Reviews by Amber Wilkinson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Home Game (2023)

  Review preview for The Home Game

  Even non-football fans are likely to find themselves won over almost immediately by this tale of one team’s determination against the odds.

  A man becomes determined to realise his dad's dream of taking their small-town football club to the Icelandic FA Cup and playing a home game.
• 
  Lesvia (2023)

  Review preview for Lesvia

  An assured feature debut that’s confident enough to explore the sometimes complex dynamics at work while celebrating the community at its heart.

  The history of the lesbian community that sprang up on Lesbos in the 1970s.
• 
  Gasoline Rainbow (2013)

  Review preview for Gasoline Rainbow

  Whatever structuring the directors are doing is achieved with the lightest of touches, so that we feel as though we’re just along for the ride with these guys.

  A group of teenagers go on a road trip.
• 
  Green Border (2023)

  Review preview for Green Border

  Essential, urgent and damning.

  Multifaceted drama about the plight of refugees on the Belarus/Poland border.
• 
  Io Capitano (2023)

  Review preview for Io Capitano

  First-timer Sarr - who is a musician - is a remarkable lead and matched by the support from fellow novice Fall.

  Two Senegalese teenagers try to realise their dream of a new life in Europe.
• 
  Falling Into Place (2023)

  Review preview for Falling Into Place

  As might be expected from an actress-turned-director, the performances are important to Tezel but she also shows an aptitude for visual storytelling.

  A romance between two people, who met too briefly over a winter weekend while on the run from themselves.
• 
  Red Island (2023)

  Review preview for Red Island

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

  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.
• 
  The Empire (2024)

  Review preview for The Empire

  If you've ever wondered what a Star Wars pastiche by Monty Python might look like if barely any of the jokes landed then the latest film from Bruno Dumont is for you.

  The forces of good and evil battle it out in a village in France.
• 
  Brief History Of A Family (2024)

  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.

  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.
• 
  Dying (2024)

  Review preview for Dying

  Dying is full of glorious contradictions, many of which occur within the same conversation

  Ensemble drama about members of an estranged family.
• 
  Spaceman (2024)

  Review preview for Spaceman

  While the lo-fi production design on the spaceship - with its man-made webbing and items from food tins to tools strapped down left right and centre - is absorbing in its detail, there's only so long it can distract you from the film's bloated running time.

  An astronaut, has been on a space mission for months. He realises that his wife might not be waiting for him once he returns to Earth. In his desperation, he turns for help to a mysterious creature lurking deep in the bowels of his spaceship.
• 
  Wicked Little Letters (2023)

  Review preview for Wicked Little Letters

  A curious case of real-life poison pen letters is given an oddly cosy retelling in this well-polished if tonally uneven drama.

  When people in Littlehampton start receiving scandalous and obscene letters, suspicion immediately falls on fiery Rose, who might lose the custody of her daughter. A group of women set out to solve the mystery.
• 
  A Different Man (2024)

  Review preview for A Different Man

  Slippery in terms of genre and form, the writer/director’s satire puts all his characters and, by extension, us under close scrutiny.

  Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical trial to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare.
• 
  The Outrun (2024)

  Review preview for The Outrun

  Distances of time and space are collapsible in Fingscheidt’s hands.

  After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands - where she grew up - hoping to heal.
• 
  Through Rocks And Clouds (2024)

  Review preview for Through Rocks And Clouds

  Becerra’s film is a measured affair that takes pleasure in its surroundings, whether it’s the mountain lakeside where the alpacas graze or the warm intimacy of Felciano’s home.

  Eight-year-old alpaca farmer Feliciano is ecstatic: Peru has the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. However, the scheming of a mining company is jeopardising the future of his village.
• 
  Reas (2023)

  Review preview for Reas

  It’s quickly apparent that entering prison means becoming part of the collective body that is the prisoner population, with the choreographed movements that accompany the songs reinforcing the sense of synchronicity.

  A group of prison inmates re-enact their lives and sentences, balancing memories with fantasy.
• 
  Young Hearts (2024)

  Review preview for Young Hearts

  The film works as well as it does because of the central pairing of Goussens and De Saeger, whose shared glances and stray touches work on an emotional level.

  A 14-year-old boy feels attracted to his new neighbour, Alexander. Soon he realises that he's truly in love for the first time, but interactions with his friends and family bring more questions than answers.
• 
  The Editorial Office (2024)

  Review preview for The Editorial Office

  Even Kafkaesque ideas are subject to chaos.

