Reviews by Jennie Kermode

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing (2026)

  Review preview for A Little Learning Is A Dangerous Thing

  It’s a daring approach for a first feature.

  After a series of misfortunes, Michael rents a cheap bedroom and comes to terms with the state of the world, via online encyclopedias and edutainment videos. He becomes fixated on an English businessman who is mismanaging a local lough.
• 
  Musk (2026)

  Review preview for Musk

  In endeavouring to provide real insights about the man, Gibney has to dig through a weight of illusion and affectation

  A detailed look at the tech billionnaire.
• 
  Hollow Trees (2026)

  Review preview for Hollow Trees

  The film is competently shot, with some nicely directed chases and a central action scene in the dark that stands out.

  Years after a devastating war, a hardened survivor and a young boy are forced from their home by creatures capable of imitating humans. As they journey north in search of refuge, their fragile bond is pushed to its limit.
• 
  Dead Howling (2026)

  Review preview for Dead Howling

  If this film has one thing to distinguish it, it’s its werewolf concept.

  A werewolf hunts zombies after losing his family. He meets two humans seeking sanctuary and joins their quest, protecting them with his powers. Their journey grows perilous as zombies start evolving.
• 
  Crawlers (2026)

  Review preview for Crawlers

  It’s a monster movie by the numbers and yet its creators have a good understanding of how to give viewers what they really don’t want.

  Tenants at Paradiso Palms apartments fight a deadly spider invasion.
• 
  Morelife (2026)

  Review preview for Morelife

  It’s a journey filled with quirky little incidents, as often in tales like this, but they all register a little differently in light of Shawn’s suicidality.

  A young man's plan to jump into an icy river at night is interrupted by a half-man half-fish there for the same reason. These two strike a bargain to find a rare morel mushroom, hoping it will provide something worth living for.
• 
  Odessa (2026)

  Review preview for Odessa

  Director Harald Swinkels steers the film with consummate skill, every scene telling its own layered story.

  In the wake of World War Two, a devoted father guides his fleeing family across the Dolomites. He is gentle with his son, and running for a reason.
• 
  Manipulation (2026)

  Review preview for Manipulation

  The film’s locations are a feast for the eyes.

  Across Europe and beyond, a powerful elite society operates in plain sight while exerting unseen control.
• 
  The Cull (2026)

  Review preview for The Cull

  The Cull is well suited to an experienced horror audience ready to engage with [its] ambiguities.

  A remorseful ex-con tries to make a fresh start in an woodland cabin, but his past isn't finished with him.
• 
  Lucky Liam (2026)

  Review preview for Lucky Liam

  Well crafted, brilliantly delivered, and lots of fun to watch.

  Taken to a forest to be killed, Lucky Liam sees a chance to survive when a rookie hitman awkwardly interrupts the execution.
• 
  Before I Do (2026)

  Review preview for Before I Do

  There’s an intelligent dissection of ideas going on here, and an acknowledgement of the frequent mismatch between ideals and emotions.

  A young man invites his closest group of gay pals to a remote cabin in the Berkshires to celebrate his upcoming marriage, but between the catching up, skinny-dipping, and Meryl Streep karaoke, old flames and new secrets start to come out.
• 
  Begotten (1989)

  Review preview for Begotten

  A genuinely intriguing experiment.

  Presented in a surreal, gory and entirely visual manner, Begotten tells of the death of religion, the abuse of nature by Man and a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is.
• 
  Adam's Apple (2026)

  Review preview for Adam's Apple

  The ordinary material of growing up mingles here with trans-specific experiences.

  A transgender teen and his mother chronicle their lives, weaving a rare and intimate portrait of a family in transition. Two decades of footage trace a boy's path to manhood and his parents' vulnerability as they reckon with change.
• 
  Gays Against Guns (2026)

  Review preview for Gays Against Guns

  There is throughout this film a driving positive energy, a commitment to turning frustration into action.

  Following the outrageous activist group Gays Against Guns, the film takes us on a rollercoaster through neon-splashed street protests and the ivory corridors of power.
• 
  Making Marie Antoinette (2026)

  Review preview for Making Marie Antoinette

  An in-depth portrait of the production, a rare opportunity to see how a film on that scale is put together.

  A behind-the-scenes look at the 2006 film.
• 
  I Am Going To Miss You (2026)

  Review preview for I Am Going To Miss You

  Ribeiro finds something beautiful in fragility and rawness.

  When a transgender couple move in together, differences quickly surface. One seeks stability while the other seeks something more.
• 
  One Last Shot (2026)

  Review preview for One Last Shot

  The film’s difficulty is that whilst it is in many ways better made than the original, it is now no longer in the clever experimental actioner bracket.

  A navy seal must stop a team of mercenaries, led by his disillusioned former comrade, from disabling the US missile defense network.
• 
  Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant (2026)

  Review preview for Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant

  A strangely honest take on how people cope with the shock of impending parenthood.

