Cheltenham International Film Festival

Latest reviews

• 
  The Universal Theory

  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.
• 
  Porcelain War

  Review preview for Porcelain War

  A tactile and colour-infused film.

  Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it’s easy to make people afraid, it’s hard to destroy their passion for living.
• 
  The Crime Is Mine

  Review preview for The Crime Is Mine

  A sugary delight with a delightfully bitter aftertaste.

  When a glamorous but talentless young actress is accused of murdering a sleazy producer, her aspiring lawyer friend spies a money-making opportunity.
• 
  Reawakening

  Review preview for Reawakening

  The narrative deals profoundly with grief as well as loss which will assuredly resonate with most of us.

  Tension mounts for a couple when a woman claiming to be their daughter, who went missing 10 years before, arrives back in their lives.
• 
  Timestalker

  Review preview for Timestalker

  Lowe’s approach is an exhiliarating, if sometimes a bit scrappy, mix of high and low brow.

  A woman continuously seeks out the presumed love of her life across time, in one incarnation after another.
• 
  Girls Will Be Girls

  Review preview for Girls Will Be Girls

  Panigrahi is pitch perfect in her debut role.

  In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance. But her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come of age herself.
• 
  A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things

  Review preview for A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things

  A fascinating portrait of a woman ahead of her time.

  Consideration of the painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.
• 
  My Old Ass

  Review preview for My Old Ass

  Park captures the web of life tensions that don’t just stop when we’re teenagers, particularly the pull of the new versus the attraction of nostalgia.

  The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott comes face-to-face with her older self during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home.
• 
  The Outrun

  Review preview for The Outrun

  Distances of time and space are collapsible in Fingscheidt’s hands.

  After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands - where she grew up - hoping to heal.
• 
  Dr. Cheon And The Lost Talisman

  Review preview for Dr. Cheon And The Lost Talisman

  A supernaturally themed thriller which also delivers a healthy supply of laughs, this is a wild ride from start to finish.

  The story of a fake exorcist, Dr. Cheon, who is commissioned to look into the case of a girl who is strongly possessed.

A–Z of Cheltenham International Film Festival 2024 reviews →

Features

• 'I have always adored being pushed out of my comfort zone'
  Reawakening's Juliet Stevenson on making choices, working with Jared Harris and never repeating herself
• Life lessons
  Shuchi Talati on rebellion and relationships in school-set drama Girls Will Be Girls
• Groundbreaking
  Stephen Soucy on James Ivory, Ismail Merchant, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Richard Robbins and Merchant Ivory
• Cousins discovers a kindred spirit
  Filmmaker on his Barns-Graham art doc in Karlovy Vary