The 1969 murder of actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends is undoubtedly one of the, if not the, most brutal and horrifying tragedies in Hollywood history. This year, on the 50th anniversary of the Manson murders, four films depicting Tate and the Manson family are coming out, including one directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Margot Robbie. 'The Haunting of Sharon Tate' is the first to be released to the general public - and it sets the bar low. Haunting, as predicted, is nothing more than a sensationalistic, exploitative, and artless slasher film taking advantage of the anniversary.

\t'The Haunting of Sharon Tate' opens three days before the murders, as Tate returns from Europe eight months pregnant without her husband Roman Polanski. The film centers around Tate (Hilary Duff), plagued by visions of her impending murder by “Charlie”, a mysterious man visiting the house regularly and leaving tapes of his music for Tate to listen to. As the film unfolds, we witness Tate becoming more and more convinced her house is being watched. She begins to see women (from the Manson family) outside her window, dead animals in her fridge, and hearing subliminal messaging in the tapes. Her paranoia builds and builds, including a step-for-step premonition of the murders two nights before they happen.

\tThe film is in shockingly poor taste. It uses the Tate and Manson names for recognition and gravity on the anniversary of the murders whilst unashamedly straying as far away from the truth as possible. Writer-director Daniel Farrands seems to take no issue with using a brutal real-life murder as the basis for a cheap supernatural schlock horror. And not only is the entire premise of the film incredibly vulgar, but the film also has the audacity to be one of the worst I have seen in recent years. Duff doesn’t bring the charisma needed for a titular role, and her portrayal of Tate is airheaded and irritating; the rest of the actors are unconvincing and forgettable; and the dialogue sounds scripted and unnatural, sounding awfully like Farrands has never participated in a real-life conversation. Throughout, the plot is reduced to cheap jump-scares set to a cheesy horror score.

Farrands has somehow managed to take a senselessly violent and unjust tragedy and strip his characters of any personality they had in real life, thereby getting rid of any sympathy or sadness the audience may have felt for Tate or her friends and their untimely deaths. Instead, you watch the film with a sense of complete removal and vague amusement as the film, without fail, ticks off cliche after cliche. In fact, if the film weren’t so crass and, frankly, offensive, I might have enjoyed it as an achievement in trashy comedy. However, as it stands, 'The Haunting of Sharon Tate' has very few redeeming qualities. However, it has set the bar nice and low - I am doubtful Tarantino’s upcoming film can be as tasteless as this, and definitely won’t be as artless. My suggestion? Wait a few months, and see that one instead.

The debut feature film 'A Deal With The Universe' from transgender filmmaker Jason Barker, documents the true story of a pregnancy of a different kind. It is an unflinching and vibrantly vulnerable journey through footage collected on a video camera purchased in 2004. The aim; to make a short film of Jason and his partner Traceys road to pregnancy. However life had other ideas and what we are met with instead, is a film made entirely of personal archive footage and video diaries charting well over a decade. Alongside the long and winding road to conception, we face serious illness, loss and society's limited notion of gender often unconsciously imposed upon others. But at the heart of this real life narrative, is a story of great love and of that’s loves ability to give resilience in the most impossibly trying of times.

We start our journey in a caravan park, an extremely relatable getaway for most Brits, with Jason washing their little holiday home and flexing his muscles playfully. Immediately you are struck with the great humour, depth and buoyancy that runs through his veins (he’s a marvellous stand up comedian!). When we meet the couple, you cannot help but warm to them. They share such an easy manner between them and are clearly deeply fond of one another, in the most charming and effortless way that exudes from the screen. Jason talks very openly and honestly about his experiences. He started taking testosterone in the year 2000, as part of his transition from female to male. He naturally imaparts this, with all of the truth, nuance and subtlety of someone who is telling their story and not one that is being syphoned off second hand as perceived by an outside eye.

