Reviews by Andrew Robertson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Belle (2021)

  Review preview for Belle

  This is a triumph of design.

  The story of a shy teenager who becomes an online sensation as a princess of pop.
• 
  Better Man (2024)

  Review preview for Better Man

  Film's ability to change scale and scope turns Better Man from a jukebox musical into something at once more and less personal.

  A documentary portrait of pop music superstar Robbie Williams.
• 
  Betty (2020)

  Review preview for Betty

  Moody and embittered and near unique.

  A little green bird called Bobby is looking for his butter, his partner Betty and for the love that seems to have melted away.
• 
  Big Bag (2016)

  Review preview for Big Bag

  A film that is economically hilarious in the precision of its lines and humour, a wordless comic gem.

  An backpacker has a spot of bother as he prepares for a trip.
• 
  Bill Douglas - My Best Friend (2023)

  Review preview for Bill Douglas - My Best Friend

  This is more an introduction to Douglas as a man than a creator.

  An elegiac tribute to the hugely influential Scots filmmaker featuring contributions from the life-long friend who knew him best, Peter Jewell, as well as directors Lynne Ramsay and Lenny Abrahamson.
• 
  The Bitch (2021)

  Review preview for The Bitch

  This is not easy viewing, but beneath the gleam of staring eyes and the bloodied lips is something visceral.

  The fate of three brothers is tied up with that of a missing woman.
• 
  Blackbird (2022)

  Review preview for Blackbird

  Like a reduced for quick sale ham and cheese sandwich from a garage.

  A troubled secret agent abruptly retires from service and opens a luxurious nightclub in the Caribbean to escape the dark shadows of his past. An old flame arrives and reignites love in his life, but brings danger with her.
• 
  Black Adam (2022)

  Review preview for Black Adam

  Did it meet my expectations? They weren't high, but no, not really.

  Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods - and imprisoned just as quickly - Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.
• 
  Black Bag (2025)

  Review preview for Black Bag

  A sophisticated palate will discern any number of flavours running through Black Bag, but these are glosses on a traditional recipe.

  When an intelligence agent is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband - also a legendary agent - faces the ultimate test: should he be loyal to his marriage, or to his country?
• 
  Black Holes (2020)

  Review preview for Black Holes

  Lazarus and co-writer Dorothee Levesque keep things minimal.

  When David mysteriously falls into a coma, his friends and family all try to deal with the trauma.
• 
  Black Panther (2018)

  Review preview for Black Panther

  It's almost a disservice to talk about Black Panther in the context of the MCU, because perhaps more than any other it stands alone.

  T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T'Challa's father's mistake.
• 
  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

  Review preview for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

  It feels like the diktats of the Marvel Story Parliament have weighed almost as heavily as the loss of their star.

  The people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T'Challa.
• 
  Black Widow (2021)

  Review preview for Black Widow

  It is entertaining.

  Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises.
• 
  Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

  Review preview for Blade Runner 2049

  It is Blade Runner.

  An LAPD officer makes a discovery that leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former blade runner who has been missing for 30 years
• 
  Bloody Gravel (2023)

  Review preview for Bloody Gravel

  I felt sick after watching it and watched it again.

  Roya and Bashir are in love and because of the restrictions in Afghanistan they are forced to flee. They hope to enter Iran illegally. Roya is pregnant and the child was not planned. What happens at the border puts the people smugglers they have hired to an unexpected test.
• 
  Blood Fest (2018)

  Review preview for Blood Fest

  It's not that it's bad - it's certainly entertaining in places - but genre-aware meta-commentary can all too easily feel like the kind of parody where the 'joke' is in the relief of recognition.

  Fans flock to a festival celebrating the most iconic horror movies, only to discover that the charismatic showman behind the event has a diabolical agenda.
• 
  Blood Runs Down (2018)

  Review preview for Blood Runs Down

  Zandashé Brown's film is taut, as thin and finely balanced as the tain of pre-Liebig mirrors.

  When a woman undergoes a frightening transition, her vigilant five year old daughter must decide between saving her or protecting herself.
• 
  Bludgeon (2018)

  Review preview for Bludgeon

  In trying to walk a line between geek and jock it paints (and washes and drybrushes) itself into a corner.

