside a locked house behind a Yale lock, along with the unexplained hand condition, detract somewhat from the overall enjoyment of the film. What Haines has managed to achieve with An Imperfect Cadence is truly impressive, with professionals from a large number of specialities being drafted in, across several locations, to contribute to the final product. His abilities as a director of people may well outshine his abilities as a director of film, however, and there are aspects of An Imperfect Cadence that just don’t come across that well. The story and the dialogue are very well fleshed out though, and they carry the themes throughout the film all the way to the denouement, which, in turn, may or may not appeal to the viewer with the ease of which it is achieved. There is plenty to recommend An Imperfect Cadence to the viewer for the fifteen minutes that it runs for, but at times it may be that Haines was more prescient than he knew when it came to naming his film, as the wrong notes are all too easy to pick out. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic William Hemingway Digital / DVD Release, Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Remembering Gene Wilder film review by UK film critic Hope Madden. Starring Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Carol Kane directed by Ron Frank. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Remembering Gene Wilder Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Hope Madden | Posted on: Apr 3, 2024 Directed by: Ron Frank Written by: Glenn Kirschbaum Starring: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks, Carol Kane Maybe the smartest choice director Ron Frank made when putting together his affectionate documentary Remembering Gene Wilder was to pull audio from Wilder’s own autobiography. Sure, we hear from many who loved the comic actor—Mel Brooks, Carol Kane, Alan Alda among them. But everything they tell you about his authenticity, humility, humanity, and perfect comic timing you can hear for yourself as Wilder spills the beans on his life. You remember the hair, of course. And probably those eyes. But that voice proves, in case you have forgotten, that there was something deeply, bubblingly, undeniably delightful about Gene Wilder. And he could act. Frank, working with writer Glenn Kirschbaum, hand picks some of Wilder’s best scenes. Not necessarily the most iconic, but the most confounding, the scenes where he made a creative decision no one else would have considered, creating an indelible moment on screen. This is a film that loves Gene Wilder, and it makes a pretty good case for that. We hear about is childhood, about Willy Wonka, Young Frankenstein , Richard Pryor, Gilda. Each story showcases the gentle, charming creature that was Gene Wilder. Though Frank doesn’t break any new ground cinematically—talking head interviews flank home movies, film clips surround family photos—the mellow approach belies a deep emotional connection. Remembering Gene Wilder is not just a greatest hits. Although the film does not delve into any of the actor/director’s box office or critical missteps—nor does it devote a single moment to anything that would make Wilder out to be anything other than a treasure—it acknowledges low times. Even those just make you want to hug him. Not every film or character of Wilder’s has aged well, but his good nature and talent shine none the dimmer. Remembering Gene Wilder certainly does not unearth any ugliness, bares no startling truths. It’s clearly the product of a filmmaker who truly loves his subject. He doesn’t seem wrong, though. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Hope Madden Theatrical Release, Documentary < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Zeroes and Ones film review by UK film critic Hope Madden. Starring Ethan Hawke directed by Abel Ferrara. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Zeroes and Ones Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Hope Madden | Posted on: Nov 17, 2021 Directed by: Abel Ferrara Written by: Abel Ferrara Starring: Ethan Hawke Abel Ferrara, man. Dude refuses to follow a traditional film structure, and sometimes that works so well. Bad Lieutenant and The Addiction — two of my favorites — took on a dreamlike atmosphere thanks to the filmmaker’s loose structure and it suited both pictures. Beginning with 2014’s Pasolini, Ferrara seems to have abandoned the standard framework entirely, his films becoming more dreamlike than lucid. His latest, Zeros and Ones , follows that path. Ethan Hawke stars in this hazily connected sequence of scenes emphasizing one man’s journey toward a realization about himself, his brother and the world around him. Hawke plays both the journeyman, a military specialist of some kind, and his brother, a freedom fighter in Rome. Hawke wanders empty post-pandemic Rome as bits of military and religious debauchery and double-crossing weave and bob across the screen. Meanwhile, Hawke’s voiceover