Everyone has their own line in the sand which they will not cross when it comes to settling down. Mine is those massive white canvasses with children in stripy knitwear leapfrogging over their siblings while mum and dad laugh heartily to one side. (I cling to the hope that when looked at from the corner… Vivarium (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Mickey And The Bear 4 stars
Hank, a veteran of the Iraq War, now spend his days looking for ways to dull the pain of PTSD and his painkiller addiction. His daughter Mickey, nearly 18, looks after him, their parent-child relationship turned on its head in too many ways. A coming-of-age drama about trying to escape when others are trying to… Mickey And The Bear Read More
Trick Or Treat 3 stars
I loved the characters in Halloween crime thriller Trick Or Treat, particularly new dad and ex-criminal Greg – who moans so much about the dullness of life with a wife and new baby he doesn’t even let up while driving round with brutal henchman Clarence in a quest to find his ne’er-do-well brother Dan, and… Trick Or Treat Read More
Good Heart – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Short Film 4.5 stars
At the start I didn’t understand what was happening but then I realised. The pictures look like they’ve been drawn with crayons. It’s from Russia but it doesn’t matter because the family in it just grunt. There is a family of Stone Age people and when the boy goes to collect apples he comes back… Good Heart – kids’ review! (short film – London Film Festival 2019) Read More
The Farewell (Sundance London) 5 stars
The Farewell is writer-director Lulu Wang’s second feature, and it’s a funny, bracing, tender and profoundly moving film. “Sexy but poor” is how Billi (Awkwafina) describes herself half-jokingly to her mother, visiting her parents while trying to avoid the apartment she always owes rent on. Her parents also live in New York, the whole family… The Farewell (Sundance London) Read More
Playmobil: The Movie 3 stars
I have a soft spot for Playmobil, and not only because it’s easier on parental feet when you tread on it in the dark than arch-nemesis Lego, which like its tie-in films is considerably sharper-edged than this smooth German rival. But while Playmobil:The Movie lacks the bite of the Lego films, this is still a colourful,… Playmobil: The Movie Read More
I Love My Mum 3 stars
Bickering – so easy to do in real life – is a vastly underrated acting skill. I Love my Mum, the new comedy from writer-director Alberto Sciamma, is soundtracked to the constant hum of tiny aggressions and endless reproaches, a stuck record that needs a kick in order to jump forward. Olga (Kierston Wareing) and… I Love My Mum Read More
Always Be My Maybe 3.5 stars
Sasha Tran (Ali Wong) is magazine cover-famous. She’s a top chef with a successful LA restaurant, another about to open in San Francisco, and a New York venue coming later. Her childhood friend friend Marcus Kim (Randall Park) is lamppost-famous. His flyers for his 15-year-old band Hello Peril have finally reached the other side of San Francisco,… Always Be My Maybe Read More
INTERVIEW: Eaten By Lions director Jason Wingard: “comedy thrives when the performers are taking chances”
Jason Wingard’s British comedy Eaten By Lions follows teenage brothers Omar and Pete as they head to Blackpool in search of Omar’s absent father. Starring Antonio Aakeel as Omar and comedian Jack Carroll as Pete, the supporting cast includes comic greats Johnny Vegas, Asim Chaudhry and Tom Binns. A hilarious and sharp take on family in modern Britain,… INTERVIEW: Eaten By Lions director Jason Wingard: “comedy thrives when the performers are taking chances” Read More
Fighting With My Family – 1 Minute Video Review Includes Video 4 stars
Read the full Fighting With My Family review Cast / director interviews, film clips and images
Hereditary 4 stars
A creaky floorboard and a clicking tongue. Two sounds you don’t want to hear when you’re alone in the house and the only tongue clicker you know of is your dead sister. “I never wanted to be your mother” Annie says to her teenage son Peter (Alex Wolff), “it wasn’t my fault and I tried… Hereditary Read More
Bird Box 3 stars
A stern and cold-voiced woman tells two 5 year olds named Boy and Girl that they’re going on a dangerous journey and if they don’t do what she says she will hurt them. It’s a frightening opening to this film about motherhood, not just because of the calamity it hints at but also because this… Bird Box Read More