  Documentary about competitive medieval combat.
• 
  Blue Beetle (2023)

  Review preview for Blue Beetle

  To give new talent these budgets and underexplored characters and knock out this kind of assembly line nonsense is what got printed comic books into the doldrums that they're still in.

  An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armour which is capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle.
• 
  Blue Eyes (2021)

  Review preview for Blue Eyes

  At 86 minutes it absolutely whips along, but still finds time for dozens of moments of genuine beauty.

  A thief on a motorbike taunts the police in Rome.
• 
  Blur: To The End (2024)

  Review preview for Blur: To The End

  It's entertaining enough if you're familiar.

  Portrait of the band as they prepare an album.
• 
  Bob's Burgers: The Movie (2022)

  Review preview for Bob's Burgers: The Movie

  Well executed and simply done is the essence of a good burger, and the movie manages it.

  The Belchers try to save the restaurant from closing as a sinkhole forms in front of it, while the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family's restaurant.
• 
  Bodies At Rest (2019)

  Review preview for Bodies At Rest

  There's a lot of things going on here, but it's a talented cast and crew playing firmly within a set of genre tropes, not painting by numbers.

  Action adventure sees a morgue taken over by gunmen.
• 
  La Bola Negra (2026)

  Review preview for La Bola Negra

  La Bola Negra was an unfinished work in a life cut short but the film named (variously) for it is extension and tribute and triumph.

  Drama exploring the inter-connected lives of three gay men.
• 
  The Boogeyman (2023)

  Review preview for The Boogeyman

  Traditions include what might be monstrous punishment for moral failings, suspect chronology, a muddy line between those who may and may not deserve it, and a cavalier disregard for common sense.

  A troubled man talks to a psychiatrist about the 'murders' of his three young children, describing the events of the past several years. His first two children died mysteriously of apparently unrelated causes when left alone in their bedrooms. Their closet doors were found slightly ajar.
• 
  The Book Of Clarence (2023)

  Review preview for The Book Of Clarence

  Simply put, I don't know what it's trying to do, and I don't know if it does either.

  A man tries to turn the rising celebrity of Christ to his own advantage.
• 
  Borderlands (2024)

  Review preview for Borderlands

  The film takes its name from a space defined by boundaries, but it doesn't even bother to colour inbetween the lines.

  Based on the best-selling videogame, this all-star action-adventure follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to unimaginable power.
• 
  Born In Damascus (2021)

  Review preview for Born In Damascus

  This is meditative, melancholy, moving.

  After ten years apart, a Scottish filmmaker tries to reconnect with her closest cousin after their paths were separated by war.
• 
  Bosco (2020)

  Review preview for Bosco

  Every moment of Bosco carries in it the opportunity to reminisce, to feel.

  How does a tiny Italian village of 13 inhabitants connect to a Uruguayan city an ocean away?
• 
  Bottoms (2023)

  Review preview for Bottoms

  There may be other movies this year that'll give you the wisdom of "gay Yoda" or that reflect the slippery "hobbies to terrorism" pipeline. There won't be many with public address announcements that blur the lines between unreliable narration and inner ear disorders

  Two unpopular girls in their senior year start a fight club to try to impress and hook up with cheerleaders.
• 
  The Bourne Legacy (2012)

  Review preview for The Bourne Legacy

  Perhaps most surprising is how slight it feels.

  The Bourne series gets a new hero - a genetically engineered supersoldier with numerous enemies.
• 
  Boxer (2010)

  Review preview for Boxer

  This is a debut feature, and while strong in places it doesn't quite gel.

  A lonely man in a run-down corner of Scotland finds his life transformed after he witnesses a violent attack.
• 
  Boxing Day (2021)

  Review preview for Boxing Day

  There's a lot going on. Possibly too much, but that's ambition.

  A British author comes home for Christmas to introduce his American fiancee to his British-Caribbean family.
• 
  Boys Night (2019)

  Review preview for Boys Night

  That the skies are Glaswegian grey does not make the eyes below them any less starry, or watery, nor does that overcast overshadow the microcosm below.