oscillates between meta-Christian reflections and calls to action. For his part, Hawke delivers two discernibly different characters, sure, but in keeping with Ferrara’s themes, two distinct types: apostle and wayward soldier. Nothing feels scripted, and with a veteran like Hawke, that works out fine. Like Willem Dafoe in so many of Ferrara’s recent films, Hawke inhabits the desolate dreamscape with a weary resignation, a ghost guiding us toward some dark inevitability. Zeros and Ones is a pandemic film, but rather than feeling like a filmmaker doing whatever they can with the situation, this one seems like an opportunity Ferrara has been waiting for. He isn’t doing his best within unreasonable constrictions, he’s finally found that empty, nihilistic apocalypse he’s prepared for. The empty streets and lonesome, masked figures feel apiece of his greater goal. What was that goal? What is it always? The world is filth, hope is futile, man is doomed. You’ve seen his films, right? If so, you probably already know where you’ll fall on Zeros and Ones . It is less poetic and self-indulgent than Tommaso or Siberia , less sensible than his earlier work, and less compelling than a lot of what he’s done. And the explosions look ridiculous. And yet, there is nothing quite like an Abel Ferrara film. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Hope Madden Theatrical Release, Digital / DVD Release, Indie Feature Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Passenger film review by UK film critic Jason Knight. Starring Boo Miller, Gzi Wisdom, Mark Scott directed by Nancy Page. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Passenger Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Jason Knight | Posted on: Nov 4, 2021 Directed by: Nancy Page Written by: Nancy Page Starring: Boo Miller, Gzi Wisdom, Mark Scott A distressing story about the aftermath of a devastating car accident. Ashley (Miller) is driving in the countryside, with her friend Dania (Wisdom) in the passenger seat. The car ends up crashing, ending Dania's life. Shocked by what has happened, Ashley flees the scene and goes to her house, where she gathers her stuff, with the apparent intention of running away. Then her father (Scott), who is a police officer, returns home, unaware of the situation. Ashley decides to confess the incident to him, causing him to consider how far he is willing to go to protect his daughter. Page worked on this short dark drama for her final year at Arts University Bournemouth. The story explores how a tragic event affects the lives of a man and his daughter and particularly the effects it has on the relationship between them. Generally, the atmosphere is rather downbeat, with Ashley becoming distressed following the collision. The narrative is nonlinear, the majority of which takes place after the accident and there are flashbacks of the two girls in the car prior to the crash. The dialogue is limited, which adds to the sadness that is created by the fateful event. Miller is very emotional as a person who has just being through a terrible experience and does not know what to do. Scott is a strong individual who cares deeply for his daughter. As mentioned, there is not a great deal of spoken words, often leaving the audience to rely on the characters' facial expressions and body language in order to understand their emotions and the protagonists achieve that very effectively. Director of photography Joseph Mullin delivers beautiful cinematography that creates an atmosphere that goes well with the story's bleak tone. Composer George Juchau develops a dramatic score. Passenger is an accomplishment that had a lot of work and dedication put into it. It tells a grim story about the consequences that a tragedy has on two people and it does so quite vividly. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Jason Knight Short Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

No Place For Football film review by UK film critic Jason Knight. Starring Patrick Frederiksen, Jimmy Holm Jensen, Noah Molgaard directed by Brandon Scott Smith, Derek Sullivan Smith. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS No Place For Football Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Jason Knight | Posted on: May 29, 2026 Directed by: Brandon Scott Smith, Derek Sullivan Smith Written by: N/A Starring: Patrick Frederiksen, Jimmy Holm Jensen, Noah Molgaard Brandon Scott Smith and Derek Sullivan Smith direct this inspiring and informative documentary feature about a football club in Greenland. No Place For Football celebrated its World Premiere at the DocLands Film Festival and will be available on Digital Download from 29 of May. In Greenland, footbal clubs from across the country gather for the most unique football season on earth. Not been paid to do so, their sole goal is to become champions of Greenland. This is the Greenlandic Football Championship and it is considered special as the finals last only one week. The documentary