Reviews by Richard Mowe

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

  Review preview for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

  You cannot help but get swept up in it all.

  Prequel about the young Furiosa, who is snatched by a biker gang.
• 
  The Second Act (2024)

  Review preview for The Second Act

  Working out where the play-acting stops and the “real” action begins is enough to keep you on the edge of interest.

  Film within a film sees actors squabble at a roadside pub.
• 
  Red Rooms (2023)

  Review preview for Red Rooms

  It is an assured and relentless exposé.

  A woman becomes obsessed with the trial of a murderer.
• 
  The Edge Of The Blade (2023)

  Review preview for The Edge Of The Blade

  Perez manages the set-piece confrontations with precision and a nail-biting suspense.

  Paris, 1887. Duels have been officially outlawed but are still regular practice. This historical drama is set against that backdrop.
• 
  Bleeding Love (2023)

  Review preview for Bleeding Love

  The acting and the visuals are of the highest order, especially given the sensitive and personal nature of some of the revelations.

  After overdosing on benzodiazepines and opioids, a young woman is picked up from the hospital by her father and the two embark on a road trip together. He was absent during most of her childhood due to addiction. In a last ditch effort to save her, he attempts to convince her to get sober.
• 
  Firebrand (2023)

  Review preview for Firebrand

  Handsomely mounted and costumed with enough sparks and pace to quicken the interest and heighten the senses.

  A dramatisation of the marriage between King Henry VIII of England and Catherine Parr.
• 
  Asteroid City (2023)

  Review preview for Asteroid City

  If you’re a Wes Anderson disciple then you won’t be disappointed by this latest offering.

  The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer convention is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
• 
  Club Zero (2023)

  Review preview for Club Zero

  The narrative proceeds at a controlled pace set to a jangling score of percussion and chants, which is enough to set viewers on edge without the disturbing scenes of food being tentatively eaten and then disgorged.

  A teacher takes a job at an elite school and forms a strong bond with five students - a relationship which eventually takes a dangerous turn.
• 
  Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (2023)

  Review preview for Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry

  The unadorned observation of the physical aspects of the relationship in which middle-aged bodies are shown without artifice is one of the most hypnotic aspect of Naveriani’s vision.

  The story of a 40something in a dead-end town who discovers love for the first time.
• 
  Black Flies (2023)

  Review preview for Black Flies

  The pace is relentless and raucous - so much so that many viewers will feel alienated.

  A young paramedic makes his way through his first year on the job in New York City.
• 
  Killers Of The Flower Moon (2023)

  Review preview for Killers Of The Flower Moon

  De Niro makes a charming and cynical schemer as he aids and abets his protegé.

  Members of the Osage tribe in the United States are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major FBI investigation involving J Edgar Hoover.
• 
  How To Have Sex (2023)

  Review preview for How To Have Sex

  A fresh spin on territory that has been frequently explored.

  Three friends contend with peer pressure in their decision to “do it”.
• 
  The Zone Of Interest (2023)

  Review preview for The Zone Of Interest

  The violence and acts of slaughter are unfurling sight unseen but all the more troubling for that.

  The daily lives of the Höss family outside the walls of Auschwitz.
• 
  The Animal Kingdom (2023)

  Review preview for The Animal Kingdom

  The aerial shots of the forest and the believable transformations with feathers, wings, beaks and claws as well as fish scales, make for riveting viewing.

  Sci-fi adventure set in a world where humans are mutating into "creatures".
• 
  The Goldman Case (2023)

  Review preview for The Goldman Case

  A documentary-drama of hypnotic power.

  A chronicle of the trial of Goldman, a French left-wing revolutionary who was convicted of several robberies and was mysteriously murdered.
• 
  Jeanne Du Barry (2023)

  Review preview for Jeanne Du Barry

  With Maïwenn herself spiritedly taking the role of the courtesan and Johnny Depp enlisted to play the Monarch Louis XV, there should have been more sparks flying.

  The life story of Jeanne Bécu, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.
• 
  La Syndicaliste (2022)

  Review preview for La Syndicaliste

  Sustained by a bravura performance from Isabelle Huppert in a total change of register from her last comedic outing with the same director Mama Weed, the new collaboration never puts a frame out of place.

