Skip to main content

Glasgow Film Festival · 2019

Glasgow Film Festival 2019

Window on the World

Programme

27 films · 11 reviews

Jump to a film

Alice T

A resentful, careless teenager is forced to try and get her act together when she discovers that she's pregnant.

(Country: Romania, France, Sweden; Year: 2018; Director: Radu Muntean; Writer: Alexandru Baciu; Stars: Cast Andra Guti, Mihaela Sirbu, Cristine Hambaseanu)

All These Small Moments

Howie Sheffield is at a turning point. As he watches his parents’ relationship crumbling, he becomes infatuated with Odessa, a woman he sees each day on the bus ride to school.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Melissa B Miller-Costanzo; Writer: Melissa B Miller-Costanzo; Stars: Molly Ringwald, Jemima Kirke, Harley Quinn Smith, Brian d'Arcy James, Brendan Meyer, Roscoe Orman, David Joseph Craig, Salena Qureshi, Elijah Boothe, Spenser Granese, Derek Michalak, Sam McCarthy, Connor Johnston, Margot Steinberg, Evan Dominguez)

Alpha, The Right To Kill

Review preview for Alpha, The Right To Kill

Although strong in its documentary feel and scathing in its message, it otherwise runs through the Alpha to Omega of predictable thriller elements.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Set against the background of the government's crackdown on illegal drugs, the SWAT-led police force launches an operation to arrest a drug dealer, with a detective and his informant Elijah providing the intelligence.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2018; Director: Brillante Mendoza; Writer: Troy Espiritu; Stars: Allen Dizon, Elijah Filamor, Baron Geisler)

Full review

Balloon (Ballon)

For years, the Strelzyk and Wetzel families have been working on plans to make a spectacular escape from East Germany. They hope that their home made hot air balloon will grant them passage beyond the German Border and onwards to safety but complications arise when their first attempt ends in a crash landing. With state security hot on their tails, the families are faced with a nerve-shredding race against time to evade capture.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Michael Bully Herbig; Stars: Friedrich Mücke, Karoline Schuch, David Kross)

Ben Is Back

Review preview for Ben Is Back

The subject is important and relevant and Peter Hedges avoids the obvious pitfalls with a skilful, honest approach.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A young man who returns home is welcomed by his mother, little realising trouble is coming through the door with him.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Peter Hedges; Writer: Peter Hedges; Stars: Julia Roberts, Lucas Hedges, Courtney B. Vance, Kathryn Newton, Rachel Bay Jones, David Zaldivar, Alexandra Park, Michael Esper, Tim Guinee, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Kristin Griffith, Jack Davidson, Mia Fowler, Jakari Fraser, Cameron Roberts)

Full review

Bhonsle

A veteran policeman finds his superior attitude changing towards his lower class neighbours.

(Country: India; Year: 2018; Director: Devashish Makhija; Writer: Devashish Makhija, Sharanya Rajgopal, Mirat Trivedi; Stars: Aditya Agnihotri, Aditya Agnihotri, Manoj Bajpayee, Abhishek Banerjee, Krishna Bansal, Shardul Bharadwaj, Gauravansh, Chittaranjan Giri, Geeta Guha, Sagar Gujar, Mohd Iqbal, Rajendra Jadhav, Sunil Jadhav, Suhasini Jaishankar, Jairoop Jeevan)

A Bread Factory, Part One (For The Sake Of Gold)

Review preview for A Bread Factory, Part One

The meat of A Bread Factory lies in the details.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Dorothea and her partner Greta have devoted 40 years to transforming their small-town’s disused bread factory into a civic centre promoting theatre, dance and film. As they prepare to stage Hecuba, they learn that their funding may be cut in favour of a glitzy, commercial rival.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Patrick Wang; Writer: Patrick Wang; Stars: Tyne Daly, Elisabeth Henry-Macari, Brian Murray)

Full review

A Bread Factory, Part Two (Walk with Me a While)

Review preview for A Bread Factory, Part Two

The meat of A Bread Factory lies in the details.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In the second part of this sometimes musical drama, two women rehearse a production of Hecuba while fighting to save the arts centre to which they have devoted their lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Patrick Wang; Stars: Tyne Daly, Elisabeth Henry-Macari, James Marsters)

Full review

Buy Me A Gun (Cómprame Un Revólver)

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Julio Hernández Cordón; Writer: Julio Hernández Cordón)

Cities Of Last Things (Xing Fu Cheng Shi)

An elderly man plummets to his death from a high-rise apartment block. What prompted his suicide and the actions that preceded it?

