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Glasgow Film Festival · 2023

Glasgow Film Festival 2023

General Features

Programme

40 films · 31 reviews

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Amerikatsi

Review preview for Amerikatsi

The physicality extends past harm to outright comedy.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A refugee returning to Armenia after growing up in the US is arrested and sentenced to prison for wearing a tie. When an earthquake ruptures the prison wall, he begins to spy on the couple in the adjacent apartment, gradually forging a connection with a culture he knew nothing about.

(Country: Armenia; Year: 2022; Director: Michael A Goorjian; Writer: Michael A Goorjian; Stars: Michael A Goorjian, Hovik Keuchkerian, Nelli Uvarova)

Full review See: Q&A with Michael A Goorjian about Amerikatski

The Artifice Girl

Review preview for The Artifice Girl

Smarter than most films of its ilk and refreshingly free of misplaced sentiment.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
When an internet vigilante develops a revolutionary new computer program to combat online predators, its rapid advancement leads to serious questions about autonomy, oppression, and what it really means to be human.

(Year: 2022; Director: Franklin Ritch; Writer: Franklin Ritch; Stars: Tatum Mathews, Sinda Nichols, David Girard, Lance Henriksen, Franklin Ritch)

Full review See: Interview with Franklin Ritch about The Artifice Girl

Breaking (892)

A Marine war veteran faces mental and emotional challenges when he tries to reintegrate into civilian life.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Abi Damaris Corbin; Writer: Abi Damaris Corbin, Kwame Kwei-Armah; Stars: John Boyega, Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Michael Kenneth Williams, Connie Britton, Jeffrey Donovan, Olivia Washington, London Covington)

Chevalier

Review preview for Chevalier

This is hardly a bastion of accuracy, but it does cover its ground well.

Andrew Robertson · 3 out of 5
The true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who rises to heights in French society as a composer before an ill-fated love affair.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Stephen Williams; Writer: Stefani Robinson; Stars: Lucy Boynton, Samara Weaving, Minnie Driver, Marton Csokas)

Full review

The Civil Dead

Review preview for The Civil Dead

The comedy banter of the film’s middle stretch gradually gives way to anxiety, aggravation and despair, until we reach one of the darkest endings of any film in recent years.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A misanthropic, struggling photographer just wants to watch TV and eat candy while his wife is out of town, but when a desperate old pal resurfaces, his plans are thwarted, with spooky consequences.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Clay Tatum; Writer: Clay Tatum, Whitmer Thomas; Stars: Clay Tatum, Whitmer Thomas, DeMorge Brown)

Full review

Dance Craze

Review preview for Dance Craze

Even if this isn’t your thing, you’ll easily understand the appeal.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary examining 2-tone bands.

(Country: UK; Year: 1981; Director: Joe Massot; Stars: Buster Bloodvessel, Roddy Byers, Rhoda Dakar, Jerry Dammers, Terry Hall, Horace Panter, David Wakeling)

Full review

Daniel (All Our Fears, Wszystkie Nasze Strachy)

Triggered by an unexpected tragedy, gay artist and activist Daniel, who is also a deeply religious man, tries hard to make the local community grieve together.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2021; Director: Lukasz Gutt, Lukasz Ronduda; Writer: Marta Konarzewska, Michal Oleszczyk, Michal Pabian; Stars: Dawid Ogrodnik, Maria Maj, Andrzej Chyra, Oskar Rybaczek)

Dear Memories (Dear Memories - Eine Reise Mit Dem Magnum-Fotografen Thomas Hoepker)

Review preview for Dear Memories

The landscapes of the film are detailed like [Hoepker's] photographs and one suspects that he had a hand in identifying interesting subjects.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When world-famous photographer Thomas Hoepker was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, he and his wife decided to take a road trip across the US, his home for 40 years.

(Country: Germany, Switzerland; Year: 2022; Director: Nahuel Lopez; Writer: Nahuel Lopez; Stars: Thomas Hoepker, Christine Kruchen)

Full review

Driving Mum (Á Ferð með Mömmu)

Review preview for Driving Mum

Oddson maintains a melancholy mood and finds ways to shift his narrative from everyday absurdity to full-on surreality and back again.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The death of Jon's mum forces him to take a trip with her corpse in the backseat to fulfill her last wish, with a dog along for the ride.

