Phil Hoad

Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s cine-memoir looks back from Berlin to his upbringing in Lesotho, using dense voiceover and vivid, prophetic images rather than a linear narrative. The film explores exile, family, identity, colonialism and recurring cycles of violence, contrasting rural hardship with urban transformation. Figures including Mosese’s mother and the Maseru-based martial artist and herbalist Sobo shape the film’s search for vision, redemption and renewal. The result is an intense, mystically charged homecoming that leaves an unsettling but potentially rejuvenating impression.

After waking from a coma caused by a fall from an airport building, Mia struggles to determine whether her jailed husband Jake pushed her or whether her family is manipulating her into abandoning him. The psychological thriller explores gaslighting, trauma and toxic co-dependency through fractured memories and fugue states. Jennifer E Montgomery gives the film visual control and a compelling atmosphere, but the heavily plot-driven narrative loses clarity about Mia’s mental state, underuses Ajay and ends abruptly without achieving true Hitchcockian finesse.

Yûki Igarashi’s animated adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight follows exiled princess Sapphire as she becomes Princess Knight and battles giant flying Nergals. Although the film features striking animation and varied visual styles, the review finds it a conservative, saccharine reimagining that focuses narrowly on feminine virtue, dulls the original manga’s pioneering gender themes and relies on formulaic battle-anime conventions.

Ian Findlay’s documentary follows David and Wilma Finlay’s Rainton Farm in Dumfries and Galloway, where calves remain with their mothers for five or six months instead of being separated shortly after birth. The approach initially caused stress and reduced milk yields, but later trials reportedly produced a 25% increase in output. The film argues that cow-and-calf farming can improve animal welfare while challenging the environmental and economic assumptions of industrial dairy production. Although it is visually appealing and presents a hopeful case for reform, the review finds it repetitive and overly missionary, with limited discussion of farm economics and the constraints of beef production.

The documentary follows Adelaide-based aspiring director Anthony Frith as he cold-calls The Asylum and accepts the near-impossible task of shooting a new version of The Land That Time Forgot in Australia in just six days, with an extremely limited budget, no finished script and no guaranteed crew. Advice from figures including Eric Roberts and Danny Philippou helps him confront the studio’s ruthless emphasis on genre and commercial efficiency. Although Frith struggles to shape the chaotic experience into a fully dramatic narrative, the resulting film is an engaging reflection on artistic ambition, compromise, filmmaking pragmatism and camaraderie.

Oscar Boyson’s dark comedy follows wealthy New Yorker Balthazar, who performs online activism about gun violence, as he catfishes an incel troll named Solomon in an attempt to prevent a potential shooting. Their homoerotic friendship satirizes the mutual fascination and incomprehension between liberal and red-state America, while suggesting that resignation to and glorification of gun violence are closely related. The review praises the film’s energy, unsettling buddy dynamic and performances by Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell, but finds its many targets over-diffuse, its satire occasionally obvious and its climactic resolution unsatisfying.

Ranks 20 films inspired by global mythologies, evaluating their stylistic achievements, cultural impact, and fidelity to source traditions. Highlights include Ray Harryhausen’s classic effects work, SS Rajamouli’s grand mythmaking in Baahubali, and Jean Cocteau’s Orphee, praised for its inventive and timeless interpretation of the Orpheus myth. The list spans Greek, Norse, Chinese, Indian, and biblical narratives, emphasizing how filmmakers adapt ancient stories with modern sensibilities.

A post-apocalyptic thriller follows Athena Park’s character as she escapes marauders after her father’s death, moving through a bleak world heavily inspired by Blade Runner’s aesthetic. Despite strong visual design and cyberpunk elements, the narrative is criticized as generic, derivative and lacking depth, though the film’s atmospheric imagery provides some compensating appeal.

A newly remastered 4K rerelease of Glastonbury the Movie captures the 1993 festival as a carefree, largely non-commercial moment in youth culture, contrasting sharply with today’s highly mediated, corporate festival environment. Directors William Beaton, Robin Mahoney and Matthew Salkeld present a loosely structured, immersive chronicle combining crowd wanderings, stage performances by acts such as Stereo MCs, the Verve and Porno for Pyros, and atmospheric split‑screen visuals. The film highlights a fading hippy spirit while subtly revealing the early signs of later commercialisation, symbolised by a sudden Converse-branded hot-air balloon. The result offers a striking portrait of a festival on the cusp of change.

A group of friends mourning their parents’ deaths confronts a murderous woodsman after one of them falls into a spiked hunting pit, while the story jumps between timelines and subplots that dilute its impact. Emotional subplots and heavy-handed melodrama mix with gore, resulting in an overblown finale that merges family tension with horror elements. The film is portrayed as disjointed, predictable and burdened by unappealing characters and excessive sentimentality.

A low‑budget horror drama follows two men whose romantic cabin getaway becomes a tense exploration of repressed sexuality, emotional trauma and unstable relationships. Despite moments of visual creativity and strong performances, the film struggles to merge its psychological themes with effective horror, resulting in an ambitious but uneven work that never fully realises its thematic potential.

Théodore Pellerin discusses portraying a Parisian man racing to freeze his sperm after an HPV-related cancer diagnosis in the film Nino, describing the character’s emotional distance and physical vulnerability. He credits director Pauline Loquès’s personal connection to the story for shaping the film’s authenticity. Pellerin reflects on his career trajectory, his affinity for characters marked by fragility, and his bilingual acting approach, noting the differing rhythms of French and English performance. He explains how preparation and research help him inhabit roles, while some projects leave lasting emotional effects. Nino, however, offered a return to levity despite its serious themes. The interview closes with Pellerin heading into a therapy session, underscoring his ongoing engagement with vulnerability.