follows the members of the B-67 (Boldklubben af 67), the most successful football team to have won the championship. At first, viewers are introduced to the coaches and players, before moving to their preparations for the event and finally, the match itself. Some of the interviewees include captain for B-67 Patrick Frederiksen, Soren Kreutzmann and Aiko Nielsen, both of them players for B-67, Interim Head Coach for B-67, Nicolai Nielsen and Morten Rutkjaer, the Greenland National Team Head Coach. All these individuals share their experiences, providing an account regarding what it involves participating in this highly-anticipated event and viewers get an insight into their lives. Crucially, this feature acknowledges that pursuing football in Greenland, especially on a high level, can be demanding and this is due to the challenges of around this vast country, which include lack of roads and harsh weather conditions. Beautifully shot, this documentary reveals the natural beauties of Greenland as a country thanks to well-executed shots and the frequent animation sequences deserve commendations for the creativity. Additionally, the beautiful music by Joe Bridges and Mike Maclennan makes the viewing even more pleasant. Obviously, this is a sports documentary, a documentary about football to be more precise and to be even more precise, a documentary about football in Greenland, what it means to its citizens and to all people who support it in general. It emphasises the significance of pursuing dreams, people uniting for a purpose and states that when the odds are against them, one can still succeed. A documentary that is not just for football fans but for those who wish to view a film that shows what can be accomplished with unity and determination. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Jason Knight Documentary, Indie Feature Film, Digital / DVD Release < All Reviews Next Film Review >

City of Steel film review by UK film critic Patrick Foley. Starring Bruce Spiegel directed by Bruce Spiegel . HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS City of Steel Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Patrick Foley | Posted on: Dec 17, 2022 Directed by: Bruce Spiegel Written by: Bruce Spiegel Starring: Bruce Spiegel City of Steel is an old-school, heartfelt documentary from director Bruce Spiegel about the steel-working industry of his native Pittsburgh, and how the slow destruction of the union movement allowed its collapse. Rather fitting, given our own current political climate… Spiegel uses a mixture of archive and interview footage to cover the history of Pittsburgh’s steelworks, and the men and women who risked life and limb to keep them running. The documentary covers the industry from its genesis in the region, through to the industrial boom and battles between the workers and huge corporate bosses, to the industry’s collapse in the Reagan years. Spiegel’s own life in the area is interspersed with the historical story, as the importance of heavy industry to Pittsburgh residents is highlighted. Much like the industry it documents, there is a sense that they don’t make documentaries like City of Steel anymore. Slower and more considered than many contemporary works, Bruce Spiegel uses a PBS-style approach to his story of steel – meticulously profiling the key figures and places who played a role in making Pittsburgh the heart of American industry – and those who pulled that heart out over many years. The interspersal of the city with his own life adds a personal touch, and the contributions from former workers and their families contribute immensely to the sense of pride built in the industry from those who ran it. Spiegel’s own life story does distract somewhat from the historical accounting of the battles between the business and the unions – which are brilliantly covered and engagingly interpreted even for those with no knowledge of the subject. There is worth in Spiegel’s story, and it creates an empathetic bond between the audience and him as a narrator and guide through the film. However his tale too often feels disjointed and separate from the topic, and may lead to some confusion why so much time is spent away from the film’s advertised focus. Production on the documentary does feel somewhat rough, with interview footage occasionally failing to match the standards of the archival footage in clarity. The audio of these interviews also doesn’t match Spiegel’s calming and crisp narration. These are largely forgivable imperfections, and actually feel somewhat appropriate for a documentary covering a time past. The identification and choices of archival footage however is a hugely impressive undertaking, with rare and obscure footage helping to truly colour the historical period stretching from the 1800s to the present day. Audiences will click instantly with the passion emanating from City of Steel. Much like an old Pittsburgh steel-mill, it is clunky and creaky in parts, but reliably gets the job done, with old-school, sensible storytelling. