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Stephen Porzio
Tomatometer-approved critic
Stephen is a film critic and journalist. He is co-editor for the film section of HeadStuff, a writer for Travel Ireland Magazine and a regular contributor to Film Ireland and Hot Press. He has also had work published in The Times (Ireland Edition) and The Irish Sun. He graduated with a BA in English and Film from UCD and an MA in journalism at DCU.
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Nightride (2021) |
Not just a gimmick to separate Nightride from its contemporaries, the single-take approach makes the film feel more visceral. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Mar 04, 2022
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Crisis (2021) |
Crisis is gripping throughout thanks to the sheer level of talent onscreen and its important subject matter. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Apr 25, 2021
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Black Bear (2020) |
There's a lot to love in this playful, possibly future cult flick. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Apr 25, 2021
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Dave Made a Maze (2017) |
The maze is a wondrous creation, somehow coming across very makeshift and tangible, yet also wondrous and vast - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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Monsoon (2019) |
Monsoon is a film that lingers in viewers' minds after the credits roll - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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Relic (2020) |
When it feels like every type of horror has been done, something like Relic is a breath of fresh air - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) |
Chicago 7 is a movie where the pleasures are less in the filmmaking and more in its screenplay and the cast assembled to deliver it - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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A Girl Missing (2020) |
A blend of thriller and character drama, fans of other East Asian classics like Burning or Secret Sunshine should adore this - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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Unhinged (2020) |
It's just a shame the end product feels so middle of the road, something fun to watch in the moment but ultimately forgettable - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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Nocturnal (2019) |
As well as being a great little calling card for its stars, Nocturnal signals more interesting work is to come from first-time fiction filmmaker Biancheri - HeadStuff
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| Posted Jan 05, 2021
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Sea Fever (2019) |
While feeling somewhat over familiar, within the framework of this type of story Hardiman makes some subtle changes and tackles a few unique themes. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Mar 15, 2020
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Broken Law (2020) |
Broken Law has everything one wants in a thriller. It feels contemporary to Ireland now. It has characters and a narrative hook audiences can invest in. It alternates between humour and tension effectively, with a dash of romance as a garnish. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Mar 05, 2020
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) |
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a romantic gothic drama that will make viewers hearts sing and break in almost equal measure. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Feb 29, 2020
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Vivarium (2020) |
It's not the most subtle overall metaphor. Yet, Finnegan and his screenwriting partner Garret Shanley do make it compelling, through striking little details and a strain of offbeat dark humour. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Feb 26, 2020
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The Staggering Girl (2019) |
There's a few images and moments in The Staggering Girl that will evoke memories of Guadagnino's better work, most notably its final minutes ... That said, it's the script by Michael Mitnick (The Current War) that's the real problem with this short. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Feb 18, 2020
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The Garden Left Behind (2019) |
While the truly ground-breaking trans movie will be the one where joy outweighs suffering, The Garden Left Behind is an undoubtedly well-intentioned, gripping depiction of the trials and tribulations trans women of colour can face in America. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Feb 03, 2020
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Queen & Slim (2019) |
The electricity between Kaluuya and Turner-Smith is enough to convince audiences in their transformation from people who are stuck together to lovers destined for one another. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Feb 01, 2020
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High Flying Bird (2019) |
Soderbergh and his writer take what could be a solid sports drama and restructure it as an exciting con movie. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Dec 11, 2019
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The Last Right (2019) |
It's frustrating to see in new Irish dramedy The Last Right a potentially very moving story about the complexities of familial and human connection be diluted into a flimsy farce. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Dec 06, 2019
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The Nightingale (2018) |
It's to Kent's great credit that she finds so much humanity in such a grim story. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Dec 06, 2019
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The Report (2019) |
Just in terms of the sheer information it covers and delivers effectively, The Report is the defining movie about the War on Terror. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Nov 23, 2019
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By the Grace of God (2018) |
Ozon dials down his extreme, transgressive kinks but not his ability to grip with By the Grace of God, a traditional yet still stirring drama. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Nov 04, 2019
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Cold Case Hammarskjöld (2019) |
A dark sinister plot as labyrinthine and far reaching as anything Thomas Pynchon ever cooked up. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Nov 04, 2019
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God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija (2019) |
