Reviews by Jennie Kermode

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Aquamarine (2006)

  Two teenage girls discover a mermaid stranded in a pool after a storm.
• 
  Arabian Nights (2015)

  Review preview for Arabian Nights

  Mixes observations on capitalism, society and storytelling.

  Stories based on the 1001 Nights but transplanted to the present day. The film is split into three parts.
• 
  Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)

  Review preview for Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One

  We are looking at events as if they were long, long ago and far, far away, and the magical realist stories that unfold make no attempt to hide their allegorical nature.

  A maiden from Baghdad tells a series of stories explicating Portugal's financial crisis.
• 
  Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One (2015)

  Review preview for Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One

  For all Gomes' cleverness, it has to be said that most people who fall in love with this film are going to do so because of Lucky the dog.

  The middle part of a trilogy exploring Portugal's financial crisis in the style of the original Arabian Nights.
• 
  Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One (2015)

  Review preview for Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One

  Gomes uses cinematographic tricks to trick us into thinking we are simply observing what has been carefully shaped.

  As Scheherazade's tales continue to illuminate the destiny of modern Portugal, she contemplates her own fate.
• 
  Aravani Girl (2009)

  Review preview for Aravani Girl

  Whilst there has been other documentary work done in this area, this film is unusual in that it gives the arivanis a strong opportunity to speak for themselves about ther lives and to steer the course of the story.

  A documentary about two teenagers who want to change gender role in Tamil Nadu.
• 
  Arcadia (2016)

  Review preview for Arcadia

  Large's rather flat directorial style doesn't give Baylis much to work with.

  In a dystopian future, a man is promised refuge for himself and his daughter if he will take out an enemy of the state.
• 
  Argerich (2012)

  Review preview for Argerich

  What makes the film come alive is its rich portrait of a family which, in its complexities, encapsulates the history of Europe and the Americas in the 20th Century.

  A documentary portrait of the musicians Martha Argerich and Stephen Kovacevich, made by their daughter.
• 
  Ark (2007)

  Review preview for Ark

  Takes on a great deal in a small space, not altogether successfully.

  An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land.
• 
  The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism (2017)

  Review preview for The Artist's Garden: American Impressionism

  The film mixes shots of paintings in the exhibition with footage of the places which inspired them, some of which have changed little since. Some excellent work is done blending the one into the other.

  A documentary on the development of American impressionism.
• 
  Asylum (2005)

  Review preview for Asylum

  Richardson turns in one of her strongest performances.

  Infidelity at an institution for the criminally insane.
• 
  The Asylum (2014)

  Review preview for The Asylum

  The teenagers really feel like teenagers, even when spouting leaden lines.

  Six teenagers partying in an abandoned building find themselves in trouble after experimenting with the supernatural.
• 
  As High As The Sky (2013)

  Review preview for As High As The Sky

  It's hard to believe this is Braendlin's feature film debut.

  A OCD-afflicted woman struggling to cope with a break-up finds her life plunged into chaos when her sister and niece arrive out of the blue.
• 
  As One (2009)

  Review preview for As One

  There are too many points when misjudged perspective snaps the viewer out of it.

  Crystalline and needle-like shapes evolve in a series of mysterious rooms.
• 
  Atlantic Rim (2013)

  Review preview for Atlantic Rim

  What we really want from Asylum, of course, is lots of monster on monster action. There really isn't enough of this and the kaiju are particularly rubbish.

  When giant sea monsters threaten the US East Coast, only humans in giant robot suits can stop them.
• 
  The Atoning (2017)

  Review preview for The Atoning

  Bosarge does a lot with his role and his naturalness helps to give the film an edge that no amount of over-familiar moody lighting can achieve.

  A family are trapped until they can face their past and understand their fate.
• 
  The Autopsy Of Jane Doe (2016)

  Review preview for The Autopsy Of Jane Doe

  Øvredal takes a handful of old tricks - a cheery song playing unexpectedly, lights blinking out in a corridor one by one, the tinkling of a bell - and uses them to chilling effect. The result is a film you really won't want to watch alone.

  Father and son coroners get more than they bargained for when they examine a cadaver.
• 
  Ave Maria (2015)

  Review preview for Ave Maria

  Ave Maria never ridicules the various religious traditions it references but gently makes sport of the hypocrisy around them.