We discover early on, the hope is that Tracey will become pregnant, but she finds she is not able to via various methods. So it is decided that Jason will halt hormone therapy and donate his eggs. As well as this adding another layer to Jason’s already multi-layered search for a comfortable place for his gender identity, it didn’t work. What next? Well, there’s only one thing for it, Jason will have to carry the baby. The film follows the two of them, on this at times arduous and ultimately very relatable scenario of those hoping to have a baby of their own. Will it be a time of great gender dysphoria for Jason or will he take it in his stride? And maybe it’s ok to have no definite answers and clear cut rules of who can do what and how they must look whilst doing so? His round proud pregnant belly on the posters tells you how this ends, but you are hopeful and distraught with them every step of the way.

The only criticism of the film, is that the camera work being on a handy cam is at times a little unsteady due to not always being on a tripod, and as someone who suffers from motion sickness it was a little visually affronting. However, it got a little easier as time went on and it certainly lends an authenticity to the stunningly curated film and makes it feel even more tangible. The celebration of a range of diverse body types and the honesty which that nudity on screen conveys, is refreshing and genuinely inspiring as we are oftentimes only presented with a very limited palette of physiques to be regarded as beautiful. This hope filled and artfully crafted documentary is riven with authenticity and is at once hilarious and heartbreaking. It is a triumphant film, that neither sugarcoats life, nor sings it like a dirge. It is just so real and has a barefaced bravery that is seen in precious few.

A kindergarten teacher sees great artistic promise in one of her 5-year-old students and goes above and beyond to nurture his talent. The film written and directed by Sarah Colangelo stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as Lisa, Parker Sevak as Jimmy and Gael García Bernal as Simon. Colangelo delivers a surprising and shocking tale of nurture and obsession, an unsettling character study of the titular 'Kindergarten Teacher'. Maggie Gyllenhaal embodies Lisa to perfection, a kindergarten teacher brimming with creativity yet stuck in a boring life, a boring marriage, disappointed with her children, frustrated out of her mind. When she sees the chance for greatness in someone else, a little boy called Jimmy who is easily shaped and influenced, she cannot resist the opportunity. And this is where the film and her character really make you sit up, pay attention and start to question what you're seeing. It is a rather disturbing journey that the film takes you on, but that is exactly what makes it so outstanding. The unexpected dark turn grips you, Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance makes your skin crawl and you cannot help your gasps of shock and surprise of what you're seeing throughout the second half of the film.

One the one hand this is the ever present story of parents living through their children, wanting them to have the lives they couldn't have, achieve what they couldn't achieve. Lisa looks at her own children as failures because they don't seem to have creative talent or any interest in the arts, which is what matters most to Lisa. Her daughter gets straight As, her son wants to enlist, and yet it isn't enough. So she wants Jimmy to have the life she never had. She is under the impression she never got anywhere with her poetry because she wasn't getting the support she needed, but maybe deep down she knows she wasn't talented enough, that she wasn't an artist. She brings up Mozart, another child prodigy, who she thinks would never have been able to create what he did without the support and nurture he received. Lisa's yearning for a creative outlet in her rather mundane life is relatable at least in its escapism, but it really hits home when you discover she has all the passion but no real talent. And there is this little boy who is the embodiment of the exact inversion of her. He doesn't even try, it just pours out of him. The juxtaposition of these two really broke my heart and it sets a solid foundation for what's to come. On the other hand you have the boy's father, who is more concerned with his son not ending up like his brother the artist, who now proofreads other people's work for just 50k a year. Like most parents the father is more concerned with his son's financial security and future than any artistic endeavours. It's great he's got talent, but we gotta be realistic.

What 'The Kindergarten Teacher' boils down to for me is Lisa's yearning for connection with someone who appreciates the same things and shares her values. Neither her husband nor her children seem to take an interest in her passion let alone understand it. She goes as far as to sleep with her poetry teacher who she rebuffs at first, but the connection with a like-minded person is too strong to ignore. Lisa's loneliness is even more tragic when you consider she's alone in a crowd. The worst kind of loneliness. Gyllenhaal manages to depict Lisa's decision to connect with a 5-year-old as a last resort more relatable and believable than it may sound. We can relate, we emphasize, we understand. It is a haunting portrayal of loneliness, desire and obsession. Yet I couldn't help but wonder how this film and its plot would be received with a leading man instead of a leading lady. Too easily would we judge and assume the worst, and a lot earlier in the film than we would ever allow ourselves to even consider the possibility of anything like this happening with a woman going after a young boy. We see women as nurturing first and foremost and I think this is why 'The Kindergarten Teacher' works as brilliantly as it does, making us feel for both Jimmy and Lisa in its rather disturbing tale.

