Film review archive

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H — 719 results

• The Home Game (2023)

  Review preview for The Home Game

  Even non-football fans are likely to find themselves won over almost immediately by this tale of one team’s determination against the odds.

  A man becomes determined to realise his dad's dream of taking their small-town football club to the Icelandic FA Cup and playing a home game.
• Home Ground (2022)

  Review preview for Home Ground

  An important contribution to the record, Home Ground succeeds – like Myong – in doing a lot with the material available to it.

  A documentary about the development of South Korea's lesbian community in the 1990s.
• Home Invasion (2023)

  Review preview for Home Invasion

  It strives to create an atmosphere of discomfort and paranoia. It achieves the former.

  A nightmarish essay film on the history of the doorbell, tracing its invention and constant reinventions through 19th century labour struggles, the nascent years of narrative cinema, and contemporary surveillance cultures.
• Home On The Range (2004)

  Review preview for Home On The Range

  A film like this is great for kids: fun, bright, short (76 minutes) and action packed, with a soft nurturing touch.

  A greedy cattle rustler tries to evict the animals from their land, but the animals have other ideas.
• Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives (2023)

  Review preview for Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives

  Dark family secrets and a desire to defray guilt at any cost underscore an eerie ghost story which hits harder because everything is so immediate.

  A heavily pregnant woman starts readying her fiancé’s rural family estate for bed and breakfast guests. Strange noises start occurring, the electricity keeps failing and she thinks she sees a prowler on the premises. Investigating the cellar she finds a secret room that hints at dark secrets in the Welling family past, linked to the brutal German colonial history of the Herero genocide in 1904.
• Homicide (1991)

  Review preview for Homicide

  The testosterone, sweat and fag-smoke ambience of a New York precinct house is so well-realised that you might want a shower afterwards.

  A Jewish detective finds his loyalties and sense of identity questioned when he investigates a murder with anti-Semitic overtones.
• Honeko Akabane's Bodyguards (2024)

  Review preview for Honeko Akabane's Bodyguards

  The freshness of Deguchi’s performance makes the notion of her ignorance believable, at least for a time.

  Honeko has a 10 billion yen bounty on her head. Ibuki, her childhood friend turned bodyguard, must protect her incognito. Unexpectedly, all his classmates are assigned as her covert bodyguards.
• Honest (1999)

  Review preview for Honest

  To be honest, this is worse than embarrassing. To be kind, pop music and moviemaking are separate art forms, requiring peculiar talents that do not necessarily coexist.

  All Saints try their hand at acting in romp about Sixties girls on the rob.
• The Honest Courtesan (1998)

  Review preview for The Honest Courtesan

  Marshall Herskovitz, who made Legends Of The Fall into a remedy for insomnia, directs from the sitting position.

  A Venetian who is too low-class to marry the man she loves, becomes a courtesan.
• Honeycomb (2022)

  Review preview for Honeycomb

  To the girls, it’s all fun and games even after somebody loses an eye.

  Five girls stray from society on the hunt for something more special...you can find them if you follow the sound.
• Honeydew (2020)

  Review preview for Honeydew

  A species of all-American folk horror bound up with Biblical fundamentalism and the tainted bounty of the land.

  Unfortunately for a young couple on a camping trip, their car broke down in the middle of the night. Even more unfortunate: In hopes of using a phone for help, they’ve stepped foot inside a house of, to put it lightly, very strange horrors.
• Honeyland (2019)

  Review preview for Honeyland

  The directors let the humanism shine out without resorting to sentimentality, capturing moments of joy, such as the pleasure of shared, sticky honey with the same lack of artifice as moments of pain or grief.

  When nomadic beekeepers break Honeyland's basic rule (take half of the honey, but leave half to the bees), the last female beehunter in Europe must save the bees and restore natural balance.
• Honeymood (2020)

  Review preview for Honeymood

  Although the thrust of the film focuses on the couple's foibles and relationship, there is also some sly skewering of wider Israeli society.

  Following a fight in their honeymoon suite on the night of their wedding, a bride and groom embark on a surreal urban odyssey through the streets of Jerusalem.
• The Honeymoon Phase (2019)

  Review preview for The Honeymoon Phase

  Beautifully framed within a carefully designed environment, The Honeymoon Phase has a distinctive look that fits very well into that older science fiction tradition whilst retaining a modern sensibility.

  Struggling young lovers, Tom and Eve, must endure a 30-day scientific experiment. Room, board, $50,000 and a month alone together in research facility housing. What could possibly go wrong?
• Honey 2 (2011)

  Review preview for Honey 2

  Katerina Graham is one of those rare individuals worth watching both as a dancer and as an actress.