  The true story of of a whistleblower who shook the French nuclear industry.
• 
  America (2022)

  Review preview for America

  The performances are subtly realised by the three main stars.

  Eli works as a swimming coach in Chicago but news of his father’s death necessitates his return to his native Israel. His decision to contact a friend from his childhood sets in motion a series of events that have a lasting impact on everyone’s lives.
• 
  June Zero (2022)

  Review preview for June Zero

  A compelling yet gentle ride.

  Drama about the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
• 
  The Ordinaries (2021)

  Review preview for The Ordinaries

  Dazzles from the opening song and dance number to the final credits.

  Paula is a supporting role aspiring to become a main character. Yet, just before her final exams, her emotive music generator suddenly starts playing up, which presents a major problem for her. No starring role can survive without a heartrending accompaniment from the strings.
• 
  Fucking Bornholm (2022)

  Review preview for Fucking Bornholm

  The screenplay by Kazejak and Filip Kasperaszek produces believable and well rounded characters, with plenty of humour to leaven the psychological torments on view.

  Two families who have known each other for years spend the long May weekend camping together as usual on the idyllic Danish island of Bornholm. However, instead of the relaxation they had anticipated, the holiday turns into purgatory…
• 
  Between Two Worlds (2021)

  Review preview for Between Two Worlds

  Binoche gives her all, stripping away any vestiges of actressy pretence to assimilate herself in the community while at the same time investing her performance with an authentic conviction.

  Marianne Winckler, a well-known author, goes to live in northern France to research for her new book on the subject of job insecurity. Without revealing her true identity, she gets hired as a cleaner, working with a group of other women.
• 
  Elvis (2022)

  Review preview for Elvis

  Where Luhrmann and Butler score are in the concert sequences in which the King truly comes alive.

  Biopic about the star and his manager.
• 
  Crimes Of The Future (2022)

  Review preview for Crimes Of The Future

  Cronenberg, a seemingly gentle soul on the surface, remains tortured by the possibilities of technology and how it may tear us apart.

  In a near-future human evolution has accelerated, a situation embraced by a performance artist.
• 
  EO (2022)

  Review preview for EO

  The beast of burden’s travails seem to be a thinly veiled criticism of Polish society which erupts in one sequence into mindless violence.

  Tale revolving around an unassuming grey donkey.
• 
  Enys Men (2022)

  Review preview for Enys Men

  It has a Wicker Man feel but without the flamboyant histrionics

  A volunteer observing a rare wild flower finds the different worlds that have inhabited the island where she is beginning to collide.
• 
  Triangle Of Sadness (2022)

  Review preview for Triangle Of Sadness

  A roller-coaster of the effects of absolute power corrupting absolutely.

  A yacht for the super-rich sinks, leaving its passengers marooned on an island.
• 
  Paris Memories (2022)

  Review preview for Paris Memories

  The combination of Efira and Magimel proves magnetic.

  A woman is caught up in a Paris terror attack and three months on she tries to piece together her memory.
• 
  Brother And Sister (2022)

  Review preview for Brother And Sister

  Desplechin fires off too many salvoes which hit wide of the mark

  The death of a pair of siblings' parents forces them to cross paths after 20 years of avoiding one another.
• 
  One Fine Morning (2022)

  Review preview for One Fine Morning

  Seydoux is superb as she runs the emotional gamut with subtlety and empathy, demonstrating an extraordinary survival spirit in complicated circumstances.

  A woman who is raising her daughter alone and looking after her dad, who has a degenerative disease, embarks on a passionate affair.
• 
  Armageddon Time (2022)

  Review preview for Armageddon Time

  The film is full of beautifully observed and detailed conversations as well as silences that speak volumes.

  Coming-of-age drama set against the backdrop of the Reagan era.
• 
  Les Harkis (2022)

  Review preview for Les Harkis

  Moroccan-born Faucon directs with understated skill, never flinching from unpalatable truths.

  At the end of the 1950s, beginning of the 1960s, the war in Algeria continued. Salah, Kaddour and other destitute young Algerians join the French army as harkis.
• 
  Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

  Review preview for Top Gun: Maverick

  Cruise, doing many of his own stunts, owns the territory with stellar charisma.

  Maverick, now a trainer, encounters the son of his old friend Goose.
• 
  Father And Solider (2022)

  Review preview for Father And Solider

  In throwing a spotlight on these neglected and unsung heroes Vadepied does an invaluable service to their memories that no amount of medals and ceremonies could achieve.

