Film review archive

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P — 784 results

• Pause (2018)

  Review preview for Pause

  Fyrogeni is brittle and intense in the central role, carrying herself in the slightly bent, over-cautious manner of someone continually expecting blame.

  Elpida is a housewife confronted with the first signs of menopause while trapped in a loveless marriage to a heartless, despotic man. When a young painter arrives to decorate her building, her grip on reality starts to slip.
• Pavarotti (2019)

  Review preview for Pavarotti

  The honesty and decency of his character never forces the narrative into areas of embarrassment.

  Documentary about the Italian tenor.
• Paws (1997)

  Review preview for Paws

  The characters are pre-teen comic book flatpacks and the plot has a healthy disregard for irony.

  A boy and a talking Jack Russell have a big adventure.
• Payback (1999)

  Review preview for Payback

  This whole venture is silly-side-up.

  A man left for dead by his wife, plots his revenge.
• Payback (2011)

  Review preview for Payback

  While the film is strong in parts... it suffers from trying to cover so much ground.

  Consideration of debt based on the essays of Margaret Atwood.
• Peaches Goes Bananas (2024)

  Review preview for Peaches Goes Bananas

  Shot over 17 years, it mingles intimate personal moments with visceral concert footage, its musical sequences knitted together with some of the best editing you’re likely to see this year.

  From sold-out concerts to family moments with her parents and sister, the passage of time brings loss but also provides liberation for an artist whose body is a canvas for artistic expression.
• Peacock (2022)

  Review preview for Peacock

  The film explores the fluidity of sexuality and gender in a way which highlights the relationship between queer self-acceptance and the kind of fluid, liberated thinking against which such a brittle order could not endure.

  The psychosexual journey of a young woman into the dark recesses of the Afrikaner psyche and its compromised past.
• Peafowl (2022)

  Review preview for Peafowl

  There’s a lot of interesting work here and it’s startling to realise that it’s director Byun Sung-bin’s first venture into features.

  Steely Shin Myung is a fierce trans queen on the Seoul nightclub scene who reconnects with her Buddhist heritage after the death of her father.
• Peak Everything (2025)

  Review preview for Peak Everything

  Émond’s mastery can be best observed in her perfect comedic timing and the use of sex as a tool both for comedy and emotional impact.

  A borderline depressive finds himself falling for a woman on a technical support line.
• The Pearl Button (2015)

  Review preview for The Pearl Button

  Looking at all these themes on paper, there is no way they should be able to co-exist within the same film, let alone do so in harmony, but Guzmán lets each wave of thought flow over the other, tributaries of history gathering to a ocean of argument.

  Water, the longest border in Chile, also holds the secret of two mysterious buttons which were found on its ocean floor.
• Pearl Harbor (2001)

  Review preview for Pearl Harbor

  Not so much From Here To Eternity as From Here To This Time Next Week, which is a terrible waste.

  The three-hour, $139 million take on the historical event that launched the USA into the Second World War.
• The Peasants (2023)

  Review preview for The Peasants

  Just as Reymont’s book immersed itself in the metaphorical colour of Polish peasant life, so the Welchmans’ film delivers a flood of literal colour.

  A hand-painted animated film about an early 20th Century Polish peasant woman who creates havoc by marrying an older rich man.
• Pebbles (2021)

  Review preview for Pebbles

  A masterpiece of visual storytelling.

  The tale of an impoverished, alcoholic man and a young boy on a long walk together.
• Pecker (1998)

  Review preview for Pecker

  Waters' targets are tame and easy to hit.

  A diner employee becomes an overnight art sensation.
• Peeping Tom (1960)

  Review preview for Peeping Tom

  Peeping Tom is a film all about watching and identification, a film whose real horror hinges on the way it implicates the audience in its dark voyeurism.

  A young photographer becomes fascinated by expressions of fear, with deadly consequences.
• Penalty Loop (2024)

  Review preview for Penalty Loop

  Whilst we’re still reeling, trying to figure out the rules, Araki introduces an unexpected human element.

  A man carefully plans and carries out the murder of the man whom he blames for his girlfriend's death, only to wake up with a confirmed sense of déjà-vu and his target alive and well, repeating the same routine as the day before.
• Penelope (2006)

  Review preview for Penelope

  As a modern fairy tale Penelope has a gentle touch, and while flat in places it's definitely more silk purse than sow's ear.