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Patrick Foley Digital / DVD Release, Indie Feature Film, Documentary < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Fitting In film review by UK film critic Christie Robb. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire directed by Molly McGlynn. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Fitting In Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Christie Robb | Posted on: Feb 1, 2024 Directed by: Molly McGlynn Written by: Molly McGlynn Starring: Maddie Ziegler, Emily Hampshire It’s hard enough being a typical teenage girl. Then, layer on being the new girl in school. With a single mom who is taking on side hustles to pay for college tuition and breast reconstructive surgery post mastectomy. Then, throw in a cute boy who has cheekbones that could cut granite who wants to go all the way, and a charismatic nonbinary hottie. And, just when you’ve found a ride-or-die BFF who will accompany you to the gynecologist for a birth control consult, you find out your reproductive organs decided to develop atypically. Instead of a canal you’ve got a dimple. Fitting everything in just got a whole lot more complicated. Writer/director Molly McGlynn’s background in TV comedy (she’s directed episodes of Grown-ish and Grace and Frankie ) serves her well in this feature. She can find the right balance of pathos and humor inherent in stuff like using a series of medical dildos to DIY a vagina. The movie is also semi-autobiographical and it always helps to write what you know. Maddie Ziegler (West Side Story) is perhaps a little bit more comfortable with delivering McGlynn’s one-liners than she is surrendering to the emotional depths. Her mom, played by Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek ) is a gem, sparkling with a wider emotional range. But Ziegler does an absolutely fantastic job conveying the body horror of being a newbie in stirrups acting like it’s normal to have a chit chat while some dude you just met with no bedside manner tries to plumb your hidden depths with a chilly metal device. Fitting In is sex positive and fun and smart and silly. It explores the way that binary notions of sex and gender are limiting. It can actually pull off opening with two quotes—one from Simone de Beauvoir and one from Diablo Cody (writer of 2007s Juno and the upcoming Lisa Frankenstein ). And the flick’s got the absolute best visual metaphors soundtracked to Peaches’ 2000 jam “Fuck the Pain Away.” Seriously. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Christie Robb Theatrical Release, LGBTQ+ < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Mayday film review by UK film critic Cat McAlpine. Starring Grace Van Patten, Mia Goth, Soko directed by Karen Cinorre. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Mayday Film Review average rating is 3 out of 5 Critic: Cat McAlpine | Posted on: Oct 1, 2021 Directed by: Karen Cinorre Written by: Karen Cinorre Starring: Grace Van Patten, Mia Goth, Soko Life’s hard for Ana, who is sleeping in her car and doing her best serving under her abusive boss. Although the time and place aren’t specified and don’t matter, the dark and dated dance hall she caters in suggests that Ana’s gloomy life is somewhere in Eastern Europe. But she won’t stay there for long. An act of violence shakes Ana (Grace Van Patten) from her stupor and in a dreamy mashup of Alice in Wonderland, Sucker Punch , and a hint of Sylvia Plath, Ana escapes her life by crawling through a glowing oven. On the other side, she discovers a ragtag group of girls – brutal and intoxicating Marsha (Mia Goth), hearty Gert (Soko), and sweet Bea (Havana Rose Liu). The girls play at war, picking off men from any side of an unknown eternal conflict to torture and kill. Instead of a magic tree house, they live inside the hull of an old U-Boat. Like coastal sirens, they hop on the airwaves and cry “Mayday,” leading men into storms and uncertain territory. Nervous at the thought of killing, Ana warns, “I’ve never been in a war.” “You’ve been in a war your whole life, you just don’t know it,” replies Marsha. Writer/Director Karen Cinorre creates a beautiful and increasingly dark dreamscape for Ana to explore her trauma, but the dialogue is heavy-handed while the plot stays meandering and loose. The result is a contemplative romp through female rage, painted like a grim fairytale that isn’t quite sure where it’s going. Aesthetically, the film is fantastic, and it is anchored by strong performances. Van Patten is enjoyable to watch as Ana comes into her own. Goth is terrifying and power-hungry, a believable cult leader. But Cinorre’s fever dream burns on too long and gets too caught up in its own rules of make-believe, casting off metaphor and leaving it for dead. War is a childlike fantasy playscape for the girls who feel powerless otherwise. But are they all dead? Is this a shared