Reviews by Andrew Robertson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Assassin Club (2023)

  Review preview for Assassin Club

  If it has a saving grace it's that it's not two hours long, and one hopes that those involved had some nice evenings out in Turin while filming.

  An assassin is given a contract, but finds he is simultaneously the target.
• 
  Asteroid City (2023)

  Review preview for Asteroid City

  Anderson has absolute command of his craft and his cast are moulded to it.

  The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
• 
  The Astronomer's Sun (2010)

  Review preview for The Astronomer's Sun

  Served well by David Aston's sound work, the machinery and the small quantity of voicework, and by Peter Wright's music, it's technically excellent.

  A man and a mechanical bear head to an observatory to confront his past.
• 
  Atlas (2013)

  Review preview for Atlas

  It is a disturbing experience, but a powerful and well constructed one.

  Nocturnal images of prostitutes and recorded monologues in which they speak of their lives.
• 
  Atomic Hubbub (2009)

  Review preview for Atomic Hubbub

  For its brevity, it still manages to raise a fair few laughs.

  Helpful advice on what to do to survive a nuclear attack.
• 
  Au Revoir L'Été (2013)

  Review preview for Au Revoir L'Été

  The abiding sense is one of a gentle progress, an unfolding as of leaves, shadows dappled sliding slowly afternoonwards.

  Rites of passage drama about a youngster on a summer break with her family.
• 
  Avatar: The Way Of Water (2022)

  Review preview for Avatar: The Way Of Water

  Ponderous but glorious.

  Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.
• 
  The Awakening Of The Insects (2021)

  Review preview for The Awakening Of The Insects

  The art itself just on the edge of real, the spectre of the special economic region, the consequences of colony.

  When an elderly Hong Kong gentleman loses his memory, he receives an unexpected visit from a Taoist exorcist who is determined to chase out the demons lodging in his head.
• 
  Awaydays (2008)

  Review preview for Awaydays

  While it's enjoyable, even affecting in places, it's heavy handed and clumsy in others.

  Tragic romance, based on Kevin Sampson's book about Tranmere Rovers hooligans in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
• 
  The Accordion (2010)

  Review preview for The Accordion

  For all its import this feels like stereotypical Iranian cinema.

  When their accordion is confiscated, two children contemplate the meaning or acceptance, resistance and meaningful political struggle.
• 
  Adha Cup (2008)

  Review preview for Adha Cup

  This is a lovely wee film.

  Two lazy social workers who reluctantly agree to reunite the cast of a legendary amateur Bollywood musical.
• 
  Afghan '72 (2013)

  Review preview for Afghan '72

  Striking stuff.

  Man meets landscape, on horseback, as a son imagines his father.
• 
  Alibi (2009)

  Review preview for Alibi

  Darren Bolger and Caroline Campbell's film is a portrait of an individual crime lost amidst other tragedies.

  The truth behind an alibi that kept a killer from justice for 20 years.
• 
  Alice (2010)

  Review preview for Alice

  A beautifully shot little film.

  A young girl has a magical experience when taken to a theatrical performance of Alice In Wonderland.
• 
  All That Glisters (2012)

  Review preview for All That Glisters

  There isn't much to this wee film, but that doesn't mean it doesn't shine.

  Growing up, a girl tries to come to terms with her father's illness.
• 
  An Act of Love (2010)

  Review preview for An Act of Love

  There's time to wonder if this might have played better as a sketch in some other show.

  A man agrees to help his partner's sister have a baby.
• 
  An Ecstatic Experience (2015)

  Review preview for An Ecstatic Experience

  Light, almost ethereal, despite the weight of its subject matter.

  A meditative invocation on transcendence as a means of restoration.
• 
  Apples And Oranges (2008)

  Review preview for Apples And Oranges

  A bit like issues programming for young adults.

  A woman is in love with two different men, but can't decide between them.
• 
  Arnica (2010)

  Review preview for Arnica

  Compelling, intriguing, and brief.

  A young man tries to reconcile with his father through football.
• 
  Ashura (2010)

  Review preview for Ashura

  While this is a short film it carries within it the seeds of dread, hope, and waiting.

  Film borne out of artist's residency with Edinburgh Mela.
• 
  The Assumption (2015)

  Review preview for The Assumption

  A set of moments.

  A documentary about the centuries old Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Randazzo, beneath Mount Etna.
• 
  Asylum (2010)

  Review preview for Asylum

  Scattershot, lurching, and with some moments that verge on racial caricature, this is perhaps best avoided.

  A failed asylum seeker dreams or running a bio-dynamic farm.
• 
  Bad Kids Of Crestview Academy (2017)

  Review preview for Bad Kids Of Crestview Academy

  It has good moments - some of which are so blatant as to seem traced - but even for a sequel this feels like it is treading ground that's so well travelled that genre features are named landmarks.

  A group of detained teenagers get caught up in a series of killings.
• 
  Bale (2009)

  Review preview for Bale

  A crisp little picture of adolescence.

  On a long summer’s day in rural England, two groups of teenagers find a remote hide away where fun and games soon lose their innocence.
• 
  The Barbarians (2010)

  Review preview for The Barbarians

  This feels more like something you'd be linked to through Facebook than something you'd go to see in the picturehouse.

  An experimental exploration of the barbarian spirit.
• 
  Barber's Dozen (2009)

  Review preview for Barber's Dozen

  Entertaining, amusing, like a humorous conversation overheard on the train.

  The tales of people who frequent a barber's shop chair.
• 
  Barge Dirge (2010)

  Review preview for Barge Dirge

  The music is striking, the aesthetic impact more dependent on sound than vision.

  A dystopian look at a barren landscape.
• 
  Battenberg (2010)

  Review preview for Battenberg

  Unsettling, concerning, rewarding.