  A young heiress is disfigured by a curse which only true love can lift.
• Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

  Review preview for Penguins of Madagascar

  The pace accelerates through 15 stages of excitement without stopping to refuel

  Four young penguins become embroiled in an animated power play between an evil octopus and a grey wolf.
• Penguin Highway (2018)

  Review preview for Penguin Highway

  Highly imaginative and definitely original, Penguin Highway will fill viewers of all ages with wonder.

  A schoolboy becomes fascinated by the colony of penguins that has mysteriously appeared in the middle of his town.
• The Penguin Lessons (2024)

  Review preview for The Penguin Lessons

  Coogan is well cast in this tricky role, moving easily from humour to heartbreak..

  An Englishman in Uruguay adopts a penguin, smuggles it back to his home in Argentina, and gradually wakes up to the political violence going on around him.
• Penny Slinger: Out Of The Shadows (2017)

  Review preview for Penny Slinger: Out Of The Shadows

  The idea of visibility and invisibility of women still has a massive resonance today, so this re-examination of Slinger's back catalogue feels timely.

  The life and work of the artist, who was famous in the Seventies, before slipping from view.
• Pensive (2022)

  Review preview for Pensive

  Shooting much of this at night on a low budget, Trukanas pulls off some impressive work.

  A graduation weekend away goes drastically wrong when a masked killer shows up.
• The People's Joker (2022)

  Review preview for The People's Joker

  It’s an anarchic mess – the sort of film the Joker himself might have made, and that’s part of its triumph.

  An aspiring clown grappling with her gender identity combats a fascistic caped crusader.
• People's Republic Of Desire (2018)

  Review preview for People's Republic Of Desire

  The screen may be smaller, but the rules are much the same as they always were.

  A documentary exploring live streaming, fame and fandom in China.
• Peppergrass (2021)

  Review preview for Peppergrass

  What makes an impression is the confidence with which it all comes together.

  During a pandemic, a pregnant restaurateur tries to rob a priceless truffle from a reclusive veteran.
• Perception (2018)

  Review preview for Perception

  This twisty little thriller is sometimes too much, sometimes properly disconcerting.

  A bereaved man turns to a medium to channel the spirit of the woman he loves, but nothing goes as planned.
• Percy Vs Goliath (2020)

  Review preview for Percy Vs Goliath

  Hollywood loves this kind of figure and occasionally this film falls into the familiar trap of overplaying his heroics, but Walken himself is solid throughout.

  A Canadian farmer takes on a giant corporation after its GMOs interfere with his crops.
• Perfect 10 (2019)

  Review preview for Perfect 10

  Details sparkle in the script too, pared back to only what is needed.

  An aspiring gymnast finds her life turned upside down by the arrival of the older half-brother she didn't know she had.
• Perfect Blue (1998)

  Review preview for Perfect Blue

  With Perfect Blue, Kon takes the tropes of the thriller and twists them to the point of surreality. He also subverts them.

  Anime about a former pop singer who is being stalked.
• The Perfect Candidate (2019)

  Review preview for The Perfect Candidate

  The film generates a feel-good vibe even if beneath the pleasant froth lies a rather predictable polemic against the patriarchy.

  A young female Saudi doctor decides to run for election.
• Perfect Days (2023)

  Review preview for Perfect Days

  The 4:3 format, preferred by Yasujirō Ozu, is the perfect frame for paying attention to the small mysteries that are often overlooked.

  The story of an urban renewal project which involves the creation of 17 public toilets in key locations in the Japanese capital.
• The Perfect Neighbor (2024)

  Review preview for The Perfect Neighbor

  The film is a triumph of editing by Viridiana Lieberman, in terms of storytelling

  A seemingly minor neighbourhood dispute in Florida escalates into deadly violence. Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews expose the consequences of Florida’s 'stand your ground' laws.
• Perfect Sense (2010)

  Review preview for Perfect Sense

  There's an awareness here that's missing from many such tales, a more astute take on how disability and society interact.

  A chef and an epidemiologist fall in love, just as the world is falling apart.
• The Perfect Storm (2000)

  Review preview for The Perfect Storm

  There is no room for quirky individualism, as writer Bill Wittliff shovels on the sentimentality. Even the dialogue is highlighted with italics.

  Soggy disaster flick.
• Perfect Stranger (2007)

  Review preview for Perfect Stranger

  It's not high art, but it's highly entertaining.

  A journalist goes undercover in search of a murderer.
• Performance (1970)

  Review preview for Performance

  Not so much a linear story of one man's adventures as an enquiry into the nature of performance, gender and the very structure of society.

