Film review archive

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U — 161 results

• Under The Concrete (2020)

  Review preview for Under The Concrete

  Arida wants us to see - and just as importantly, hear - the world as Alain does, to go beyond character study into character immersion

  A man, disaffected with his life, decides to break a diving world record.
• Under The Fig Trees (2021)

  Review preview for Under The Fig Trees

  The stories that bloom here are rooted in the real, jacketed in the bruised flesh of familiar harms.

  Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find – and flee – deeper connections.
• Under The Sand (2000)

  Review preview for Under The Sand

  A study in grief, using magic realism, seems metaphorically top heavy.

  A widow in denial about her husband's death, imagines he is still at home.
• Under The Silver Lake (2018)

  Review preview for Under The Silver Lake

  There are just too many movie references and homage to the likes of David Lynch in this noirish thriller to make it anything other than an over-derivative exercise in style over substance.

  A man becomes obsessed with the strange circumstances of a billionaire mogul's murder and the kidnapping of a girl.
• Under The Skin (1997)

  Review preview for Under The Skin

  Jarring and unsettling at times, this is a cut above most film debuts, for director and star.

  An exploration of grief and identity through an experiment in feminist cinematic expression.
• Under The Stars (2025)

  Review preview for Under The Stars

  Goes down easily, like a house red.

  A writer unhappy with his relationship travels to Puglia, Italy, to work on his book, and falls for a local woman.
• Under The Tree (2017)

  Review preview for Under The Tree

  The tone is deliberately odd blending the naturalism of the day-to-day emotions of relationships and grief, with the altogether more heightened tensions of a revenge thriller, while still keeping a cheeky eye on the absurdity of a mooning garden gnome.

  A spat between neighbours over a garden tree spirals out of control.
• Under The Tuscan Sun (2003)

  Review preview for Under The Tuscan Sun

  It's a sense of humour failure that finally sinks the movie.

  Divorced American writer buys rundown villa in Italy.
• Under The Wire (2018)

  Review preview for Under The Wire

  The extensive interview material gives the film a dry, journalistic tone, but it doesn't want tor emotional impact.

  Story of the final, fatal mission of war correspondent Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy.
• Undine (2020)

  Review preview for Undine

  When Petzold shows the broken mending again, the magic of cinema becomes the subject

  Undine is a city historian on urban development in a Berlin museum, the 'place by the swamp'. When her boyfriend leaves her, she vows to kill the faithless man but soon meets another.
• Undivide Us (2023)

  Review preview for Undivide Us

  It is no doubt well intentioned but it lacks intellectual rigour and shows no awareness of the vast body of work already done in this area.

  A reflection on the polarisation of US politics, looking at the potential of moderated conversations to bring ordinary people together and encourage empathy.
• Unearth (2020)

  Review preview for Unearth

  Overall, the story is slight, but Lee Eun-ah's atmospheric cinematography enables Unearth to punch above its weight.

  The relationship between two neighbouring farm families is strained when one of them chooses to lease land to an oil and gas company - and something long dormant and terrifying, deep beneath the earth's surface, is released.
• Unfair World (2011)

  Review preview for Unfair World

  An odd film which seems as likely to find admirers as it is to find detractors.

  Dramatic comedy about the strange goings on of a police officer obsessed by making the world a fairer place.
• Unfaithful (2002)

  Review preview for Unfaithful

  The photography is sumptuous, the settings perfect, the foreplay sensual.

  Diane Lane has an affair with sexy French book dealer and husband Richard Gere is not happy.
• Unfinished Sky (2007)

  Review preview for Unfinished Sky

  As a two hander, the film eases gently towards acceptance, even affection, until a melodramatic ending blows it to smithereens.

  An Afghan refugee hides out on an isolated farm in Australia.
• Unicorn Store (2017)

  Review preview for Unicorn Store

  There will be someone, many, out there who will love it.

  A unicorn-obsessed woman meets a salesman who claims he can supply her with one of her own if she fulfils a series of chores.
• Unidentified (2025)

  Review preview for Unidentified

  This is a film with a deep interest in women’s lives, in the effects of continued inequality, and in the various means that women use to exercise agency despite this.

  A grieving mother, fueled by her passion for true crime, seeks answers when a teenage girl is found dead in the desert and the police investigation stalls.
• Unidentified Murder (2025)

  Review preview for Unidentified Murder

  There is layer upon layer of trickery at work here, unspooled in a farcical manner which will delight some viewers and infuriate others.