(Country: Estonia, Iceland; Year: 2022; Director: Hilmar Oddsson; Writer: Hilmar Oddsson; Stars: Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld, Hera Hilmar, Tómas Lemarquis, Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson, Pálmi Gestsson, Björn Stefánsson, Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir, Ágúst Þór Ámundason, Magnús Ólafsson, Halldór Gylfason, Kjartan Bjargmundsson, Harpa Arnardóttir, Jóhann Sigurðsson, Guðlaug Elísabet Ólafsdóttir)

Full review See: Hilmar Oddsson on the music and use of theatre in Driving Mum , Getting Driving Mum on the road - Hilmar Oddsson on his absurdist comedy

The Eight Mountains

Review preview for The Eight Mountains

In their quietly devastating manner, Groeningen and Vandermeersch examine the fluid nature of our confusion and confidence over our place in the world.

Jeremy Mathews · 5 out of 5
The Eight Mountains is the story of a friendship. Of children becoming men who try to erase the footprints of their fathers, but who, through the twists and turns they take, always end up returning home.

(Country: Italy, Belgium, France; Year: 2022; Director: Felix van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch; Writer: Paolo Cognetti, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix van Groeningen; Stars: Alessandro Borghi, Luca Marinelli, Filippo Timi, Elena Lietti)

Full review

Eismayer

Review preview for Eismayer

At once overstuffed and oddly slight, it’s a restrained and sincere work.

Chris Fyvie · 3 out of 5
A closeted Army instructor finds his identity challenged when an openly gay man joins his unit.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2022; Director: David Wagner; Writer: David Wagner; Stars: Gerhard Liebmann, Luka Dimic, Julia Koschitz, Anton Noori, Karl Fischer, Christopher Schärf, Lion Tatzber, Lukas Johne, Matthias Hack, Harry Lampl, Matthias Böhm, Thomas Momcinovic, Jagersberger Joshua, Paul Winkler, Thomas Otrok)

Full review See: Interview with David Wagner about Eismayer

Free Money

Review preview for Free Money

This documentary provides a fascinating glimpse into how [UBI] might play out in practice.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When universal basic income (UBI) comes to the Kenyan village of Kogutu, lives are forever changed.

(Country: Kenya, US; Year: 2022; Director: Lauren DeFilippo, Sam Soko)

Full review

Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures

Review preview for Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures

In places, dark humour seeps into the film like the rot around the hotel windows.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Film based on the true stories of Portuguese migrants who travel to Great Yarmouth, pre-Brexit, to work in turkey factories.

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2022; Director: Marco Martins; Writer: Ricardo Adolfo, Marco Martins; Stars: Nuno Lopes, Kris Hitchen, Beatriz Batarda, Peter Caulfield, Achilles Fuzier, Hugo Bentes, Celia Williams, Rita Cabaço, Romeu Runa)

Full review

Harka

Review preview for Harka

A cri de cœur on behalf of all those from who hope has been stolen

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Ali earns a living illegally selling gasoline on the street. He doesn’t have any contact with his family, but when he receives news that his father has died, he is forced to become responsible for his two younger sisters.

(Country: France, Germany, United States, Tunisia; Year: 2022; Director: Lotfy Nathan; Writer: Lotfy Nathan; Stars: Adam Bessa, Hsouna Heni, Jamal Madani, Mohamed Ouni, Elyes Riahi, Mohamed Nsibi, Khaled Barsaoui, Moez Hannachi, Yahya Feidi, Arij Sebai, Monji Ben Said, Boulbeba Hedili, Anoir Nasr, Islem Ben Mlouka, Amine Zaafouri, Sajir Mkacher)

Full review See: Adam Bessa on embracing complexity and digging into character , Lotfy Nathan on 'shedding the skin of accuracy' for stronger storytelling in Harka

Julia

At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.

(Country: US; Year: 1977; Director: Fred Zinnemann; Writer: Alvin Sargent, based on the short story by Lillian Hellman; Stars: Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, Jason Robards, Maximillian Schell, Hal Holbrook, Rosemary Murphy, Meryl Streep, Dora Doll)

The Kings Of The World (Los Reyos Del Mundo)

Review preview for The Kings Of The World

The use of a bike that is simultaneously broken and enhanced is a perfect encapsulation of the idea of things being caught between two states in the film.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Five street kids set out on a journey to the promised land.