  A gangster on the run hides out in a hippie household and starts to lose his grip on his identity.
• Perfumes (2020)

  Review preview for Perfumes

  There's a gentle feel-good sweep to Grégory Magne's French dramedy, which though it is built of familiar elements, remains a very watchable blend.

  A friendship begins to blossom between a stressed chauffeur and his aloof client.
• Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer (2006)

  Review preview for Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer

  There are some superb bits of camerawork used to communicate Grenouille's experience of the world of scents, though unfortunately, having begun to express itself this way, the film doesn't have quite enough to go round.

  Capturing scents in 18th century France can be a deadly business.
• The Peril At Pincer Point (2025)

  Review preview for The Peril At Pincer Point

  Joseph Field Eccles and Nick Smyth’s sound design...is magnificent from start to finish, and full of playful touches.

  A lazy sound designer is sent to the remote island where a film was shot to capture a sound powerful enough to elevate its finale. Once there, eerie local fables surface: for years, ambitious and headstrong youth have lost their souls to a ghostly sea captain for his spectral crew.
• Peripheral (2018)

  Review preview for Peripheral

  A smart piece of work.

  An author whose first novel has unexpectedly radicalised a generation is persuaded to use new software to write her second, but her discomfort grows as it becomes more and more intrusive.
• The Perished (2019)

  Review preview for The Perished

  Not a great film, but more nuanced than it has been given credit for.

  Dealing with a pregnancy termination in Ireland has been hard for Sarah Dekker. Shunned by her religious zealot family and unforgiving boyfriend, she travels to a friend’s country house to recover. But unbeknownst to her, it sits atop a mass grave of unwanted babies and their lost, confused sprits want to be reborn.
• Permission (2018)

  Review preview for Permission

  Beiraghi shoots her in small spaces, hems her in with people or objects, emphasises the claustrophobia of her situation.

  Afrooz has given her life to football. Now, she is about to captain Iran’s national team as they head to the final of the Asian Nations Cup in Malaysia. That’s when her estranged husband Yasser exercises his legal right and forbids her permission to leave the country.
• Perpetrator (2023)

  Review preview for Perpetrator

  Perpetrator heralds the joyous rising up of a regiment of monstrous women.

  On her 18th birthday, tough-girl Jonny eats a cake baked by her aunt according to a magical family recipe and undergoes a radical metamorphosis.
• Persepolis (2007)

  Review preview for Persepolis

  Seen purely in aesthetic terms, Persepolis is an object of rare beauty, with no obvious precedents or parallels in the history of anime.

  A girl's eye view of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
• The Persian Version (2023)

  Review preview for The Persian Version

  Describing itself as ‘a true story – sort of’, The Persian Version blends comedy and family drama to great effect, showing us a good deal more than its heroine and narrator intends us to see.

  When a large Iranian-American family gathers for the patriarch's heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered that catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past. Toggling between the United States and Iran over decades, mother and daughter discover they are more alike than they know.
• The Personal History Of David Copperfield (2019)

  Review preview for The Personal History Of David Copperfield

  It would be difficult to find anything but goodness in Copperfield's personal history and a delight in the way things turn and turn again.

  Retelling of the Dickens classic.
• Personhood (2019)

  Review preview for Personhood

  Personhood makes a distinctive contribution to the ongoing discussion about women's rights in today's America.

  Exploring the criminalisation of pregnant women as seen through the eyes of a young mother swept up in new laws.
• Peterloo (2018)

  Review preview for Peterloo

  In his desire to inform our heads, Leigh often forgets that he needs to engage our hearts us as well.

  Dramatisation of events surrounding hte 1819 Peterloo Massacre when a pro-democracy rally turn bloody as forces stormed the crowd.
• Peter Hujar's Day (2025)

  Review preview for Peter Hujar's Day

  Wishaw is an absolute wonder, delivering the conversational, sometimes stream-of-consciousness dialogue with a constantly engaging, almost hypnotic cadence.

  A recently discovered conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda Rosenkrantz in 1974 reveals a glimpse into New York City’s downtown art scene and the personal struggles and epiphanies that define an artist’s life.
• Peter Pan: Special Edition (1953)

  Review preview for Peter Pan: Special Edition

  The adventure still has a lot of heart.

  Disney version of JM Barrie's story about the boy who never grew up, gets the double-disc treatment.