  A father enlists in the French army in 1917 to join his 17-year-old son.
• 
  For The Sake Of Peace (2022)

  Review preview for For The Sake Of Peace

  Looks at the ways the younger generation seek ways to live in peace rather than perpetual conflict.

  South Sudan is the youngest country in the world, at war with itself, with over 350,000 people killed since its inception in 2011. However, through this darkness, its endless cycle of conflict has hope: the determination of young women and men who refuse to give up on peace.
• 
  Final Cut (2022)

  Review preview for Final Cut

  An homage to truly bad film-making - but it sails perilously close to self-parody

  Things go badly for a small film crew shooting a low-budget zombie movie when they are attacked by real zombies.
• 
  Vortex (2021)

  Review preview for Vortex

  Haunting, involving and quietly devastating.

  Drama focused on a handful of dark days in the lives of an elderly couple in Paris.
• 
  Pleasure (2021)

  Review preview for Pleasure

  Everything has been meticulously researched from the garish costumes and outlandish make-up to the mechanics of the business.

  A 20-year-old woman moves from her small town in Sweden to LA for a shot at a career in the adult film industry.
• 
  JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass (2021)

  Review preview for JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass

  It’s quite a maze to pick your way through as a viewer and Stone does his best ease the path.

  Thirty years after his film JFK, filmmaker Oliver Stone takes viewers on a journey through recently declassified evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy.
• 
  The Divide (2021)

  Review preview for The Divide

  Corsini agilely combines elements of cinéma verité and farce.

  Two women on the verge of a breakup, in a hospital, are further stressed on the night of a big demonstration by the overwhelmed staff and by angry, injured protestors who land up besieging the building.
• 
  Flag Day (2021)

  Review preview for Flag Day

  As a snapshot of the influence parents bring to bear on their offspring it lacks engagement for the audience and takes the attitude that everyone watching should be enrapt by the self-importance Penn brings to bear.

  A father lives a double life as a counterfeiter, bank robber and conman in order to provide for his daughter.
• 
  Everything Went Fine (2021)

  Review preview for Everything Went Fine

  François Ozon makes what could have been an impossibly painful subject more palatable but nonetheless affecting.

  A father asks for help to die.
• 
  Slalom (2020)

  Review preview for Slalom

  Favier dials down the histrionics to concentrate on the manipulative way the coach plays around with the girl’s fragile emotions, reducing her to a despairing wreck.

  Coming-of-age tale about a young skier who is drawn into an abusive relationship.
• 
  Papicha (2019)

  Review preview for Papicha

  Engages with an energetic and angry vitality as well as authenticity.

  A student becomes determined to stage a fashion show despite religious opposition.
• 
  Joan Of Arc (2019)

  Review preview for Joan Of Arc

  The whole film adheres to the director’s credo that simple story-telling does not mean a lack of depth or subtlety, or roughness around the edges.

  A sequel to The Childhood Of Joan Of Arc.
• 
  Who You Think I Am (2019)

  Review preview for Who You Think I Am

  Nebbou judges the mood of the moment to perfection.

  A divorced teacher creates a fake Facebook page of a much younger woman and finds herself embarked on an impossible online love affair.
• 
  The Truth (2019)

  Review preview for The Truth

  In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

  A reunion between a French cinema star and her daughter descends into confrontation.
• 
  Proxima (2019)

  Review preview for Proxima

  The narrative manages to balance the personal with the wider world of space exploration while dealing with the issues of domesticity and family demands and the conflicts of pursuing a demanding work arc.

  A female astronaut finds the demands of work take their toll on her single-mum relationship with her young daughter.
• 
  Lara (2019)

  Review preview for Lara

  Only really comes alive in the last ten minutes.

  Lara has just turned 60; it’s a very special day that will culminate in a career-defining piano concert given by her son. Viktor remains elusive, however, and his mother’s repeated attempts to get through to him come to nothing.
• 
  Let There Be Light (2019)

  Review preview for Let There Be Light

  Set against a perpetually snowy background the film paces itself perfectly with a gathering sense of an impending implosion.

  A Slovakian man, who works in Germany, returns home for Christmas to discover some brutal truths about his eldest son.