  When a messy millennial underachiever accidentally gets alien-pregnant she must overcome sceptical doctors, a useless baby-daddy, and her oversharing mum in order to survive and reclaim her life.
• 
  Forever Is Now (2026)

  Review preview for Forever Is Now

  Ní Chianáin captures the sense of monumental shift – coming one way or another no matter what we do – with images of giant, ancient trees uprooted in a valley through which the flood waters have passed.

  Set between 2023 and 2025, this documentary follows Irish Green Party leader and Cabinet Minister Eamon Ryan during his final 18 months in government. Once buoyed by Europe’s Green wave, Ryan now faces waning public interest in climate issues as he advocates globally for renewable energy and climate justice for the Global South.
• 
  By Design (2025)

  Review preview for By Design

  Nobody seems to notice that this unresponsive woman is not in fact paying attention to them, and Kramer spins this out impressively, building drama from a mixture of monologuing and imagination.

  A woman swaps bodies with a chair, and everyone likes her better as a chair.
• 
  Nostalgie (2025)

  Review preview for Nostalgie

  An exceptional piece of filmmaking.

  A washed-up Eighties one-hit-wonder turned IT entrepreneur is stunned when a Belfast club invites him to perform at its centenary celebration.
• 
  Foreign Tongue (2026)

  Review preview for Foreign Tongue

  All this feels realistic enough, but struggles when it comes up against the soft focus sweetness of romcom logic.

  After suffering a head injury and waking up with a foreign accent, a Canadian woman is persuaded to pretend that she's Bosnian, but everything becomes more complicated when she falls in love.
• 
  Wuthering Heights: House Of The Damned (2026)

  Review preview for Wuthering Heights: House Of The Damned

  Opening on a dark and stormy night, Hirani makes it clear that she feels no obligation to tread lightly.

  Mr Lockwood arrives at remote Wuthering Heights, where Catherine's vengeful ghost haunts the halls and its occupants. Heathcliff is alive and will not give up on her.
• 
  Posthumous (2026)

  Review preview for Posthumous

  The film is slow and its horror elements become less effective as more of the mystery is resolved, but the characters and the damage they carry feel real.

  A young woman returns home to her estranged father, seeking comfort from a series of VHS birthday recordings left behind by her deceased mother, and uncovers an occult ritual that upends everything she was told about her mother's death.
• 
  V/H/S/Mixtape (2026)

  Review preview for V/H/S/Mixtape

  A contender for the best V/H/S film yet.

  This anthology where music and sound become the source of terror.
• 
  Devour (2025)

  Review preview for Devour

  Overall it’s just dull.

  Stranded after a disastrous gig, an all-female heavy metal band finds a woman in danger in a town ruled by a warlock, and crawling with cannibals, vampires, and a deadly werewolf, forcing them to fight for survival.
• 
  Hallowarrior (2026)

  Review preview for Hallowarrior

  Hallowarrior stands out for its well drawn central characters and the capable performances of its leads.

  Desperate for companionship on a post apocalyptic Halloween night, the last girl on Earth gets more than she bargained for, when something far more sinister arrives on her doorstep.
• 
  Little Doors (2026)

  Review preview for Little Doors

  Answers are as thin on the ground as they are beside the point.

  Two socially awkward people find love and then define it for themselves in a barren, post-apocalyptic world before they discover a small, wooden door in the side of her body and decide whether or not to open it.
• 
  The Dark Gets In (2026)

  Review preview for The Dark Gets In

  There is plenty of mystery for those who enjoy such things, and it’s well put together, but it’s only one aspect of a film which is really interested in what people choose not to consider and in how people allow themselves to be misdirected.

  When a documentary team set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young girl, events soon take an unexpected turn, leading the filmmakers down an increasingly dark and horrifying path.
• 
  Compliance (2026)

  Review preview for Compliance

  Mangione-Smith...is particularly successful at telling the story dynamically without compromising the found footage approach.

  A found footage horror film about the modern surveillance state, dark web crime, and political conspiracy.
• 
  Crushed (2025)

  Review preview for Crushed

  What is interesting here is that Olivia is never objectified.

  In suburban Bangkok, a family's faith is thrown into crisis when their daughter is kidnapped.
• 
  Kim Novak's Vertigo (2025)

  Review preview for Kim Novak's Vertigo

  She clicks with Philippe, and there’s a wonderful openness about the film as she finds joy in being able to talk about everything with no fear anymore.

  The actor and painter reflects on Vertigo and her life.
• 
  Derek Vs Derek (2026)

  Review preview for Derek Vs Derek

  The strength of the film lies not just in the personalities of its leads, but in the rich detail observed throughout.

  On a country road in Devon, England, live two implacably opposed neighboring farmers, both called Derek. One believes in intensive farming of his land so that food can be produced in abundance; the other is creating an oasis for nature on his land, driven by an entirely different perception of agriculture and a farmer‘s duties.
• 
  Child (2026)

  Review preview for Child

  Well acted and well shot, with some interesting visual ideas.

  To save their dying son, a father follows his wife on a mysterious journey.
• 
  Sick (2026)

  Review preview for Sick

  Whilst it’s thematically concerned with the blurring of boundaries, its own shifting structure and blending of genres contributes to the underlying unease.

