Reviews by Amber Wilkinson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison (2022)

  Review preview for Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison

  Although Northern shows the powerful nature of Peterson's play, he is less successful at illustrating its impact on the prison itself.

  The story of playwright Liza Jessie Peterson's performance of The Peculiar Patriot at Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary and its impact.
• 
  Holy Spider (2022)

  Review preview for Holy Spider

  This is less about the puzzle of who the murderer is... than about the way he slots into society and, after his arrest, is viewed by the public.

  A journalist tries to track down a serial killer who is murdering sex workers.
• 
  Anastasia (2022)

  Review preview for Anastasia

  Although Denis Sinyakov’s camera takes an intimate position within the trip, there’s a constant sense of collaboration with all three generations that means although raw emotion is captured, the filmmaking never feels intrusive.

  A Russian activist and her family prepare to say a last goodbye.
• 
  Alcarràs (2022)

  Review preview for Alcarràs

  Simón takes a loose approach to the narrative, letting the small dramas of family play out alongside larger ones, giving as much value to the transient pleasures of fresh peach juice and cooked snails as the tensions between siblings.

  The Solé family spends the summer picking peaches - but this year’s crop may well be their last as new owners plan to replace the peach trees with solar panels and the family’s livelihood is threatened.
• 
  A Man Called Otto (2022)

  Review preview for A Man Called Otto

  Tom Hanks is trying to channel his inner Clint Eastwood for this US adaptation of Fredrik Bachman’s Swedish best-seller - the problem is, he simply isn’t grouchy enough.

  Otto is a grump who's given up on life following the loss of his wife and wants to end it all. When a young family moves in nearby, he meets his match in quick-witted Marisol, leading to a friendship that will turn his world around.
• 
  All In Favor (2021)

  Review preview for All In Favor

  The themes, while highlighting everyday prejudice many people with mental health issues face, are heavily handled.

  A tenants' vote turns sour after a revelation.
• 
  The Banshees Of Inisherin (2022)

  Review preview for The Banshees Of Inisherin

  Banshees is lifted by good performances, particularly from Keoghan and Condon, whose major scene together has a delicacy of emotion that is sharply at odds with the brute force McDonagh more generally employs.

  Two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, with alarming consequences for both of them.
• 
  38 At The Garden (2022)

  Review preview for 38 At The Garden

  Although this is a largely straightforward mixture of talking heads and archive footage showing Lin’s rise to fame, the use of animation adds welcome variation and it is powered by contagious enthusiasm.

  Documentary charting the rise to fame of basketball star Jeremy Lin, the racism he faced and his impact on the wider Asian-American community
• 
  The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse (2022)

  Review preview for The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse

  There is a whisper of the artwork of EH Shepard about the hand-drawn style that seems fitting given his tale shares similar philosophy, albeit more obviously spelled out.

  A boy goes on an adventure with a cake-loving mole, a fox and a horse.
• 
  It's Nice In Here (2022)

  Review preview for It's Nice In Here

  Koeyers lets ideas flow over one another, like raindrops joining each other as they roll down glass.

  A young girl and a cop recall the same fateful night.
• 
  Turning Red (2022)

  Review preview for Turning Red

  Even when pandamonium breaks out Shi always has the emotional backdrop fully under control.

  Adolescence unleashes a young girl's inner panda.
• 
  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

  Review preview for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

  Rian Johnson's knife is sharper and more precise the second time out.

  Famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece for his latest case.
• 
  Blue Jean (2022)

  Review preview for Blue Jean

  Everything about McEwen’s performance sings with stress, from the way she reacts to casual comments to the manner in which she lights increasing numbers of cigarettes.

  A schoolteacher is forced to live a double life against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain.
• 
  The Kings Of The World (2022)

  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.

  Five street kids set out on a journey to the promised land.
• 
  A Cup Of Coffee And New Shoes On (2022)

  Review preview for A Cup Of Coffee And New Shoes On

  Additional plot developments reveal a complex web of psychology between the two men.

  Deaf twin brothers find their world closing in after a devastating diagnosis.
• 
  The Amazing Maurice (2022)

  Review preview for The Amazing Maurice

  Like the Cheshire cat, the last thing to fade will be your grin.

  A streetwise cat and his gang of rats with a money making scheme run into trouble.
• 
  Parade (2022)

  Review preview for Parade

  Laucius has a warm approach to comedy, allowing the humour to develop from the enjoyably messy ins and outs of the situations the characters find themselves in.

