Skip to main content

Search: Starring Ako

  • Rent-A-Cat (2012)
    Review preview for Rent-A-Cat

    The characters' interplay, mutual respect and overwhelming joy at being accepted made my heart swell in delighted awe.

    Scott Macdonald · 4 out of 5
    A young woman rents out cats to lonely people.
  • The Return (2003)
    Review preview for The Return

    Not since Tarkovsky has the bleak face of Russia been so exposed.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
    Absent Russian father returns to take sons on mysterious journey to an isolated island.
  • Ring 2 (1999)
    Review preview for Ring 2

    An effective, atmospheric, stylish, very well-made chiller.

    Keith Hennessey Brown · 3.5 out of 5
    Effective sequel to the original Ring.
  • Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
    Review preview for Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

    There's a creepiness here from the outset and no amount of dark humour can alleviate it; as the tension escalates grown adults will also find themselves hiding behind the seats.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    A mysterious excavation awakens something sinister in the vicinity of an isolated northern Finnish settlement.
  • Reading Lolita In Tehran (2024)
    Review preview for Reading Lolita In Tehran

    The film’s strength lies in its quieter observations of change.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    A teacher gathers students to read classic books, despite the threat from the authorities.
  • Real Steel (2011)
    Review preview for Real Steel

    Really delivers on the robot action.

    Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
    A hustler in the robot-fighting business, down on his luck, finds himself responsible for the son he walked out on years before.
  • Red Island (2023)
    Review preview for Red Island

    Patriarchal and paternalistic structures at both a family and country level are put in the spotlight.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Set in Madagascar in the early 1970s, on one of the last air bases of the French army, where military families live the last throes of colonialism. Influenced by his reading of the intrepid comic book heroine Fantômette, ten-year-old Thomas sweeps with a curious glance what surrounds him, while the world gradually opens up to a different reality.
  • Requiem for Mrs J (2017)
    Review preview for Requiem for Mrs J

    Comedy doesn't come in many darker shades than that employed by Serbian director Bojan Vuletic in Requiem For Mrs J, this is truly the vantablack of humour.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Jelena wants to end her life and she’s only got a week to sort things out... a situation that proves difficult.
  • Rhino (2021)
    Review preview for Rhino

    What Sentsov does really well here is to show us the humanity which lies within even the most monstrous of these men.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Starting out as a petty thief, a young man nicknamed “Rhino” quickly works his way up the criminal hierarchy in 1990s Ukraine. Rhino has only known power and cruelty, but with nothing left to lose, could he finally find a chance at redemption?
  • Ring (1998)
    Review preview for Ring

    This is an extraordinary film, not least because it is Japanese and yet feels universal.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    A cursed video that spawned a thousand sequels and remakes makes its debut.
  • Rise Of The Guardians (2012)
    Review preview for Rise Of The Guardians

    The set-up is formulaic, to say the least.

    Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
    When the happiness of children is under threat, an unlikely new hero emerges to help Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy save the day.
  • The Runaways (2010)
    Review preview for The Runaways

    There's a wham, bam, thank you, man, quality to this music biopic that makes it a pleasurable rock rush that's easy on the eye, even if it fails to do much more than skate the surface of the band of its title.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Rock biopic.
  • Samba (2014)
    Review preview for Samba

    The film has all the bullet points for audience approval and yet somehow falls short

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    Samba migrated to France ten years ago from Senegal, and has since been plugging away at various lowly jobs...
  • Sanctuary (2013)
    Review preview for Sanctuary

    This is a film that is worth looking closely at, as everything shows signs of great care and consideration, and Sanctuary is certainly worthy of it.

    Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
    A man on the run escapes, along with his daughter, into a dream.
  • Schmitke (2014)
    Review preview for Schmitke

    It's worth noting that this is Altricher's graduation film - he's certainly got his career off to an impressive start.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A level-headed engineer arrives to repair a creaking old wind turbine. Out there in the misty woods he also goes in search of something else deep inside him.
  • The Second Circle (1990)
    Review preview for The Second Circle

    The aesthetic is cold, the mood austere and the pace glacial in Alexander Sokurov's study of grief.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A man battles bureaucracy to bury his father.
  • A Serbian Film (2009)
    Review preview for A Serbian Film

    The whole point of A Serbian Film is to sicken and offend the viewer.

    Anton Bitel · 2.5 out of 5
    Controversial film about a porn star's descent into depravity.
  • Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
    Review preview for Serial Experiments Lain

    Everything is awash with an eerie, disorienting atmosphere... riveting.

