REVIEW: Joker: Folie à Deux

2019’s Joker was a comic book movie for people who don’t like comic books. Its newly-released sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is both that and a musical for people who don’t particularly like musicals.

I told myself I wasn’t going to be sarcastic, but it’s tough when the director of the film you’re reviewing doesn’t seem to have much of a feel for the genre in which he’s working.…

REVIEW: Sing Sing

We open onstage, blue light and garlands.

We are in the presence of Divine G (Colman Domingo), wreathed and quietly commanding. One line he utters, essaying the role of Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, could serve as a statement on the whole film that is to follow: “And ere a man hath power to say ‘Behold!’”…

REVIEW: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

He’s back, baby.

Before Michael Keaton was Batman, he was Beetlejuice.

In Tim Burton’s 1988 film of the same name, Keaton portrayed the titular ghoul; a lecherous, foul-mouthed “bio-exorcist” hired by the recently deceased Maitlands (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to scare away the new occupants of their home.…

REVIEW: Alien: Romulus

Alien: Romulus, Fede Álvarez’s addition to the iconic franchise, starts as lean, atmospheric thriller, but, like a face-hugger proboscis down the oesophagus, is forcibly impregnated with clumsy fan service.

Rain (Cailee Spaeny, effective but largely wasted in a straightforward heroine role), our new Ripley, is desperate to escape from the grimy, tenebrous mining colony of Jackson’s Star.…

REVIEW: You Can’t Run Forever

You Can’t Run Forever is a thriller with strong cinematic roots, but it’s one that doesn’t quite bear dramatic fruit.

When traumatised teen Miranda (Isabelle Anaya) gets in the car with her well-meaning stepdad, Eddie (Allen Leech), for a day trip, they can’t know what’s waiting for them out on the highway – an amiably murderous sociopath, Wade (J.…

REVIEW: Late Night with the Devil

A year on from its debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival, with accolades including a rapturous review from horror maestro Stephen King, Late Night with the Devil finally arrives on the public stage.

A found-footage-style horror film with a twist, Late Night with the Devil presents itself as a recently rediscovered episode of a fictional second-tier talk show from the 1970s.…

REVIEW: Doctor Jekyll (2024)

Some stories don’t grow old.

Whether its The Great Gatsby, 1984, or Frankenstein (to name but a very few), they stand the test of time because they each get a profound truth at the heart of society and the human condition, and are retold with endless new iterations and variations.…