  A woman finds herself in an absurd situation when, 26 years after her divorce, her ex asks her to help him get their marriage anulled in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
• 
  Tori And Lokita (2022)

  Review preview for Tori And Lokita

  While exploitation is expertly outlined, the directors are never exploitative themselves in the way it is depicted.

  In Belgium today, a young boy and an adolescent girl who have travelled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
• 
  The Queen Of The Foxes (2022)

  Review preview for The Queen Of The Foxes

  Rosset has a welcoming style, the higgledy-piggledy houses of the town, each with their busily writing humans welcome repeat viewings to you can consider the details of them all.

  A pack of foxes try to cheer up their queen with unsent love letters.
• 
  Wake Me (2022)

  Review preview for Wake Me

  Despite its urban realism, there’s also a strong sense of style.

  A man suffering from memory loss finds himself facing up to unpalatable truths about his past actions.
• 
  Driving Mum (2022)

  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.

  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.
• 
  La Maternal (2022)

  Review preview for La Maternal

  Nothing in Palermo’s film is sugar-coated, although a sweetness runs through it.

  Drama about a teenager who becomes unexpectedly pregnant and is sent to a centre to live with other expectant youngsters.
• 
  Close (2022)

  Review preview for Close

  Loose camerawork from Frank van den Eeden enhances the intimate, raw spirit.

  Two best friends find their bond upset by schoolmates.
• 
  No Bears (2022)

  Review preview for No Bears

  At one point it seems “Panahi” could easily step from one country to the other, but as his film shows, leaving is not always an easy option.

  The director appears as himself, relocated to a rural border town to remotely oversee the making of a new film in Turkey, the story of which comes to sharply parallel disturbing events that begin to occur around him.
• 
  Aurora's Sunrise (2022)

  Review preview for Aurora's Sunrise

  It is Aurora herself who, unsurprisingly, provides the most poignant observations as she looks back at her life.

  Recreation of one woman's flight from the Armenian Genocide.
• 
  Trenque Lauquen (2022)

  Review preview for Trenque Lauquen

  Almost every part of this slowburn road to not quite the middle of nowhere could be read either as a clue or a clever maguffin.

  Story set in the Argentinian city of the title, centring on an academic who has disappeared. The story is told across two feature films.
• 
  Hilma (2022)

  Review preview for Hilma

  It’s a shame he wasn’t bolder in his use of the canvas of Hilma’s life, opting more for a careful still life approach to her history than the abstract adventurousness she merits.

  Biopic of abstract artist Hilma af Klint.
• 
  Remember To Blink (2022)

  Review preview for Remember To Blink

  Urbaite shows stylistic ambition.

  A young woman engaged to help a pair of children fit into their new French family engages in a battle of wills with their new mum.
• 
  Return To The End (2022)

  Review preview for Return To The End

  Letelier’s film has a haunting quality that will definitely make you want to reach out and give someone a hug.

  Love is at a crossroads for a family in the pandemic.
• 
  A Tale Of Shemroon (2022)

  Review preview for A Tale Of Shemroon

  If there’s a lack of fluidity as Dehkordi moves between the various elements of his drama, there’s also plenty of signs he can turn on the style.

  A brother's get-rich-quick scheme runs into trouble.
• 
  The Woman King (2022)

  Review preview for The Woman King

  Its the emotional sparring between the women - as fierce as anything on the battle ground - that really holds the attention

  A historical epic inspired by the true events that happened in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• 
  The Lost King (2022)

  Review preview for The Lost King

  You could argue it's a bit broad but then charming crowdpleasers often are.

  An amateur historian defies the stodgy academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.
• 
  Amsterdam (2022)

  Review preview for Amsterdam

  David O Russell's latest - a shaggy dog mystery with a deliberate air of penny dreadfuls - could do with more straightforward narrative and fewer screwball convolutions.

  A trio of unlikely friends get mixed up in a murder plot with much wider implications.
• 
  The Inevitable Death Of The Crab (2020)

  Review preview for The Inevitable Death Of The Crab

  Would have benefited hugely from either being condensed into a short film, where its tension would be allowed to pack more punch or further developed in terms of plotting so that the padding that is evident here could have been avoided.

  A father and son become increasingly paranoid after a phone call tries to extort cash from them.
• 
  The Wonder (2022)

  Review preview for The Wonder

  Pugh's performance, which dovetails nicely with newcomer Cassidy’s devout determination as Anna, can’t quite overcome the uneven plotting and, at times, flimsy characterisation.