  When an influencer couple's prank turns deadly, blackmail, aliens, and links to a 25-year-old missing child case emerge, plunging them into a web of mystery.
• Unidentified Objects (2022)

  Review preview for Unidentified Objects

  A quirky yet moving character piece full of absurdist comedy, with an optimistic streak which is rare in cinema today.

  A lonely dwarf and his unstable, alien-obsessed neighbour are thrown together on an impossible road trip that will alter their strange friendship (and their sense of reality) forever.
• Union (2018)

  Review preview for Union

  The love story would have a lot more impact if it were more sparingly told.

  What begins as a disguise becomes an identity that changes everything for a cross-dressing soldier in the American Civil War.
• United 93 (2006)

  Review preview for United 93

  Maintains a fierce and continuous tension... like mainlining adrenaline.

  A recreation of events surrounding the hijacking of United Airlines flight 93 on the 11th of September, 2001.
• The United States Vs Billie Holiday (2021)

  Review preview for The United States Vs Billie Holiday

  Day not only captures the vocals perfectly, which is no mean feat considering the smoke in Holiday's voice, but gives a feel for the star, retaining a sense of steely resolve in the face of alcoholism, heroin addiction and her often violent relationships

  Biopic charting the way Billie Holiday found herself targeted by the Feds over her song Strange Fruit.
• The Universal Theory (2023)

  Review preview for The Universal Theory

  Multiverses have become a box office staple lately, courtesy of Marvel and the like, but they are rarely as elegantly mounted as this retro and twisty little mystery from Timm Kröger.

  1962. A physics congress in the Alps. An Iranian guest. A mysterious pianist. A bizarre cloud formation in the sky and a booming mystery under the mountain.
• The Unjust (2010)

  Review preview for The Unjust

  The Unjust is an intense ride, a little one-note, but is very slickly made.

  A spree of schoolgirl murders has gripped Seoul by the throat but the police are on it and accidentally kill the murderer - but they can't simply bring in a dead suspect...
• Unknown (2011)

  Review preview for Unknown

  A classic example of a workmanlike piece given enough polish to make it stand out.

  A man fights back after his identity is stolen.
• The Unknown Man Of Shandigor (1967)

  Review preview for The Unknown Man Of Shandigor

  Such a handsomely shot, gloriously stylised piece of work that it can stand alongside the best of the genre proper.

  Herbert Von Krantz, a nuclear scientist, has discovered the Canceler, a device capable of neutralising any kind of atomic bomb - but then his daughter and his assistant are kidnapped by different factions after the secret.
• The Unknown Saint (2019)

  Review preview for The Unknown Saint

  The situation is ripe with ridiculousness, but Aljem shows a lot of restraint.

  Moments before his capture by police, a thief digs a grave to hide a bag of money. Released from prison years later he returns to retrieve the bag, only to find a shrine to an Unknown Saint build directly over his loot, and a brand new village constructed all around it.
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry (2023)

  Review preview for The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry

  It may waver, but it knows where it is going, and in the journey has something to say.

  Harold is an ordinary man who has passed through life, living on the side lines, until he goes to post a letter one day...and just keeps walking.
• Unmasking Jihadi John (2019)

  Review preview for Unmasking Jihadi John

  This is a film that spends much of its time on observation and analysis of the known facts, chronicling a piece of history rather than using it as a prompt to search for solutions.

  A documentary about the hunt for the notorious Daesh fighter.
• Unmoored (2023)

  Review preview for Unmoored

  Turestedt is excellent and very watchable.

  The ordered life of a TV presenter threatens to unravel when she finally confronts her domineering husband about yet another scandalous accusation.
• Unsane (2018)

  Review preview for Unsane

  That the biggest surprise of the film is not a plot point at all but the appearance of someone famous in a cameo role, speaks volumes.

  A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear - but is it real or is it a product of her delusion?
• Unschooled (2019)

  Review preview for Unschooled

  In keeping with its subject, Unschooled is loosely structured, throwing a lot of things into the mix.

  Veteran educator Peter Bergson established the Natural Creativity Center on the outskirts of Philadelphia - this follows him as he works with three challenging teenagers.
• Unstoppable (2010)

  Review preview for Unstoppable

  By the time Frank and Chris are taking on the train - complete with running, dangling and some large chunks of that back story you had rather hoped they'd forgotten about - the tension begins to hum.

