Short film review archive

You can also browse our feature film archive and DVD review archive.

H — 93 results

• Hooked (2011)

  Review preview for Hooked

  For all the subtlety in Alexander Stewart's script and the confidence of Henry Darke's direction it is Tyson and Dobson who make the film.

  A mixed-heritage woman falls out with her resentful white mother on a turbulent housing estate.
• Hotel Chevalier (2007)

  Review preview for Hotel Chevalier

  Colours and style ooze from the screen.

  Short film about a fractured relationship - the film festival prologue to The Darjeeling Limited.
• Hot Winter: A Film By Dick Pierre (2016)

  Review preview for Hot Winter: A Film By Dick Pierre

  Hot Winter is perhaps a cheese course - too rich and full as a digestif, not portion enough to satisfy.

  One of the first films in American cinema to address climate change was also a hardcore porno, we are told.
• Howling (2014)

  Review preview for Howling

  Though this film stands up well on its own and is delightfully entertaining, it will be of particular interest to fans of the later feature.

  A man is contacted by a version of himself two minutes in the future.
• How Mermaids Breed (2003)

  Review preview for How Mermaids Breed

  Charming, cleverly lit and a fine example of claymation with fishy bits.

  Artificial insemination, the capsized way.
• How To Cope With Death (2003)

  Review preview for How To Cope With Death

  Three minutes go by and there isn't a bad camera angle, or a character defect.

  Do not go gentle into that bad night.
• How To Listen To Fountains (2025)

  Review preview for How To Listen To Fountains

  Invites the viewer into a childlike state of wonder, with inanimate objects coming to life.

  Guarding the city by listening to what fountains have to say.
• How To Read The Wind (2025)

  Review preview for How To Read The Wind

  An impressive exercise in world creation.

  An elderly traditional healer mentors a younger woman to pick up the torch.
• Huella (2021)

  Review preview for Huella

  Ortega uses the power of suggestion to stoke the mood - the whispers of prayer, a sudden wind blowing up where it shouldn't, an unexpected voice at the end of the line.

  The death of her grandmother sees a woman take an unexpected dance with grief.
• Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023)

  Review preview for Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

  While Louis-Seize’s treatment of the night is atmospheric, the emphasis here is firmly on comedy rather on gore.

  Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest.
• Human Tide (2025)

  Review preview for Human Tide

  [David Andrew Ward's] interest is very much on the spiritual side, and here he is aided by Ryan Al Bishri’s sublime cinematography, especially in capturing those aspects of the landscape around Mecca which truly feel eternal.

  Each year, millions of Muslims embark on the sacred pilgrimage of Hajj. This documentary provides an intimate look at this spiritual journey through the eyes of six diverse groups of pilgrims.
• The Human Voice (2020)

  Review preview for The Human Voice

  When Almodóvar has the protagonist talk about kitchen knives and their temptation, all I could think of was the brand of knife he might choose to showcase.

  Drama about a woman traumatised by the end of a relationship.
• Hungerford: Symphony Of A London Bridge (2008)

  Review preview for Hungerford: Symphony Of A London Bridge

  Exquisitely photographed.

  An abstract journey over the bridge.
• Hunger Ward (2020)

  Review preview for Hunger Ward

  Skye Fitzgerald's Oscar-nominated short represents real personal courage, and illustrates the courage of those who have nowhere else to go but are willing to look their situation full in the face every day.

  The story of two health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of war in Yemen.
• Huntsville Station (2020)

  Review preview for Huntsville Station

  Filippone and Meltzer find power in silence, content to watch and keeping themselves out of the frame, so that the emotions of those they capture can be fully channelled through the lens.

  Freshly released inmates contemplate their new-found freedom as they wait at the bus station near the jail.
• The Hunt For Gollum (2009)

  Review preview for The Hunt For Gollum

  This film delivers real thrills and real scares.

  Gandalf sends Strider out to find Gollum before he gives away the location of the One Ring.
• Hyena (2025)

  Review preview for Hyena

  A visually inventive watch even if it is going over familiar turf

  A student faces a choice about whether to run with the pack at an intense art school.
• Hymn Of The Plague (2024)

  Review preview for Hymn Of The Plague

  Small children reciting old rhymes is surely one of the oldest tricks in the book for generating atmosphere but Ataka51 employ it with the smoothness of a tried and tested magician.

  Strange things happen at a recording studio.
• Hysterical Girl (2020)

  Review preview for Hysterical Girl

  All the more painful for its plainness, Dora's account carries additional weight because of all the other people whose stories it tells, the centuries of disbelief it attests to.

