Short film review archive

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L — 111 results

• The Letter Room (2020)

  Review preview for The Letter Room

  Oscar Isaac’s poignant performance pulls us in from the get-go.

  Corrections officer Richard starts in a new position as director of prisoner communications and finds his world opening up in unexpected ways.
• Letter To A Pig (2022)

  Review preview for Letter To A Pig

  The animation is loose, impressionistic; swirling streaks of ink form and reform, only occasionally coalescing into solid lines. It suggests that the students don’t really see the old man before them.

  A Holocaust survivor writes, after the war, a thank you letter to a pig that saved his life. After his testimony in a classroom, a young student dreams a tragic version of his story.
• Let Liv (2023)

  Review preview for Let Liv

  Liv and her mother are at different stages in battling their addiction and that’s a tangible thing in the way they are realised, as important in what it has to say as anything delivered directly by the dialogue.

  A young alcoholic woman agrees to attend an AA meeting with her partner. When she unexpectedly runs into her estranged mother, she's forced to confront demons from her past.
• Leylak (2021)

  Review preview for Leylak

  An intimate tale anchored by Sabaricak’s sublime performance.

  A Turkish immigrant gravedigger in New York finds himself unable to tell his daughter a painful truth.
• A Lien (2023)

  Review preview for A Lien

  Ratermanis’ performance is visceral, the kind of work that will leave you feeling shaken to the core.

  A young family tries to cope with a dangerous immigration process.
• Lifeboat (2018)

  Review preview for Lifeboat

  Fitzgerald may not be breaking new ground here and some of the footage is, inevitably, more sketchy than other parts because of being shot on the hoof - but his film contains a tightly worked argument.

  Documentary about volunteers aiming to save refugees in the Mediterranean.
• Life Ain't Gonna Lose (2018)

  Review preview for Life Ain't Gonna Lose

  The animation is beautifully composed and, though it succeeds in making Shun's experience scary, doesn't resort to anything age-inappropriate.

  A child learns to cope with being allergic to eggs.
• Life Goes On (2026)

  Review preview for Life Goes On

  It is saved by the ever-dependable Bradley.

  An elderly hospice patient frustrated by his environment finds himself stuck in a time loop.
• Life Of Riley (2022)

  Review preview for Life Of Riley

  It is a film made hard to read, hard to endure.

  A headstrong homeless man must take responsibility for his own actions after his dog is hurt.
• Life Overtakes Me (2019)

  Review preview for Life Overtakes Me

  There are a lot of unanswered questions. Wisely, the film doesn't attempt to answer them, simply setting out the facts as they are understood and inviting empathy.

  In the grip of trauma, hundreds of refugee children in Sweden withdraw from life's uncertainties into a coma-like illness called Resignation Syndrome.
• Light Of Darkness (2008)

  Review preview for Light Of Darkness

  A broadly comedic, sometimes raucous affair.

  A get-together takes an unexpected turn after a power cut.
• Lihya (2010)

  Review preview for Lihya

  The real questions are about why it is that we are watching what we are watching, why it was that it was made.

  A documentary about a Damascan barbershop provides an opportunity for a haircut, a shave and an Arabic lesson.
• Like The Ones I Used To Know (2021)

  Review preview for Like The Ones I Used To Know

  St-Pierre and cinematographer Étienne Roussy pay attention to detail in ways that the adults in this house do not.

  A divorced dad struggles with his emotions as he picks up his kids for Christmas.
• Lili (2019)

  Review preview for Lili

  Smit is excellent in the central role, doing something a little different with each layer of the performance.

  Nothing is what it seems when an audition between a young woman and an older man turns into an unsettling cat and mouse game.
• Lily's Mirror (2022)

  Review preview for Lily's Mirror

  There are no weak links in the cast, all of whose members work well together, and Frye makes us feel for Lily even when she shows surprisingly limited concern for herself.

  A woman's hand is chopped off during a dinner date, leading her on an offbeat revenge journey filled with mirrors, ghosts and gore.
• Liminality And Communitas (2018)

  Review preview for Liminality And Communitas

  Laura Rantanen's film is sparse, even spare - a sense of space defined by human endeavours at various scales.