  Just out of juvenile detention, a teenager trying to rebuild her life is drawn back into the hip hop dance she loves.
• Honey Boy (2019)

  Review preview for Honey Boy

  This is a highly personal work that opens the door on some dark truths of Hollywood and fame, but it also doesn’t quite know what to do to elevate itself beyond a peep show into human misery.

  A child TV star and his ex-rodeo clown father face their stormy past through time and cinema.
• Honey Bunch (2025)

  Review preview for Honey Bunch

  There’s a genuine unpredictability to Honey Bunch, both structurally and thematically.

  Diana’s husband is taking her to an experimental trauma facility deep in the wilderness, but she cannot remember why ... As her memories begin to creep back in, so do some unwelcome sinister truths about her marriage.
• Honey Cigar (2020)

  Review preview for Honey Cigar

  Aïnouz is at her best in the moment with Selma, whether it's when she's lost in erotic thought at the beach, during first go at sex or gazing at herself in the mirror.

  A teenager finds herself caught between cultures on the road to self-determination
• Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul (2022)

  Review preview for Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul

  Despite its compelling elements, the filmmaking falls too far on the clunky side.

  In the aftermath of a huge scandal, Trinitie Childs, the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist megachurch, attempts to help her pastor husband, Lee-Curtis Childs, rebuild their congregation.
• Honorable Men (2020)

  Review preview for Honorable Men

  Where it does well is in exploring the human relationships behind the headlines, which ultimately proved critical in contributing to a conviction.

  The story of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unexpected rise to power and his dramatic fall from grace, from the highest office in the land to Ward 10 at Maasiyahu Prison.
• Hood Witch (2023)

  Review preview for Hood Witch

  It’s the acting that carries it, and naturally Farahani, one of the finest talents of her generation, does not disappoint.

  A woman earns a living by smuggling exotic animals and illegal goods, developing a mobile app that links users with mystical marabout healers, but one of the user's consultations takes a tragic turn, preciptitaing a violent backlash.
• Hope (2019)

  Review preview for Hope

  Hope is structured around seemingly small jolts that suddenly illuminate the big picture.

  When Anja is diagnosed with a brain tumour, everyday life in her patchwork family implodes and her cooling relationship with her partner Tomas is faced with a new kind of reality.
• Hope (2026)

  Review preview for Hope

  Hope's scale and scope and delightful detail make it a banquet, if not an all-you-can-eat buffet.

  A thriller set near Korea's heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone. When a tiger is reported to have been sighted, the community is thrown into chaos
• Hope Floats (1998)

  Review preview for Hope Floats

  Steve Rogers' script is sharp enough and sugar free (that's relative, or course - the ending is candy floss).

  A woman dealing with the aftermath of divorce, returns to her home town.
• Hope Is A Word (2026)

  Review preview for Hope Is A Word

  Poetry itself provides strong punctuation for the film.

  In Nigeria's Niger Delta, where oil extraction has poisoned the land for decades, poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey nurtures a new generation of writers to fight back.
• Hope Springs (2003)

  Review preview for Hope Springs

  Only Firth's performance gives it air. The plot lacks surprise and the humour has been planted in advance.

  Colin Firth runs away from Minnie Driver and finds Heather Graham in Vermont
• Hopper: An American Love Story (2022)

  Review preview for Hopper: An American Love Story

  A lyrical film which strives hard to capture scenes imbued with similar light, and which is informed by the melancholy tone of the artist’s work.

  An exploration of the life and work of the artist Edward Hopper.
• Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024)

  Review preview for Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

  It has all the hallmarks of a production destined for a television mini-series with apparently three other chapters promised by Costner.

  An epic spanning the Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
• Horrible Bosses (2011)

  Review preview for Horrible Bosses

  Jennifer Aniston is an absolute revelation, burning up the screen in her sleaziest and possibly funniest performance to date.

  Three friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.
• The Horror Crowd (2020)

  Review preview for The Horror Crowd

  The film is beautifully edited, at times coming across like one long conversation between people in different places.

  A documentary about the Hollywood horror community.
• The Horse Whisperer (1998)

  Review preview for The Horse Whisperer

  Stories as good as this are rare.

  A trainer is enlisted to heal a horse but also works magic on those around him.
• The Host (2006)

  Review preview for The Host

  Funny, scary and races along at a fierce pace.

  A toxic monster terrorises Seoul.
• The Host (2020)

  Review preview for The Host

  Whatever research has gone into the story seems to have come entirely from other films rather than the real world.

  A gambling addict agrees to do a favour for a triad boss in order to pay off his debts, only to find himself in a perilous situation that neither of them could have imagined.
• Hostage (2005)

  Review preview for Hostage

  Hostage is a brainless movie, masquerading as an intelligent thriller.