(Country: Taiwan, China, US, France; Year: 2018; Director: Wi Ding Ho; Stars: Jack Kao, Li Hong-Chi, Louise Grinberg)

Diane

Review preview for Diane

Place, who appears in almost every scene, has never been better.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Diane is a devoted friend and caretaker, particularly to her drug-addicted son. But as those around her begin to drift away in the last quarter of her life, she is left to reckon with past choices.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Kent Jones; Writer: Kent Jones; Stars: Jake Lacy, Mary Kay Place, Phyllis Somerville, Kerry Flanagan, Ray Iannicelli, Jennifer Delora, Joe James, Crystal Tweed, Ann Osmond, Ann Lucente, David Tuttle, Patrick Husted, Lorenzo Beronilla, Dierdre Friel, Jenny Kirlin)

Full review See: ‪Kent Jones in conversation on Mary Kay Place, the power of ellipsis in cinema, and the objects in Diane , Kent Jones in conversation on the road, costume design, and passports to another universe in Diane

Driven

Biopic tracking the friendship between John DeLorean and FBI informant Jim Hoffman.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Nick Hamm; Writer: Colin Bateman; Stars: Lee Pace, Judy Greer, Erin Moriarty, Jason Sudeikis, Corey Stoll, Justin Bartha, Michael Cudlitz, Tara Summers, Iddo Goldberg, Yuji Okumoto, Asher Miles Fallica, Tyler Crumley, Isabel Arraiza, Brian Tester, Jeffrey Holsman)

Genesis (Genèse)

16-year-old Guillaume is the class clown who loves attention and never takes anything seriously. His older stepsister Charlotte has already found someone that she considers her forever love. Life is about to turn their worlds upside down.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Philippe Lesage; Stars: Noée Abita, Paul Ahmarani, Théodore Pellerin)

Girls Of The Sun (Les Filles Du Soleil)

A battalion made up entirely of Kurdish female soldiers is on the cusp of taking back control of the city where its commander was captured by extremists a few months earlier.

(Country: France, Belgium, Georgia, Switzerland; Year: 2018; Director: Eva Husson; Writer: Eva Husson; Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Emmanuelle Bercot, Erol Afsin)

The Good Girls (Las Ninas Bien)

Mexico City 1982. Affluent and arrogant, queen bee Sofia rules over the city’s social elite–until the family business falls victim to the national economic crisis... but how far will she go to retain her status.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Writer: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Stars: Ilse Salas, Flavio Medina, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Paulina Gaitan, Johanna Murillo, Jimena Guerra, Ana José Aldrete, Pablo Chemor, Claudia Lobo, Diego Jáuregui, Daniel Haddad, Rebecca de Alba, Nicolas Andreu, Alfonso Borbolla, Alejandro Caballero)

The Hummingbird Project

Review preview for The Hummingbird Project

This is a story of building a thing against impossible odds.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
A pair of cousins embark on scheme to make millions in High Frequency Trading.

(Country: Canada, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Kim Nguyen; Writer: Kim Nguyen; Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Salma Hayek, Michael Mando, Johan Heldenbergh, Ayisha Issa, Mark Slacke, Sarah Goldberg, Frank Schorpion, Kwasi Songui, Conrad Pla, Julian Bailey, Jessica Greco, Robert Reynolds, Wyatt Bowen)

Full review

In My Room

Review preview for In My Room

Patrick Orth's cinematography gives this a beguiling warmth but it's really Löw's performance that makes it work.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A bored man suddenly realises that everyone around him has disappeared and he isn't sure what happened.

(Country: Germany, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Ulrich Köhler; Writer: Ulrich Köhler; Stars: Hans Löw, Elena Radonicich, Antonia Putiloff)

Full review

In Safe Hands (Pupille)

When a mother decides not to keep the child she has called Theo, Jean steps in to foster the child until a suitable family is found. Alice has waited years for the chance to adopt and a social worker is among those who must decide if she is ready for the responsibility.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Jeanne Herry; Stars: Sandrine Kiberlain, Gilles Lellouche, Elodie Bouchez)

Let Me Fall (Lof mér að falla)

Based on true events, teenagers Magnea and Stella's lives are forever altered when they meet.

