Reviews by Amber Wilkinson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Ask E. Jean (2026)

  Review preview for Ask E. Jean

  Her experience could be Exhibit A for anyone trying to articulate the reasons survivors stay silent through fear of blowing up their own lives rather than their attackers’

  Charting E. Jean Carroll's life, including her court case showdown with Donald Trump.
• 
  The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

  Review preview for The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

  There is no disputing this film is far too long but the central relationship of James and Ford is fascinating.

  The title says it all...
• 
  The Assistant (2019)

  Review preview for The Assistant

  Green shows the trickle-down effect of toxic masculinity, as Jane's male colleagues - scarcely higher in the pecking order than her - nevertheless chip away at her.

  A day in the life of Jane, an assistant to a high-powered film executive.
• 
  Aswang (2019)

  Review preview for Aswang

  Shot mainly at night, the darkness deepens the film's oppressive quality, while the constant presence of rubbish only adds to the sense of everyone sitting in a miasma of despair.

  Documentary tracking the human fallout of Rodrigo Duterte's policy of executing suspected drug dealers in the Philippines.
• 
  As I Want (2021)

  Review preview for As I Want

  The personal emotion of its director Samaher Alqadi punches through the centre of it hard - which gives her film a searing edge even if much of it feels scrappy and politically muddied.

  A consideration of violence against women in Egypt in the wake of Morsi's rise to power.
• 
  As We Were Dreaming (2015)

  Review preview for As We Were Dreaming

  The film can't be faulted for atmosphere... structurally, though, the cracks begin to show.

  The story of five friends in Leipzig after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• 
  Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner (2000)

  Review preview for Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner

  A trailblazer for its culture and certainly makes for a fascinating, if rather long, watch.

  First movie ever made in Inuit, it tells a tale of love, tradition and revenge.
• 
  The Athlete (2009)

  Review preview for The Athlete

  This is an ambitious and brave project which, if it doesn't quite reach the heights it might, is still a worthwhile watch.

  Biopic/ documentary hybrid about Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila.
• 
  Atlantics (2019)

  Review preview for Atlantics

  The difficult reality of life in Senegal dances with something much more otherworldly in Mati Diop's debut film.

  Love and loss in Dakar are given a supernatural twist.
• 
  Attila Marcel (2013)

  Review preview for Attila Marcel

  Chomet captures the way that memories can mislead or turn into a torrent but despite the jokes, he never loses sight of Paul's sadness.

  A man rendered mute by childhood trauma finds a road into his memories with the help of a neighbour.
• 
  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.
• 
  Author: The JT LeRoy Story (2016)

  Review preview for Author: The JT LeRoy Story

  A fascinating, if skewed, account of creativity gone wild.

  The story behind the literary 'hoax' of JT LeRoy.
• 
  Autómata (2014)

  Review preview for Autómata

  The audience should be warned that the film boasts a cliche level that could also be hazardous to health.

  An insurance investigator finds himself on the trail of intelligent robots in a future dystopia.
• 
  Away We Go (2009)

  Review preview for Away We Go

  Once they hit the road, the script goes away with the pixies.

  Indie comedy about a couple who go on a road trip to help them decide where is best to bring up baby.
• 
  The Axe (2005)

  Review preview for The Axe

  Garcia – reminiscent of a young Jack Lemmon - puts the hang into dog perfectly and the script will bite your arm off.

  It's murder to find a job in France.
• 
  Ayka (2018)

  Review preview for Ayka

  They say it's the hope that kills you and Dvortsevoy lets enough light in to emphasise her plight.

  A woman who has just given birth abandons her baby in the struggle to survive.
• 
  Above The Law (2017)

  Review preview for Above The Law

  There's not an inch of fat on this slickly edited and tightly plotted Belgian crime thriller

  A robber's final heist becomes mixed up in a murder conspiracy.
• 
  The Admiral (2008)

  Review preview for The Admiral

  If you like epic romances such as Dr Zhivago, this provides a decent story of will they/won't they love, although its all rather U certificate.

  Biopic centring on the life and loves of Alexander Kolchak.
• 
  Aferim! (2015)

  Review preview for Aferim!

  Jude and Lazarescu also show how the structure of society has a habit of making you conform to it, whatever your intentions - a barbed idea intended to stick in the minds of those who live in today's Europe where the Roma still face wide-spread prejudice

  A policeman and his son hunt a runaway gypsy slave.
• 
  After Love (2016)

  Review preview for After Love

  The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

  After they split, a couple continue to share a house because of financial constraints.
• 
  Age Of The Dragons (2011)

  Review preview for Age Of The Dragons

  There is some truth in advertising - Age Of The Dragons does drag on for an age.

  Dragon-based reworking of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
• 
  Ahlaam (2005)

  Review preview for Ahlaam

  As gruelling as it is compelling.

  Psychiatric patients struggle to keep their sanity in the madness of 'post-liberation' Iraq.
• 
  The Air I Breathe (2007)

  Review preview for The Air I Breathe

  As the plots begin to coalesce everything becomes far too overwrought.

  Multi-stranded film sees four lives collide.
• 
  Alamar (2009)

  Review preview for Alamar

  Presumably the fictionalising of the story offered González-Rubio more freedom in terms of shaping the narrative, but he has such a gentle touch that you would be hard-pushed to spot the artifice.

  Fathers and sons, and fishing.
• 
  Alanis (2017)

  Review preview for Alanis

  While the odds are, no doubt, stacked against her, Berneri gives Alanis a real sense of agency.

