REVIEW: Waiting for the Light to Change

Winner of the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance 2023, Waiting for the Light to Change is remarkably, well, non-narrative.

The directorial debut of Linh Tran, the film observes a group of five twenty-somethings – Alex (Erik Barrientos), Lin (Qun Chi), Kim (Joyce Ha), Amy (Jin Park), Jay (Sam Straley) – as they spend a week at a Michigan lake-house.…

REVIEW: Poor Things [London Film Festival 2023]

A mashup Victorian melodrama with a sting in the tale, Poor Things’ greatest trick is hiding the seams.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ first film since 2018’s The Favourite, Poor Things is a female Bildungsroman in which a still-developing young woman goes into the world to find herself.…

BFI London Film Festival 2023: The best of the rest

Capsule reviews for all the rest of films I’ve seen during this year’s LFF, usually via the Press & Industry Digital Viewing Library.

Apolonia, Apolonia

Apolonia, Apolonia is a portrait of the artist as a young woman. Filmmaker Léa Glob first met Apolonia Sokol as a 21-year-old aspiring painter.…

REVIEW: The Zone of Interest [London Film Festival 2023]

With The Zone of Interest, his first film since 2013’s Under the Skin, Jonathan Glazer has created another masterpiece, a monstrously mundane meditation on the banality of evil.

Based on the novel by Martin Amis, the film focuses on the Höss family, Rudolph (Christian Friedel), Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), and their children.…

REVIEW: Killers of the Flower Moon [London Film Festival 2023]

Now into his ninth decade and perhaps the most beloved filmmaker still working today, Martin Scorsese certainly isn’t resting on his laurels.

With Killers of the Flower Moon, he returns to the historical epic with a grand and dismal account of a murderous conspiracy to acquire Native American land rights.…

REVIEW: May December [London Film Festival 2023]

The latest film from director Todd Haynes, May December is a misleadingly sunny exploration of uncomfortable truths.

Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) is a popular actor who has travelled to Savannah, Georgia, to spend some time with Gracie (Julianne Moore), who she is due to play in an upcoming TV movie.…