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Festival coverage

San Diego International Film Festival

10 October – 14 October 2018

The Butterfly Tree
The Butterfly Tree

A star-studded event with a great line-up of independent features, documentaries and shorts, 2018's San Diego International Film Festival was also big on parties and included the famous Culinary Cinema. Screenings and events took place in an assortment of venues across the city.

The festival ran from 10 to 14 October.

View complete schedule

Box office and information

Latest reviews

  • When Lambs Become Lions
    Review preview for When Lambs Become Lions

    Offering a clear-sighted view of the situation that calls to mind executive producer Matthew Heinemann’s approach to the drug trade in Cartel Land, Kasbe digs at the complexity of the poaching problem.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    In the Kenyan bush, a crackdown on ivory poaching forces a silver-tongued second-generation poacher to seek out an unlikely ally in this fly-on-the-wall look at both sides of the conservation divide.
  • Little Woods
    Review preview for Little Woods

    Thompson's forceful, charismatic performance brings life to what could have been a relentlessly grim film, but it also unbalances the drama somewhat.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    Two estranged sisters are driven to extremes when their mother dies, leaving them with one week to pay back her mortgage.
  • One Last Night
    Review preview for One Last Night

    None of the characters' choices are very convincing in a project that feels more like a film school exercise than a serious attempt at connecting with an audience.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    On their first date, Alex and Zoe venture out to see a movie at a local cinema. The film ends and the two become so engaged in a heated discussion that they fail to notice the cinema closing, leaving them locked inside.
  • Everybody Knows
    Review preview for Everybody Knows

    While Farhadi certainly knows how to spin a web of intrigue, deceit and suspicion, the narrative has a tendency to leap from strand to strand, often leaving the audience stumbling in its wake.

    Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
    Secrets resurface after a woman returns to her family's village for a wedding.
  • Rust Creek
    Review preview for Rust Creek

    Director Jen McGowan proves expert at drawing out the humanity in her characters, making the brutality of those bent on protecting their own interests far more disturbing.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A student finds herself wounded and hunted by dangerous criminals after taking a short cut through the Appalachian mountains.
  • The Favourite
    Review preview for The Favourite

    The dialogue is irreverent and sharp like a raven's claw.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
    Two of Queen Anne's acolytes jockey for position.
  • 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.
  • Are You Glad I'm Here?
    Review preview for Are You Glad I'm Here?

    This domestic drama set in Lebanon also has elements of black humour, which is unique in comparison to other Lebanese films.

    Maryam Ghorbankarimi · 3.5 out of 5
    A millennial American woman befriends a Lebanese housewife and disrupts her ordered life. One night they become accidental partners-in-crime.
  • Degenerates
    Review preview for Degenerates

    The film offers an interesting play on the concept of reality and fiction.

    Maryam Ghorbankarimi · 3.5 out of 5
    A screenwriter recruits a group of eccentric characters to go and find a missing teenage girl, with the intention of turning the search into a true story script.
  • Dodging Bullets
    Review preview for Dodging Bullets

    Kathy Broere and Bobby Trench don't worry about the statistics - they bring us human stories and let us figure the rest out for ourselves.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A history of the mistreatment of Native American peoples.

A–Z of San Diego International Film Festival 2018 reviews

Features