Reviews by Jennie Kermode

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Big Sleep (1946)

  Review preview for The Big Sleep

  Showcasing Bogart and Bacall at the height of their talents, it sizzles with energy.

  Hired by a dying millionaire, detective Philip Marlowe finds himself embroiled in successive mysteries relating to a beautiful but dangerous woman.
• 
  The Big Ugly (2020)

  Review preview for The Big Ugly

  Much more complex than it appears on the surface, this is a film full of multi-layered characters powered by great performances, addressing familiar cinematic subjects with a voice of its own.

  Anglo-American relations go bad when London mob bosses invest in a West Virginia oil deal in hopes of laundering dirty money.
• 
  The Big Uneasy (2010)

  Review preview for The Big Uneasy

  It's a brave thing for a modern documentary to take on such a technical subject. The issues involved are intelligently yet accessibly addressed.

  Why was New Orleans so desperately unprepared for Hurricane Katrina? This documentary explores the corruption and dodgy political dealings that made the disaster's impact worse.
• 
  Billie And Emma (2018)

  Review preview for Billie And Emma

  There are fine performances throughout and the two leads are both excellent.

  A pregnant teenage girl falls in love with the new girl in school.
• 
  Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story Of The Cabbage Patch Kids (2022)

  Review preview for Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story Of The Cabbage Patch Kids

  It quickly becomes apparent that this is more than just the story of the dolls. It is the story of the modern age.

  The story of the doll sensation.
• 
  Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

  Review preview for Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey

  It's William Sadler, as Death, who steals the show.

  A totally evil future dude sends uncool robots back in time to kill the most righteous Bill S Preston esquire and Ted 'Theodore' Logan.
• 
  Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

  Review preview for Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure

  The sheer warm-heartedness of this film means that it is always a delight to watch.

  Two boadacious dudes totally travel in time, collecting historical personages to help them pass a most heinous examination.
• 
  Bill And Ted Face The Music (2020)

  Review preview for Bill And Ted Face The Music

  This is not a film that will enable them, or you, to have a good time all of the time.

  Bill and Ted have yet to write the promised song that will unite the world, and with the structure of time itself now in jeopardy, they're running out of chances.
• 
  Bill Cunningham New York (2010)

  Review preview for Bill Cunningham New York

  What makes this documentary so powerful and so enjoyable is its intimacy with its subject.

  A documentary focusing on New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham and the fashion he captured on camera.
• 
  Bill Murray Stories (2018)

  Review preview for Bill Murray Stories

  This isn't the finest example of the documentary art, but it may well be one of the most enjoyable films you see this year.

  Tales from the extraordinary day to day life of Bill Murray.
• 
  Binding Eva (2026)

  Review preview for Binding Eva

  It’s Gerrard who really carries the film, presenting us with a young man whose conflicted thinking is never well concealed despite his efforts to seem in control, but who has real emotional depths beneath it.

  Deep in the Forest of Dean, a small-time criminal on the run, returns again and again to the same moment of judgement, and the same impossible choice.
• 
  Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015)

  Review preview for Birdboy: The Forgotten Children

  With imagery that shifts seamlessly from the kawaii to the diabolical, not least in a darkly psychedelic sequence near the end, this is a film that really makes its mark.

  Three children decide to leave their homes looking a better life.
• 
  Birder (2023)

  Review preview for Birder

  It’s framed as an erotic thriller, and there are comedic elements, but at it’s core it’s doing something important, reminding viewers to take proper care of themselves and each other.

  A serial killer inveigles his way into the friendly, supportive space of a queer nudist camp.
• 
  The Birds (1963)

  Review preview for The Birds

  The way The Birds is shot is the stuff of legend.

  Chaos comes to an isolated community when birds begin attacking people in this Hitchcock classic.
• 
  Birds Of The Borderlands (2019)

  Review preview for Birds Of The Borderlands

  It's a film that works as much by accident as by design, but the result is powerful.

  Four different real life stories about queer experiences in the Arab world.
• 
  Bird Atlas (2021)

  Review preview for Bird Atlas

  There’s a dryness to this comedic drama which occasionally makes it drag, but Omerzu breaks with it to great effect in places, when he’s ready to present contrasting scenes of highly emotive, character-driven drama.

  An ageing proprietor of a technology company has dedicated his whole life to his work, so it comes as a big blow when he discovers that payments to suppliers have been held up for months. But what can he do when the firm’s accountant is nowhere to be seen?
• 
  Birthday Boy (2021)

  Review preview for Birthday Boy

  Birthday Boy does an excellent job of picking up on the microaggressions that affect kids in these situations.

