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Belfast Film Festival · 2023

Belfast Film Festival 2023

New Cinema

Programme

10 films · 6 reviews

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Anatomy Of A Fall (Anatomie D'une Chute)

Review preview for Anatomy Of A Fall

Hüller has always been an unfussy actress, who allows a character's flaws to shine out in interesting ways.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman is accused of her husband's murder.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Justine Triet; Writer: Arthur Harari, Justine Triet; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Samuel Theis, Swann Arlaud, Jehnny Beth, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz)

Full review

Eileen

Review preview for Eileen

There are so many shots through things, boundaries, borders, thresholds, that we are primed for other barriers crossed. Those transgressions are not light ones, but in them is an abject honesty.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, young secretary Eileen becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counsellor at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: William Oldroyd; Writer: Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh, based on the novel by Ottessa Moshfegh; Stars: Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland, Owen Teague)

Full review

Embers

Amy, a sex surrogate, is employed to help a high-security psychiatric patient overcome his intimacy issues in order to make parole. Incarcerated for 18 years, Dan must confront his dark past if he is to have any chance of freedom.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Christian Cooke; Writer: Christian Cooke, Dave Florez; Stars: Ruth Bradley, Christian Cook, David Wilmot, Samuel Anderson, Clare Perkins)

Fallen Leaves (Kuolleet Lehdet)

Review preview for Fallen Leaves

An amuse-bouche of a film, Aki Kaurismäki’s latest comedy romance may leave you wanting more but it’s also a fully rounded, good looking experience packed with all the flavours we’ve come to expect from the master of deadpan down the years.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The course of potential love does not run smooth for a shelf-stacker and a metal worker.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2023; Director: Aki Kaurismäki; Writer: Aki Kaurismäki; Stars: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen)

Full review

Fingernails

Review preview for Fingernails

There’s something inherently endearing about the way that Nikou always managed to conjure timelessness in his worlds. They’re more analogue than futuristic but ultimately hang in a sort of limbo of ‘here but not quite now’.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman who is increasingly unsure about her relationship secretly embarks on a new assignment working at a mysterious institute designed to incite and test the presence of romantic love in increasingly desperate couples.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Christos Nikou; Writer: Christos Nikou, Stavros Raptis, Sam Steiner; Stars: Jeremy Allen White, Annie Murphy, Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Luke Wilson, Katy Breier)

Full review See: Truth and nail: Christos Nikou on Fingernails

Lie Of The Land

An ageing farming couple in dire financial straits make a deal with a mysterious stranger who promises to help them find a new life in the sun. Things don’t go to plan however, and their devious scheme soon descends into outright chaos.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: John Carlin; Stars: Nigel O'Neill, Ali White)

Monster (Kaibutsu)

Review preview for Monster

A beautifully constructed piece of work in which every detail serves the whole, putting the tools of the epic at the disposal of a story which is intimate and delicately realised.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A mother is shocked when she learns what a teacher has said to her son, but the truth is more complicated.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda; Writer: Yûji Sakamoto; Stars: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiragi)

Full review

Not A Thing (Veszélyes Lehet A Fagyi)

Two identical twins live a completely different life and see each other in quite different perspectives. One is a rich housewife with a newborn, the other is a doctor with low income, but with a sparkling new relationship.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2022; Director: Fanni Szilágyi; Writer: Zsófia Lányi; Stars: Natasa Stork, Márton Patkós, Máté Szabó, Magdi Bódi, Marica Tárnok, László Balkay)

Silent Roar

A young surfer struggles to accept his father's disappearance at sea.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Johnny Barrington; Writer: Johnny Barrington; Stars: Louis McCartney, Ella Lily Hyland, Mark Lockyer, Fiona Bell)

The Zone Of Interest

Review preview for The Zone Of Interest

There are no shortcuts in this film, no conventions and nothing careless.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
The daily lives of the Höss family outside the walls of Auschwitz.

(Country: UK, Poland, US; Year: 2023; Director: Jonathan Glazer; Writer: Jonathan Glazer, based on the book by Martin Amis; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Ralph Herforth, Max Beck, Stephanie Petrowitz, Marie Rose Tietjen)

Full review