Reviews by Jennie Kermode

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Broke (2025)

  Review preview for Broke

  Both Russell and Quaid are very much at ease around the trappings of the ranch where their characters live, their background behaviours adding to the overall sense of authenticity.

  A rodeo rider struggles to cope after he's told that the damage done by repeated injuries means he should never get back on a horse.
• 
  Broken Bird (2024)

  Review preview for Broken Bird

  Broken Bird is primarily a character study, and Calder is its greatest asset.

  A lonely mortician who has spent her whole life looking for love finds her reason slipping away from her, her dark desires becoming more insatiable and progressively more out of control.
• 
  Broken Ceiling (2018)

  Review preview for Broken Ceiling

  It's Kendrick who really shines.

  After being passed over for promotion yet again, a woman takes drastic action.
• 
  The Brood (1979)

  Review preview for The Brood

  Though not entirely successful as a piece of entertainment, it represents an important stage in the development of body horror cinema.

  The use of experimental psychology to treat a troubled divorcee coincides with a series of mysterious attacks by mutant children.
• 
  Brooklyn 45 (2023)

  Review preview for Brooklyn 45

  Viewers can expect to find their sympathies shifting over time, and to disagree as to who deserves sympathy in any given moment.

  Friday, December 27, 1945. Five military veterans gather in the ornate parlour of a Brooklyn brownstone. Best friends since childhood, they’ve reunited to support their troubled host – but when his invitation for cocktails turns into an impromptu séance, the metaphoric ghosts of their past become all-too-literal.
• 
  Brotherhood (2018)

  Review preview for Brotherhood

  The seeming remoteness of the military actions - and their immediate impact on civilians - becomes less abstract when paralleled by the tensions within the family.

  Mohamed is deeply shaken when his oldest son Malik returns home after a long journey with a mysterious new wife.
• 
  Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001)

  Review preview for Brotherhood Of The Wolf

  It bites off far more than it can chew, but the result is still interesting and, in places, gripping viewing.

  A naturalist philanderer and an Iroquois martial artist search for a peasant-eating beast in 18th century.
• 
  The Brothers (1947)

  Review preview for The Brothers

  The Brothers is a cruel tale, very much in the tone of the old stories, with moments of real brutality.

  A young woman working as a servant on the Isle of Skye struggles with the consequences of male attention and is caught up in a doomed love affair.
• 
  Brothers Of The Head (2005)

  Review preview for Brothers Of The Head

  Harry and Luke Treadaway are a revelation, naturalistic and supremely confident.

  Conjoined twins exploited by the music business slowly succumb to psychosis.
• 
  Brothers Of The Wind (2015)

  Review preview for Brothers Of The Wind

  This simple story of the relationship between a boy and an eagle speaks to cinema at its most magical.

  The story of Lukas, a lonely child who lives with his father, and baby eagle Abel.
• 
  Browse (2020)

  Review preview for Browse

  Browse is a character study which keeps the character to a minimum.

  A solitary man becomes convinced that someone hacked into all of his devices and that they're being used to manipulate and control him.
• 
  Brut Force (2022)

  Review preview for Brut Force

  Mistakes and moral compromises are everywhere amongst Symington’s troubled characters.

  Newly-fired reporter Sloane Sawyer reluctantly returns to her rural California hometown to investigate the harassment of local vineyard workers and uncovers a tangled web of crime and corruption.
• 
  A Bucket Of Blood (1959)

  Review preview for A Bucket Of Blood

  His Poe adaptations aside, this is undoubtedly one of the director's best works.

  A talentless would-be artist finds sudden success after accidentally covering his landlady's cat in clay - and wants more.
• 
  Buck Alamo (2021)

  Review preview for Buck Alamo

  What really makes Buck interesting as a character is his awareness of his own failure.

  A singing cowboy faces his final duel - with Death.
• 
  Buddies (1985)

  Review preview for Buddies

  Both lead actors are well chosen. Bressan Jr directs with a quiet assurance that gives them lots of room to work but ensures that the film never tips over into melodrama.

  The first film to deal with the AIDS crisis tells the story of a man who becomes a voluntary 'buddy' for an AIDS patient and finds their relationship changing
• 
  Buddy (2018)

  Review preview for Buddy

  An intimate, detail-focused film.

  A documentary about multi-talented, indispensable service dogs and their loving owners.
• 
  Buffaloed (2019)

  Review preview for Buffaloed

  Deutch has great comic timing and completely convinces as the sort of fast talking, wise-cracking hustler who could pull this kind of thing off.