  Satire sees a biologist mixed up in a web of fake news as he tries to reveal a story.
• 
  Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

  Review preview for Love Lies Bleeding

  There's no doubt that by presenting several characters as pure id is quite a dangerous gambit for a filmmaker but Glass keeps things interesting by having them driven by different things.

  Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.
• 
  Samsara (2023)

  Review preview for Samsara

  While attempting to describe the crux of Samsara is, essentially, as impossible as catching lightning in a jar, join me on a journey of imagination and we’ll give it a go.

  Samsara is the Buddhist cycle of death and reincarnation. From the temples of Laos, alongside with teenage monks, we will accompany a soul in its transit from one body to another through the bardo.
• 
  Sasquatch Sunset (2024)

  Review preview for Sasquatch Sunset

  David and Craig Zellner aren’t just here to make us laugh - although they certainly achieve that - they’re also in the business of building a detailed and delicate world around a year in the life of their creatures that proves surprisingly poignant.

  A year in the life of a singular family.
• 
  Malu (2024)

  Review preview for Malu

  Freire captures not just the emotional but physical force of these relationships, with the women coming to blows, their acts of cruelty to one another as powerful as their acts of love.

  Malu - a mercurial, unemployed actress living with her conservative mother in a precarious house in a Rio de Janeiro slum - tries to deal with her strained relationship with her own adult daughter while surviving on memories of her glorious artistic past.
• 
  Presence (2024)

  Review preview for Presence

  A film that is so focused on the presence we can’t see it forgets to fully flesh out the lives that we can.

  A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced they’re not alone.
• 
  Queens (2024)

  Review preview for Queens

  A confident and well-constructed tale that is built on the firm foundations of a great ensemble cast.

  Lucia, Aurora, and their mother, Elena, plan to leave Lima in 1992 and seek opportunities in the US. Their farewell involves reconnecting with the kids' estranged father, adding to the emotional turbulence of their departure.
• 
  In The Land Of Brothers (2024)

  Review preview for In The Land Of Brothers

  Thoughtful and stripped of sensationalism, each story and its wider implications bite deep.

  Three members of an extended Afghan family start their lives over in Iran as refugees, unaware they face a decades-long struggle ahead to be "at home".
• 
  Realm Of Satan (2024)

  Review preview for Realm Of Satan

  The Devil, you might say, is in the details.

  An experiential portrait depicting Satanists in both the everyday and in the extraordinary as they fight to preserve their lifestyle: magic, mystery, and misanthropy.
• 
  Eternal You (2024)

  Review preview for Eternal You

  If it sounds like an uncanny valley from the start, Block and Riesewieck illustrate just how bizarre and, sometimes, downright creepy this can be using genuine exchanges that have occurred.

  Startups are using AI to create avatars that allow relatives to talk with their loved ones after they have died. An exploration of a profound human desire and the consequences of turning the dream of immortality into a product.
• 
  A New Kind Of Wilderness (2024)

  Review preview for A New Kind Of Wilderness

  A heartfelt film.

  In a forest in Norway, a family lives an isolated lifestyle in an attempt to be wild and free, but a tragic event changes everything, and they are forced to adjust to modern society.
• 
  20 Days In Mariupol (2023)

  Review preview for 20 Days In Mariupol

  Oscar shortlisted for Best International Feature and Best Documentary, this is an intense film with little respite even when no bullets are being fired.

  As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war’s atrocities.
• 
  The Mother Of All Lies (2023)

  Review preview for The Mother Of All Lies

  Everything about El Moudir’s film is unusual, from the structure to the mood.

  The filmmaker doesn’t have any pictures of herself as a child. This is the starting point of a documentary investigation that unfolds the secrets of a Casablanca family.
• 
  The New Boy (2023)

  Review preview for The New Boy

  Handsomely mounted in terms of both the wide open landscapes and the confines of the church, Thornton allows the mystery surrounding the boy’s powers to remain that way, unknowable perhaps even to the youngster.

  The story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery, run by a renegade nun, where his presence disturbs the delicately balanced world.
• 
  Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget (2023)

  Review preview for Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget

  The action element of the film has the enjoyable verve of the original, particularly when the mechanics of the nugget-maker are involved, but the lack of a tight focus on characters in one place makes the emotional heart of the matter more diffuse.

  The chickens are forced to leave their idyllic haven when one of their young runs off to a high-security chicken funland.
• 
  Good Boy (2023)

  Review preview for Good Boy

  Love, loss and laughter come together.

  A man's plans go awry thanks to his mum.
• 
  American Sikh (2023)

  Review preview for American Sikh

  The animation used, accompanied by a zippy score from River Nason, fittingly takes its inspiration from superhero comic books.