  After sundown, a man walks the motorway verges, gathering roadkill. An investigation of the border between life and death, and the edges of the manmade world.
• Liquor Bank (2025)

  Review preview for Liquor Bank

  A solid piece of work from director Marcellus Cox, whose skill in creating atmosphere is well suited to the theme.

  A young man relapses, missing his one year sobriety anniversary party at his local AA support group.
• Listen Carefully (2024)

  Review preview for Listen Carefully

  This would require serious work from any actor, and Barton-Grimley is not up to the task, with even his parental terror failing to convince.

  When troubled assistant bank manager Andy McNeary's baby daughter goes missing, he must follow the instructions of a mysterious voice on the other end of a baby monitor to save her before she disappears forever.
• Little Deer (2023)

  Review preview for Little Deer

  An exquisite piece of short filmmaking.

  Two indigenous girls run away from a Canadian residential school at Christmastime.
• Little Hands (2018)

  Review preview for Little Hands

  Allier contrasts the toddler's openness and simple way of thinking with the kidnapper's tortured intensity.

  When a factory is threatened with closure, a desperate worker kidnaps the boss' toddler son.
• Little One (2020)

  Review preview for Little One

  As pleasant as this is, their performances might have been better highlighted in a tighter run-time.

  A couple of sisters stick together.
• Lock Up (2011)

  Review preview for Lock Up

  What ought to be familiar is transformed into unknown, unknowable territory, the domain of some other.

  As a man turns out he lights and closes his business premises for the night, he gets the feeling that something is watching him from the shadows.
• Lonely In The Dusk (2018)

  Review preview for Lonely In The Dusk

  I'll give it some credit for looking quite as good as it does.

  Released from a psychiatric hospital where she was 'treated' for her homosexuality, a deaf mute young woman goes looking for her first love.
• Lone Wolf (2019)

  Review preview for Lone Wolf

  Directing with a light touch, January Jones coaxes fresh, natural performances from her stars.

  Determined to fit in at a sleepover, 15-year-old Sam ignores cruel taunts from mean girl Blair and her growing feelings for Willow, but she can't ignore the strange things happening to her body.
• The Lone Wolf (2021)

  Review preview for The Lone Wolf

  The film really puts Vitor on the spot, and Luz, on excellent form, delivers a performance which is fluid and ambiguous, human emotions intermittently concealed behind steely professionalism.

  One night on Viva FM's late night show, host Vitor Lobo gets a phone call from an old friend.
• The Longest Daycare (2012)

  Review preview for The Longest Daycare

  Shown in 3D on the big screen, this film benefits from some nicely designed vistas that skew the normally reliable neat lines of the Simpsons' universe, recalling as they do so any number of drink or drug-enhanced experiences in Fifties noir.

  Taken to an Ayn Rand daycare centre, little Maggie Simpson tries to save a butterfly from a bully.
• Long Distance Information (2011)

  Review preview for Long Distance Information

  Long Distance Information depicts that phone call so well, the stilted awkwardness as you ask about things you don't care about.

  A phone call reveals the difficulties of estrangement within a family.
• The Long Goodbye (2020)

  Review preview for The Long Goodbye

  Aneil Karia’s direction, all close-ups and quick camera movement and lively background noise, immerses us in the family’s world so completely that there’s no time to prepare emotionally even if one knows what is on the way.

  Riz and his family are in the middle of a typical family day in their house, whilst a far right march plays out on the telly in the background, which eventually arrives at their front door, with a devastating outcome.
• The Long Walk Of The Chameleon (2010)

  Review preview for The Long Walk Of The Chameleon

  It has good performances, especially from the chameleon.

  A journey is interrupted by the sighting of a chameleon, which presages ill fortune.
• Looking Back (2008)

  Review preview for Looking Back

  A poignant and thoughtful five and a half minutes.

  Documentary about a man struggling to come to terms with memories of war and his addictions in a community of homeless veterans
• Lost & Found (2018)

  Review preview for Lost & Found

  If the film partially celebrates an embrace of imperfection, that doesn't extend to the animators' craft, which is flawless.