(Country: Colombia, Luxembourg, France, Mexico, Norway; Year: 2022; Director: Laura Mora Ortega; Writer: Maria Camila Arias, Laura Mora Ortega)

Full review

A Letter From Helga

Review preview for A Letter From Helga

A film as interested in the dynamics of romance as it is in romance itself.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Two very different, married people fall in love in a remote Icelandic community.

(Country: Iceland, Netherlands, Estonia; Year: 2022; Director: Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir; Writer: Bergsveinn Birgisson, Bergsveinn Birgisson, Ottó Geir Borg; Stars: Arnmundur Ernst Björnsson, Anita Briem, Soley Eliasdottir, Þorsteinn Gunnarsson, Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson, Hera Hilmar, Hjörtur Jóhann Jónsson, Thor Kristjansson, Rakel Ýr Stefánsdóttir, Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir, Björn Thors)

Full review See: Interview with Thorvaldur Kristjansson about A Letter From Helga

A Man (Aru Otoko)

A lawyer finds himself embroiled in a mystery after a woman asks him to investigate her dead husband's past.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2022; Director: Kei Ishikawa; Writer: Kôsuke Mukai; Stars: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Sakura Andô, Masataka Kubota, Nana Seino)

Mean Streets

Review preview for Mean Streets

A powerful experience, brimming with raw talent.

Stephen Carty · 4 out of 5
Trouble brews for a smalltime hood in Little Italy.

(Country: US; Year: 1973; Director: Martin Scorsese; Writer: Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin; Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, Victor Argo, George Memmoli, Lenny Scaletta, Jeannie Bell)

Full review See: Harvey Keitel on Sorrentino, Campion and Scorsese , Martin Scorsese talks at BAFTA life in pictures event

Moana

Review preview for Moana

The truth is, as much as Disney wants to inspire its young viewers, it also knows what sells.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
A young woman goes on an adventure with a demi-god.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker, Chris Williams; Writer: Jared Bush, from a story by Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, Chris Williams, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell; Stars: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk, Oscar Kightley, Troy Polamalu, Puanani Cravalho, Louise Bush)

Full review

Mother And Son (Un Petit Frere)

Review preview for Mother And Son

Filled with strong sentiment but without sentimentality.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
In the late 1980s, Rose moves from the Ivory Coast to the Paris suburbs with her two young sons, Ernest and Jean. Spanning 20 years from their arrival in France to the present day, the film is the chronicle of the construction and deconstruction of a family.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Léonor Serraille; Writer: Léonor Serraille; Stars: Stéphane Bak, Ahmed Sylla, Annabelle Lengronne, Kenzo Sambin)

Full review

Nightsiren

Review preview for Nightsiren

Nvotová is well versed in the language of the horror film, and some scenes echo the early work of Neil Jordan, but go much further in their hallucinatory concatenation of the forest wild and the monstrous feminine.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A young woman returns to her native mountain village, searching for answers about her troubled childhood, but as she tries to uncover the truth, ancient superstitions lead the villagers to accuse her of witchcraft and murder.

(Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic; Year: 2022; Director: Tereza Nvotová; Writer: Barbora Namerova, Tereza Nvotová; Stars: Natalia Germani, Eva Mores, Juliana Olhová, Iva Bittová, Jane Olhová)

Full review See: Interview with Tereza Nvotová about Nightsiren

The Night Of The 12th (La Nuit Du 12)

Review preview for The Night Of The 12th

While a specific killer may not be unmasked, toxic masculinity and its co-conspirator the patriarchal society stand in the dock - and the case against them is damning.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
It is said that every investigator has a crime that haunts them, a case that hurts him more than the others, without him necessarily knowing why. For Yohan that case is the murder of Clara.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2022; Director: Dominik Moll; Writer: Gilles Marchand and Dominik Moll, based on a book by Pauline Guéna; Stars: Bastien Bouillon, Bouli Lanners, Théo Cholbi, Johann Dionnet)

Full review See: Director Dominik Moll finds menace in the mountains in The Night Of The 12th

Paris Memories

Review preview for Paris Memories

The combination of Efira and Magimel proves magnetic.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A woman is caught up in a Paris terror attack and three months on she tries to piece together her memory.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Alice Winocour; Writer: Jean-Stéphane Bron, Marcia Romano, Alice Winocour; Stars: Virginie Efira, Benoît Magimel, Maya Sansa, Grégoire Colin, Nastya Golubeva Carax, Amadou Mbow, Ema Zampa, Souleymane Touré, Jean Pierre Horcholle, Clarisse Makundul)

Full review

Pink Moon

An adult daughter kidnaps her father, whisking him away to a cabin in the snow, hoping to alter his unexpected announcement that he has had enough of life and will end it by his next birthday.