  An evicted sex worker attempts to get back on her feet with her young son.
• 
  The Alexander Sokurov Collection (2012)

  Review preview for The Alexander Sokurov Collection

  Those who like the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr will find similar humanist themes in Sokurov's films, although he has a much greater tendency to self-indulgence than those two auteurs.

  Collection of films by the Russian director.
• 
  Alexandra (2007)

  Review preview for Alexandra

  Ponderings on the effects of war become distinctly ponderous.

  A grandmother goes to visit her grandson, working for the army in Chechnya.
• 
  Alias Ruby Blade (2012)

  Review preview for Alias Ruby Blade

  A celebration of peaceful resistance and of those who stand behind many of the world's figureheads, helping them to achieve their aims.

  The love story of human rights activist Kirsty Sword and political prisoner Xanana Gusmão.
• 
  Alice In Wonderland (1966)

  Review preview for Alice In Wonderland

  A melancholy and, in places, excruciatingly slow take on the tale with virtually all the comedic moments pared away.

  Sixties live-action version of the Lewis Carroll satire.
• 
  Alien Autopsy (2006)

  Review preview for Alien Autopsy

  This movie scores well on the quirky British movie scale.

  Fictionalised retelling of the alien autopsy hoax film.
• 
  Allegro (2005)

  Review preview for Allegro

  Truly defies classification.

  Genre-bending love story sees a concert pianist confront his past.
• 
  All About Them (2015)

  Review preview for All About Them

  Fresh, frisky and surprisingly chaste considering the amount of bed-hopping going on.

  Love triangle romcom.
• 
  All Is Bright (2013)

  Review preview for All Is Bright

  Like the advent calendar Rene gives to Michi to count down the days to Christmas, the film holds a surprising number of sweet treats, despite its austere veneer.

  An ex-con and his erstwhile partner bicker and bond as they try to get rich before Christmas.
• 
  All Things To All Men (2013)

  Review preview for All Things To All Men

  All fur coat and no knickers.

  A bent copper tries to rip off a kingpin.
• 
  All Tomorrow's Parties (2003)

  Review preview for All Tomorrow's Parties

  There is an air of worthiness hanging over this film, like a fug.

  Confusing refugee shenanigans.
• 
  Aloft (2014)

  Review preview for Aloft

  There's no shying away from the fact that the New Age, twig-built mumbo-jumbo peddled here is no match from the otherworldly ancient belief systems of Peru that flow through Llosa's earlier works.

  A son goes in search of his estranged mother.
• 
  Aloys (2016)

  Review preview for Aloys

  Nölle's greatest achievement is to keep the magic realist realm firmly anchored to the real so that reality feels touched by imagination rather than smothered by it.

  A private investigator is drawn into a mind game by a mysterious woman.
• 
  Amama: When A Tree Falls (2015)

  Review preview for Amama: When A Tree Falls

  Although initially threatening to take pretentiousness too far, Amama gathers power through the runtime.

  A family tale of conflict between the urban and rural worlds, past and present, parents and children.
• 
  Amazona (2017)

  Review preview for Amazona

  The director makes judicious use of old family photos and voice-over along with some strong nature photography that anchors the documentary in terms of place.

  A story of a mother and daughter trying to heal the wounds of the past.
• 
  American Pastoral (2016)

  Review preview for American Pastoral

  McGregor's character paradoxically gets too much and not enough. Swede feels clogged with sentiment for his daughter, with little room for other emotions.

  Seymour “Swede” Levov, a once legendary high school athlete, is now a successful businessman married to Dawn, a former beauty queen. But turmoil brews beneath the polished veneer of Swede’s life.
• 
  American Sniper (2014)

  Review preview for American Sniper

  Fable and fact make an uneasy mix.

  Story of a SEAL sniper who became a "legend" but struggled to leave his army life behind.
• 
  The Amina Profile (2015)

  Review preview for The Amina Profile

  Director Sophie Deraspe, probably best-known for 2009 drama Vital Signs, brings a strong sense of the cinematic to what, on paper, looks like a poor candidate for it.

  The story of a love affair that turned into a mystery after a Syrian blogger was kidnapped.
• 
  Amok (2011)

  Review preview for Amok

  Farjado's style is immersive, capturing both the sense of chaos in the district but also finding time to linger on fine details, giving a vibrant sense of place.

  Everyone is on the take in downtown Manila.
• 
  Amreeka (2009)

  Review preview for Amreeka

  Dabis is certainly to be praised for her lightness of touch, filling many of her scenes with a humour often lacking from films addressing issues of migration.

  When a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son move to rural Illinois at the outset of the Iraq war, they find their new lives full of challenges
• 
  Ana Arabia (2013)

  Review preview for Ana Arabia

  The heart of Gitai's film is in the right place but the script runs off at the mouth.

  Drama considering peaceful co-existence in Jaffa.
• 
  And Hope To Die (1972)

  Review preview for And Hope To Die

  A mind-bender of a film that loops its characters' past into their present or, if you choose to read it another way, loops their future into their present.

  A man on the run falls in with a group of criminals.
• 
  Angela (2002)

  Review preview for Angela

  This gritty realism is enhanced by the manner in which the film is shot, using not-so-steady camerawork.

  Tale of star-crossed lovers in Mafiosi world of Sicily.
• 
  The Angelmakers (2005)

  Review preview for The Angelmakers

  This is an intimate portrait - and much the better for it.

  Why did 51 Hungarian women poison their husbands in a small rural town in 1929?
• 
  Angels Crest (2011)

  Review preview for Angels Crest

  Angels Crest has a number of peripheral problems, mostly to do with the sheer number of under-developed characters and subplots.

  Tragedy strikes a small-town community.
• 
  Angel's Fall (2005)

  A young woman tries to break free from life with her father.