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Glasgow Film Festival · 2025

Glasgow Film Festival 2025

Audience Award

Programme

10 films · 7 reviews

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Brief History Of A Family

Review preview for Brief History Of A Family

Lin and Sun studiously maintain the enigma around Shuo so that we are left guessing as to whether he’s just a disadvantaged teen trying to make his way in the world or a cuckoo in the nest.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A middle-class family’s fate becomes intertwined with their only son’s enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China, putting unspoken secrets, unmet expectations, and untended emotions under the microscope.

(Country: China, Denmark; Year: 2024; Director: Jianjie Lin; Writer: Jianjie Lin; Stars: Ke-Yu Guo, Feng Zu, Xilun Sun, Muran Lin)

Full review See: Interview with Jianjie Lin about Brief History Of A Family

Crickets, It's Your Turn

(Country: Kazakhstan, France; Year: 2024; Director: Olga Korotko; Writer: Olga Korotko; Stars: Inzhu Abeu, Ayan Batyrbek, Alexandr Khvan, Arnur Kusaingazin, Nurlybek Maulezaripov, Boris Yugay)

Meat (Kreas)

When a young man commits murder and the only witness is an immigrant whom his father has mentored and cared for, the older man must decide which of them will take the blame.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2024; Director: Dimitris Nakos; Writer: Dimitris Nakos; Stars: Kostas Nikouli, Akyllas Karazisis, Pavlos Iordanopoulos, Maria Kallimani, Giorgos Symeonidis)

Mistress Dispeller

Review preview for Mistress Dispeller

A film that is built upon patience and which takes a philosophical rather than judgmental stance.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Desperate to save her marriage, a woman in China hires a professional to go undercover and break up her husband's affair.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Elizabeth Lo; Writer: Charlotte Munch Bengtsen, Elizabeth Lo)

Full review

Mr. K

Review preview for Mr. K

Production designers Manolito Glas and Maarten Piersma do a stunning job with the sets, creating an atmosphere of sleaze and decay which one can almost smell, whilst layering in detail.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A magician checks into a hotel full of strange occupants... and discovers there is no way to leave.

(Country: Netherlands, Norway, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab; Writer: Tallulah Hazekamp Schwab; Stars: Crispin Glover, Sunnyi Melles, Fionnula Flanagan, Bjørn Sundquist, Dearbhla Molloy, Barbara Sarafian, Jan Gunnar Røise, Esmée van Kampen, Sam Louwyck, Josse Colsoul, Dominique Dauwe, Wito Geerts, Joshua Gabriel Liège, Yassine Ouaich, Klaartje Pedersen)

Full review See: Interview with Crispin Glover about Mr. K

Neon Dreaming

Review preview for Neon Dreaming

Marie-Claire Marcotte’s feature début demonstrates an astute awareness of what it’s like to be eight.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A young girl, who believes her mum is a ballet icon, is determined to try to find her.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2024; Director: Marie-Claire Marcotte; Writer: Marie-Claire Marcotte; Stars: Maélya Boyd, Corey Loranger, Genevieve Langlois, Maïna Rose Caméus, Caroline Raynaud, Sheila Isaro, Pierre-André Muila, Hélène Dallaire, Grey Reich, Nicole Prefontaine, Baeyen Hoffman, Jasper Green, Émile Legault, Mike Skakoon)

Full review

Restless

Review preview for Restless

[Hart] doesn’t turn up the volume, but uses tone and repetition so effectively that the film becomes a microcosm of the real experience.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
The banal life of a middle-aged empty nester is violently shaken in the blink of an eye when hard-partying - and potentially dangerous - new neighbours move in next door.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Jed Hart; Writer: Jed Hart; Stars: Aston McAuley, Lyndsey Marshal, Barry Ward, Kate Robbins, Ben Crowe, Matt Emery, Denzel Baidoo, Ken Doherty, Kate Webster, Tom Keller, Ciara Ford, Peter Dean, Juliet Guiness, Adam King, Declan Adamson)

Full review

Silver Star

When an ex-con’s bank robbery attempt goes south, she ends up forming an unexpected relationship with the young woman she takes hostage.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Ruben Amar, Lola Bessis; Writer: Ruben Amar, Lola Bessis; Stars: Grace Van Dien, Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, Johnath Davis, Tamara Fruits, Getchie Argetsinger, Ekaterina Baker, Joey Giambattista, Josh Silverman, Amy Tribbey, Noa Fisher, Odley Jean, Jarvis Tomdio, Albert M. Chan, Brian Coll, Dave Ferrier)

Spilt Milk

Review preview for Spilt Milk

There isn’t an ornament that feels out of place and you can almost smell the kitchen chip fat and butterfly bun icing as you gaze around Bobby’s home, with its orange pine and associated shades of brown.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A wannabe detective's hunt for his older brother reveals a dangerous side of Eighties Dublin.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2024; Director: Brian Durnin; Writer: Cara Loftus; Stars: Danielle Galligan, Laurence O'Fuarain, Pom Boyd, Denise McCormack, Emmet Kirwan, Hilda Fay, Sallay Garnett, John Burke, Jed Murray, Justin Daniels Anene, Charleigh Bailey, Cillian Sullivan, Rory Mullen, Lewis Brophy, Naoise Kelly)

Full review

Two To One

Review preview for Two To One

A wild story delivered with verve and a suitable degree of irreverence.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A family in East Germany finds millions in soon-to-be-worthless East German currency during reunification, and take what they can carry.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Natja Brunckhorst; Writer: Natja Brunckhorst; Stars: Sandra Hüller, Max Riemelt, Ronald Zehrfeld)

Full review See: Interview with Natja Brunckhorst about Two To One