  The Irish Midlands, 1862. A young girl stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well. English nurse Lib Wright is brought to a tiny village to observe eleven-year old Anna O'Donnell. Tourists and pilgrims mass to witness the girl who is said to have survived without food for months.
• 
  Il Boemo (2022)

  Review preview for Il Boemo

  In less adept hands this could have become a clash of content but Václav keeps all his elements in balance, managing to celebrate the beauty of opera on the one hand while showing us uglier mini dramas playing out at the front and back of house.

  Biopic of composer Josef Mysliveček.
• 
  Cork (2022)

  Review preview for Cork

  Although Gurrea’s film is booby trapped for explosions, he repeatedly chooses the more interesting slow-burn path.

  Helena and Ivan decide to make a new life for themselves among cork trees, but their different points of view on how to live on the land surface, challenging their future as a couple.
• 
  A Hundred Flowers (2022)

  Review preview for A Hundred Flowers

  The past intrudes on the present in flashback, and though the moves between the periods are worked smoothly enough, the film feels torn between showing one perspective and the other while struggling to marry the two.

  A son grapples with his feelings of hurt about an episode from the past as his mother succumbs to dementia.
• 
  Winter Boy (2022)

  Review preview for Winter Boy

  Young star Paul Kircher puts in an impressively sensitive and emotionally raw peformance.

  Set over the course of one winter, a 17-year-old high school student struggles with grief.
• 
  After Yang (2021)

  Review preview for After Yang

  Kogonada is the directorial equivalent of a careful tea maker himself, he knows how to infuse his films with complex ideas without getting preachy or overtechnical about it.

  In a near future, a family reckons with questions of love, connection, and loss after its A.I. helper unexpectedly breaks down.
• 
  Aftersun (2022)

  Review preview for Aftersun

  Wells shows how interactions that were solid within their own moment become more ambiguous as time has gone by and the adult understanding of Sophie has grown.

  Sometime in the Nineties, somewhere in a Turkish coastal resort, a young, divorced father is spending the vacation with his daughter pre-teen daughter Sophie.
• 
  The Maiden (2022)

  Review preview for The Maiden

  For every shot when you wish Foy would learn melancholy doesn’t have to be meandering, there’s another of striking poignance.

  The lives of three suburban teenagers intersect.
• 
  Daughter Of Rage (2022)

  Review preview for Daughter Of Rage

  Baumeister shows how easy it is for a child to latch on to fantasy when reality is so tough.

  A young girl finds herself separated from her mother and working in a recycling plant.
• 
  To The North (2022)

  Review preview for To The North

  Intensity burns through almost every interaction

  A religious Filipino sailor working on a transatlantic ship, discovers a hidden Romanian stowaway. Convinced by a Bible this emigrant has, the sailor starts playing a dangerous game, involving his crew, his faith in God and an innocent man’s life.
• 
  Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2022)

  Review preview for Luxembourg, Luxembourg

  Luckich's love of silent comedy is everywhere.

  Twin brothers find their lives disrupted after a phone call about their long-estranged dad.
• 
  It Is In Us All (2022)

  Review preview for It Is In Us All

  Jarvis' performance connects, or perhaps more accurately, carefully unhinges the dots of Hamish's unravelling.

  A man and a teenager are find themselves unexpectedly conneceted by a car crash.
• 
  Beast (2022)

  Review preview for Beast

  There's some fun to be had with the action sequences when the mayhem starts but there's quite a lot that is just plain silly.

  A man and his two daughters find themselves fighting for survival against a rogue lion.
• 
  Mr Malcolm's List (2022)

  Review preview for Mr Malcolm's List

  Everyone is just a bit too genteel for their own good - and the film favours the romance too heavily over the satire.

  A tale of scheming and romance set in Regency England.
• 
  The Territory (2022)

  Review preview for The Territory

  The message is clear - the world needs to pay much closer attention to what is happening in Brazil, before it's too late.

  When a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and an uncontacted group living deep within the forest.
• 
  Nude Tuesday (2022)

  Review preview for Nude Tuesday

  It’s almost a shame they’ve bothered with the subtitles at all, as much of the comedy speaks for itself, which makes the subtitles feel rather “pushed” to lewd extremes in a bid to extract further laughs in places.

  Laura and Bruno are stuck in a hapless marriage with frigid chemistry and ample unspoken tension. To spice things up and hopefully save their relationship, they head to a peculiar hippy-dippy retreat where inhibitions are discouraged.