  Things spiral out of control in more ways than one when two siblings are tasked with caring for their ailing grandma.
• 
  Gimme Truth (2026)

  Review preview for Gimme Truth

  Does a good job of carrying the general viewer from laughter to sympathy and concern – maintaining a healthy awareness of how ludicrous many of these ideas are, yet reminding us of the vulnerability of many believers.

  Delve deep into the world of conspiracy theories in North America in this documentary.
• 
  Shadows Of Beirut (2026)

  Review preview for Shadows Of Beirut

  The sound design here is magnificent.

  A young woman decides to return to Beirut to see her estranged dying father after 25 years. Between the struggle to forgive him and building up the courage to face him, she discovers the heart of her homeland through the people she meets.
• 
  The Heretiks (2026)

  Review preview for The Heretiks

  Overall the film is finished to a very high standard.

  A disaffected teenage girl must team up with a renegade witch to protect her little sister from a murderous coven determined to use her as a human sacrifice in an apocalyptic ritual on Halloween night.
• 
  Adult Supervision (2026)

  Review preview for Adult Supervision

  There’s an astute understanding of trauma underlying the comedy here, and it informs every aspect of the larger narrative.

  When three fathers volunteer to chaperone their teenage daughters’ school trip, the initially idyllic getaway quickly reveals brutal social dynamics that have them in over their heads.
• 
  Girl In The Night (2026)

  Review preview for Girl In The Night

  Meticulously styled, Girl in The Night uses a blend of absurdity and deadpan humour to charm and delight its audience.

  A lonesome guy desperate for human connection decides to steal the bicycle of the town’s self-appointed vigilante; as the 'sole witness' of the crime, he is inducted into joining her nightly escapades.
• 
  I Have Proof (2026)

  Review preview for I Have Proof

  I Have Proof asks how we can navigate in a world in which less and less of what we are surrounded with can be considered reliable.

  Alex has proof, and he wants you to see it.
• 
  Littermates (2026)

  Review preview for Littermates

  Littermates is a film full of kindness, blending real sweetness with the unutterably bleak, equally at ease with the comic and the tragic.

  Amidst the chaos of a mysterious war, two victims of an attack take refuge at a cottage in the English countryside, where an enigmatic caretaker insists they must stick together.
• 
  What Happened To Doris? (2026)

  Review preview for What Happened To Doris?

  Simon confidently marries the investigative and horrific aspects of the story, and very effectively combines sudden scares with the gruelling horror of a problem that won’t go away.

  In 1974 LA suburbs, a single mother faces violent attacks by an invisible entity. When no one believes her, she seeks help from paranormal investigators, sparking a notorious documented supernatural case.
• 
  Kylgor In The Grisly Abyss (2026)

  Review preview for Kylgor In The Grisly Abyss

  When you see that term ‘grisly abyss’, you’d better believe it.

  Grimdark fantasy, an epic quest, buckets of blood… all puppets.
• 
  Death Of A Yellow Bird (2026)

  Review preview for Death Of A Yellow Bird

  Though the film is laden with tragedy, it speaks to the growing awareness of the self as part of a larger whole.

  A dying man returns to his childhood home to film messages for his son when he discovers a supernatural presence haunting the isolated cabin in this emotional ghost movie.
• 
  Death Has No Master (2026)

  Review preview for Death Has No Master

  That sense of human frailty – in mind as well as body – which haunts much of European colonial literature is strongly in evidence here.

  In Venezuela, the heiress of a colonial cacao plantation and its entrenched guardians enter a duel for the land, where the only harvest left is violence.
• 
  Ürei (2020)

  Review preview for Ürei

  Holding all of this together is the tremendous atmosphere that Baizhan generates out of shadows, cramped locations and unsettling sounds.

  When a young girl is left with her aging grandmother in rural Kazakhstan, an ordinary act of familial care quickly turns into an unsettling descent into the unknown where loss can take monstrous forms.
• 
  Kung Fu Deadly (2026)

  Review preview for Kung Fu Deadly

  Although the film is pretty formulaic, it’s warm-hearted, it has enough different things going on to remain entertaining, and it rattles along at a fair old pace.

  A late-to-launch young man and his even less responsible friend realise they may be the last line of defense between humanity and an ancient Chinese evil. Martial arts and supernatural horror collide in this romp of a buddy comedy.
• 
  The Ones Who Grieve (2026)

  Review preview for The Ones Who Grieve

  In an age of monstrous men, Frément’s creation stands out.

  At the end of the 19th century, as a mysterious plague spreads across the countryside, a young woman living under the tyranny of her deeply religious father fights to reclaim her freedom.
• 
  Flapjax (2026)

  Review preview for Flapjax

  The latter part of the film rapidly devolves into a no-holds-barred celebration of gluttony and mutation, in all the best ways.

  A fast food restaurant manager is tasked with relaunching the long-dormant product, Flapjax, and no amount of mysterious warnings or disappearances are going to get in his way.