  A woman finds her calling in an ethically debatable industry - debt collecting.
• 
  Buffalo Boys (2018)

  Review preview for Buffalo Boys

  The narrative is fairly predictable and makes extensive use of well established western tropes but there's still an enjoyable adventure at its core.

  A man and his sons spend years in exile, working as cowboys in the American West, before returning to Indonesia bent on revenge.
• 
  Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

  Review preview for Buffalo Soldiers

  At turns funny, violent, bitter and over the top, it's a curious little fable about boredom, risk-taking, and the frustration experienced by trained fighters in peacetime.

  Cynical depiction of life as a US soldier in Germany, 1989.
• 
  Buffet Infinity (2025)

  Review preview for Buffet Infinity

  Just like those familiar experiences of watching late night ads, Buffet Infinity casts a spell over the viewer.

  Late night local television adverts reveal the sinister tale of two restaurants battling it out in the town of Westridge County.
• 
  Bull (2019)

  Review preview for Bull

  Havard's sullen features and emotional distance set the tone for the film so that even the tiniest spark of excitement has real power.

  In a near-abandoned subdivision west of Houston, a wayward teen runs headlong into her equally wilful and unforgiving neighbour, an ageing bullfighter who’s seen his best days in the arena; it’s a collision that will change them both.
• 
  Bullets Of Justice (2019)

  Review preview for Bullets Of Justice

  In a film that sees teabagging used as a combat move, pretty much anything goes.

  During World War III, the American government initiates a secret project codenamed ‘Army Bacon’ in order to create super soldiers by inbreeding humans with pigs. 25 years later the hybrid Muzzles have occupied the top of the food chain, eating and farming humanity.
• 
  Bullied (2019)

  Review preview for Bullied

  People with these experiences are likely to find Thomas Keith's documentary a hard watch, but bear with it, because it's one of the few films on this subject to take an in-depth look at possible solutions.

  A documentary about bullying looking at causes, effects and possible solutions.
• 
  Bullies (2018)

  Review preview for Bullies

  Hetherington makes a likeable lead and is one of those actors who can keep viewers onside even when displaying the kind of pathetic, submissive behaviour that's a magnet for bullies.

  Eugene, a shy 10-year-old boy, is bullied every day until he discovers a secret underneath the school that keeps him safe, but there is a price to pay.
• 
  Bully (2018)

  Review preview for Bully

  Occasional vicious violence and brusque language can't disguise the fact that this is at heart a wholesome, feelgood film.

  A teenager bullied because of his weight is persuaded to learn to box so he can defend himself.
• 
  Bunny Rabbit (2026)

  Review preview for Bunny Rabbit

  Branson dispenses with those tired old survivor narratives and casts humanity’s future in a different light.

  In a climate-collapsed 2030 Australia, young Bunny roams the ruins of the post-apocalyptic world she never got to grow up in. Raised by her deceased father on old books and B-movies, she now lives alone in the shack they once shared. Supplies are scarce. There is nothing left to hunt… except other people.
• 
  Burial (2022)

  Review preview for Burial

  The depth of character in the film lends it gravity.

  A small group of Russian soldiers have the task of taking Hitler's discovered remains back to Stalin in Moscow.
• 
  Burning (2025)

  Review preview for Burning

  Burning is not just a film about getting to the truth – it’s a film about the construction of truth.

  In a suburban village, a house belonging to a young family who recently lost their firstborn is burning. Neighbours say that the house bears the mark of a curse, as no one understands how the fire started, and eyewitnesses to the incident each have entirely different versions of what happened.
• 
  Burning Hearts (2022)

  Review preview for Burning Hearts

  Mezzapesa puts quality first in every aspect.

  The forbidden love between Andrea, the reluctant heir of the Malatesta family, and Marilena, the beautiful wife of the Camporeale boss, rekindles an old feud between two rival families.
• 
  The Burning Season (2023)

  Review preview for The Burning Season

  This feels, at times, like a kind of anti-cinema. It offers its share of sensation and big emotion, but elevates the ordinary, the joys of a more mundane life.

  The story of an affair unfolds backwards over a series of summers to reveal long-held secrets.
• 
  Butcher's Stain (2025)

  Review preview for Butcher's Stain

  One of the most nuanced and heartfelt films in this year’s competition, this is, astoundingly, a début effort.

  An Arab Israeli man working in a supermarket in Tel Aviv is accused of tearing down hostage posters in the break room. He sets out to prove his innocence to keep this job that he desperately needs.
• 
  Butterfly (2024)

  Review preview for Butterfly

  The shifting colours of the rolling waves are exquisitely captured, dazzling to see.

