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Z — 60 results

  • Zabriskie Point (1970)
    Review preview for Zabriskie Point

    For those wanting a straightforward story with identifiable protagonists, Zabriskie Point may seem like a mess. But if you were wanting such simplistic entertainment, why would you go to see a film by Antonioni?

    Chris · 4 out of 5
    A young dreamer steals a plane and flies it to the desert, but society isn't ready for his vision when he tries to return.
  • Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)
    Review preview for Zack And Miri Make A Porno

    All the abusive repartee between staff and customers should gladden the hearts of minimum wage workers everywhere.

    Tony Sullivan · 3 out of 5
    Fairly recently, in a land far far away (well, Pittsburgh) a porno is born.
  • Zarafa (2012)
    Review preview for Zarafa

    The animated characters have a detailed, Disney-friendly feel, but there is little of the sentimentality that tends to fur the teeth of US animation.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A young boy, a prince and a balloonist escort a young giraffe halfway across the world, having adventures on the way.
  • Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
    Review preview for Zathura: A Space Adventure

    The performances are anything but annoying. In fact, they are charming, without being mumsy, and cute, without being showy-off.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    A magical board game sends a house into space.
  • Zatoichi The Fugitive (1963)
    Review preview for Zatoichi The Fugitive

    Shintaro Katsu is perfectly cast, as Zatoichi, being in every sense, except one, ordinary.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
    A blind swordsman returns to the village of his victim to make things right.
  • Zaytoun (2012)
    Review preview for Zaytoun

    Abdallah El Akal channels an unsettling amount of loathing.

    Sophie Monks Kaufman · 4 out of 5
    An Israeli hostage and a Palestinian orphan form an uneasy bond as they flee Beirut militias.
  • Zebra Crossing (2008)
    Review preview for Zebra Crossing

    Holland’s directing shows a lot or flair and promise, often finding a striking image or unusual angle in his stark cityscapes.

    Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
    A young man growing up in south London tries to escape from a life of crime and violence.
  • Zelary (2003)
    Review preview for Zelary

    The performances have a depth and understanding that surpasses surface glamour.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    A nurse, working for the Resistance in Prague, 1943, escapes to the Moravian mountains.
  • Zer (2017)
    Review preview for Zer

    The closer this film gets to documentary, the better it becomes.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A young man seeks the story behind his gran's sad song.
  • Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
    Review preview for Zero Dark Thirty

    If you've read the paper during the last ten years, you won't get much new insight here.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 2.5 out of 5
    A recreation of the ten year hunt by US agents for Osama bin Laden.
  • Zero Days (2016)
    Review preview for Zero Days

    Good documentary finds an interesting story or is interestingly told - great documentary does both, and Zero Days is that.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    An investigation into Stuxnet and cyber security issues.
  • Zero Focus (2009)
    Review preview for Zero Focus

    The tale itself doesn't really hold together either logically or emotionally, at least not once we step outside the very particular rules of literary psychodrama.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A young woman begins to uncover dark secrets as she searches for her husband who has disappeared shortly after their wedding night.
  • The Zero Theorem (2013)
    Review preview for The Zero Theorem

    The Zero Theorem is a messy mélange of broad pratfalls, challenged idealism, dark satire, and expansive, indeed cosmic allegory - but it also .cannot escape being seen as a kind of Brazil vers. 2.0.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    A reclusive computer genius, plagued with existential angst, works on a mysterious project aimed at discovering the meaning of life.
  • Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006)
    Review preview for Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

    By isolating the footballer from the general run of play, an ordinary league match becomes a study of one man's craft.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
    Study of Zinedine Zidane during a Real Madrid match against Villarreal.
  • Zip & Zap And The Marble Gang (2013)
    Review preview for Zip & Zap And The Marble Gang

    It's a well constructed, well paced, well made film, but it's poised and polished and professional where one might hope for something a bit more ramshackle, a mite more rebellious.

    Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
    A group of kids rebel against strict rules at their school.
  • Žižek! (2005)
    Review preview for Žižek!

    [Žižek] is one of those rare human beings whose mind explodes before your eyes, like bomblets of ideas.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
    A documentary on the wild man of theory.
  • Zombeavers (2014)
    Review preview for Zombeavers

    Simply aping horror films of yesteryear, layering on the piles of intestines, and putting self-aware performances on screen, isn’t enough on its own in today’s crowded field of horror parodies.

    Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
    You know the story: sexy teens head to a secluded lakeside cabin for a weekend of debauched fun, only to be menaced by a mysterious force picking them off one by one. But here, the culprit proves to be a horde of rabid zombie beavers.
  • Zombies From Banana Village (2007)
    Review preview for Zombies From Banana Village

    The humour varies between dumb and silly and more often than not misses the mark.