  Twelve-year-old Reese must brave the mean and marvellous streets of North East Glasgow to bring his drunken father safely home.
• 
  Boyz In The Wood (2019)

  Review preview for Boyz In The Wood

  It's laugh out loud funny in places, and there's an endearing earnestness throughout.

  An anarchic cocktail of generational politics, hip-hop loving farmers and hallucinogenic rabbit shites, set in the highlands of Scotland.
• 
  The Boy Who Walked Barefoot

  Review preview for The Boy Who Walked Barefoot

  There are kindnesses within the film, but stark ones.

  Zbyszek has a special connection with animals. One day a stranger man brings his restive horse to the stable. How much will Zbyszek sacrifice to become a man?
• 
  The Bride! (2026)

  Review preview for The Bride!

  For all its quality, and there's plenty, it doesn't quite feel a thing complete. Its characters are disobedient, but their film is in part disordered.

  In 1930s Chicago, Frankenstein asks Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change.
• 
  Bring Her Back (2025)

  Review preview for Bring Her Back

  A strong cast put flesh on the bones of strong ideas, but ultimately what animates it all is imagination.

  A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.
• 
  Broken Embraces (2009)

  Review preview for Broken Embraces

  There is a violence here, a passion, all beautifully shot, all haunting.

  A tale of obsessive love and contested identity within the world of filmmaking.
• 
  Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase The Blues Away (2021)

  Review preview for Buddy Guy: The Blues Chase The Blues Away

  The kind of film that immediately after watching I find myself trying to determine how I can get it in front of my parents to watch.

  The story of how a Louisiana sharecropper became one of the most influential guitarists of all time
• 
  Bulk (2025)

  Review preview for Bulk

  It's not a map, it's a blueprint, a means of telling fortunes and a handsome puzzle to boot.

  Sci-fi nightmare fusing head scrambling multiverse and a conspiracy of global proportions that might mean the end of the world as we know it.
• 
  Bungee To The Beyond (2020)

  Review preview for Bungee To The Beyond

  That this manages to be so heartwarming is down to an ensemble effort, the cast's chemistry convinces and so too decisions made behind the camera about what to show and what not to.

  Friends help fulfill a dying wish, but they're not the only ones late to do so.
• 
  The Burden (2017)

  Review preview for The Burden

  Niki Lindroth von Bahr's film is once again a masterclass of model-making.

  The Burden is an animated and animal musical, enacted in a modern marketplace next to a large freeway.
• 
  By The Time I Fall Asleep (2021)

  Review preview for By The Time I Fall Asleep

  Damian Kosowski's film is cold and claustrophobic, tight in shot and focus in the few scenes outdoors and distant and distressed even by the bath.

  About what happened one November night, in one of the apartments on the top floor of a block of flats.
• 
  Becoming Zlatan (2015)

  Review preview for Becoming Zlatan

  It isn't doing anything new, but it does do it well, and entertainingly.

  Documentary about Swedish football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
• 
  Beijing Flickers (2012)

  Review preview for Beijing Flickers

  The depiction of this generation whose boats have not been lifted by China's economic tide seems a fair one.

  When his life falls apart, a man finds support and positive opportunities in a community of outcasts.
• 
  Bells (2015)

  Review preview for Bells

  Bells is a touching, moving little piece.

  A lone twin struggles to cope with the loss of his sibling.
• 
  Benny (2017)

  Review preview for Benny

  Benny is an affectionate tribute but it suffers from being as slight as its subject and nowhere near as powerful.

  A documentary about Benny Lynch, who was frequently described as the greatest boxer that Scotland has ever produced.
• 
  Ben And Lump (2012)

  Review preview for Ben And Lump

  This is genuinely funny, full of subtle characterisation and humorous moments.

  One Christmas, two friends are forced to acknowledge that their lives are going in very different directions.
• 
  Bereave (2015)

  Review preview for Bereave

  It's not awful, it's just not good.

  A 40th wedding anniversary is a special day... but there's a gun in the bedroom.