  In the sea, a man swims. As he does, memories come to the surface. From his early childhood to his life as a man, all his memories are linked to water.
• 
  The Butterfly Tree (2017)

  Review preview for The Butterfly Tree

  Although the storyline here doesn't offer much that's new, the character work and visual design enable this modest little film to punch above its weight.

  A man and his son compete for the affections of the same woman.
• 
  Butt Boy (2019)

  Review preview for Butt Boy

  Whatever else you think of it, it’s clearly a labour of love.

  After a child goes missing, a newly sober detective comes to suspect that his sponsor has a super power that makes animals, objects, and humans disappear up his backside.
• 
  Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles (2018)

  Review preview for Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles

  Simó works hard to capture the same oddness of perspective and association that marks out Buñuel's own films, succeeding more often than not.

  Animated feature about the master of Spanish surrealist cinema.
• 
  Bye Bye Love (1974)

  Review preview for Bye Bye Love

  Alternating between road movie formula and surrealist exploration of interior landscapes, Bye Bye Love is full of striking imagery, and it resolutely avoids playing by the rules.

  Two young people undertake a doomed summer road trip through Japan, which in turn reflects on the dissipating promise of 1960s counterculture and free love.
• 
  The Bystanders (2022)

  Review preview for The Bystanders

  A small scale triumph.

  Invisible immortals watch over their human subjects and intervene in (or interfere with) their lives.
• 
  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.
• 
  Bear City (2010)

  Review preview for Bear City

  Part coming out story, part romcom, and utterly uninspired throughout.

  A conventional young gay man struggles to come to terms with his attraction to bears and inadvertently falls in love in the process.
• 
  Bear Story (2014)

  Review preview for Bear Story

  A poignant and affecting fable.

  A lonely old bear tells his life story through the mechanical puppet show he has created.
• 
  Beast Of The Bering Sea (2013)

  Review preview for Beast Of The Bering Sea

  ...the most rubbish monster and also the cutest to reach our screens for some time.

  ,A search for sunken gold inadvertently disturbs a nest of sea vampires.
• 
  Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (2011)

  Review preview for Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

  Few music documentaries manage to pull together this many top contributors.

  The story of the legendary hop hop act, from high school to superstardom and beyond.
• 
  Beautiful Kate (2009)

  Review preview for Beautiful Kate

  Beautiful Kate challenges familiar narratives of incest and abuse, presenting a far more subtle portrait of the disintegration of a group of people in a quietly desperate situation.

  Drama sees old wounds reopened when a man returns home to his dying father.
• 
  Beauty Mark (2017)

  Review preview for Beauty Mark

  Thornton is assured throughout.

  A desperate young mother tries to get money from the man who abused her when she was a child.
• 
  Becoming Chaz (2011)

  Review preview for Becoming Chaz

  It's the emotional insights, and the laughter, that lift Becoming Chaz above the average observational documentary and give it wide-ranging appeal.

  Born with a female anatomy, the child of musicians Sonny and Cher, Chaz Bono is now transitioning to live as a man, and he discusses his experiences in this very personal documentary.
• 
  The Bedfords (2009)

  Review preview for The Bedfords

  This is less a tale of exploitation than a portrait of isolated individuals still playing a game that long ago lost its meaning.

  A new look at the Scottish highlands as imagined by the Victorian aristocracy.
• 
  Bedtime Stories (2008)

  Review preview for Bedtime Stories

  When you're relying on cameos from Carmen Electra you should know you're in trouble.

  A hotel handyman glimpses the prospect of success when the bedtime stories he tells his nephew and niece start to come true.
• 
  Beerfest (2006)

  Review preview for Beerfest

  [Beerfest's] two leads, who, whilst affable and sympathetic, don't really have enough charisma to carry it.

  Two naive Americans encounter a secret German beer-drinking society and must start training in order to defend their honour.
• 
  Beeswax (2009)

  Review preview for Beeswax

  This carefully played comedy sees characters buzz around each other whilst a network of words and expectations, often subtly misunderstood, seems to bind them to mutually frustrating situations.

  Two twins face choices as they reach adulthood.
• 
  Before I Forget (2007)

  Review preview for Before I Forget

  Before I Forget is a study not only of one man's journey but also of a way of life which, in brittle contact with the modern world, is fast disappearing.

  An HIV positive man comes to terms with age, illness, and the death of his lover.