  A trans boy facing bullying at a girls' school tries to find a refuge in the world of online games.
• 
  Birth/Rebirth (2023)

  Review preview for Birth/Rebirth

  Young Lister is a marvel, showing a remarkably sophisticated understanding of what her role requires as Lila, having suffered significant brain damage, gradually begins to require verbal and motor skills.

  A single mother and a childless morgue technician are bound together by their relationship to a little girl they have reanimated from the dead.
• 
  Bismillah (2018)

  Review preview for Bismillah

  This taut little film hinges on Mresy's remarkable performance.

  A ten-year-old Tunisian refugee living illegally in Italy tries to save her brother, who is seriously ill, from death or deportation.
• 
  Bit (2019)

  Review preview for Bit

  There's a heavy helping of genre clichés in Brad Michael Elmore's pacy, energetic teen thriller, but he succeeds very effectively in updating the old stories for a modern audience.

  A teenage girl on summer vacation in Los Angeles fights to survive after she falls in with four queer feminist vampires, who try to rid the city's streets of predatory men.
• 
  Bitch (2017)

  Review preview for Bitch

  A tight little film that could have been disastrous if mishandled.

  A woman snaps under crushing life pressures and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, absentee husband is forced to become reacquainted with his four children and sister-in-law as they attempt to keep the family together during this bizarre crisis.
• 
  Bite (2022)

  Review preview for Bite

  Denovan is a capable lead but it’s Nsue who really stands out and, despite having less screen time overall, gets the most interesting character moments.

  A pair of thieves get more than they bargained for when they target Beryl, a seemingly innocent elderly widow.
• 
  The Bitter Taste (2024)

  Review preview for The Bitter Taste

  Those with a taste for B-movie excess may stay the course.

  A former pentathlete stuck in a small forest village while her car is being fixed finds her self drawn into a mystery surrounding the inhabitants of the local castle, a strange competition, and an ancient manuscript which people are willing to kill for.
• 
  Bixa Travesty (2018)

  Review preview for Bixa Travesty

  The directors take what is primarily an observational approach, with only intermittent scenes clearly set up to encourage specific discussions. In return for this they get intimate access to their star's day to day life.

  A documentary that follows Mc Linn Da Quebrada, a black trans woman, performer and activist living in impoverished São Paulo.
• 
  BlackBerry (2023)

  Review preview for BlackBerry

  This is a film built in the edit, a story which can but understood in linear form only in retrospect.

  The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.
• 
  Blackout (2023)

  Review preview for Blackout

  What emerges is thoughtful and deeply humane, whilst retaining that sense of otherness essential to folkloric tales.

  A fine arts painter becomes convinced that he is a werewolf, wreaking havoc on a small American town under the full moon.
• 
  The Blackout: Invasion Earth (2019)

  Review preview for The Blackout: Invasion Earth

  The Blackout is a film that bites off more than it can chew but gamely declines to spit any of it out, giving the impression that it meant to do that.

  Life on Earth is rapidly destroyed except for a small area in Eastern Europe.
• 
  Blacks Can't Swim: Rewind (2022)

  Review preview for Blacks Can't Swim: Rewind

  There’s still a vast amount of material to explore, and a lot of questions waiting to be addressed.

  A mixture of drama and documentary exploring the reasons why few British black people swim and the impact this can have on life more generally.
• 
  Black And White (2002)

  Review preview for Black And White

  What is essential in a film of this type is a strong sense of place and character, both of which are largely lacking.

  Reconstruction of famous aboriginal murder trial in South Australia in 1959.
• 
  Black Angel (1980)

  Review preview for Black Angel

  In the space of 22 minutes, Roger Pratt's cinematography revolutionised the genre.

  A knight sets out to rescue an imperiled damsel in this short film originally shown before The Empire Strikes Back.
• 
  Black As U R (2022)

  Review preview for Black As U R

  At the core of the film is an exploration of the intersectional issues faced by Black LGBTQ+ people

  A kaleidoscopic journey through the fault lines of race, gender, history and sexuality in America, focuses on the intersectional lives of black queer people fighting for equality within their own community.
• 
  Black Bear (2020)

  Review preview for Black Bear

  Black Bear is a tremendously pretentious film but Plaza feels real and keeps it interesting, delivering one of 2020's most impressive performances.

  At a remote lake house, a filmmaker plays a calculated game of desire and jealousy in the pursuit of a work of art that blurs the boundaries between autobiography and invention.
• 
  The Black Book Of Father Dinis (2018)

  Review preview for The Black Book Of Father Dinis

  Although it uses relatively few locations they're attractively shot, in a style which, curiously, owes more to the work of Dutch artists of the period than to that of the French.