    Daniel Hooper · 2 out of 5
    Following the death of people who died after eating at a local café, the undead rise to scare the locals.
  • Zombie 108 (2012)
    Review preview for Zombie 108

    Zombie 108 is little more than amateurishly presented, disposable fodder for adolescents still in thrall to excessive gore and exposed breasts.

    Neil Mitchell · 1 out of 5
    A virus gets loose in Taipei Army and SWAT teams oversee evacuation but in Ximending the gangs don't...
  • Zombie And The Ghost Train (1991)
    Review preview for Zombie And The Ghost Train

    While it has its share of comic observations and poetic flourishes, it is a relentlessly downbeat tale of alienation, dipsomania and nihilistic ruin.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    Story of a talented bass player on the path to self-destruction.
  • The Zombie Diaries (2006)
    Review preview for The Zombie Diaries

    This is horror well and truly updated for the YouTube/reality TV generation.

    Anton Bitel · 3 out of 5
    Three pieces of 'found' documentary footage detail a zombie outbreak in Britain.
  • Zombie Fight Club (2014)
    Review preview for Zombie Fight Club

    These are not so much the high-kicking tough guy lowlifes of Gareth Evans' hit as the offspring of some ITV reality show supplied with guns and lingerie and crack.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    Two people try to survive in Taipei as a horde of zombies and a recently arrived SWAT team do battle over a stash of drugs.
  • Zombie Strippers! (2008)
    Review preview for Zombie Strippers!

    Not quite enough braaaaaains to go round.

    Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
    You need a one liner after reading the title?
  • Zombie Transfusion (2006)
    Review preview for Zombie Transfusion

    Ineptly scripted, amateurishly edited, poorly acted, ugly looking and determinedly adolescent in its focus.

    Anton Bitel · 1.5 out of 5
    Three teenagers tackle a zombie outbreak in their town.
  • Zombie Undead (2010)
    Review preview for Zombie Undead

    Being low budget and British is no excuse for dire unoriginality.

    Anton Bitel · 1 out of 5
    A dirty bomb causes a zombie outbreak.
  • Zombie Virus On Mulberry Street (2006)
    Review preview for Zombie Virus On Mulberry Street

    The important thing is, thanks to a smart and involving script, we care about whether they make it until morning.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
    Manhattan gets ratty.
  • The Zone (2007)
    Review preview for The Zone

    At once a noirish thriller, a social drama, a morality tale, a coming-of-age story and a compelling allegory of 'fortress' USA.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    Residents of an affluent Mexican city enclave seek vigilante justice.
  • Zoo (2007)
    Review preview for Zoo

    Zoo ought to present insurmountable problems to any artist working in a visual medium – but Devor turns every obstacle into a virtue.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    Documentary triggered by a man's death by bestiality.
  • Zoology (2016)
    Review preview for Zoology

    This modern fairytale has its dark side, but it’s not as grim as something the Brothers Grimm would have concocted.

    Luke Shaw · 3.5 out of 5
    A quiet, middle-aged zoo employee wakes up to discover that she has grown a tail.
  • Zoom (2015)
    Review preview for Zoom

    With competent actors and a strong, if not particularly original, central idea, Zoom has the chance to do great things, but it all falls rather flat as the need to interweave the three story strands interferes with their natural pacing.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    A multi-dimensional interface between a comic book artist, a novelist and a film director.
  • Zootropolis (2016)
    Review preview for Zootropolis

    Although the narrative beats don’t sear with originality, it is clever and has enough nuance and ambiguity to keep folks guessing right up until the finale, with a cast of characters throughout that are a genuine treat.

    Luke Shaw · 4 out of 5
    A little rabbit works hard to prove she can be just as good a police officer as the bigger, fiercer animals on her team.
  • Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain (1983)
    Review preview for Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain

    It's not that Zu Warriors lacks substance, rather its message - 'The new generation must step up to take the place of the old' - and similar obvious, if true, homilies tend to be obscured by the flying swordsmen, pyrotechnics and other FX work.

