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Cambridge Film Festival · 2023

Cambridge Film Festival 2023

Galas

Programme

5 films · 3 reviews

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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

Foe

A stranger makes a surprising proposal to a couple, offering them the chance to change their own futures and perhaps alter the course of human existence.

(Country: US, Australia, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Garth Davis; Writer: Garth Davis, Iain Reid; Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Aaron Pierre, Goran D. Kleut, Jeriya Benn, JJ Pantano, Yesse Spence, Tanith Martin, Michael M. Foster, Kwame N. Kamara, Nick Downing, Shamita Siva, Jordan Chodziesner, William Freeman)

Poor Things

Review preview for Poor Things

Lanthimos skillfully transforms this lustful carnival into a coming-of-age drama, emphasising the protagonist's mastery of sexuality as a connotation of her mental evolution.

Levan Tskhovrebadze · 4.5 out of 5
The story of a young woman who has been brought back to life.

(Country: US, Ireland, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Yorgos Lanthimos; Writer: Tony McNamara, based on the novel by Alasdair Gray; Stars: Cast: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Jerrod Carmichael, Hanna Schygulla , Kathrin Hunter)

Full review

The Royal Hotel

Review preview for The Royal Hotel

The feeling that something bad could happen at any moment permeates the mood.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
US backpackers Hanna and Liv take a job in a remote Australian pub for some extra cash and are confronted with a bunch of unruly locals and a situation that grows rapidly out of their control.

(Country: Australia, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Kitty Green; Writer: Kitty Green, Oscar Redding; Stars: Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Hugo Weaving, James Frecheville, Toby Wallace, Daniel Henshall, Herbert Nordrum, Ursula Yovich)

Full review

Shortcomings

Following Ben, Miko, and Alice as they navigate a range of interpersonal relationships and traverse the country in search of the ideal connection.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Randall Park; Writer: Adrian Tomine; Stars: Justin H Min, Sherry Cola, Ally Maki, Debby Ryan, Tavi Gevinson, Sonoya Mizuno)