  A fresh perspective on Sigmund Freud's case study of a troubled teenage girl.
• Hi-8 And A Half (2004)

  Seven men stuck in a lift.
• Hibernation (2005)

  Review preview for Hibernation

  Increasingly unsettling, darkly comic.

  Boys dress as animals to reanimate sleeping creatures.
• High Spirits (2004)

  How sound affects our perception of film.
• Hi! Otsuka Drugstore (2010)

  Review preview for Hi! Otsuka Drugstore

  The direction shows flair, picking out striking visual lines and depth in the most ordinary of locations, all awash with over-saturated video colours.

  A bullish drugstore owner befriends a schoolgirl with a hopeless crush on a boy.
• The Hobbit (1966)

  Review preview for The Hobbit

  A whimsical tale that will continue to charm younger viewers today.

  A little hobbit is persuaded to go on a quest to kill the monstrous dragon Slag.
• Holiday (2005)

  Two French boys in a car do teenage things, like talk about sex and share a joint
• Holika (2015)

  Review preview for Holika

  The mixture of elements is at times startling.

  A hallucinatory recollection of conflict between gods.
• The Holocaust Tourist (2006)

  A look at how 'tourism' has affected Auschwitz.
• Homelife:Flying Wonders (2003)

  The ballad sings of "Walking the wire" and the animation has a Fifties look.
• Homework (2005)

  Living with dad, dreaming of mum
• Home Movie (2010)

  Review preview for Home Movie

  Seems to convert someone else's memories to someone else's acid flashbacks.

  An exploration of family memories now distorted.
• The Honor Code (2012)

  Review preview for The Honor Code

  Argues that what is needed is not a change in the law but a change in the way of thinking.

  An animated exploration of the tradition of honour killing, asking how it might be brought to an end.
• Hope (2010)

  Review preview for Hope

  The film contains some beautiful photography, and its subjects are presented with dignity and humour. It is a pity that it soon becomes rambling.

  A visit to a Turkish village scarred by war whose cyclical approach to time is confounded by the young people's desire to leave for the city.
• Horsefingers 3: Starfucker (2008)

  Review preview for Horsefingers 3: Starfucker

  A delight from beginning to end.

  A young woman dresses up to please her lover - in unusual ways.
• The Host (2003)

  Review preview for The Host

  Fulton's performance perfectly reflects the psychological uncertainty of a mind in free fall and Hynd's use of the camera is inspired.

  Haunted by visions, a socially inept man invites friends round.
• Household Gods (2008)

  Review preview for Household Gods

  Household Gods is unsettling. It attempts further tricks to that end... New walls are created

  Alone at home, but haunted by other voices: six people in six rooms somewhere in London.
• Housing Problems (1935)

  Review preview for Housing Problems

  The film is one of the first examples of vox populi and the presentation of ordinary people talking directly to the camera was innovative for the era.

  A British documentary movement film drawing attention to the living conditions in the slums of 1930s Britain.
• How To Abandon Ship (2013)

  Review preview for How To Abandon Ship

  Its realism isn't textural or technical, but emotional.

  An anatomy of a failed relationship, with puppets.
• How To Get A 10ft Virgin Through An 8ft Gate (2005)

  Review preview for How To Get A 10ft Virgin Through An 8ft Gate

  Shows it as it is.

  Jesus' mother has grown too tall to enter the church in a Peruvian village.
• How To Save A Fish From Drowning (2007)

  Review preview for How To Save A Fish From Drowning

  The film has a wistfulness, which draws you in.

  Documentary exploring the death of small town America. Showing as part of Bridging The Gap and the Short Scottish Documentary Awards at EIFF 2007.
• Hula (2016)

  Review preview for Hula

  Strong performances throughout.

  A gently humorous drama about uptight divorcee Clara, who opens a B&B in the Scottish Highlands. Unexpectedly inspired by her guests, she rediscovers the joys of life.
• Hum (2007)

  Review preview for Hum

  A number of nice touches.

  The story of a lonely robot. Showing at EIFF 2007 as part of World Animation 1.
• Humans! (2006)

  Review preview for Humans!

  Shakespeare said brevity is the soul of wit and in the case of Humans! he'd be spot on.

  The world gets a nasty case of the humans.
• The Human Factor (2011)

  Review preview for The Human Factor

  In this small and human drama there are the shadows of the idealism and tyranny of the assembly-line.

  Correspondence intermingled with manual notes explores themes of work, productivity and integrity.