  Convoluted double hostage thriller with a skinny ex-action hero losing the plot.
• Hostages (2022)

  Review preview for Hostages

  The contemporaneous footage helps build an easily understood timeline of events, from the excesses and cruelty of the Shah's reign to the immediate effects of the crisis on both American and Iranian politics.

  November 4, 1979, Iranian student activists stormed the US embassy in Tehran, taking over 60 Americans hostage. A 48-hour sit-in to protest imperialism, turned into an international crisis and 24/7 media event which would last for 444 days.
• Hostel (2005)

  Review preview for Hostel

  Hostel is, on one level, your standard slice-and-dice bloodbath... but it's also a startlingly brazen attack on America's sense of entitlement.

  Teen backpackers get more than they bargain for in sex-fuelled horror.
• Hostiles (2017)

  Review preview for Hostiles

  Sound fades into nothing and the pace slows

  An Army captain escorts a Cheyenne chief through hostile territory.
• Hostile Dimensions (2023)

  Review preview for Hostile Dimensions

  Though it might seem to be all over the place – structurally as well as thematically – there’s a tight control underlying Hostile Dimensions which pretty much holds it together and delivers a satisfying story.

  Two documentary filmmakers traverse alternate dimensions, confronting nightmares to uncover the truth behind a graffiti artist’s disappearance who seems to have vanished into thin air. These dimensions mix the ordinary with the bizarre - a hilly idyll is thrown off kilter by whales floating across the skies.
• Hosts (2020)

  Review preview for Hosts

  Fans of straight out violence and gore will find a fair bit to enjoy here.

  When a family invites their neighbours, a sweet young couple, over to celebrate Christmas Eve and some very happy personal news, they do not realise that their dinner guests have just become hosts to malicious entities.
• Hotel Artemis (2018)

  Review preview for Hotel Artemis

  There's effort, an electric hum, a glow, but for all the lightness and visions and torches borne and spots shone it never quite gels.

  The story of a nurse who runs a secret emergency room for injured criminals.
• Hotel For Dogs (2009)

  Review preview for Hotel For Dogs

  Not since The Goonies has there been a display of spectacular home-made gadgets to equal this.

  Two lonely adopted kids create a secret home for stray dogs in an abandoned hotel.
• Hotel Mumbai (2018)

  Review preview for Hotel Mumbai

  Patel and Kher are worth the price of admission on their own.

  A dramatisation of the 2008 terrorist attacks that centred on Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
• Hotel Rwanda (2004)

  Review preview for Hotel Rwanda

  This is a solid film, but it is the truth that holds the power, not the direction.

  True story of a Hutu hotel manager in Rwanda who protects Tutsis during the genocide.
• Hotel Transylvania (2012)

  Review preview for Hotel Transylvania

  The film is a bit of a mixed up mess of slapstick, quickfire jokes and sub-teen romantic comedy with musical and dance numbers.

  Dracula is holding a birthday party for his daughter at the hotel retreat for monsters that he runs, but doesn't count on a mortal gatecrasher taking a shine to her.
• Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation (2018)

  Review preview for Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation

  The plot flies in and out of lunacy at gasp speed

  Vampires and their monster friends go on hols to Atlantis and Dracula falls in love
• The Hottest August (2019)

  Review preview for The Hottest August

  In the background, in the heavy air, one can almost hear the words of TS Eliot. Is this how the world ends?

  Seven months after Donald Trump assumes the US presidency, filmmaker Brett Story journeyed to all five boroughs of New York City asking people a simple question: what are your hopes for the future?
• The Hot Chick (2002)

  Review preview for The Hot Chick

  Teen movies are pushing the lid on the trash can.

  Rob Schneider turns into a bitchy teenage girl in magic teen character swop comedy.
• Hot Fuzz (2007)

  Review preview for Hot Fuzz

  Formulaic but exuberant, packed with quirky humour and very difficult not to like.

  Tongue-in-cheek British twist on the buddy cop genre.
• Hot Milk (2025)

  Review preview for Hot Milk

  Mackey is a simmering, sullen, potent lead, keeping viewers on edge even as she lounges in the sun.

  Rose and her daughter Sofia journey to a Spanish seaside town to meet an enigmatic healer. As Sofia embraces an affair with an alluring stranger, tensions with her overbearing mother threaten their fragile bond.
• The Hot Potato (2011)

  Review preview for The Hot Potato

  Ray Winstone has always been at his best in comedy, and here he excels.

  The acquisition of a valuable lump of uranium leads two east end chancers into a series of scrapes.