    Anton Bitel · 4.5 out of 5
    Lysergic adult anime series about a young schoolgirl caught between the real and the virtual.
  • Sex And Fury (1973)
    Review preview for Sex And Fury

    There is so much going on that, through mad exuberance alone, Sex And Fury quickly achieves critical mass, bubbling over into something far more than just the sleazy sum of its parts.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    Pinky violence film about a female yakuza out for vengeance.
  • Shadows In Paradise (1986)
    Review preview for Shadows In Paradise

    Comedy rarely comes so bleak, and depression is rarely so funny.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    A lonely binman finds solidarity with a mistreated shop assistant. Out to own as part of the Aki Kaurismäki Collection: Volume 1.
  • The Snake Brothers (2015)
    Review preview for The Snake Brothers

    It is Kryštof Hadek who steals the show.

    Richard Mowe · 3.5 out of 5
    Two brothers feel unable to build a life they are happy with.
  • Sorrow And Joy (2013)
    Review preview for Sorrow And Joy

    Feels more like an exercise in personal therapy than a fully fledged film.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2 out of 5
    Filmmaker Johannes and his wife, schoolteacher Signe, try to come to terms with unspeakable grief.
  • The Secret Life Of Bees (2008)
    Review preview for The Secret Life Of Bees

    It’s all very Oprah chick flick, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a real soul.

    Mike Davies · 3 out of 5
    A young girl, escaping from her tyrannical father in Civil Rights era South Carolina, finds a very different surrogate family.
  • Shadow Country (2020)
    Review preview for Shadow Country

    Divis Marek's flowing camerawork, masterfully pulls the film together, as the action is allowed to flow across its large ensemble cast.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
    An account of life in a Czech-Austrian border village from the 1930s-1950s.
  • A Shelter Among the Clouds (2018)
    Review preview for A Shelter Among the Clouds

    Religious and family tensions are explored with care and sensitivity.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A goatherd finds his life thrown out of balance by the arrival of his siblings and a stranger from the city.
  • Shield Of Straw (2013)
    Review preview for Shield Of Straw

    Eminently watchable for those in the mood for simplistic fare who are prepared to suspend disbelief.

    Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
    Five police officers struggle to protect a murder suspect afer a powerful man puts a price on his head.
  • Short Summer (2025)
    Review preview for Short Summer

    Just as the sun dapples down through the trees, so the shadows of war creep in at the margins.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    An eight-year-old spends summer with her grandparents as the distant echoes of war make their presence felt.
  • Sick (2026)
    Review preview for Sick

    Whilst it’s thematically concerned with the blurring of boundaries, its own shifting structure and blending of genres contributes to the underlying unease.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    Things spiral out of control in more ways than one when two siblings are tasked with caring for their ailing grandma.
  • Sin (2019)
    Review preview for Sin

    Andrey Konchalovskiy aims to give his viewers the fullest sensory experience he can.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    Portrait of Michelangelo, who finds his loyalty between clients tested.
  • Sisu: Road To Revenge (2025)
    Review preview for Sisu: Road To Revenge

    I was entertained, in much the same way but not to the same extent as the first outing.

    Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
    Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honour. When the Red Army commander who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless cross-country chase ensues
  • Smaragda: I Got Thick Skin And I Can't Jump
    Review preview for Smaragda: I Got Thick Skin And I Can't Jump

    Avraam doesn’t spoon-feed us details, letting the various issues Smaragda is facing emerge organically.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Portrait of a middle-aged woman facing choices and change.
  • Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015)
    Review preview for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

    Zhao is in no hurry, allowing the sense of life in Pine Ridge to seep in to the bones of the film.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    Life for siblings on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
  • Soul Boy (2010)
    Review preview for Soul Boy

    It is formulaic, but it's also bursting with conviction and insight.

    James Benefield · 2.5 out of 5
    A boy goes in search of his father's lost soul.
  • Space Dogs (2019)
    Review preview for Space Dogs

    As in much Russian science fiction, the tone here is darker and yet vastly more alert to the wonders of the universe than is usual in the Western equivalent.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    According to myth, Laika, the first dog sent to space, returned to earth as a ghost that has roamed Moscow since... this film is told from the perspective of her descendants, two street dogs in today's city.
  • Splitsville (2025)
    Review preview for Splitsville

    It’s hard to care about a film when those involved don’t appear to have done so themselves.

    Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
    Splitsville picks up with Ashley asking for a divorce, watching as the good-natured Carey runs to his friends, Julie and Paul, for support. He’s shocked to discover that the secret to their happiness is an open marriage; that is, until Carey crosses the line and throws all of their relationships into chaos.
  • Strange Days (1995)
    Review preview for Strange Days

    Bigelow delivers a neo noir that hides its hope and redemption under a throbbing veil of paranoia, tension and adrenalin.

    Stephen Carty · 4.5 out of 5
    Forbidden memories on disk, yours for the right price.
  • Stray (2019)
    Review preview for Stray

    Although the story is simple (beyond its merging of two different sets of genre conventions), it's stylishly presented.

    Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
    A teenager forms an unlikely friendship with a detective. Together they investigate her mother's murder and uncover the supernatural force that threatens her family.
  • The Summer With Carmen (2023)
    Review preview for The Summer With Carmen

    With a lesser canine star, the film would not have worked, but Nala is sensational.

    Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
    While enjoying a day at Athens’ queer beach, 30-something Demosthenes offers to help his bestie and aspiring filmmaker Nikitas in drafting an idea for his feature debut, inspired by the events surrounding a certain dog named Carmen.
  • Super 8 (2011)
    Review preview for Super 8

    More nervous children (and adults) would be well advised to stay away. Everybody else should go and see it as soon as possible.

    Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
    A train-wreck leads to an encroaching mystery.
  • Suspiria (2018)
    Review preview for Suspiria

    If we compared the original to a Mark Rothko canvas - a distillation of raw emotion - this version is more akin to a colossal, baffling kinetic sculpture, one that seems to exist in more dimensions than it ought to.

    Max Crawford · 4.5 out of 5
    A nightmare brews in a dance company.
  • Stalingrad (2013)
    Review preview for Stalingrad

    It looks great, which means it looks terrible - in a real way

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
    A band of Russian soldiers fight to hold a strategic building in their devastated city against a ruthless German army
  • Strange Culture (2007)
    Review preview for Strange Culture

    In the mindscape of Alice Through The Looking Glass, the surrealism of Steve’s predicament would be a footnote to The Patriot Act: Fear Or Frenzy?, if it wasn’t so tragic.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    The artist as victim of The Patriot Act.
  • The Student (2016)
    Review preview for The Student

    Kirill Serebrennikov takes a fearless approach to filmmaking, unafraid of blending intellectual ideas with realistic settings.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
    A teenager becomes a religious zealot and mounts a campaign against his biology teacher.
  • Submarino (2009)
    Review preview for Submarino

    Performances are strong throughout the film, generating an effective mixture of simultaneous sympathy and anger in the audience.

    David Graham · 2.5 out of 5
    Two men struggle to escape a childhood of neglect.
  • The Sweeney: Paris (2015)
    Review preview for The Sweeney: Paris

    It suffers from an air of deja vu.

    Richard Mowe · 2 out of 5
    French remake sees the squad try to catch a gang of jewel thieves.
  • The Tall Man (2012)
    Review preview for The Tall Man

    Laugier's ambition remains commendable, but his execution is questionable, leading to a frustrating if occasionally intriguing experience.

    David Graham · 2.5 out of 5
    A mother tries to unravel a legend of a child abductor after her child goes missing.
  • Tears Of The Black Tiger (2001)
    Review preview for Tears Of The Black Tiger

    It is nice just to sit back and let the day-glo colours wash over you, marvelling at the high-spirited energy.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    Tongue-in-cheek Thai tale of love and revenge, in glorious technicolor.
  • Terribly Happy (2008)
    Review preview for Terribly Happy

    An effective and well-made entertainment which slowly gets its hooks into you.

    Scott Macdonald · 4 out of 5
    When a town cop is reassigned to a provincial beat, he finds that rather than inflicting order on the locals, they have a disturbing affect on him.
  • Thumbsucker (2005)
    Review preview for Thumbsucker

    The setting may be small-town, but this is a vision in microcosm of a whole nation that has been driven inevitably towards anxiety and unease by self-imposed pressures and impossible aspirations.

    Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
    Teenager from the 'burbs attempts to quit suckin'.
  • TMNT (2007)
    Review preview for TMNT

    The Turtles movie that I'd have loved as a boy.

    Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
    The heroes in a half shell are back on the big screen.

News and features

Paul Rowley on moving to New York, the Pulse massacre, and Gays Against Guns

Going ape Antonin Niclass on character creation, empathy and animated short Into The Forest

Freeform Will Niava on grief, new immigrant experiences and Jazz Infernal

In silence Emir Kumova on child marriage in Türkiye, moral challenges and making The Witness

Taking a ride into liminal spaces Katharine Round on making documentary Ghost Town

Flying blind Michael Woloson and Scott Tinkham on improvisation, experimental writing and Littermates

In deep water Dominic Curran on internet overexposure and A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing

More news and features

Festival coverage

Festivals
Cannes festival coverage, 2026

We're bringing you all the latest news and reviews from the Cheltenham International Film Festival, the Leeds International Film Festival, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Tallinn Black Nights.



We're looking forward to the French Film Festival and DOC NYC.



We've recently brought you coverage of the Belfast Film Festival, Halloween Frightfest, the Scottish Queer International Film Festival, Newfest, the London Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and Grimmfest.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.