  A picaresque chronicle of Laura, a peasant maid, and Sebastian, the young orphan in her charge, against a backdrop of overflowing passion and revolutionary intrigue in Europe at the twilight of the 18th Century.
• 
  The Black Demon (2023)

  Review preview for The Black Demon

  Audrey is the most realistic and respectfully written teenage girl in any film so far this year.

  Stranded on a crumbling rig in Baja, a family faces off against a vengeful megalodon shark.
• 
  Black Dog (2023)

  Review preview for Black Dog

  There is great chemistry between them and Jaques knows when to tread lightly, letting their natural humour take over.

  Two teenagers' lives collide when one is mugged, leading to an unexpected road trip.
• 
  Black Eyed Susan (2024)

  Review preview for Black Eyed Susan

  Underlying the human and not-quite-human drama here are sharp observations about the way capitalism feeds and in the process exaggerates human desires, about various ways in which workers are exploited, and about the challenges, for any individual, of trying to self-define outside of that system.

  Desperate for work, Derek accepts a job at a shady tech start-up, working intimately with Susan, a bleeding-edge BDSM sex doll meant to receive and appreciate sexual punishment as an integral part of her evolving AI.
• 
  Black Friday (2021)

  Review preview for Black Friday

  Early scenes which remind us how horrible shoppers can be to retail staff, especially on this sort of occasion, have a lot more bite than, well, the scenes involving actual biting.

  A group of toy store employees must protect each other from a horde of parasite infected shoppers.
• 
  Black Holes: The Edge Of All We Know (2020)

  Review preview for Black Holes: The Edge Of All We Know

  This isn't easy material for cinema to reckon with.

  A documentary about black hole physics and the use of the Event Horizon Telescope to take the first ever picture of a black hole.
• 
  Black Narcissus (1947)

  Review preview for Black Narcissus

  Perfectly controlled lighting simulates the thin air that exhausts the once disciplined sisters.

  A group of nuns struggle to keep order in a remote Himalayan convent.
• 
  Black Sabbath (1963)

  Review preview for Black Sabbath

  There's scarcely a scene in this film that doesn't deserve to be a poster.

  Three tales of terror: a threatening phone call; an ancient evil; and a ghostly morality tale.
• 
  Black Sheep (2018)

  Review preview for Black Sheep

  A hard-hitting piece of cinema.

  After the high-profile killing of Damilola Taylor, Cornelius' family move out of London. But when they discover their new town is run by racists, Cornelius takes a drastic step to survive.
• 
  Black Site (2018)

  Review preview for Black Site

  The fascinating thing about Tom Paton's Black Site is that, against all odds, it works.

  The Elder Gods have returned to Earth in human form and a special agency is charged with deporting them.
• 
  Black Snake Moan (2006)

  Review preview for Black Snake Moan

  On the one hand, Rae's feelings of lust are presented as unhealthy and a product of abuse; on the other, the audience is encouraged to lust over her.

  Bluesman tries to 'cure' nymphomaniac in messy melodrama, with chains.
• 
  Black Tide (2018)

  Review preview for Black Tide

  Erick Zonca is less interested in solving the mystery than in exploring the damaged psyches of Visconti and Bellaile.

  An alcoholic cop investigates the disappearance of a teenager who is the same age as his son.
• 
  Black Water: Abyss (2020)

  Review preview for Black Water: Abyss

  When Traucki has the confidence to be still and quiet himself, the effect is genuinely scary.

  Five friends exploring a remote cave system in Northern Australia find themselves threatened by a hungry crocodile.
• 
  Black Women In Medicine (2016)

  Review preview for Black Women In Medicine

  These are excellent role models for any girl who worries that her sex or the colour of her skin might mean success is out of her reach.

  A documentary about black women who have forged careers as doctors, often against the odds.
• 
  Blanquita (2022)

  Review preview for Blanquita

  This knowingly difficult, multi-layered film deserves a wide audience.

  An 18-year-old foster home resident becomes the key witness in a sexual abuse scandal which rocks Chilean politics.
• 
  Bleed Out (2018)

  Review preview for Bleed Out

  A compelling story and a rallying cry for action.

  A young comedian takes on the might of a healthcare megacorp after his mother's hip replacement surgery goes wrong, causing a coma.
• 
  Bleed With Me (2021)

  Review preview for Bleed With Me

  Whilst a less skilled filmmaker might have added a sexual connotation to this, Moses opts for something simpler and yet more intangible.

  During a winter getaway at an isolated cabin, a self-destructive young woman becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her blood.
• 
  Blindsided (2015)

  Review preview for Blindsided

  With much of the film shot on home movie cameras, the quality here isn't high, but that's the trade-off for an extraordinary level of intimacy

  Patricia Livingstone was trapped in a downward spiral of blindness, deafness and domestic abuse. This is the story of how she reclaimed her life.