Film review archive

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B — 1209 results

• Boil Alert (2023)

  Review preview for Boil Alert

  Stitching together the various pieces of Layla’s journey are sequences which use dance to explore wild landscapes, adding a different dimension to the film.

  Activist Layla Staats shows the faces and personal stories behind the struggle of First Nations reserves to access a basic human right: drinkable water.
• Bokeh (2017)

  Review preview for Bokeh

  Monroe, who seems to get better with every film, is excellent here.

  A young US couple visiting Iceland wake up one day to discover that everybody else has vanished.
• La Bola Negra (2026)

  Review preview for La Bola Negra

  La Bola Negra was an unfinished work in a life cut short but the film named (variously) for it is extension and tribute and triumph.

  Drama exploring the inter-connected lives of three gay men.
• Bolt (2008)

  Review preview for Bolt

  Bolt has a maturity over its predecessors in that the film doesn't obsess over its need to stick something in your face every few minutes.

  A TV superdog genuinely believes he has superpowers... until he finds himself caught up in an all-too-real life adventure.
• Bombay Beach (2010)

  Review preview for Bombay Beach

  This is a tough but beautiful landscape and it has bred tough but beautiful people as director Alma Har'el's film goes on to elegantly illustrate.

  Experimental documentary about residents who live on the shores of the Salton Sea.
• Bombshell (2019)

  Review preview for Bombshell

  Bombshell is a finely crafted film which benefits from one of the best acting ensembles of the year.

  A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.
• Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017)

  Review preview for Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

  Her life story plays out like an adventure novel overflowing with intrigue.

  A documentary about the celebrated actress and inventor.
• Bones And All (2022)

  Review preview for Bones And All

  The balance of subjectivity and object status becomes important in a story whose protagonists are always potentially dangerous to one another.

  Maren, a young woman, learns how to survive on the margins of society.
• The Bone Collector (1997)

  Review preview for The Bone Collector

  The killer's identity adds fuel to the flames of absurdity.

  A paralysed cop hunts a serial killer from his bed.
• Bone Lake (2024)

  Review preview for Bone Lake

  Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan plies her trade with a style and verve which elevate this far above the 1980s straight-to-VHS erotic thrillers that it superficially resembles.

  When two young couples are mistakenly double-booked into the same vacation rental their romantic weekend becomes a twisted maze of sex, lies, and survival.
• Bone Tomahawk (2015)

  Review preview for Bone Tomahawk

  Brutally effective in what it does overall, which is fuse western and horror tropes to create a slow-burning, visceral experience that, although not flawless, should ensure fans of both genres are satisfied.

  Four men set out in the Wild West to rescue a group of captives from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (2024)

  Review preview for Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

  Bonhoeffer struggles with his faith, but less in the manner of a great thinker and more in that of someone who writes quotes for inspirational posters.

  As the world teeters on the brink of annihilation, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is caught up in a plot to assassinate Hitler, facing an ethical quandary as he strives to prevent genocide.
• Bonnie Blue: James Cotton's Life In The Blues (2025)

  Review preview for Bonnie Blue: James Cotton's Life In The Blues

  A mix of archival material, sections of interviews with people who knew the man and a few talking heads to give their opinion on things.

  A documentary about James Cotton, schooled by Sonny Boy Williamson II and Muddy Waters, who brought delta blues into the rock 'n roll mainstream and the blues to everyone.
• Bono: Stories Of Surrender (2025)

  Review preview for Bono: Stories Of Surrender

  The amount of material is impressive.

  A vivid reimagining of Bono’s critically acclaimed one-man stage show, Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…
• Bonsái: A Story Of Love, Books And Plants (2011)

  Review preview for Bonsái: A Story Of Love, Books And Plants

  Cristián Jiménez likes quirkiness and his enthusiasm for it, evidenced in his first film Optical Illusions and again here, goes a good way to convincing you to take the ride.

  Tragic-comic love story between two youngsters amid books, literary quotes, coming-togethers and fall-outs.
• Booger (2023)

  Review preview for Booger

  A poignant study of the grieving process, Booger uses horror elements to explore disorientation and the acute insecurities that emerge from being suddenly alone.