A review of Sam Benstead’s documentary Killing Anna, which follows Syrian academic Annsar Shahoud as she adopts an online persona to extract a confession from intelligence agent Amjad Youssef, identified as a perpetrator of the Tadamon massacre. The film highlights Shahoud’s psychological toll, the investigative work that exposed regime brutality, and the limits of its thriller framing, which offers less insight into the deeper roots of violence and trauma within Syria.

A visually striking and symbol‑laden review of Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 anime Angel’s Egg highlights its theological imagery, dreamlike atmosphere and minimalist animation. The film’s cryptic narrative, centered on a mysterious girl protecting an egg and a boy with uncertain motives, is presented as an unsettling philosophical parable enriched by Yoshitaka Amano’s distinctive art direction.

The latest Detective Conan film delivers high-energy motorcycle action, striking visuals, and sharply defined characters, though its plot relies on abrupt information dumps and struggles to develop emotional depth. Themes of automated-vehicle conspiracy unfold amid stylish cityscapes and dynamic chase sequences, with strong direction compensating for narrative clutter.

A caregiver indebted to loan sharks attempts suicide but is persuaded to lead a mental health project for terminal cancer patients, joining a ward whose members maintain a spirited outlook despite grim diagnoses. As he collaborates with a filmmaker to document their experiences, the story blends broad comedy with attempts at philosophical reflection. The film aspires to bittersweet insight and incorporates self-referential commentary on Chinese cinema, but falls short of the emotional complexity it seeks, balancing sentimentality with modest character investment.

A lyrical but opaque docu‑essay by Rita Azevedo Gomes juxtaposes Greek myth with modern Greece through poetic texts, travelogue imagery and literary references. Although rooted in the director’s search for solace following a medical diagnosis, the film’s dense narration and fragmented visuals dilute its emotional force, rendering its myth‑modernity tensions inert. María Farantoúri’s musical presence provides late clarity, but the film remains too cryptic to fully engage.

A Norwegian action film set in the Sognefjord uses a giant kraken to deliver an environmental warning as a marine researcher investigates salmon strandings linked to overused fish-farm technology. The creature’s selective attacks reinforce the film’s moral stance, while scenic locations and restrained monster reveals support a light, entertaining tone. Performances, especially by Sara Khorami, help balance the ecological message with genre thrills.

Caroline Huppert recounts uncovering her parents’ intertwined Jewish and Catholic past during the rise of Nazism, drawing on her father’s late-life recollections and a trove of her mother’s wartime letters. Her memoir details the couple’s flight from Paris, daily hardships under Vichy-era antisemitism, and the intimate realities of survival. The book contributes a rare perspective on the Franco‑Jewish experience during the occupation amid renewed cultural interest in Vichy‑era stories. Huppert avoids contemporary political interpretations, focusing instead on historical origins and family legacy, while remaining haunted by unresolved lives such as that of a young refugee mentioned in her mother’s correspondence.

A retired professor’s search for a lost sect in California’s mountains drives a Lovecraft‑tinged found‑footage thriller that blends vlogs, archived recordings and digital fragments. Dan Asma’s debut creates mounting unease through disorienting multimedia layers, though its final revelations falter by becoming overly explicit. The film sustains a pervasive sense of decay and technological corruption, suggesting humanity’s compulsive need to record and reinterpret its origins as the true source of dread.

A visually appealing but ineffective post‑apocalyptic thriller follows amnesiac Anna as she awakens on an isolated island and gradually uncovers a grim conspiracy behind her supposed caretakers. Strong performances from Erin Kellyman and Maxine Peake and brooding imagery fail to compensate for a derivative plot and uneven tonal shifts that echo superior science‑fiction films without achieving similar impact.

A review of the documentary Chasing Utopia assesses Mo Gawdat’s warnings about artificial intelligence, highlighting his push for ethical AI grounded in human empathy. The film delivers a rapid sequence of concerns ranging from job loss and surveillance to the potential loss of human control, while featuring commentary from experts such as Geoffrey Hinton. Although Gawdat’s proposed solutions are questioned as overly idealistic, the documentary is presented as a compelling exploration of AI’s risks and the need for moral guidance in its development.

A documentary portrait of chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa traces his rise from troubled youth to global culinary figurehead, highlighting his innovative approach to Japanese cuisine and the international expansion of the Nobu brand. Insights into his exacting standards, emotional sensitivity, and partnership with Robert De Niro reveal the challenges of maintaining cultural and culinary coherence across a worldwide empire.

A talk‑show host faces a violent caller who exposes the hypocrisies in her personal life while holding her husband’s lover hostage, pushing her toward uncomfortable honesty. Strong central performances and a compelling minimalist middle section are offset by weaker subplots and a predictable twist, though the film offers a pointed look at performative emotion in the podcast era.

A visually polished but shallow retelling of Timur’s rise follows the 14th‑century chieftain as shifting alliances and betrayal force him into exile. Strong production design and a few well-staged battle tactics contrast with weak dialogue, thin characterization and montage‑driven storytelling that undercuts pivotal events. Christian Mortensen’s restrained performance and Jacob Schwarz’s detached direction leave the historical epic without the weight or energy needed to anchor its grand ambitions.

A sequel in the Slime anime franchise shifts focus away from Rimuru to a conspiracy in the undersea kingdom of Kaien, highlighted by an unexpected romance between Yura and Gobta. While the film offers dense plotting and less humour than its predecessor, its animation improves toward the finale and ends on a surprisingly poignant note despite otherwise shallow storytelling.