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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2024

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024

Midnight Shivers

Programme

8 films · 5 reviews

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1978

During the World Cup final between Argentina and Holland, in times of military dictatorship, a group of torturers violently breaks into a home and kidnaps a group of young people to take them to a clandestine detention centre.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2024; Director: Luciano Onetti, Nicolás Onetti; Writer: Luciano Onetti, Nicolás Onetti, Camilo Zaffora; Stars: Agustín Pardella, Carlos Portaluppi, Mario Alarcón, Agustin Olcese, Jorge Lorenzo, Santiago Ríos, Gustavo Bonfigli, Paula Silva, Gustavo Pardi, Ezequiel Pache, Valeria San Martin, Maria Eugenia Rigon, Justina Ceballos, Gustavo Bayley, Ignacio Francavilla)

The Beast Hand

A man seeks vengeance after a botched op.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2024; Director: Taichiro Natsume; Stars: Takahiro Fukuya, Misa Wada)

Chainsaws Were Singing

Review preview for Chainsaws Were Singing

Although most viewers will find themselves flagging before the end, there is a lot to enjoy here.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Adventures await when new lovers are separated by a chainsaw killer in this absurdist musical.

(Country: Estonia; Year: 2024; Director: Sander Maran; Writer: Sander Maran, Karl Ilves; Stars: Karl Ilves, Laura Niils, Martin Ruus, Janno Puusepp, Rita Rätsepp, Ra Ragnar Novod)

Full review See: Interview with Sander Maran and Peeter Maran about Chainsaws Were Singing

Cuckoo

Review preview for Cuckoo

It’s Schafer’s performance that anchors it.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Tilman Singer; Writer: Tilman Singer; Stars: Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, Jan Bluthardt)

Full review

Heretic

Review preview for Heretic

An intense pop-cultural awareness permeates Heretic. This is the doctrinal dialogue of our age.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse in the house of a strange man.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods; Writer: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods; Stars: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Topher Grace, Elle Young)

Full review

The Rule Of Jenny Pen

Review preview for The Rule Of Jenny Pen

Ashcroft’s interpretation steers the story away from simple tragedy as we see Mortensen making gains as well as losses.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former Judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.

(Country: New Zealand/Aotearoa; Year: 2024; Director: James Ashcroft; Writer: James Ashcroft, Eli Kent, Owen Marshall; Stars: John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Nathaniel Lees, Thomas Sainsbury, Maaka Pohatu, Ian Mune, Irene Wood)

Full review

Sayara

When her sister is murdered by a group of politically connected rich kids, Sayara, a quiet gym cleaner from Turkmenistan, begins to follow in her father’s footsteps, seeking a path of revenge.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2024; Director: Can Evrenol; Stars: Duygu Kocabiyik, Emre Kizilirmak, Özgül Kosar)

Scared Shitless

Review preview for Scared Shitless

This may present itself as a B-movie but it’s very well crafted, at every level from the dramatic to the cinematographic.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A father and son plumbing duo face a gruesome challenge: rid a building of a toilet-dwelling creature before it unleashes itself to the rest of the world.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Vivieno Caldinelli; Writer: Brandon Cohen; Stars: Steven Ogg, Daniel Doheny, Chalsea Clark, Mark McKinney, Julian Richings)

Full review