Without Gyllenhaal's captivating and nuanced performance the entire premise would fall apart. If we don't engage with Lisa and her situation we will not be able to allow and care for her journey and decisions later on in the film. The entire film sinks or swims with Gyllenhaal's performance and she turns out to be a strong swimmer. I don't have any children but still found the narrative deeply disturbing, so please consider yourself warned. There is no violence towards the child depicted in the film, but there is a kidnapping scenario amongst others so please be aware as this might trigger some people. The film is not easy to digest and lends itself to lengthy discussions afterwards. I would go as far and say you might want to watch this with a friend as I did as we both immediately had to talk about what we'd just seen. This is one of the film's aspects I thoroughly enjoyed and I congratulate Colangelo and Gyllenhaal on their daring approach. A tough to stomach yet must see of a film.

Finally 'Captain Marvel' has arrived. This is a film fans have been waiting for since the MCU first took off. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just enjoy watching the films, 'Captain Marvel' works as a standalone entry while having plenty of goodies for fans of the MCU film series. Before the film even starts it manages to pull on your heart strings as Marvel has updated its opening sequence. Where we usually see clips of their superheroes we are now welcomed by a montage of Stan Lee cameos. The whoops and applause that got in the screening brought tears to my eyes. I hope they'll keep this as their official new opening. A beautiful tribute to the man who created it all.

Then the film starts, on the Kree homeworld, and we see Vers (Brie Larsen) training with her mentor Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). We see immediately that she isn't just your standard human who finds themselves on an alien planet. She is very strong, a capable soldier who can somehow shoot energy out of her hands. Also don't expect to have that or much else explained to you right from the get-go. The film literally dumps you on Kree and takes off. After a mission doesn't quite go according to plan Vers crashes on Earth (as they always do) and has to figure out a way to get home. And this is, as they say, where the fun begins.

'Captain Marvel' takes place in the mid '90s. Cue nostalgia, epic '90s music (and this film officially has the best soundtrack of them all) and plenty of puns. This film is a lot funnier than I ever expected. It easily passes the six laugh test. The snappy dialogue is delivered to perfection. The gags fire left, right and centre and don't ever really stop. 'Captain Marvel' is a great amalgamation of witty dialogue, perfect comedic performances and a soundtrack that is beyond ear-wormy. Add to that great visual effects (the de-ageing is now flawless), action and the nostalgia trip and you have an amazing two-hour-entertainment package of a film I can't recommend enough.

Because 'Captain Marvel' lets the audience time travel of sorts - the film takes place in 1995 - we are greeted by a young Nick Fury and Agent Coulson before the creation of S.H.I.E.L.D., so the film doesn't just work as a back- or origin story for Captain Marvel herself but also for the supporting cast. As much as Brie Larsen is Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel and this is her film, 'Captain Marvel' the film also functions as an ensemble piece. Larsen is great as Carol Danvers, but her best scenes are with Jackson's Fury.
These two work together like a comedic duo, their energy and characters bounce off each other like you rarely see. A pure joy to watch. In addition to Larsen and Jackson in their respective roles, the entire cast brings memorable performances and characters to the screen that all occupy their time and space in the story for a reason. Mendelsohn's Talos is an outright surprise and delight.
Annette Benning cements herself in MCU lore (I don't want to give away too much). Lashana Lynch’s Maria Rambeau grounds Carol as her best friend and brings a lot of heart to what, until then, has mostly been a quest storyline. These two women, having each others' backs, make for one of the most profound relationships in the film. A relationship you don't get to see often. Women supporting each other, just sitting at a table, talkingabout their lives. Beautiful and refreshing.

