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Festival coverage

Edinburgh International Film Festival

14 August – 20 July 2025

Mortician won the Sean Connery Prize
Mortician won the Sean Connery Prize

Celebrating its 78th edition this year, EIFF opened with Sorry, Baby and closed with Reality Is Not Enough. In Conversation events included chats with Andrea Arnold, Nia DaCosta, Ben Wheatley and Andrew and Kevin Macdonald. The festival ran from August 14 to 20. The Sean Connery Prize went to Mortician and Mother Goose won the Thelma Schoonmaker Prize.

Other years (27)

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Latest reviews

  • Crushed
    Review preview for Crushed

    What is interesting here is that Olivia is never objectified.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    In suburban Bangkok, a family's faith is thrown into crisis when their daughter is kidnapped.
  • Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk
    Review preview for Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk

    The film doesn’t answer every common question that people have in this situation, but it does provide some context.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A glimpse of everyday reality for people living in Gaza in 2024.
  • Odyssey
    Review preview for Odyssey

    Maberly herself is unforgettable in a gem of a role.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A ruthless estate agent finds herself in debt to some vicious gangsters.
  • The Toxic Avenger
    Review preview for The Toxic Avenger

    Even in the cheapest of zombie films, human bodies have never come apart so easily, nor contained such an abundance of blood. It explodes across the screen at frequent intervals, each one more spectacular than the last.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A reimagining of the Eighties franchise in which a janitor is transformed by radioactive slime and becomes an unlikely hero.
  • Mortician
    Review preview for Mortician

    This may be a two-hander but the constantly inventive framing from Kahani ensures that conversations never feel dull and his employment of light is impressive.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A mild-mannered Iranian mortician in Canada forms an unexpected bond with a dissident singer in exile.
  • Cutting Through Rocks
    Review preview for Cutting Through Rocks

    The idea of her as a lone voice is emphasised by striking cinematography, often of her riding her bike across the landscape, which has the wide-open quality of a western.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.
  • Mother Goose
    Review preview for Mother Goose

    This is a solid piece of craft, simple in its intent and payoff but as with furniture the cleaner the lines the more work that's hidden.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    After the death of her husband, Janet decides to distract herself by rearing a goose... which becomes an obsession.
  • Misper
    Review preview for Misper

    Filmed with a dark sense of brooding.

    Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
    A staff member at a seaside hotel vanishes without a trace.
  • Walk With Me
    Review preview for Walk With Me

    The discussion of map-making is part of learning how to navigate the condition, to forge new paths while exploring what amounts to a new self.

    Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
    A filmmaker charts her own journey after her husband is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
  • I Live Here Now
    Review preview for I Live Here Now

    While the film's ambition should be saluted it falls short in ways that frustrate.

    Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
    A woman finds herself trapped in a remote hotel where the violent echoes of her past come alive, blurring the lines between her darkest nightmares and the waking world.

A–Z of Edinburgh International Film Festival 2025 reviews

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