What the utter fuck was that? Two zoologist brothers lose their wives in the same car crash, when a swan flies into the windscreen. What follows is a meditation on grief full of absurdist dark humour and a yearning for completion. Let me take a moment to sketch out the world this takes place in.…
Oh my god, I am so tired. I beat my personal best, seeing 64 films and 2 shorts. This is what a press pass gets you. I decided to change things up this year, and instead of ending the festival ill, started it ill. A totally foul cold that got me sent home from work…
Murina is the story of Julia, a teenage girl under the thumb of her controlling, abusive father. They live on this idyllic Croatian island, across the sea from Italy. Everything looks like paradise, but for Julia, it’s a gilded cage. At the start of the movie, Julia goes along with her father’s commands, but her…
I dunno if I get this movie. It’s about a lassie who decides to care for her estranged father as his multiple sclerosis worsens. But I was left with a number of unanswered questions. Firstly, why is she there? One great thing about estrangement is you can opt out of this shit. Why has she…
Powerful documentary recounting the events of the 1973 hostage taking inside John and Al’s Sporting Goods store in Brooklyn, New York. It speaks to all the people involved, cops, hostages, gunmen. And because the incident became a media circus, it’s full of contemporary footage showing exactly what went on. For me, this is another one…
God, that was tense! Carajita is about Sara and Yari, and their relationship. Sara is a rich white kid. Yari is the Black woman who works as her nanny, sending money back to her sister who is raising her child at home. Sara and Yari are both very close, and both of them at times…
From the success of Pictures From Afghanistan, David Pratt returns with Pictures From Iraq. He’s a photojournalist who has spent most of his career in the Middle East. He returns to speak to his contacts and fellow journalists there. Pictures From Afghanistan felt very personal, it was a memoir of his experiences of the country.…
It’s creepy kids in a haunted house season, and our latest installment is The Cellar. Family moves to this big spooky gothic manor house with weird symbols all over it, and don’t think ‘let’s fucking leave immediately’. The daughter is the only one with sense, so she has to missing pretty quick. This leaves the…
I think this movie won Frightfest. In an Italy of 1943, a travelling circus delights people with its wonder and mystery. A magician, a dog-faced man, an electric girl and a man who commands the insects and wee beasties display their talents to a mesmerised crowd. Theirs is an age of innocence and wonder. And…
Monstrous is about a woman who left her abusive husband and is hiding out in a new town with her young son. Trying to make the best of a bad situation, her efforts are undermined when they begin to get visitations from a figure from the lake. This is kinda standard creepy kid in a…