Film review archive

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B — 1209 results

• Blood Of My Blood (2011)

  Review preview for Blood Of My Blood

  One of the most affecting films of the year.

  An intense family melodrama set in the outskirts of Lisbon.
• Blood On Her Name (2019)

  Review preview for Blood On Her Name

  Lind is compelling in the lead.

  A woman's panicked decision to cover up an accidental killing spins out of control when her conscience demands she return the dead man's body to his family.
• The Blood On Satan's Claw (1971)

  Review preview for The Blood On Satan's Claw

  It touches on an underlying anxiety in British society as few other films have done.

  In 17th Century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of Devil worshipers.
• Blood Paradise (2018)

  Review preview for Blood Paradise

  Winter is a competent lead (as well as doing half the other jobs involved in production) and keeps Robin believable despite all the absurdity around her.

  A crime writer visiting a retreat encounters a collection of unusual people who may be more dangerous than they seem.
• Blood Quantum (2019)

  Review preview for Blood Quantum

  There's some interesting material here but there's also much that's mediocre.

  The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi'gMaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.
• Blood Shine (2025)

  Review preview for Blood Shine

  There is visceral violence in Bennett and Brooks’ film, an explicit study of some of the dynamics of self harm, at times eroticised, and a lot of blood. Still, it is essentially a character-driven piece.

  In her remote country home, a religious zealot takes a young filmmaker captive, claiming her sadistic rituals will change him into a god.
• Blood Vessel (2019)

  Review preview for Blood Vessel

  This is a B-movie, there's no denying that, but it's a B-movie made with love and no small measure of skill.

  Somewhere in the North Atlantic, late 1945. A lift raft adrift at sea, and in it, the survivors of a torpedoed hospital ship: With no food, water, or shelter, all seems lost - until an abandoned German minesweeper drifts ominously towards them, giving them one last chance at survival.
• Blowin' Up (2018)

  Review preview for Blowin' Up

  A refreshing look at the realities of a world that most people have strong opinions on but few really know much about.

  In a courtroom in Queens, women facing prostitution charges may earn a chance at redemption thanks to an experimental programme. Documentary.
• Blow-Up (1966)

  Review preview for Blow-Up

  For better or worse, Antonioni’s got his master stylist hat on here, even if it sometimes obscures his vision.

  A fashion photographer believes he may have caught something sinister on camera.
• Bludgeon (2018)

  Review preview for Bludgeon

  In trying to walk a line between geek and jock it paints (and washes and drybrushes) itself into a corner.

  Documentary about competitive medieval combat.
• Blueback (2022)

  Review preview for Blueback

  Robert Connolly successfully delivers a story which has enough nuance to keep adults from getting bored whilst remaining accessible to younger viewers.

  The story of a child who befriends a magnificent wild blue grouper while diving. When she realises that the fish is under threat, she takes inspiration from her activist mother, and takes on poachers to save her friend.
• Blueberry Dreams (2024)

  Review preview for Blueberry Dreams

  The documentary shows how a filmmaker’s genuine connection to the people and the subject-matter of her work reveals the true heart of the story.

  Amid border tensions in Abkhazia, a family tries to farm blueberries.
• The Blues Brothers (1980)

  Review preview for The Blues Brothers

  Comes close to redefining cool.

  Two sometime blues musicians and petty crooks aim to put on the biggest show of their lives to raise the money to save the orphanage where they grew up.
• The Blue Angel (1930)

  Review preview for The Blue Angel

  The Blue Angel has all the ingredients of a classic moral tragedy.

  A middle-aged professor becomes infatuated with a night club dancer.
• Blue Bag Life (2022)

  Review preview for Blue Bag Life

  There's a poignant sense of poetry underlying some of her interactions, while at other times she simply conveys pure rawness of feeling.

  Documentary portrait of a life touched by addiction.
• Blue Beetle (2023)

  Review preview for Blue Beetle

  To give new talent these budgets and underexplored characters and knock out this kind of assembly line nonsense is what got printed comic books into the doldrums that they're still in.

  An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armour which is capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle.
• The Blue Caftan (2022)

  Review preview for The Blue Caftan

  Covert glances and dauntless gestures between the three protagonists, that keep us guessing about who knows what, weave a web as diaphanous as the stitching on fine cloth.