​The film plays with expectations and subverts them in surprising and entertaining ways. It has a very dry and slow start. It didn't win me over right away. But after the initial 30 minutes I was onboard and it soared from there. Carol Danvers is one of the more relatable superhero characters I can think of. She is brash, stubborn, has her issues and does her own thing, but always with her heart in the right place. Not a goodie goodie two shoes always be good superhero, she feels like the most realistic depiction of a person in a superhero setting. She's the kind of person you'd want to be friends with.

The only problem I had with 'Captain Marvel' were the action scenes. They are well done, probably even great. Unfortunately thanks to the way they are set up you hardly see what is actually happening. There is a flurry of motion, loads of light and shadow, sparks flying etc, which make it hard to see what exactly is going on other than people flying into walls left and right. It's a real shame given I've seen this done perfectly in the recently released 'Alita: Battle Angel' and I think 'Captain Marve'l would have been even more astounding if the same techniques had been used for the action scenes. Larsen trained like a fiend for this film and I expected her to kick some major ass so it's a shame you don't really see it.
​
Despite that let me just tell you, my immediate reaction after watching the film was to book tickets for the midnight premiere because I wanted to see this again, recreate this experience, watching this film with a special audience. IMAX (preferred) or not, 3D (can't comment yet) or not, this is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen with an audience because you won't get the whoops, laughs and cheers at home. An absolute MUST SEE whether you're into girl power films or not.
P.S. No matter your feelings on cats before you watch this film, you'll be a cat-person after. Goose is MVP!​

We open with a voiceover from newlywed Elizabeth (Abbey Lee) describing her dream of meeting a brilliant man to take her away from the ugliness of the world. The man of her dreams is husband Henry (Ciarán Hinds), a scientist who brings Elizabeth to live in his sheltered mansion and encourages her to enjoy everything the estate has to offer - so long as she never enters one particular room. So far, so fairytale. Of course, after exploring her new home, increasingly shadowed by house staff Claire (Carla Gugino) and the blind Oliver (Matthew Beard), she does enter the forbidden room. What she encounters brings into question her identity, Henry’s motivations and the nature of the house.

Unfortunately, what follows is a mystery as clunky and obvious as the title itself. Part of the problem is the confused pacing brought on by multiple flashbacks and dream sequences that interrupt the flow of the plot. It also doesn’t help that these scenes are saturated by block colours which jar with the otherwise coldly lit present-day scenes. These strange bouts of high stylisation, along with Abbey Lee’s affected performance, result in an inconsistent genre piece whose central mystery is too predictable to stay engaging. While the rest of the cast try gamely to work with the stained dialogue they are given - at one point Oliver says, “You were the prettiest, strangest creature I ever saw,” to which Elizabeth replies: “How would you know…if you’re blind?” - their efforts can’t quite maintain the tension needed to keep us invested. The conclusion, aided by a lengthy period of reading a diary laden with explanations, has all the subtlety of shotgun fired by a blind man (something that actually happens halfway through).

'Elizabeth Harvest' has a lot of good intentions, but any statement it is trying to make gets lost in an uneven visual style and limp plot. It seems aspire to be a 'Gone Girl' for the #MeToo era; a subverted fairytale about a young and beautiful woman reasserting her power over an older wealthy man. While this could've been a timely thriller about gender dynamics, it is instead a muddled mystery that’s too stylised for its own good.

David Robert Mitchell’s thrillingly tantalising LA looms like a glistening crown of thorny trinkets with owl headed women lurching at their prey, an unidentified dog killer (or killers, are there more of them?) on the loose, and a gothic rock group named Jesus and the Brides of Dracula, whose albums hide clues to the film’s meta mystery. Part neo-noir, part fantastically gruesome horror, 'Under the Silver Lake' is a nihilistic nod to the noir genre and a pessimistically poised attack at pop culture.

Mitchell is perhaps overly ambitious in terms of structure at times. There are more than a few plot holes in store and several characters dip in and out of the screen who rarely are given much development or backstory. 'Under the Silver Lake' feels like a film that has festered for a little too long in the mind of its creator, with a result that feels rather too far-fetched for its targeted attack on toxic masculinity and current culture to potently deliver. However, the soundtrack is always rapturously original and Michael Perry’s set design rakes in a pleasing plethora of quality scenes. Similarly, the skilfully sharp cinematography by Mike Gioulakis melds mellifluously with Mitchell’s penetrating script filled with keen and cutting observations of our symbolically saturated society.