Petrunya with its easy-to-root for protagonist and comedic premise is the type of accessible foreign language film that could be a break-out success. Yet, within its mainstream trappings are sharp examinations on gender inequality in contemporary society. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Nov 04, 2019
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The Realm (El reino) (2018) |
A whip-smart, razor-sharp and fiercely contemporary political thriller, shot cinematically with gripping urgency. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Nov 04, 2019
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The Curse of La Llorona (2019) |
It would have been fresh to set this film in Mexico, centred on a Mexican family and have it steeped in an entirely different landscape and culture. Instead, it's the same story seen many times before - an innocent American family targeted by ghouls. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) |
The real reason to see Godzilla: King of the Monsters is its gargantuan monster brawls - the biggest put on screen maybe ever. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Birds of Passage (2018) |
Birds of Passage is a gangster film. Yet, by being set in a culture unfamiliar to many Western viewers, it expands the scope of what movies of the genre can do. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Child's Play (2019) |
Despite how impressive the new Chucky looks - rendered with a blend of practical on-set puppet work and digital enhancements - he is never scary. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Annabelle Comes Home (2019) |
Annabelle Comes Home is the Captain America: Civil War of The Conjuring Universe - the stakeless if very fun roller-coaster ride of a movie given extra heft by taking the main characters of the franchise over to its spin-off. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Adam (2019) |
Arriving following the backlash transgender drama Girl received upon general release earlier in the year, Adam is a great argument for letting trans people tell their stories. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Midsommar (2019) |
Throughout most of Midsommar, you won't know whether to laugh or cry. Instead, you'll erupt into a giddy mania, exactly like what Christian and Dani do. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Anima (2019) |
The minute the credits roll, you'll just want to rewind to the beginning. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Blinded by the Light (2019) |
Blinded by the Light will either have you cringing at its mawkish sentimentality or grinning for the same reason. I did a bit of both. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Hustlers (2019) |
Hustlers is nestled in the higher echelon of Scorsese-esque 'I can't believe this actually happened' stories somewhere between I, Tonya, American Made and American Hustle. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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The Laundromat (2019) |
As a story about the Panama Papers itself, The Laundromat is deeply flawed. Yet, as a film about how society is so corrupt that the Panama Papers scandal only really scratches the surface of what is going on all around us, it does succeed. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Ad Astra (2019) |
Battling moon pirates and genetic experiments gone wrong is hard. Perhaps, more difficult though is facing your flaws head-on and working to be better. Ad Astra understands this. - HeadStuff
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| Posted Sep 27, 2019
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Brightburn (2019) |
Brightburn takes a cool premise and executes it in a blackly fun but nihilistic manner. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Jun 28, 2019
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Little (2019) |
If you are looking for a light movie where talented comediennes dress in the most fabulous clothes, Little is a fine way to spend about 100 minutes. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Apr 24, 2019
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Dark Lies the Island (2019) |
Another Irish literary figure has made the jump to the silver screen, bringing something fresh to the country's trademark dark comedies. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 04, 2019
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Green Book (2018) |
[Mahershala Ali] is perfect casting to play this incarnation of Shirley, a savant-like prodigy whose intellect and musical abilities alienate him from virtually everybody. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Feb 06, 2019
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Vice (2018) |
However, by overdoing his shtick, McKay constantly clips any sense of engagement in his characters by continually satirizing them. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Jan 25, 2019
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Venom (2018) |
For the most part, Venom is very watchable and in some sections goddamn delightful. Yet, these moments make one wish the movie was better as a whole. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Oct 11, 2018
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The Little Stranger (2018) |
Gleeson's performance is incredible. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Sep 21, 2018
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Dead Along the Way (2016) |
However, although, there is nothing original or particularly deep in Dead Along in Way, there is a rough-around-the-edges charm to the movie. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 28, 2018
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Urban Traffik (2017) |
Urban Traffik is an interesting movie that, for the most part, rises above its low-budget conception. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 28, 2018
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Lift (2016) |
Lift is an enjoyable comical riff on the sub-genre of people trapped for an entire movie in a confined setting. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 28, 2018
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Torment (2016) |
The result: a blend of the claustrophobia of Ryan Reynolds' vehicle Buried with the bleak horror of Lars von Trier's Antichrist. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 26, 2018
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Sanctuary (2016) |
The movie, rather admirably isn't black and white about the issues it raises. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 23, 2018
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Good Favor (2017) |
... while [director Rebecca] Daly's latest further cements her as a master of mood, a more focused and engaging story would do her well next time around. - Film Ireland Magazine
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| Posted Mar 21, 2018
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