  Halim and Mina own a small family tailor shop that specializes in sewing ceremonial caftans. Since traditional hand-crafted work is time-consuming, Halim decides to hire an assistant, Youssef. The presence of the attractive young man arouses long-suppressed feelings in Halim, something that does not go unnoticed by his wife Mina.
• Blue Caprice (2013)

  Review preview for Blue Caprice

  When it comes to what ultimately drove these two men to kill, Porto and Moors are more interested in difficult questions than easy answers and their film hits its target hard.

  Psychological drama about the men responsible for the Beltway sniper attacks.
• Blue Eyes (2021)

  Review preview for Blue Eyes

  At 86 minutes it absolutely whips along, but still finds time for dozens of moments of genuine beauty.

  A thief on a motorbike taunts the police in Rome.
• Blue Giant (2023)

  Review preview for Blue Giant

  When Blue Giant steps away from anime cliché it puts its foot straight into light entertainment.

  When a student receives a saxophone as a gift, he starts practising immediately, and finds himself drawn into the world of jazz.
• Blue Iguana (2018)

  Review preview for Blue Iguana

  Rockwell could have played this role in his sleep but makes as effort nonetheless, and Schwartz holds his own.

  Two small time US criminals get out of their depth after being persuaded to travel to England to steal a mysterious package.
• Blue Is The Warmest Colour (2013)

  Review preview for Blue Is The Warmest Colour

  A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

  Two young women fall unexpectedly and passionately in love.
• Blue Jasmine (2013)

  Review preview for Blue Jasmine

  Blue Jasmine has all the wit and insight of classics from Allen's autumnal period.

  A troubled woman travels to San Francisco to spend time with the sister she hardly knows.
• Blue Jean (2022)

  Review preview for Blue Jean

  Everything about McEwen’s performance sings with stress, from the way she reacts to casual comments to the manner in which she lights increasing numbers of cigarettes.

  A schoolteacher is forced to live a double life against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain.
• Blue Moon (2021)

  Review preview for Blue Moon

  Chitu gives a quietly dignified performance, gradually letting us see Irina’s strength through her resilience.

  A young woman struggles to access higher education and escape the violence of her dysfunctional family.
• Blue Moon (2025)

  Review preview for Blue Moon

  As Blue Moon progresses it becomes clear that the one thing Hart really wants is to be wanted.

  On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the opening night of his groundbreaking hit musical Oklahoma!.
• Blue My Mind (2017)

  Review preview for Blue My Mind

  An astonishing debut.

  When a teenager who has trouble with her parents moves to Zurich with them, she starts to walk on the wild side.
• Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story (2024)

  Review preview for Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

  An overflowing life is presented to us through archival interviews and film clips, and most revealingly through on-camera insights from O’Brien herself.

  A portrayal of Irish writer Edna O'Brien's writing, loves, stardom, and unconventional life.
• The Blue Rose (2023)

  Review preview for The Blue Rose

  Baron, who at just 18-years-old is a prodigy by anyone’s standards, weaves a tapestry of Lynchian threads through this gorgeously presented film but ends up with something which works on its own merits.

  Two rookie cops are determined to solve a seemingly clear-cut homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality of their worst nightmares.
• Blue Sunshine (2023)

  Review preview for Blue Sunshine

  Blue Sunshine was made by a woman who has been through it herself, and that shows in every fibre of the film.

  A high school teacher undergoes transition to her new life while working in a conservative small-town school.
• The Blue Trail (2025)

  Review preview for The Blue Trail

  When you get old, hope you find someone who looks at you the way Mascaro looks at Tereza and Roberta.

  To maximise economic productivity, the government orders the elderly to relocate to distant housing colonies. Tereza, 77, refuses – and instead embarks on a journey through the Amazon that will change her destiny forever.
• Blue Velvet (1986)

  Review preview for Blue Velvet

  One of the great masterpieces of modern cinema

  A young man befriends a woman in trouble and discovers a sinister side to life in his small town.
• #Blue_Whale (2021)

  Review preview for #Blue_Whale

  This is a decent little thriller which benefits from very strong design.

  Researching the death of her younger sister, a schoolgirl comes across a sickening social media game that encourages youths to take horrific self-harm challenges. Aiming to hunt down those responsible for her sister’s death, she registers for the game, opening a doorway into the cruellest of hidden online worlds.
• Blur: To The End (2024)

  Review preview for Blur: To The End

  It's entertaining enough if you're familiar.