(Country: Iceland, Finland, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Baldvin Zophoníasson; Writer: Birgir Örn Steinarsson, Baldvin Zophoníasson; Stars: Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir, Eyrún Björk Jakobsdóttir, Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir, Kristín Lea, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Sigurbjartur Atlason, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Laufey Elíasdóttir, Atli Oskar Fjalarsson, Einar Gunn, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir, Halldór Halldórsson, Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir)

The Most Beautiful Couple (Das Schönste Paar)

Review preview for The Most Beautiful Couple

In terms of the emotive arc offered to the viewer, this film does things that are completely unexpected, and in doing so it moves far beyond the usual scope of narratives about recovery or revenge.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
On holiday in Mallorca, Liv and Malte are attacked by three young men. Liv is raped and Malte is powerless to help her. They try to move on and rebuild their lives back in Germany but Malte cannot forgive himself. Then, one night in Cologne, he spots the guilty young man.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2018; Director: Sven Taddicken; Writer: Sven Taddicken; Stars: Maximilian Brückner, Luise Heyer, Leonard Kunz)

Full review

The Pluto Moment (Ming wang xing shi ke)

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Ming Zhang; Writer: Yuxi Gong, Ming Zhang; Stars: Miya Muqi, Hailu Qin, Xuebing Wang, Meihuizi Zeng, Dan Liu, Jiawen Li, Ping Yi, Xinran Li, Daqian Yi, Miya Muqi, Hailu Qin, Xuebing Wang, Meihuizi Zeng, Dan Liu, Jiawen Li)

The River (Ozen)

(Country: Kazakhstan, Poland, Norway; Year: 2018; Director: Emir Baigazin; Writer: Emir Baigazin; Stars: Zhalgas Klanov, Eric Tazabekov, Zhasulan Userbayev, Ruslan Userbayev)

Rojo

Review preview for Rojo

The writer/director casts his net wide, taking inspiration from auteurs like John Boorman and Sam Peckinpah through to freeze-frame moments that could slot straight into TV detective dramas of the time.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Violence is sparked on the eve of Argentina's dictatorship.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2018; Director: Benjamín Naishtat; Writer: Benjamín Naishtat; Stars: Alfredo Castro, Darío Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio)

Full review See: Benjamin Naishtat interview about Rojo

Those Who Work (Ceux Qui Travaillent)

Frank is the man you would turn to in a crisis. He is devoted to his work and a proud dad. One brutal decision in the heat of the moment crosses the line and Frank is fired throwing his life into turmoil.

(Country: Belgium, Switzerland; Year: 2018; Director: Antoine Russbach; Stars: Olivier Gourmet, Adèle Bochtay, Elidan Arzoni)

Tyrel

Review preview for Tyrel

This is a film about America's difficult relationship with race and the way that unresolved issues result in ongoing damage.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Tyler spirals out of control when he realises he’s the only black person attending a weekend birthday party in a secluded cabin.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Sebastián Silva; Writer: Sebastián Silva; Stars: Jason Mitchell, Caleb Landry Jones, Michael Cera, Christopher Abbott, Ann Dowd, Michael Zegen, Philip Ettinger, Roddy Bottum)

Full review

Under The Silver Lake

Review preview for Under The Silver Lake

There are just too many movie references and homage to the likes of David Lynch in this noirish thriller to make it anything other than an over-derivative exercise in style over substance.

Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
A man becomes obsessed with the strange circumstances of a billionaire mogul's murder and the kidnapping of a girl.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: David Robert Mitchell; Writer: David Robert Mitchell; Stars: Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace, Patrick Fischler, Grace Van Patten, Callie Hernandez, Zosia Mamet, Jeremy Bobb, Sydney Sweeney, Jimmi Simpson, David Yow)

Full review

The World Is Yours (Le monde ou rien, Le Monde Est à Toi)

(Year: 2018; Director: Romain Gavras; Writer: Karim Boukercha, Noé Debré, Romain Gavras; Stars: Karim Leklou, Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Adjani, François Damiens, Oulaya Amamra, Philippe Katerine, Michael John Treanor, Norbert Ferrer, Gabby Rose, Yun-Ping He, Karim Leklou, Vincent Cassel, Isabelle Adjani, François Damiens, Oulaya Amamra)