  Short documentary profiling cartoonist Vishavjit Singh and outlining his unique form of activism.
• 
  King Khat (2023)

  Review preview for King Khat

  Marantz obviously shares Shalev's viewpoint on the subject but even if you don't, the personal nature of this pacy film is a large part of what makes it so enjoyable.

  A young scientist becomes fascination by the psychoative properties of the khat plant and discovered it was a legal drug to make. This hybrid film considers what happens next
• 
  White Flag (2023)

  Review preview for White Flag

  Cinematographer Lukas Graf finds contrast between the nights spent in the yurt, filled with textured fabric and candlelight, and the daytime wide open, dusty landscapes of the steppe.

  Saran and Naran are young women in their early twenties trying to start a new life in the steppe as nomads. Despite their close bond, both are troubled by a ghost from the past.
• 
  Ten Months (2023)

  Review preview for Ten Months

  Handheld camerawork helps to generate an intimacy that works especially well in the relationship between Marev and her mother.

  After years of failed attempts, Merav finally succeeds in getting pregnant. But the pregnancy comes with unexpected news.
• 
  Dilli Dark (2023)

  Review preview for Dilli Dark

  Das Roy has a way with words, and when the dialogue gets going it has plenty of zip.

  A Nigerian student tries to make it while fighting racism in Delhi.
• 
  Driving Madeleine (2022)

  Review preview for Driving Madeleine

  The destination of the film might feel like a bit of a foregone conclusion but the graceful and sometimes unpredictable manner in which Carion arrives at it is impressive.

  A taxi driver drives a passenger across Paris as she recalls her life.
• 
  Mediha (2023)

  Review preview for Mediha

  Through it all, Mediha remains a marvel, finding the inner strength to be there for her brothers at the same time as steeling herself to try to identify her kidnapper.

  Mediha is a member of the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority. She’s also the survivor of an ISIS-orchestrated genocide in 2014. Through video diaries, Mediha provides an intimate account of her grief and trauma.
• 
  The Magnet Man (2023)

  Review preview for The Magnet Man

  While the narrative is straightforward, it's the textures encountered along the way which make it sing - from the make-up and performance of the Jan Bijvoet as pure-hearted Pierrot to a perfectly framed shot of a violin hanging from a tree and the often mournful brass scoring.

  A man with a magnetic ability finds himself drawn to life in a circus.
• 
  The Writer (2023)

  Review preview for The Writer

  There's a gentle soulfulness underlying Romas Zabarauskas' tale of reconnection.

  Two 60-year-old men reconnect 30 years after their relationship ended.
• 
  The G (2023)

  Review preview for The G

  While Ann can handle a knife, there’s a sense that her look might just as easily strike others dead.

  After a corrupt legal guardian ruins her life, a gran sets out for revenge.
• 
  Anatomy Of A Fall (2023)

  Review preview for Anatomy Of A Fall

  Hüller has always been an unfussy actress, who allows a character's flaws to shine out in interesting ways.

  A woman is accused of her husband's murder.
• 
  The Holdovers (2023)

  Review preview for The Holdovers

  An old school slice of comfort and joy for the cold season.

  An unpopular teacher, a talented but badly behaved student and a cook who recently lost her son in Vietnam spend Christmas together in an otherwise empty boarding school.
• 
  The Practice (2015)

  Review preview for The Practice

  While much of the visual humour works perfectly thanks to good timing and framing, some of the running gags seem more suited to a sprint than the marathon Rejtman takes them on.

  A yoga teacher finds himself grappling with life and bad luck after his splits from his wife.
• 
  Nobody Has To Know (2021)

  Review preview for Nobody Has To Know

  Lanners has a surprising amount of unexpected turns of events up his sleeve considering the remote setting, although none of them feel unbelievable.

  After a man loses his memory after a stroke, he embarks on an unexpected relationship.
• 
  Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn (2023)

  Review preview for Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn

  Although Fanny's music is allowed to sing out, we don't hear enough of her personal voice.

  Documentary about the unsung talents of the sister of famous composer Felix.
• 
  Sultana's Dream (2023)

  Review preview for Sultana's Dream

  Sultana's Dream's dense philosophical backbone proves quite meandering in places but even if not every abstract idea hits the target, the animation is always on point.

  Taking her inspiration from a feminist sci-fi short story written in Bengal in 1905, Inés sets out on a voyage of discovery around India in search of Ladyland, the Utopian land of women.
• 
  Life Is Not A Competition, But I'm Winning (2023)

  Review preview for Life Is Not A Competition, But I'm Winning

  Takes a team approach to the material, using a group of documentary participants as a collective.

  Consideration of the historic bias against female Black and queer athletes.