  Portrait of the band as they prepare an album.
• Boatbuilders (2026)

  Review preview for Boatbuilders

  Lorentzen is not looking to question the process but to admire it and, acting as his own cinematographer, he elegantly achieves that goal.

  Consideration of a community of boatbuilders in Maine.
• Bobby (2006)

  Review preview for Bobby

  Estevez uses Bobby’s words too much, but you can’t blame him, because Kennedy’s compassion and sympathy for the underprivileged shines.

  Who was in the hotel on the night that Robert Kennedy was shot?
• Bobi Wine: The People's President (2022)

  Review preview for Bobi Wine: The People's President

  Though we spend a good part of the film inside offices or private homes, there is also a lot of footage from the streets, where passions run high.

  A documentary about how Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musical star Bobi Wine took on the regime led by Yoweri Museveni, the person who led the country for 35 years.
• Bob's Burgers: The Movie (2022)

  Review preview for Bob's Burgers: The Movie

  Well executed and simply done is the essence of a good burger, and the movie manages it.

  The Belchers try to save the restaurant from closing as a sinkhole forms in front of it, while the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family's restaurant.
• Bob And The Monster (2011)

  Review preview for Bob And The Monster

  Bob And The Monster takes an affectionate look at rock and a fresh look at drug addiction.

  Musician Bob Forrest talks about his days with Thelonius Monster and his struggle with heroin addiction.
• Bob Spit - We Don't Like People (2021)

  Review preview for Bob Spit - We Don't Like People

  Undoubtedly among the most impressive of this year’s animated works.

  A Brazilian punk comic book legend comes into conflict with his creator.
• Bodies At Rest (2019)

  Review preview for Bodies At Rest

  There's a lot of things going on here, but it's a talented cast and crew playing firmly within a set of genre tropes, not painting by numbers.

  Action adventure sees a morgue taken over by gunmen.
• Body Blow (2025)

  Review preview for Body Blow

  Immersive and intense, the more so because of its roots in a brutal history of gaybashing by Sydney cops.

  An undercover cop finds his commitment to the force tested when he falls for a young twink deep in debt to a vicious drug lord in this kinky neon-noir.
• The Body Fights Back (2020)

  Review preview for The Body Fights Back

  With so many issues at play it would be impossible to go into depth on them all, but Vosumets provides a solid introduction, giving viewers the insight they need to go off and find out more.

  A feature documentary about five people navigating the paradoxes of diet culture.
• Body Melt (1993)

  Review preview for Body Melt

  A hilarious tribute to the best-loved cliches of the genre.

  Mad scientists perform crazed experiments on unwitting Aussie suburbanites.
• Body Of Lies (2008)

  Review preview for Body Of Lies

  This is an extremely well made movie, with exacting performances of the highest quality.

  Counter-terrorist thriller about a CIA operative in the Middle East and his US-based 'handler'.
• The Bog (2026)

  Review preview for The Bog

  Even the presence of a sauna does little to raise the film’s temperature.

  A small-town detective reopens a decades-old murder case after a boy’s body is found in a Latvian bog, confronting memories and secrets no one wants to unearth.
• Bogancloch (2024)

  Review preview for Bogancloch

  If it wasn’t for the excellent, immersive sound design from Chu-Li Shewring, you could easily believe you were watching a piece of silent movie found footage.

  Documentary sequel about a former sailor and his off-the-grid life.
• Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

  Review preview for Bohemian Rhapsody

  Bohemian Rhapsody is as baroque and evocative a beast as its namesake song, thanks almost entirely to Malek's phenomenal performance.

  A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen's legendary appearance at the Live Aid concert.
• Boiled Angels: The Trial Of Mike Diana (2018)

  Review preview for Boiled Angels: The Trial Of Mike Diana

  Biafra brings real energy and passion to the job, helping to make this a film that’s consistently gripping and never gets dry even when dealing with legal details.

  A look at the politics and courtroom shenanigans behind the first ever US conviction of an artist for obscenity.
• Boiling Point (2020)

  Review preview for Boiling Point

  Given the state of the things, it's fair to say that some of the situations that will arise are telegraphed ahead of time, but that adds rather than detracts from the tension - after all, aren't all satisfying meals in some ways connected to anticipation?

  The shift has hardly begun for head chef Andy and he’s already behind with everything. His restaurant is overbooked, there’s a disgruntled inspector combing the kitchen and, if that weren’t enough, a culinary icon and a respected food critic have turned up for dinner.