Screen International

Tomatometer-approved publication
Rating Title/Year Author
Savage (2019) Allan Hunter There is a good deal of promise and ambition on display here, but Kelly never entirely pulls off what feels like his attempt at a Maori excursion into Scorsese territory. EDIT
Posted Oct 12, 2019
() Allan Hunter The setting of Lagos and the exploration of queer Nigeria lend a fresh relevance to material that might otherwise feel old hat. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2019
Earthquake Bird (2019) Fionnuala Halligan Everyone here appears to be revelling in the opportunities Earthquake Bird brings to hit up our memories of everything from Fatal Attraction to Single White Female. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2019
Pink Wall (2019) Sarah Ward A deeply felt, acutely observed feature. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2019
() Allan Hunter Director Taghi Amirani's forensic focus and expert storytelling create a vital docu/drama with the potential to reach far beyond history buffs and conspiracy theorists. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2019
() Sarah Ward With Perfect 10, Scottish writer/director Eva Riley turns a plucky and compassionate coming-of-age tale into a memorable feature debut, all while unearthing a shining talent in fellow first-timer Frankie Box. EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2019
Nocturnal (2019) Allan Hunter Biancheri elevates a slight, potentially familiar tale with her soulful sensibility and eye for location. EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2019
() Fionnuala Halligan Caton-Jones offers a terrific soundtrack and some solid performances from a largely unknown, female cast. EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2019
() Nikki Baughan Framing a coming-of-age narrative within the claustrophobic confines of its windswept coastal locale, and playing with both genre convention and audience expectation, Make Up is a visceral piece of regional filmmaking. EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
() Wendy Ide The film deftly blends fiction and documentary elements into a portrait of an immigrant community which shares some of the innocence and optimism of the kids at the heart of the picture. EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
Fabuleuses (2019) Allan Hunter The film has its gentler, fonder moments, but is neither outrageous enough to qualify as a raucous comedy nor serious enough to really get under the skin of characters who need more depth to feel entirely authentic. EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
() Allan Hunter An ambitious, solidly crafted first feature from writer/director Randa Chahoud. EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
White Riot (2019) Demetrios Matheou [A] highly engaging and suddenly very relevant documentary... EDIT
Posted Oct 8, 2019
() Sarah Ward Steeped in the struggles of everyday workers in a rapidly changing society, this weighty debut finds its own way to interrogate a wide-ranging subject... EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
Motherland (2019) Wendy Ide An impressive feature debut which explores ideas of cultural identity and legacy. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Jason Bechervaise [A] refreshing, mysterious and engrossing feature... EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide An odd and not always successful tonal mix of mannered artificiality and authenticity. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide The approach is a blunt weapon wielded blindly, which fails to connect with its target. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Allan Hunter The escalating consequences work as both an involving melodrama and a possible educational resource. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide A delicate little wisp of a romance which plays out in fragile moments and shared glances. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Allan Hunter Tehrani reveals telling details of a justice system that favours men and has exchanges that seem designed to speak to the bigger picture. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
The Cave (2019) Wendy Ide Like the cave rescue itself, the film isn't the disaster it easily could have been. But it's far from achieving an equivalent triumph. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide Quirky and undisciplined in approach, the film struggles to clearly communicate what it is trying to convey. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide Sandulescu favours a resolutely low key, deliberately undramatic approach. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide A taboo-busting assault on an industry which has traditionally been circumspect when it comes to female sexuality. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Wendy Ide An arresting and accomplished snapshot of a troubled period in Colombian history. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Allan Hunter Tran Thanh Huy keeps Rom lean and focused, with only an abrupt ending slightly disappointing. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Jason Bechervaise Tonally the film is an odd mix, with subtle humour inserted into the narrative at various points, but the film's overall bleak tone undermines any attempt to lighten the film's mood. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Allan Hunter Del Degan's fictional feature debut has a fish-out-of-water premise that promises farce, but the reality is a more measured, melancholy work with an appealing central performance from rising Italian star Vincenzo Nemolato. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