(Country: Italy, Netherlands, Slovenia; Year: 2022; Director: Floor van der Meulen; Writer: Bastiaan Kroeger; Stars: Julia Akkermans, Anniek Pheifer, Johan Leysen, Sinem Kavus, Sara Luna Zoric, Jaap Spijkers, Glenn Coenen, Eelco Smits, Claire Schuyffel, Bruno Prent, Jenny Hsia, Noor Croes, Lolu Ajayi, Mariana Aparicio Torres, Marlijn van der Veen)

Plan 75

Review preview for Plan 75

The film is full of sharp little observations, made in passing, which tell us about this society and the experience of people living it.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
In a near future Japan, over-75s are offered a payment to encourage them to accept an assisted death.

(Country: Japan, France, Philippines; Year: 2022; Director: Chie Hayakawa; Writer: Chie Hayakawa; Stars: Chieko Baishô, Hayato Isomura, Taka Takao, Yumi Kawai)

Full review See: Interview with Chie Hayakawa about Plan 75

Project Wolf Hunting

Review preview for Project Wolf Hunting

An all-action spectacular with some smart ideas which sustains itself surprisingly well over a full two hours.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of dangerous criminals on a cargo ship who are transported from the Philippines to South Korea, as they unleash a sinister force after an escape attempt leads to a riot.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2022; Director: Kin Hong-sun; Writer: Kin Hong-sun; Stars: Seo In-Guk, Jsng Dong-yoon, Choi Gwi-hwa, Sung Dong-il)

Full review

R.M.N

When a man returns to his village after working away he finds resentments brewing.

(Year: 2022; Director: Cristian Mungiu; Writer: Cristian Mungiu; Stars: Judith State, Marin Grigore, Orsolya Moldován, András Hatházi, Macrina Barladeanu, Zoltán Deák)

Safe Place

Review preview for Safe Place

The transcendental nature of the film feels like an existential and therapeutic need.

Nikola Jovic · 4 out of 5
24 hours in the life of a man who is trying to kill himself while his family members try to save him.

(Country: Croatia; Year: 2022; Director: Juraj Lerotic; Writer: Juraj Lerotic; Stars: Juraj Lerotic, Snjezana Sinovcic, Goran Markovic)

Full review

Something You Said Last Night

Review preview for Something You Said Last Night

De Filippis understands the value of the small stuff.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
After being fired from her job, Ren, an aspiring writer and mid-twenty-something, accompanies her Canadian-Italian family on vacation.

(Country: Canada, Switzerland; Year: 2022; Director: Luis De Filippis; Writer: Luis De Filippis; Stars: Carmen Madonia, Ramona Milano, Paige Evans, Joe Parro, Xxavier Woon-A-Tai, Augustus Oicle, Drew Catherine, Mark Winnick, Nate Colitto, Mark Soltermann, Anna Starnino, Lorcan DaSilva Déiseach, Jennifer Balen, Michelle Gidari, Carmelo Nelson)

Full review See: Director Luis De Filippis and star Carmen Madonia talk about family, identity and authenticity in Something You Said Last Night

Stone Turtle

Review preview for Stone Turtle

Power slips from one character to another with disconcerting ease, and as the story progresses, what might seem confounding, a product of myth or dream or hallucination, takes on an abject clarity.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A time-traveling tale of a woman living in the Peninsular Malaysian east coast who gets entangled with a man in a dangerous dance of duplicity and deception.