  Colliding with the dusty window of an abandoned guest-house, an unwitting bird fails to realise the curious horror lurking within.
• 
  Battle For Haditha (2007)

  Review preview for Battle For Haditha

  There is genuine grief, genuine rage, remembered and brought to the screen.

  Docudrama investigating an Iraqi massacre allegedly carried out by US soldiers.
• 
  Babygirl (2024)

  Review preview for Babygirl

  Halina Reijn's film is a rewarding piece of work, in no small part because of how it challenges its subjects and its audience.

  A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern.
• 
  Baby Assassins (2021)

  Review preview for Baby Assassins

  This is a delight. From me it drew outpourings of laughter as sharp and as bright as the splashes of blood from a punctured neck.

  Chisato and Mahilo are two high school girls who are about to graduate. They also happen to both be highly skilled assassins. When the organisation they work for orders them to share a room, the relationship between turns sour.
• 
  The Bad Guys (2022)

  Review preview for The Bad Guys

  A heist movie that should be given the chance to steal the attention of a variety of audiences.

  Several reformed yet misunderstood criminal animals attempt to become good, with some disastrous results along the way.
• 
  The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

  Review preview for The Bad Guys 2

  The Bad Guys 2 is proper entertainment.

  The Bad Guys are struggling to find trust and acceptance in their newly minted lives as Good Guys, when they are pulled out of retirement and forced to do 'one last job' by an all-female squad of criminals.
• 
  Bait (2019)

  Review preview for Bait

  Bait looks, sounds, feels amazing.

  Martin is a cove fisherman whose brother has started using their father’s boat to shuttle tourists, soon causing latent familial tensions to explode.
• 
  The Ballad Of Wallis Island (2025)

  Review preview for The Ballad Of Wallis Island

  I laughed, and was not alone in doing so, out loud, and repeatedly.

  Eccentric lottery winner, Charles, dreams of getting his favorite musicians, Mortimer-McGwyer, back together. His fantasy turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show at his home on Wallis Island. Old tensions resurface as Charles tries desperately to salvage his dream gig.
• 
  Ballerina (2025)

  Review preview for Ballerina

  When we're told "One bullet well placed can be a magical thing," it feels less metaphorical than metaphysical.

  An assassin trained in the traditions of the Ruska Roma organisation sets out to seek revenge after her father's death.
• 
  The Balloon Catcher (2020)

  Review preview for The Balloon Catcher

  Kaneko writes/directs/animates, the brevity of this piece all the more effective for not a moment wasted.

  Rejected and feared, will the axeman manage to use his peculiarity to find freedom?
• 
  Balls Of Fury (2007)

  Review preview for Balls Of Fury

  It's clear that fun was had making Balls of Fury, and, if you're willing to accept its central conceit, it's undoubtedly fun to watch.

  A washed-up former ping pong star infiltrates a suspicious competition on behalf of the FBI.
• 
  Bao (2018)

  Review preview for Bao

  It's part of a long cinematic tradition. It's also adorable.

  A Chinese-Canadian woman suffering from an empty nest gets a second shot at motherhood when one of her handmade dumplings comes alive.
• 
  The Batman (2022)

  Review preview for The Batman

  This feels leaden, not just due to its length, but in the attempt to be heavy, to be worthy.

  When sadistic serial killer the Riddler, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city's hidden corruption and question his family's involvement.
• 
  Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021)

  Review preview for Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One

  For fans there's a lot to pick up on, but even casual audiences will be able to keep up.

  Batman forms a pact with the police captain and district attorney in a bid to take down the head of a crime family... only to find he is also dealing with a serial killer.
• 
  Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two (2021)

  Review preview for Batman: The Long Halloween Part Two

  There's a lot to get through and at times this feels rushed.

  Second part of the animated adventure sees Batman search for a serial killer.
• 
  Battle For Afghanistan (2019)

  Review preview for Battle For Afghanistan

  There are some astonishing set pieces.

  A Soviet General refuses to withdraw on time from Afghanistan, because the Mujahedeen are holding his son hostage.
• 
  The Bayview (2021)

  Review preview for The Bayview

  It's one where the camera less becomes a fly on the wall than a sleeping dog in front of the fireplace, one where the comfort of the subjects gives us a better insight into them.

  A glimpse into the world of a family who have turned the previously derelict hotel into a place of respite for international fishermen when they come to land.
• 
  Beats (2019)

  Review preview for Beats

  It's a treat, a banger if you will.

  Two best friends in a small Scottish town in the summer of '94 head out for one last night together before life takes them in different directions.
• 
  Beau Is Afraid (2023)

  Review preview for Beau Is Afraid

  There is no key to unlock it. Doors are held open to interpret, wedged with countless other stories.

  Following the sudden death of his mother, a mild-mannered but anxiety-ridden man confronts his darkest fears as he embarks on an epic, Kafkaesque odyssey back home.
• 
  The Beekeeper (2024)

  Review preview for The Beekeeper

  There's a credited law enforcement consultant, and I will spare their blushes because I actually suspect that there's a more credible depiction of tactics and techniques in the Paw Patrol movies.

  One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organisation known as Beekeepers.
• 
  Bee Movie (2007)

  Review preview for Bee Movie

  Bee Movie is bitty, even patchy, and, unlike the hive it depicts, less than the sum of its parts.

  A recently graduated bee decides to sue humans for eating honey.
• 
  Behaviour (2009)

  Review preview for Behaviour

  A triumph, albeit an uneasy one.

  A first shift in a care home takes a sinister turn.
• 
  Being And Nothingness (2019)

  Review preview for Being And Nothingness

  This is a dark and crisp little tale, like an icy night.

  A teenager relocated to rural Wyoming sets her sights on a local ranch hand.