    Keith Hennessey Brown · 4 out of 5
    Martial arts fantasy set in Fifth Century China.
  • Z (2019)
    Review preview for Z

    Viewers will, of course, start with the assumption that Z is somehow real, yer Christensen still manages to create uncertainty.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A family is terrorised by an eight-year-old boy's imaginary friend.
  • Zagros (2017)
    Review preview for Zagros

    Kalifa smartly draws Zagros so that he is not merely painted as a monster.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A Kurdish shepherd is consumed by jealousy after he follows his wife to Belgium.
  • Zalava (2021)
    Review preview for Zalava

    Pourfaraj is superb in the lead, his Massoud stiff-backed, primly moustached, yet achingly human.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    In 1978, the inhabitants of a small village claim there is a demon among them. When sergeant arrests the exorcist, the villagers fear and anger escalates.
  • Zama (2017)
    Review preview for Zama

    This is a very particular film - one where particles of detail crystallise into observation, meaning and import accreting like nacre around grit, producing a pearl, a natural jewel.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A 17th century army officer in Ascuncion, awaits transfer to Buenos Aires.
  • Zanka Contact (2020)
    Review preview for Zanka Contact

    The barest hooks of a narrative are here but stitched together with a lot of energy and stylish flourishes from cinematographer Benjamin Rufi.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    In hellish Casablanca, a car-crash sets ablaze a burning, passionate love story between has-been rocker Larsen and the streetwise Rajae.
  • Zatoichi (2003)
    Review preview for Zatoichi

    Takeshi Kitano's film is so beautifully made that the violence appears aesthetically pleasing.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    Japanese myth of the blind warrior made flesh by Takeshi Kitano.
  • A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)
    Review preview for A Zed & Two Noughts

    Despite overkill in the ideas department, which many will find too pretentious for comfort or coherence, visually, Zed is a masterpiece.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Two brothers become obssessed with decay after the simultaneous deaths of their wives.
  • Zelig (1983)
    Review preview for Zelig

    This is a film with more than just a clever gimmick.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Pseudo-documentary charting the story of a man whose physical appearance changes so he resembles those around him.
  • Zen And Sword (1961)
    Review preview for Zen And Sword

    Musashi is no American action hero. He does not need a kidnapped daughter of murdered wife to justify violence. All he needs is becoming spiritually one with the sword.

    Donald Munro · 4 out of 5
    An adaptation of Yoshikawa Eiji's biography of Miyamoto Musashi, swordsman and author of the Book Of Five Rings, who fights his way through many opponents while developing his philosophy of swordsmanship.
  • Zen Dog (2016)
    Review preview for Zen Dog

    Not only visually intelligent but ravishingly beautiful.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Trapped by daily routine, a man experiences complete freedom by dreaming himself across the country in a psychedelic Volkswagen with the guiding words of philosopher Alan Watts.
  • Zero (2024)
    Review preview for Zero

    Well shot and well paced, Zero has a lot to offer in spite of its twee moments.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    Two Americans find themselves in Dakar, Senegal with bombs strapped to their chests and ten hours to find out why.
  • Zero Impunity (2019)
    Review preview for Zero Impunity

    Western documentary regulars may feel as though they are in familiar territory at the start of the film, which begins by focusing on Syria - but soon the violence considered will come a lot closer to home.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Hybrid documentary exploring the use of rape and sexual violence in global conflict.
  • Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1973)
    Review preview for Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

    Indisputably one of the greatest concert films ever made, DA Pennebaker's striking work captures those last moments onstage in all their glory.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    David Bowie in his final performance as Ziggy Stardust, with behind the scenes footage.
  • Zinder (2021)
    Review preview for Zinder

    At just 83 minutes, this is a tight little snapshot that manages to draw in themes from the bigger picture of sociopolitics in Niger without losing its focus.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Portrait of the Kara Kara district of Zinder and the gang members who live there.
  • Zodiac (2007)
    Review preview for Zodiac

    If you're a fan of tense crime thrillers full of scares and mystery, then it may not be for you - but it's certainly about you.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    A cop, a reporter and a cartoonist become obsessed with a serial killer in 1970s San Francisco.
  • Zodiac Killer Project (2025)
    Review preview for Zodiac Killer Project

    A surprisingly droll deconstruction of crime reconstruction.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A filmmaker describes his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary and probes the inner workings of a genre at saturation point.
  • Zola (2020)
    Review preview for Zola

    Bravo too often steps back from more serious interrogation in favour of more surface thrills as the girls wave their derrieres in the air like they don't care.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A waitress goes on a pole dancing trip to Florida with a new found friend and gets a lot more than she bargained for.
  • Zombieland (2009)
    Review preview for Zombieland

    Everything about Zombieland works, from the expositional flashbacks, to Columbus’ voice-over narration, to the well-judged but sudden changes in tone.

    Daniel Hooper · 4.5 out of 5
    When the world is overrun by zombies, four people try to survive.

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