hallucination? Some of the players are characters from Ana’s own life while others are strangers. One scene implies that Ana has gunned down a whole camp of men, but it shows her doing a choreographed dance with them instead. Is this an illusion inside of an illusion? Mayday doesn’t stand up to questioning, which suits the fantastical film just fine most of the time. Ana must discover what measure of hope and rage suits her. Marsha is all rage. Bea all hope. And Gert doesn’t want to talk about it. As soon as Ana takes to killing men, she starts seeing all the ones who were kind to her before. And though their fairytale island is littered with ill-suited husbands and would-be rapists, Ana still struggles to condemn the whole kingdom of men. Ultimately, Mayday is a fine telling of how to find our rage and how to tend to our sadness without letting go of the good the world still has to offer. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Cat McAlpine Digital / DVD Release < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Sunday at Il Posto Accanto film review by UK film critic Chris Buick. Starring Victor Rasuk, Danny Hoch, Judy Marte, Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta. Julio Pena directed by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Sunday at Il Posto Accanto Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Chris Buick | Posted on: Sep 19, 2025 Directed by: Seth Zvi Rosenfeld Written by: Seth Zvi Rosenfeld Starring: Victor Rasuk, Danny Hoch, Judy Marte, Beatrice Tosti di Valminuta. Julio Pena It's August 8, 2021, and in the Lower East Side of New York City, in the early aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, a local restaurant is buzzing with life, once again becoming a hub where friends, neighbors, and even strangers are reconnecting and finding their way back into the world together. At Il Posto Accanto, a real restaurant on East 2nd Street run by Julio and his wife Beatriz (and starring here as themselves), it’s as much about creating a space for people to come together as it is the delicious food, more about putting smiles on faces than cash in the register. This philosophy is what lies at the heart of Sunday at Il Posto Acconto, writer/director Seth Rosenfeld’s touching drama that looks to celebrate the beauty of human connection versus the realities of the pandemic through a series of heartwarming and authentic vignettes skillfully woven around a more poignant central narrative, showing just how wonderful - and at times crazy - people can be. Julio and Beatriz task Sixto (Rasuk), the seemingly playboy freeloader treating their home as a hotel, with finally getting friend Danny (Hoch) out of the house and back with them. However, while most have embraced the liberation back into the world with gusto, for Danny, the scars left from everything that happened in the preceding eighteen months run a bit too deep, creating problems for his marriage, his health and his sanity, while Sixto himself fears going back to his own home, filled with the awful memories of isolation while infected. This dramatic spine of the film takes a while to find its feet and purpose within it, unsure where its leading us at first, but both Rasuk and Hoch are admirable and persistent in their performances, feeling true and captivating especially in their candid confrontations with each other, lamenting the kinds of thoughts, fears and doubts that anyone who lived through the pandemic will be all too familiar with, while the film also uses this space to touch upon other aspects such as misinformation and fearmongering. By the time we get to Danny’s eventual exodus from his apartment into the big wide world, the time spent with these characters pays off in its boisterous final third. What is best about the film is how it simply flows, the whole thing has this kind of a loose feel about it, never too worried about structure or plot points it has to hit. This off-the-cuff nature as we step in and out of each intriguing little vignette, jumping from table to table to get a few more sentences to illuminate more and more about each of these fascinating and diverse patrons, really makes the piece feel alive. It’s a film that makes its point and hits your feels with aplomb, full of heart and love all the while bringing to life the indistinguishable character of such a unique city as New York. Ultimately, Sunday at Il Posto Acconto is a brilliantly touching story about resilience and how people need people to not just survive but to thrive, something we perhaps need a little reminding of from time to time. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Chris Buick Indie Feature Film < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Mandrake film review by UK film critic Hope Madden. Starring Dierdre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty directed by Lynne Davison. