Overlook Film Festival

Latest reviews

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  The Elderly

  Review preview for The Elderly

  Cerezo and Gómez remind us that we are living through some of the strangest days our world has known right now.

  An octogenarian, who enters into a state of dementia after the sudden suicide of his wife, sparks a series of paranormal events that will put his family's lives at risk.
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  The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster

  Review preview for The Angry Black Girl And Her Monster

  In the end it’s the boldness of its choices which really makes the difference.

  Vicaria is a brilliant teenager who believes death is a disease that can be cured. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life.
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  We Kill For Love

  Review preview for We Kill For Love

  Thorough and insightful, Penta’s film benefits from fantastic editing (his own) and from a self-consciousness about the viewer’s gaze which aptly reflects the genre it’s exploring.

  A documentary about the sultry, shadowy world of direct-to-video erotic thrillers — films of mysterious strangers, sexual obsessions and crimes of passion that once dominated video store shelves and late night cable.
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  It Lives Inside

  Review preview for It Lives Inside

  A superior quality horror film which amply justifies the hype it has attracted on the festival circuit, It Lives Inside is not to be missed.

  Sam, an Indian-American teen, lives in an idyllic suburb with her conservative mother and her assimilated father. Sam’s cultural insecurities grow due to her estranged friend, Tamira, who mysteriously carries around an empty mason jar all the time. In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force that kidnaps Tamira.
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  Birth/Rebirth

  Review preview for Birth/Rebirth

  Young Lister is a marvel, showing a remarkably sophisticated understanding of what her role requires as Lila, having suffered significant brain damage, gradually begins to require verbal and motor skills.

  A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead.
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  Late Night With The Devil

  Review preview for Late Night With The Devil

  It’s Dastmalchian’s light touch which really makes it work.

  October 31, 1977. Jack Delroy’s syndicated talk show Night Owls has long been a trusted companion to insomniacs around the country, but a year on from the tragic death of Jack’s wife, ratings have plummeted. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other, unaware he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America.
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  Evil Dead Rise

  Review preview for Evil Dead Rise

  Evil Dead Rise doesn’t add much that’s new to the franchise, but it does deliver on entertainment.

  The reunion of two estranged sisters is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
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  Give Me An A

  Review preview for Give Me An A

  Give Me An A is a vital piece of filmmaking.

  16 women filmmakers make their voices heard with this anthology of genre-themed short films, all made in direct response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
• 
  Renfield

  Review preview for Renfield

  Though Hoult is as oddly charming as his abilities allow, Nicholas goes as close to the Full Cage as I've seen in a while.

  Renfield is forced to procure Dracula's prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debasing - but now, after centuries of servitude, he's ready for a life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness.
• 
  Accused

  Review preview for Accused

  Director Philip Barantini was responsible for 2020’s kitchen-set drama Boiling Point, and here he demonstrates the same mastery of tension.

  Alone at a remote country house, a young man watches helplessly as a social media frenzy wrongly identifies him as a wanted terrorist. When online threats lead to an IRL home invasion, he must fight for his life in this tense thriller of virtual witch-hunts and false accusations.

A–Z of Overlook Film Festival 2023 reviews →

Features

• Between two worlds
  Bishal Dutta on introducing the West to new myths and old scares in It Lives Inside
• Picking up the chainsaw
  Lee Cronin on putting his own stamp on Evil Dead Rise
• A world off kilter
  Ted Geoghegan on casting, design and the supernatural in Brooklyn 45
• Director blown away by 'amazing' Adèle
  Léa Mysius and Exarchopoulos talk about The Five Devils
• From super-heroes to Dali
  It’s a mad world according to Smoking Makes You Cough director Quentin Dupieux
• Mind and matter
  Franklin Ritch on artificial intelligence, ethics and The Artifice Girl