  An engineer and a conductor try to stop an unmanned runaway train.
• Unstoppable (2024)

  Review preview for Unstoppable

  The excellent supporting cast – with Lopez impressive as ever – elevate the material,

  A disabled college wrestler dreams of going professional.
• Until Rainbow Dawn (2018)

  Review preview for Until Rainbow Dawn

  Despite its narrative issues, this film has some well structured dialogue and a touching relationship at its centre.

  After meeting at their Deaf school in Central Japan, Hana and Ayumi become close friends, and quickly fall in love. But when Hana comes out to her parents, they throw her out of the house
• Until The Birds Return (2017)

  Review preview for Until The Birds Return

  Like so many anthology films, it suffers from the fact that the sections are uneven, with the middle segment soaring high above the two bookend stories.

  Algeria today. Past and present collide in the lives of a newly wealthy property developer, a young woman torn between the path of reason and sentiment and a neurologist whose past catches up with him.
• The Untouchables (1987)

  Review preview for The Untouchables

  Inspires a feeling of awe.

  How the infamous Chicago gang boss, Al Capone, was brought down.
• Upgrade (2018)

  Review preview for Upgrade

  I went with the expectation that I'd see some good old-fashioned cyberpunk-inflected kicky-punch and was not disappointed.

  Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when Grey, a self-identified technophobe, has his world turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant called Stem.
• The Upside Of Anger (2005)

  Review preview for The Upside Of Anger

  Acting of this calibre can change the world, if only for a moment.

  Deflecting the fury of a woman scorned with frequent showers, Bloody Marys and a little light humour.
• Upstream Color (2013)

  Review preview for Upstream Color

  The subject of understanding and mystery prove a sticking point, with the film remaining so wilfully opaque that it is more frustrating than rewarding by the end credits.

  A man and woman are drawn together as they try to reassemble their wrecked lives.
• Upurga (2021)

  Review preview for Upurga

  What could be silly in other hands, such as gnomic suggestions that "the river gose in circles here, generates a strange unease here, as Olte explores the psychological tricks a mind can play on itself.

  A wilderness guide finds himself up against nature and his own anxiety after his sister and her film crew, who he is helping, disappear in the forest.
• Up (3D) (2009)

  Review preview for Up (3D)

  It is at times meandering and not a little mawkish, but its vivid primary colours conceal a great deal of shaded nuance.

  A grouchy OAP has an action-packed adventure in the rainforest after flying there in his balloon-powered house.
• Up At The Villa (2000)

  Review preview for Up At The Villa

  The acting is either terrible or terrific and the social set pieces, like the Princess's dinner party, seem positively absurd.

  Upper-class lust and betrayal in Thirties Florence.
• Up In The Air (2009)

  Review preview for Up In The Air

  A quick script and sharp performances all round help deliver an enjoyable, if ultimately sentimental commentary of the times.

  George Clooney stars a corporate downsizing expert who, faced with being grounded, makes one last trip in a bid to convince his employers to keep him in the air.
• Up 'N' Under (1997)

  Review preview for Up 'N' Under

  Godber's script is as predictable as sleet on a waterlogged pitch.

  British comedy about a man who wagers he can create a winning rugby team from the worst players available.
• Uýra - The Rising Forest (2022)

  Review preview for Uýra - The Rising Forest

  Brilliantly made.

  Indigenous artist Uýra harnesses the interconnecting power of their native, queer, and trans identities to blaze a trail of ecological activism and LGBTQ+ pride through the villages and cities of the Amazon.
• Urban Explorers (2011)

  Review preview for Urban Explorers

  Edited, directed and shot by Andy Fetscher (Bukarest Fleisch), Urban Explorer offers a cruel lesson in the ugliest aspects of Germany's recent history.

  A warren of tunnels beneath Berlin holds trouble for a group of thrill-seekers.
• Urban Ghost Story (1998)

  Review preview for Urban Ghost Story

  The underside of Glasgow life is captured with merciless accuracy.

  A teen who survives a car crash finds herself the focus of things that go bump in the night.
• Urban Legend (1998)

  Review preview for Urban Legend

  It is hokum, pure and not-so-simple, executed with youthful zest.

  A killer on campus draws on modern myths for his modus operandii.
• Urgent (2018)

  Review preview for Urgent

  Besri, who has a background in maths and physics, constructs his film like a careful equation

  Drama tracks a group of strangers who come together at an overworked Casablanca hospital.