Rose Plays Julie (2019) Nikki Baughan Layering its fairly straightforward story of an adopted Irish girl who tracks down her birth mother with immersive visual and aural motifs, it plays more like modern operatic tragedy than run-of-the-mill social drama. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
Color Out of Space (2010) Jonathan Romney It has its wit, and will please genre fans by taking no prisoners when it comes to nasty things happening to nice people. EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2019
() Allan Hunter Writer/director Sophie Deraspe's loose adaptation retains a fascination with the ties and responsibilities of family, but also develops into a timely reflection on the refugee experience. EDIT
Posted Oct 6, 2019
() Wendy Ide The restrained, austere filmmaking of the latest picture from Wayne Wang belies the emotional depth of this sober picture. EDIT
Posted Oct 6, 2019
Jallikattu (2019) Wendy Ide At times almost an abstract collage of image and sound, the film's opening both sets the scene and ramps up the energy to a level which rarely flags. EDIT
Posted Oct 4, 2019
() Wendy Ide The Horse Thieves. Roads Of Time compensates for its narrative economy with striking and atmospheric cinematography. EDIT
Posted Oct 3, 2019
() Fionnuala Halligan This is a cerebral piece of work which tackles some of the war's longer, lingering questions in Germany and beyond, made flesh by some wonderful performances... EDIT
Posted Oct 2, 2019
Célébration (2018) Jonathan Romney Demystifies its subject, portraying saint-Laurent as a fragile monarch tenuously reigning over a tradition-bound kingdom that is beginning to look as archaic as Versailles. EDIT
Posted Oct 1, 2019
Some Beasts (2015) Demetrios Matheou Serrano is... guilty of squandering his resources. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2019
Hope Gap (2019) Tim Grierson Nighy gives a master class in withdrawn, mumbling ineffectualness... while Bening is superb as a retiree whose shock at her disengaged husband inspires a suite of conflicting emotions. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2019
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019) Fionnuala Halligan Shaun exists simply to entertain children and he fulfils his brief. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2019
() Fionnuala Halligan It's a shame that when the world at last is willing to listen to a story like this, Paradise War is so poorly spoken. EDIT
Posted Sep 28, 2019
The Irishman (2019) Stephen Whitty The Irishman is vintage Scorsese, with an often sinuously moving camera, occasional break-the-fourth-wall monologues, wicked wise-guy humour, and explosions of sudden tenderness and casual violence. EDIT
Posted Sep 27, 2019
First Cow (2019) Stephen Whitty Perfectly made, perfectly acted and ultimately moving - a melancholy memory in miniature, a Daguerreotype of a distant time that may be more like our own than we know. EDIT
Posted Sep 27, 2019
Cunningham (2019) Sarah Ward Immersive and enthralling... steadfastly avoids becoming a standard birth-to-death tribute. EDIT
Posted Sep 26, 2019
Abominable (2019) Tim Grierson In an age when there's no shortage of beautiful-looking animated films, it can be easy to take "Abominable's" sweeping vistas and sparkling colors for granted. But such surfeit of visual beauty requires storytelling that is comparably bold. EDIT
Posted Sep 26, 2019
Gemini Man (2019) Fionnuala Halligan Even though Ang Lee is attempting huge things technically, this film in itself hasn't enough character to carry them. EDIT
Posted Sep 26, 2019
() Demetrios Matheou This is a frustratingly schizophrenic affair - edgy and chillingly enigmatic in its top and tail, dull in between, and for the most part unpleasant. EDIT
Posted Sep 25, 2019
() Sarah Ward [A] quietly compelling film... EDIT
Posted Sep 25, 2019
Vitalina Varela (2019) Stephen Whitty Vitalina Varela is both richly familiar and profoundly unique; if occasionally a challenge to watch. Its grim story is star Vitalina Varela's own. EDIT
Posted Sep 25, 2019
() Sarah Ward Even with Payne's plight as a woman in a vastly male-dominated realm repeatedly thrust to the fore, the film remains general and formulaic. EDIT
Posted Sep 24, 2019