  When their car breaks down in the West Bank, a Jewish settler family turns to a convent for help.
• 
  The Aware (2008)

  Review preview for The Aware

  If you're looking for a thought-provoking horror film to watch with friends, you could certainly do a lot worse.

  After discovering a body up in the hills, a young Edinburgh man gets drawn into a situation where he can no longer be sure what's real.
• 
  B (2017)

  Review preview for B

  The simple but poignant central tale is given depth by numerous small observations.

  Frustrated by her limited existence, a Barbie doll dreams of having a lesbian relationship - but is it destined to remain just a fantasy?
• 
  Baarìa (2009)

  Review preview for Baarìa

  Distinctly old-fashioned in style as well as substance.

  A rambling tale of life in a small Sicilian town during the mid 20th Century.
• 
  Babycall (2011)

  Review preview for Babycall

  Like Rear Window if James Stewart's character had doubted himself, the film becomes a tangle of paranoid possibilities.

  A mother moves with her young son to escape a violent husband, but something creepy is going on at her new address.
• 
  Babylon A.D. (2008)

  Review preview for Babylon A.D.

  Never really delivers the goods like it should.

  In a war-ravaged future world, a mercenary is hired to transport a mysterious girl between Russia and America.
• 
  The Bachelors (2017)

  Review preview for The Bachelors

  This is a tale told with unusual sensitivity and skill.

  A widowed father and his son meet two women who slowly begin to transform their lives.
• 
  Backtrack (2014)

  Review preview for Backtrack

  Sands is at his best when allowing himself more license and not trying to replicate a horror formula.

  Four young people seek traces of their past lives in the South Downs - and find trouble.
• 
  Backtrack (2015)

  Review preview for Backtrack

  Brody invests his character with much more depth than is there on the page.

  A psychotherapist discovers a horrifying secret about his patients that leads him on a journey to confront his past.
• 
  The Back-Up Plan (2010)

  Review preview for The Back-Up Plan

  The path this film follows is similar to pregnancy itself - excitement, hope, increasing discomfort, problems with balance, an awkward self image, conflicting emotions as the conclusion draws near and then, finally, relief that it's all over.

  A single woman who has just undergone artificial insemination finds her plans compromised when she starts falling in love.
• 
  Backyard (2010)

  Review preview for Backyard

  A good introduction to the versatile Icelandic scene.

  A Rejkjavik musician decides to put on a music festival in his own backyard.
• 
  Back To Normandy (2007)

  Review preview for Back To Normandy

  If Back To Normandy might have had difficulty living up to the legacy of its subject, it is aided by some extraordinary visual images of its own.

  A film-maker returns to the place where, 30 years ago, he persuaded local farmers to become actors in his dramatisation of the Pierre Rivière murders.
• 
  The Bad Batch (2016)

  Review preview for The Bad Batch

  The film itself is consciously wayward and makes no effort to play for audience sympathy.

  After being cast out of society and captured by cannibals, a young woman reevaluates her life and her sense of morality.
• 
  Bad Guy (2001)

  Review preview for Bad Guy

  There is no relief in this film; nobody is saved from the world. Rather, the story follows two people learning to approach the world on their own terms.

  South Korean pimp becomes obssessed with a shy, new girl in the brothel.
• 
  Bad Hurt (2015)

  Review preview for Bad Hurt

  The film hinges on a powerful central performance by Karen Allen.

  A family struggles with two grown up children who have complex mental health needs.
• 
  Bad Match (2017)

  Review preview for Bad Match

  As the tension between them escalates, it becomes apparent that somebody has seriously overstepped the mark, and that an initially awkward situation is headed for tragedy.

  A playboy's life spirals out of control after he meets a woman through internet dating.
• 
  Banaz: A Love Story (2012)

  Review preview for Banaz: A Love Story

  This documentary attempts to piece together what happened - to solve the mystery, but also to speak up for Banaz as a person, since pretty much nobody did so when she was alive.

  The story of Banaz Mahmod, murdered for leaving her abusive husband and falling in love with another man.
• 
  The Banishment (2007)

  Review preview for The Banishment

  A deceptively complex moral fable.