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Mandrake Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Hope Madden | Posted on: Nov 8, 2022 Directed by: Lynne Davison Written by: Matt Harvey Starring: Dierdre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty I have about six different cousins named Cathy Madden, but Lynne Davison’s Mandrake is not about any of them. I hope. Davison’s tale follows probation officer Cathy Madden (Dierdre Mullins), whose recently assigned client, Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty), has the county in a tizzy. Old “Bloody” Mary is thought to be a witch, you see, and no one’s too keen on her being let out after what she did to her husband in those woods. Twenty years wasn’t long enough. It’s tough to do something surprising within the witch genre. These films generally fall into two categories: she’s evil and in league with Satan, or she’s misunderstood and being wronged by hateful townfolk. Davison blurs that line. Her handling of Matt Harvey’s script treads a provocative path of moral ambiguity that requires constant guesswork and generates real dread. Connor Rotherham’s cinematography draws out the best in Vanessa O’Connor’s production design to give Bloody Mary’s environment a primal, organic and dizzying feel. Everything is draped in moss and knotted with roots. You can almost smell the rotting leaves. It’s gorgeous and dense, simultaneously lovely and terrifying. Crotty, all wild hair and knowing eyes, blends effortlessly into this primordial world. Mullins perfectly complements that performance with her own complex take on Madden. Straightforward with no time for nonsense, the parole officer still weakens, and Mullins finds depth here. The two performers play on their opposing look and vibe not to illustrate differences but to unveil sympathies. Mandrake never falls back on one-dimensionality. Characters are messy. They do the wrong thing, then the right thing; behave monstrously and also with kindness. The film is also mercifully light on religion, instead pitting the scientific world against something older. Whether that world and its options are more sinister is in the eye of the beholder. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Hope Madden Digital / DVD Release < All Reviews Next Film Review >

Theater Camp film review by UK film critic Hope Madden. Starring Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Nick Galvin directed by Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman. HOME | FILMS | REVIEWS Theater Camp Film Review average rating is 4 out of 5 Critic: Hope Madden | Posted on: Jul 26, 2023 Directed by: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman Written by: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman Starring: Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Nick Galvin There are certain comedies that feel lovingly, mockingly plucked from experience. The School of Rock . Wet Hot American Summer . Theater Camp. The premise of the latter is relatively familiar: a summerlong theater camp will be foreclosed on or snapped up by a spendier competitor unless somehow, some way, a little inspiration and a little fairy dust help the lights and the show go on. At the center of the crisis: Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon, who also co-writes and co-directs). Amos instructs in drama, Rebecca-Diane reads auras, conducts seances, and teaches musical theory. The pair has been inseparable since childhood – a conceit made all the more believable with the actual archival footage of wee Gordon and Platt, both 4-years-old, dancing together onstage. Touches like this help to develop the feeling that this is a lived-in love, a mash note to the awkward, petty, ridiculous, glorious, accepting, embracing, creative community that forms artists. Both Platt and Gordon deliver touching, flawed, funny performances. The balance of the ensemble shines as well. Jimmy Tatro nails the earnest dumbass bro pegged to run the camp while his mother (Amy Sedaris – genius as always) is in a coma. Co-writer Noah Galvin offers a sneaky comic presence from his opening moments and eventually steals the show (and the show within the show). I would have loved to see the Janet (Ayo Edebiri) side story developed. Edebiri’s every moment of screentime is an understated riot. Likewise Sedaris, with little more than a cameo, was missed when she was off screen. But the large cast, most with limited screen time, manages to craft memorably eccentric characters who come together to create a community. This is the film’s real magic, something the cast and filmmakers – including Gordon’s co-writer and co-director, Nick Lieberman – convey with mockery borne of familiarity and love. Theater kids are bound to see themselves here, and the loose structure and inside jokes may weaken the experience for everyone else. But underneath the affectionate mockery lurks a moving testament to the nurturing effect of belonging. Buy UKFR Banner Space About the Film Critic Hope Madden Theatrical Release < All Reviews Next Film Review >