Directed by controversial biopic master Oliver Stone, Snowden is a dramatisation of the events in whistleblower Edward Snowden’s life leading up to the 2013 NSA leak. Speaking (via video link) at San Diego Comic Con earlier this year, Snowden himself expressed his discomfort with the movie being made at all, but went on to say: […]
The Autopsy of Jane Doe, directed by André Øvredal (Troll Hunter) is a horror movie riddled with cheap jump scares and overused tropes that all but bury the few interesting ideas and genuinely unnerving moments. Austin (Brian Cox) and Tommy Tilden (Emile Hirsch) are father-and-son coroners that are asked by the police to examine a […]
Since the introduction of The Da Vinci Code in 2003, Dan Brown’s books have become a phenomenon that has seen world-wide acclaim and extreme scrutiny. The action/mystery novels have sold millions of copies, penned numerous theological debates and Robert Langdon has become the most recognized fictional symbologist in the world. With this success, it would make sense that film […]
Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario) and written by Eric Heisserer, is an excellent science-fiction drama that offers a cerebral, grounded take on the idea of first contact. Linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is recruited by the US military to assist in the translation of alien communication when mysterious unidentified spacecraft appear in […]
A Billion Colour Story comes to the BFI London Film Festival as a debut from New Dehli director N. Padmakumar, and follows the life of Hari Aziz, a child of a mixed marriage. Culturally ‘forbidden’ relationships between Hindu and Muslim people particularly are a common theme in Indian media, but to tell the story from […]
I Am Not a Serial Killer, co-written and directed by Billy O’Brien, is a quirky, macabre thriller that explores some interesting ideas and is backed up by good performances, but ultimately falls short. John (Max Records) is a troubled teen that has been diagnosed with sociopathy, has a morbid fascination with death and is struggling […]
The Girl on the Train is the big screen version of the hugely popular book by Paula Hawkins starring Emily Blunt as the titular main character and the acclaimed director of The Help, Tate Taylor. Emily Blunt plays Rachel, a spiritually broken woman who spends her days riding the train back and forth while watching […]
Pyromaniac, directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg, is a beautiful Norwegian drama that doesn’t really know what to do with its fantastic setup. The setting is a small, secluded village in Norway. The son of the chief of the fire department, Dag (Trond Nilssen) has a secret, unhealthy obsession with fire that slowly begins to spiral completely […]
Wild, written and directed by Nicolette Krebitz, is a German drama that completely wastes an intriguing premise, because of awful execution. Ania (Lilith Stangenberg) is a young woman stuck in the trappings of day-to-day existence. She’s quiet and introverted, has a mundane, thankless job and a strained relationship with her family. One day she sees […]
Moonlight is a profoundly intimate character study with powerful performances, but its dramatic potential is completely undone by lackluster pacing. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight explores the life of a young African-American man named Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert, […]
