Category Film Festivals

BFI #LFF 2021: QUEEN OF GLORY Film Review

Nana Mensah in QUEEN OF GLORY

Full of fresh humour, poignancy, and tenderness, Nana Mensah’s self-assured comedy QUEEN OF GLORY captures the experience of a woman caught between two worlds.

4 out of 5 stars

A young woman’s life is thrown into disarray when she inherits her mother’s Christian bookshop in Nana Mensah’s self-assured and charming comedy QUEEN OF GLORY.

The film centres on Sarah Obeng (Nana Mensah), a Columbia science PhD candidate who is preparing to relocate to Ohio with her married boyfriend, Lyle (Adam Leon).

Lyle swears he...

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BFI #LFF 2021: LANGUAGE LESSONS Film Review

Natalie Morales in Language Lessons (2021)

Playing out entirely through phone and laptop screens, LANGUAGE LESSONS is a funny and heart-warming depiction of love and friendship in a virtually connected world.

4 out of 5 stars

After over 18 months of Zoom calls, Skype chats and virtual meetups, you’d be given for thinking that a film shot during the COVID-19 lockdown on phones and video calls isn’t top of your wish list...

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BFI #LFF 2021: White Building (BODENG SAR) Film Review

Piseth Chhun in WHITE BUILDING (2021)

Piseth Chhun in WHITE BUILDING (2021). © Anti-Archive / Apsara Films

Kavich Neang’s returns to the big screen with his fictional debut WHITE BUILDING, a slow-cinema eulogy about Cambodia’s present and recent past

3.5 out of 5 stars

Following his acclaimed documentary LAST NIGHT I SAW YOU SMILING, Kavich Neang’s returns to the big screen with his fictional debut WHITE BUILDING, a slow-cinema eulogy about Cambodia’s present and recent past.

20-year-old Samnang (Piseth Chhun) lives with his family in the majestic W...

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GRIMMFest 2021: MIDNIGHT Film Review

Hae-yeon Kil and Ki-joo Jin in Midnight (2021)

Hae-yeon Kil and Ki-joo Jin in MIDNIGHT (2021)

Intense and action-packed, MIDNIGHT is a grim take on a cat and mouse plot, with enough twists and turns to have you on the edge of your seat throughout

5 out of 5 stars

Director and screenwriter Kwon Oh-Seung brings his debut feature film MIDNIGHT, a South Korean high suspense serial killer thriller, to Manchester’s GRIMMfest this week.

Set in the unlit and empty backstreets of South Korea, MIDNIGHT throws out a sinister twist and toys with film noir while highl...

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GRIMMfest 2021: NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN Film Review

Amelia Dudley and Taylor Turner in NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN (2021)

Amelia Dudley and Taylor Turner in NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN. Photo Credit: Mainframe Pictures

With first-class acting and off-the-seat scare moments, NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN will leave you questioning any upcoming hotel reservations you may have

4 out of 5 stars

Brothers and creative team Erik and Carson Bloomquist bring NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN to Manchester’s GRIMMfest to haunt your nightmares and are sure to leave you questioning that upcoming hotel reservation.

NIGHT AT THE EAGLE INN follows Sarah (Amelia Dudl...

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BFI #LFF 2021: MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS Film Review

MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS Production Still

Despite struggles with its structure, MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS pays homage to Myanmar’s rich history of cinema and its struggle with censorship.

3 out of 5 stars

Last year marked the centenary of Burmese cinema, but many believe its golden days are long over. Dictatorship, corruption, and strict censorship threaten to stifle the creativity of struggling Burmese filmmakers, as Maung Sun’s feature debut MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS attempts to demonstrate.

Set in the post-military world of Myanmar, MONEY HAS FOUR LEGS follows...

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BFI #LFF 2020: AMMONITE Film Review

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan in Ammonite (2020)

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan’s moving and unguarded performances impress in AMMONITE, Francis Lee’s forbidden-love story set in 1820s England

3.5 out of 5 stars

British writer and Director Francis Lee follows GOD’S OWN COUNTRY with AMMONITE, a solemn love story sparked by Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.

Set on the overcast coast of Lyme Regis in the 1820s, AMMONITE tells the fictionalised life story of amateur palaeontologist Mary Anning (Katie Winslet) who lives a solitary, nearly silent life with her ...

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BFI #LFF 2020: NEW ORDER (Nuevo Orden) Film Review

Naian González Norvind and Fernando Cuautle in Nuevo orden (2020)

Violent and nihilistic, Michel Franco’s latest drama NEW ORDER is a riveting and suspenseful dystopian drama that resonates in these deeply troubling times

4 out of 5 stars

Michel Franco’s latest drama NEW ORDER marks a stark departure from the stylistic austerity and character-driven work of his previous films AFTER LUCIA and CHRONIC.

Best described as a suspenseful dystopian drama, NEW ORDER’s initial gaze is set on a luxurious home in Mexico City, where a wealthy white family is throwing a private wed...

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BFI #LFF 2020: ONE MAN AND HIS SHOES Film Review

One-Man-And-His-Shoes-Doc-2020

Informative and entertaining, ONE MAN AND HIS SHOES charts the cultural and commercial phenomena of Air Jordan and the basketball legend who gave the sneakers their name

3.5 out of 5 stars

You don’t need to be a sports fan to know who Michael Jordan is. You also don’t need to be a sneaker fan to have heard of Nike’s Air Jordan...

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BFI #LFF 200 METERS Film Review

Ali Suliman in 200 Meters (2020)

Despite some questionable plot devices, Ameen Nayfeh’s 200 METERS is a tense and emotional drama about the human implications of separation

3.5 out of 5 stars

Israel’s controversial West Bank barrier is at the centre of Ameen Nayfeh’s feature debut 200 METERS, a humanistic drama about a Palestinian father trapped on one side of the wall when a family emergency calls him to the other.

Every night, Mustafa (Ali Suliman) says goodnight to his children by flashlight, signalling across the 200 metres that keep them...

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