Padre Pio (2022)
★★★★☆
Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio links religious fervour, the growth of fascism and socialism, and the Ukraine invasion, and is based on true events culminating on 14 October 1920.
film review
This Blessed Plot (2023)
★★★★☆
This Blessed Plot: this charming film, directed by Marc Isaacs, celebrates this disappearing England and its real people, current and historical.
The Holdovers (2023)
★★★★☆
December 1970, a grumpy teacher forced to stay on campus over the holidays gradually bonds with a volatile teenager in Alexander Payne’s latest comedy drama The Holdovers.
Raging Grace (2023)
★★★★☆
Raging Grace is an unusual contemporary social-comment-psychological-horror feature debut by British/Filipino Paris Zarcilla, an exciting new filmmaking voice.
The Lost Boys (2023) (Le Paradis)
★★★☆☆
Two teenage boys in a juvenile detention centre develop a passionate bond which is tested when one of them approaches his release in director and co-writer Zeno Graton’s The Lost Boys.
Traces (2022) (Tragovi)
★★★☆☆
Traces (Tragovi) is a sensitive portrayal by first-time feature director Dubravka Turic of a Zagreb academic’s journey through grief to identity. It is Croatia’s entry for the 2024 Oscars.
Fallen Leaves (2023) (Kuolleet lehdet)
★★★★☆
Fallen Leaves is Aki Kaurismäki’s drily touching film of a kind of love story amid the grinding reality of life.
A Stitch in Time (2023)
★★★☆☆
A Stitch in Time, a heart-warming Australian film directed by Sasha Hadden, stars Maggie Blinco.
Driving Madeleine (Une Belle Course) (2022)
★★★★☆
Driving Madeleine is an endearing, very human French film starring Line Renaud and Dany Boon, directed by Christian Carion, with a dark undercurrent.
Good Boy (2023)
★★★☆☆
The ironically titled Good Boy, a semi-comic short written and directed by Tom Stuart, demonstrates once again what a good actor Ben Whishaw is.
BFI LFF 2023: In Camera (2023)
★★★★☆
In Camera, written and directed by Naqqash Khalid, is a debut satirical drama full of pain about the racism experienced by second-generation Asians in Britain.
BFI LFF 2023: Wilding (2023)
★★★☆☆
Wilding, based on Isabella Tree’s book, directed by David Allen, is a lyrical hymn to the self-healing of the English countryside.
BFI LFF 2023: The Holdovers (2023)
★★★★☆
December 1970, a grumpy teacher forced to stay on campus over the holidays gradually bonds with a volatile teenager in Alexander Payne’s latest comedy drama The Holdovers.
The Old Oak (2023)
★★★★☆
The Old Oak, Ken Loach’s last film: the final part of his Northeast Trilogy and a distinguished, politically committed career.