(Country: Malaysia, Indonesia; Year: 2022; Director: Ming Jin Woo; Writer: Neesa Jamal, Ming Jin Woo; Stars: Asmara Abigail, Bront Palarae, Amerul Affendi)

Full review

The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

Concerned by his good friend Dr Henry Jekyll's recent behaviour, Gabriel Utterson is driven to uncover the identity of the mysterious and dangerous Mr. Hyde, to whom Jekyll is enthralled.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Hope Dickson Leach; Writer: Vlad Butucea and Hope Dickson Leach, based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson; Stars: David Hayman, Lorn Macdonald, Henry Pettigrew, Peter Singh, Alison Peebles, Tam Dean Burn)

Sunlight

The story of a recovering addict who is caring for his terminally ill sponsor.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2023; Director: Claire Dix; Writer: Ailbhe Keogan; Stars: Barry Ward, Liam Carney, Maureen Beattie, Ericka Roe)

La Syndicaliste (The Sitting Duck)

Review preview for La Syndicaliste

Sustained by a bravura performance from Isabelle Huppert in a total change of register from her last comedic outing with the same director Mama Weed, the new collaboration never puts a frame out of place.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
The true story of of a whistleblower who shook the French nuclear industry.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Jean-Paul Salomé; Writer: Fadette Drouard, Caroline Michel-Aguirre, Jean-Paul Salomé; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Alexandra Maria Lara, Benoît Magimel, Marina Foïs, Yvan Attal, Pierre Deladonchamps, Grégory Gadebois, Geno Lechner, Gilles Cohen, François-Xavier Demaison, Aloïse Sauvage, Cedric Cirotteau, Antoine Basler, Yves Heck, Andréa Bescond)

Full review See: Interview with Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Paul Salomé about The Sitting Duck (La Syndicaliste)

Tropic (Tropique)

Review preview for Tropic

The science fiction elements of the film take a back seat for most of the running time in what is essentially a story about how people deal with extreme situations and with a sense of being cheated out of what they are due.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Astronaut twins go through a lot when one of them is contaminated with a mysterious residue from space.

(Country: France; Year: 2002; Director: Edouard Salier; Writer: Edouard Salier; Stars: Marta Nieto, Louis Peres, Marvin Dubart, Pablo Cobo)

Full review See: Interview with Edouard Salier about Tropic

Victim (Obet)

Review preview for Victim

Blasko tells the story with a plainness which adds to its power, sometimes using news-style framing as if to remind us of the political moment which we’re living through.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A Ukranian immigrant faces racism as she seeks justice.

(Country: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany; Year: 2022; Director: Michal Blasko; Writer: Jakub Medvecký; Stars: Elizaveta Maximová, Alena Mihulová, Vita Smachelyuk, Igor Chmela, Gleb Kuchuk, Viktor)

Full review

Villeneuve Pironi

Review preview for Villeneuve Pironi

What is clear is the genuine affection held for its subjects, but that makes some elements of it all the more galling.

Andrew Robertson · 2 out of 5
Consideration of the infamous 1982 F1 season when rival teammates Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi were part of the sport's most controversial moments.

(Country: UK, Italy; Year: 2022; Director: Torquil Jones; Writer: Gabriel Clarke, Torquil Jones)

Full review

Widows

Review preview for Widows

Recent Hollywood heist films - typified by the Ocean's franchise - have been largely concerned with shiny surfaces, gloss and froth but British director Steve McQueen is much more interested in what lies beneath.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Women left in debt by their dead husbands' crimes conspire to pull off a heist.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Steve McQueen; Writer: Gillian Flynn, Steve McQueen, Lynda La Plante; Stars: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Jon Bernthal, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, Garret Dillahunt, Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas, Jacki Weaver, Brian Tyree Henry, Kevin J. O'Connor, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo)

Full review

Wild Flowers (Girasoles Silvestres)

A mum falls in love with a troubled young man but begins to question their relationship.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2022; Director: Jaime Rosales; Writer: Bárbara Díez, Jaime Rosales; Stars: Anna Castillo, Oriol Pla, Quim Àvila, Lluís Marquès, Carolina Yuste, Manolo Solo)

Zip & Zap And The Marble Gang (Zipi y Zape y el club de la canica)

Review preview for Zip & Zap And The Marble Gang

It's a well constructed, well paced, well made film, but it's poised and polished and professional where one might hope for something a bit more ramshackle, a mite more rebellious.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A group of kids rebel against strict rules at their school.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Oskar Santos; Writer: Moisés Gómez Ramos, Jorge Lara, Francisco Roncal, Oskar Santos; Stars: Javier Gutiérrez, Álex Angulo, Claudia Vega, Christian Mulas, Joseba Apaolaza, Marcos Ruiz, Alberto López, Santi Ugalde, Javier Cifrián, Daniel Cerezo, Iñake Irastorza, Raúl Rivas, Fran García, Juan González)

Full review