  A family falls apart in an isolated house, precipitating an investigation into the nature of love.
• 
  The Bank Job (2008)

  Review preview for The Bank Job

  The fun in the film comes from the heroes' banter, and one can't help but think that watching them take a bus trip to Alton Towers might have been just as enjoyable.

  The true story of a group of bank robbers who stole more than they'd bargained for.
• 
  Banshee Chapter (2013)

  Review preview for Banshee Chapter

  The most convincing piece of otherworldly horror for years.

  An internet journalist discovers that a dangerous hallucinogenic drug has been extracted from the pineal glands of dead humans, and the CIA may be to blame.
• 
  The Baron (2005)

  Review preview for The Baron

  Horse riding scenes are beautifully handled, and great use is made of the dramatic Welsh landscape.

  Two knights set out to rid a kingdom of bandits led by the notorious Baron.
• 
  Barstool Cowboy (2008)

  Review preview for Barstool Cowboy

  The real problem is that the story built around these archetypal characters doesn't have enough substance beyond them.

  A lonely unemployed man is lamenting his ill luck with women when he meets a pretty art student and decides to take a chance.
• 
  Bashment (2010)

  Review preview for Bashment

  It barely has time for character development when it's packing in so many clichés.

  When a group of black reggae fans beat up a white gay man, there are challenges ahead for all involved.
• 
  Baskin (2015)

  Review preview for Baskin

  Its plot is more cleverly structured than is at first apparent, and although it seems to lose its way part way through, there's always something going on upstairs.

  A squad of unsuspecting cops goes through a trapdoor to Hell after stumbling upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.
• 
  Battalion To My Beat (2016)

  Review preview for Battalion To My Beat

  Young Ahmed is utterly convincing in the central role, both in the fierceness of her ambition and in her still childlike way of engaging with the world.

  Mariam lives in a Western Saharan refugee camp in Tindouf and dreams of becoming a soldier and liberating her people.
• 
  The Battle For Barking (2010)

  Review preview for The Battle For Barking

  The documentary team here are to be congratulated on getting so close to their subjects, on inspiring so much trust, even if there are moments when they agree to turn the cameras off.

  A documentary following Margaret Hodge's campaign against the BNP in Barking at the 2010 general election.
• 
  Battle Scars (2015)

  Review preview for Battle Scars

  It's presented in a way that many veterans facing similar problems will find easy to relate to.

  A former soldier traumatised by war meets a dangerous woman.
• 
  Ba (2024)

  Review preview for Ba

  It’s not a particularly sophisticated parable, but it doesn’t need to be. The central performances are strong and the bond between father and daughter feels real even when other elements do not.

  A single father is deceived into a treacherous career as the Grim Reaper, while his precocious daughter grows increasingly suspicious of his whereabouts.
• 
  Babette's Feast (1987)

  Review preview for Babette's Feast

  Watching, you will believe that you can touch, smell, almost taste her wonderful creations.

  In an isolated village in Denmark, dominated by puritanism, two spinsters nostalgically recall their distant youth and the rigid upbringing that forced them to pass up their chance at Earthly happiness.
• 
  Baby (2024)

  Review preview for Baby

  It is the things taken for granted, as much as the things that stand out, which shape the tale.

  After being released from a juvenile detention center, Wellington finds himself alone and adrift on the streets of São Paulo. During a visit to a porn theater, he encounters Ronaldo, a mature man, who teaches him new ways of surviving.
• 
  Babystar (2025)

  Review preview for Babystar

  With a past working for a management company used by YouTube stars, Bongard knows his subject matter well.

  A family vlogger's teenage daughter discovers that her parents plan to have another child and begins to question the cost of her lifelong celebrity.
• 
  Baby Assassins 2: Babies (2023)

  Review preview for Baby Assassins 2: Babies

  Sakamoto manages to keep this light and charming even when people are bleeding, struggling to breathe or actually dying in the dirt.

  The kick-ass assassins with slacker tendencies are back.
• 
  Baby Assassins: Nice Days (2024)

  Review preview for Baby Assassins: Nice Days

  For fans of martial arts cinema, this is a must see.

  On a working holiday in Miyazaki, the teenage killers find themselves up against a deadly freelancer.