WARNING: Spoilery if you haven’t seen the trailer I’ve categorised this as a comedy thriller, as aspects of it – Isabelle Huppert’s lusciously frenzied performance, a gleefully hideous injury (in close-up!), the shriekingly signalling music – position it like that, though the rest of the cast play it straight and there aren’t any jokes as… Greta Read More
Pet Sematary (2019) 3 stars
Nothing sums up the difference between city and country in Pet Sematary better than the story of the reanimated prize bull. The people of Ludlow in rural Maine combine practicality and belief in old legends, encapsulated by the tale of a local farmer who used a supernatural burial ground to bring back his most valuable animal…. Pet Sematary (2019) Read More
Padre 3.5 stars
“The space behind you is as important as the one in front of you” says James (Willem Dafoe), guiding his female performers as they rehearse his new play. It’s a good analogy for grief and death as journeys. I’ve found that when it comes to grief, once that initial crushing of the ribs has lessened,… Padre Read More
The Babadook 4.5 stars
As six year old Samuel’s doctor says, “all children see monsters”. Or hear them, under the bed and on the stairs. It’s a response to something they can’t control, and a way of making sense of big events in their lives. Most aren’t stalked through the darkness by a terrifying black hatted figure who wants… The Babadook Read More