  After she's she's bitten by her dead friend's cat, Booger, a woman's life starts to get stranger every day: she's hungry for canned fish, she keeps swallowing her hair, and her predator instincts are out of control.
• The Boogeyman (2023)

  Review preview for The Boogeyman

  Traditions include what might be monstrous punishment for moral failings, suspect chronology, a muddy line between those who may and may not deserve it, and a cavalier disregard for common sense.

  A troubled man talks to a psychiatrist about the 'murders' of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes when left alone in their bedrooms. Their closet doors were found slightly ajar.
• Boogie Nights (1997)

  A small-town boy's 'big' break in the Seventies porn industry.
• The Booksellers (2019)

  Review preview for The Booksellers

  This is an immersive tour of bookselling and collecting that breezes along as pleasantly as a beach read, while still carrying with it chapter and verse.

  A tour of New York’s book world, past and present.
• Booksmart (2019)

  Review preview for Booksmart

  Sure, the familiar kids are here - the athlete bro, the gay guys, the class clown - but the film holds up assumptions to the light, highlighting why it's dangerous to make them and showing empathy for all concerned.

  Two studious high school BFFs decide to seize a last chance to party before graduation.
• Bookworm (2024)

  Review preview for Bookworm

  Fisher and Wood achieve a great rapport, and there’s some entertaining supporting work even though much of our time is spent in the middle of nowhere.

  11 year old Mildred's world is turned upside-down when her estranged father, the washed-up magician Strawn Wise comes to look after her and agrees to take her camping to find a mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.
• Book Club (2018)

  Review preview for Book Club

  The boxes are ticked, the buttons pressed. You want happy endings? You got 'em.

  These ladies get hot and hotter reading 50 Shades Of Grey. They are mature enough to behave better, but, of course, don't.
• The Book Of Birdie (2017)

  Review preview for The Book Of Birdie

  Everything here hinges on the central performance and Memedovski acquits herself well.

  A girl placed in the care of a convent has supernatural experiences.
• The Book Of Clarence (2023)

  Review preview for The Book Of Clarence

  Simply put, I don't know what it's trying to do, and I don't know if it does either.

  A man tries to turn the rising celebrity of Christ to his own advantage.
• The Book Of Eli (2010)

  Review preview for The Book Of Eli

  The set-pieces are sporadic – but always exciting and kinetic.

  In a post-nuclear landscape, one man guards the world's last bible.
• Book Of Monsters (2018)

  Review preview for Book Of Monsters

  Craine puts a lot of passion into her performance, making for a gutsy lead we can keep rooting for even when other aspects of the film are weak.

  Six kickass women must fight off a horde of terrifying monsters at an 18th birthday party.
• Boom For Real The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat (2017)

  Review preview for Boom For Real The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat

  A life like this is never tidy and neither is Driver's documentary.

  A documentary exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City shaped his vision.
• Boorman And The Devil (2025)

  Review preview for Boorman And The Devil

  Boorman has an extraordinary openness about him which would make him a compelling subject even if he’d never made a film in his life.

  After directing Point Blank and Deliverance, John Boorman was offered to direct The Exorcist II. The film became a massive failure, nearly ending his career. Years later, cast and filmmakers discuss its ambition and artistic value.
• Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan (2006)

  Review preview for Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

  The unconscious is never suppressed and the id runs riot

  A fake documentary about a Kazakhstani TV reporter on a cultural mission to America.
• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

  Review preview for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

  It becomes more interesting when it gets out of the comfort zone provided by familiar cynicism and finds warmth in unexpected places.

  Fiction and documentary blur as a Kazakh journalist sets out to win favour with the US government on behalf of his nation.
• Border (2018)

  Review preview for Border

  An original and highly ambitious premise that maintains its grip your attention and imagination.

  When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, their relationship forces her to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
• Borderlands (2024)

  Review preview for Borderlands

  The film takes its name from a space defined by boundaries, but it doesn't even bother to colour inbetween the lines.

  Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
• Borges And Me (2026)

  Review preview for Borges And Me

  Offers a wealth of engaging detail

  In the early 1970s writer and student Jay Parini finds himself committed to driving blind poet Jorge Luis Borges across the Scottish countryside. The pair form a bond over the journey.
• Borg vs McEnroe (2017)

  Review preview for Borg vs McEnroe

  Why make a movie about this match? Why now? Is it the danger factor with Superbrat or nostalgia for IceBorg or the ingenuity of the stunt guys to make the players look genuine?