  A dinosaur tries to save his friend - and so does a fox.
• Love Beyond Dreams (2024)

  Review preview for Love Beyond Dreams

  This is an actors’ film, a showcase for the performances.

  A woman who is struggling with intimacy in her relationship finds her love revived by a romantic fantasy.
• Love, Dad (2021)

  Review preview for Love, Dad

  This is striking, innovative, affecting.

  An author rediscovers love letters her dad used to write to her from prison. That love seems to be gone now. She decides to write back in hope to find the connection again.
• Love Forever (2022)

  Review preview for Love Forever

  Earle Dresner's camerawork is as confident and uncertain as adolescence.

  A girl from Canberra navigates the treacherous waters of first love with a boy from Sydney’s Northern beaches.
• Love Letter Rescue Squad (2017)

  Review preview for Love Letter Rescue Squad

  Deb's love for the archives themselves comes across plainly in a film that makes efficient use of their materials to illustrate something of the political and cultural journey that has taken place over the intervening years.

  One of the co-founders of the Lesbian Herstory Archives talks about its importance and contemplates its future.
• A Love Song For Latasha (2019)

  Review preview for A Love Song For Latasha

  Fluid and ever-changing, it evokes an immediate, fluid presence with none of the formality of death or history.

  A dreamlike conversation with the past and the present, this film reimagines a more nuanced narrative of Latasha Harlins by excavating intimate memories shared by her cousin and best friend.
• Lucky Liam (2026)

  Review preview for Lucky Liam

  Well crafted, brilliantly delivered, and lots of fun to watch.

  Taken to a forest to be killed, Lucky Liam sees a chance to survive when a rookie hitman awkwardly interrupts the execution.
• Lucky Old Bag (2009)

  Review preview for Lucky Old Bag

  A fairly straightforward piece, imbued with many quirky touches.

  A penny proves a lucky charm for a woman down on her luck.
• The Lucky Ones (2009)

  Review preview for The Lucky Ones

  In just under half an hour we get a glimpse into scores of lives, all just after major changes.

  The comings and goings at a Registry Office in Krakow.
• Lucy's Tale (2018)

  Review preview for Lucy's Tale

  Though set in the US, Lupkin's film makes allusions to Northern European folklore.

  Between mean girls, her first romance, and budding hormones, Lucy begins to realise that she's not like the other teenagers in her class.
• Lumphini 2552 (2009)

  Review preview for Lumphini 2552

  Three minutes that are thing and un-thing, a flicker of stillness.

  Avant garde film using still photography captured in Bangkok's Lumphini Park.
• Lunch Ladies (2017)

  Review preview for Lunch Ladies

  Anyone who ever ate school dinners will recognise what's on display, beautifully recreated in lurid hues with the volume turned up.

  Two burnt out high school Lunch Ladies do whatever it bloody takes on their quest to become Johnny Depp's personal chefs.
• Loast (2007)

  Review preview for Loast

  Shows considerable promise.

  Getting ready to go out becomes a surreal experience.
• Loetzinn (2005)

  Review preview for Loetzinn

  Each of the textures feels incredibly real.

  Two boats do battle.
• London Kebabs (2004)

  Review preview for London Kebabs

  The plot is secondary to the character exploration.

  Investigation of friendship, with the help of the Virgin Mary.
• Lonely Boy (2003)

  Review preview for Lonely Boy

  The story is tragic, the writing wonderful and the narration sensitively read.

  An abused child grows into a sad recluse.
• The Loop (2010)

  Review preview for The Loop

  Luca Cuiti's photography is good, strikingly so.

  In a nightmarish world Lox has to decide whether to abandon hope or face his harsh surroundings. Can Lox temper his defiance and escape the loop?
• Looters (2003)

  Review preview for Looters

  There is no particular style to the film and the performances are bland.

  Students work a scam with small ads.
• Losing Myself: Stewart (2006)

  Review preview for Losing Myself: Stewart

  Inspiring, effective and wonderfully evocative

  Artist's reflection on past and present, in spite of dementia.
• Lost And Found: Jim Lee (2005)

  Review preview for Lost And Found: Jim Lee

  The life story of an English hobo, as told in split screens and with subtitles.

  The life of a man who was born in a field and never knew his parents.