  The story of the tennis rivalry between the Swede Björn Borg and the American John McEnroe.
• Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster (2021)

  Review preview for Boris Karloff: The Man Behind The Monster

  Simple in its form, this film is nonetheless engaging throughout, shot through with interesting anecdotes and observations about what was going on behind the scenes.

  Karloff, examining his illustrious 60-year career in the entertainment industry and his enduring legacy as one of the icons of 20th century popular culture.
• Born In Evin (2019)

  Review preview for Born In Evin

  There's a simple and engaging directness to this documentary.

  The story of the family of director and actor Maryam Zaree, who sets out to investigate the circumstances of her birth in one of the world’s most notorious jails for political prisoners.
• Born To Be (2019)

  Review preview for Born To Be

  Born To Be is an important contribution to public understanding.

  Documentary, charting the emotional and physical journey of surgical transitioning, as experienced by patients at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
• Bosco (2020)

  Review preview for Bosco

  Every moment of Bosco carries in it the opportunity to reminisce, to feel.

  How does a tiny Italian village of 13 inhabitants connect to a Uruguayan city an ocean away?
• Le Bossu (1997)

  Review preview for Le Bossu

  The story has all the ingredients of a swashbuckling 17th century adventure.

  Swashbuckling in 17th century France.
• The Boss Of It All (2006)

  Review preview for The Boss Of It All

  A hilarious screwball comedy

  An IT company trying to sell up hires an actor to pose as its president.
• The Boston Strangler (1968)

  Review preview for The Boston Strangler

  This is a film made entirely from hints and suggestions, red herrings and glimpses of a world in which nothing is orderly.

  A fictionalised take on the story of the notorious serial killer and rapist.
• Both Sides Of The Blade (2021)

  Review preview for Both Sides Of The Blade

  Although this film has no body count, it carries with it all the danger of an erotic thriller.

  Sara has been in a stable, loving relationship with Jean for years. But then a man from their past reappears and, without warning, an old passion reignites.
• Bottoms (2023)

  Review preview for Bottoms

  There may be other movies this year that'll give you the wisdom of "gay Yoda" or that reflect the slippery "hobbies to terrorism" pipeline. There won't be many with public address announcements that blur the lines between unreliable narration and inner ear disorders

  Two unpopular girls in their senior year start a fight club to try to impress and hook up with cheerleaders.
• Bouchra (2025)

  Review preview for Bouchra

  This isn’t about rejection but about navigating the difficulties full acceptance bring.

  A New York-based filmmaker writes an autobiographical script about a fictional double, while also appearing in animated form as a coyote moving through a city of furry creatures.
• Boudica (2023)

  Review preview for Boudica

  That we stick with her through this is down to the magnetism of Kurylenko’s performance.

  The story of the legendary Iceni queen who led a revolt against Roman occupiers.
• Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)

  Review preview for Boudu Saved From Drowning

  No-one has ever come close to Simon's performance as the original screen Boudu.

  A suicidal tramp rescued from the Seine seduces his middle class saviour's wife and maid.
• The Bourne Identity (2002)

  Review preview for The Bourne Identity

  [Damon] knows the moves, which are implemented with ruthless efficiency.

  CIA agent Matt Damon loses his memory and is chased around Europe by hired assassins.
• The Bourne Legacy (2012)

  Review preview for The Bourne Legacy

  Perhaps most surprising is how slight it feels.

  The Bourne series gets a new hero - a genetically engineered supersoldier with numerous enemies.
• The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

  Review preview for The Bourne Supremacy

  Performances by the entire cast are flawless. Paul Greengrass directs with energy and precision.

  Amnesic assassin is still on the run from the CIA after being framed for a double murder.
• The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

  Review preview for The Bourne Ultimatum

  This is about car/motorbike chases, ruthless corruption at the highest level, a focused defense of one man’s pursuit of truth and ... the hint of romance.

  The chase goes on for the rogue CIA assassin in his search for recognition and revenge.