Andrew Garfield takes a turn away from his comfortable awkwardly charming romantic lead role to star as the film’s plausibly pervy antihero whose quest to discover the truth behind the death of literal girl-next-door Sarah, played by Riley Keough, takes him to the cavernous underworld of LA’s elite. There’s an overwhelming sense of Mitchell’s malaise and abject abhorrence of modern life. An aged composer, supposedly the omnipotent overlord of all popular music to have existed since the 1960s comments that instant hits are "as common as tits and hamburgers" and amidst the film’s pseudo thriller fantasy lies a critique of patriarchy filtered through the unflinchingly objectifying gaze of its protagonist. It’s an admirable attempt, but the inconsistencies in tone fail to solidify the case against male driven hierarchies and it’s unclear whether we should be laughing along with the innumerable close ups of women’s buttocks or downright repulsed by the ironic lack of agency any of the women in the film are given.

'Under the Silver Lake' mercilessly mocks millennial trends; our protagonist finds himself at pop up parties filled with hosts who proffer him a pin from a cherry to "pop" a balloon affixed to a dancer’s leotard as they welcome him to "purgatory", elsewhere he is lead down to a crypt where ravers drink at tables made of headstones. The film is peppered with religious references and inverted iconocraphy as one of the Brides looms large as an occult looking Madonna in her black sparkled veil to deliver a mournful cover of LuLu’s ‘To Sir, with Love’. There are certainly more than moments of finesse and for the cynics 'Under the Silver Lake' undeniably provides apathetic answers, but the wildly surrealist slant it often slides into is less unnerving and more downright disheartening.

Less full of minty fresh zeal than its namesake, 'Fisherman’s Friends' foists the tale of 10 serenading songsters spending their salient hours sailing the seas as fisherman and their unexpected chart success in 2010 upon audiences as a feelgood film full of hearty wholesome charm. In reality the predictably trite plotline fails to make much of a splash.

While the crux of the film seems rooted in a determination to whip up some sympathy for Cornish patriotism, one can’t help but feel the timing of showcasing fervent separatist sentiments seems entirely uncomfortable. This woeful attempt at delivering a heart-warming tale of unlikely victories and underdog appreciation feels like a hollow tick box exercise. Unruly local rag-taggle group of undiscovered stars with no desire for a life of stardom? Check. Bright, luscious views of the British Coast and a nostalgic jingoism? Check. Will they, won’t they romance between two characters torn between worlds? Check.

Despite Daniel May and Tuppence Middleton’s best efforts, their characters’ awkward love story haemorrhages much of the film’s narrative. May’s lamentable London boy, Danny, becomes enamoured with Middleton’s maddeningly bland local girl Alwyn who, for her trouble, has a poorly written backstory involving an overprotective father and a Montague-Capulet esque feud. It’s a shame, because there is a sense that had the screenplay bothered to delve a little more into character development, the two could have at least made some aspect relatively believable. Alas, owing to Piers Ashworth and Meg Leonard’s scuppered script there is little pathos to be eeked out from what feels to be a rather wrong-footed romance.

Though there are some pleasing vocals, particularly those filmed in St Kew Parish Church, where the group originally recorded their first album, it’s hard to imagine sea shanties have the capacity to gather much of a following. The specificity of the genre of folk music ensures that the film fails to capture the same loveable charm as similar feelgood films like 'Sunshine on Leith'' achieved, purely because there’s not much for the audience to hum along to. Often, it all feels like a lacklustre 'Doc Martin' episode that should have remained shoved in a back room and left to rot in the bowels of 2010.

‘Children of the Snowland’ is one of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. From the first scene to the last it had me on the edge of my seat, laughing and crying and falling in love with it’s main protagonists. These beautiful, funny, curious, sensitive and clever young people who for the sake of their families were prepared to take on one of the most perilous and physically challenging journeys and in the process learned so much about themselves, their beautiful country and the cruel circumstances that led their parents to make the most heartbreaking decision of their lives. I felt so grateful to be allowed to tag along.

Whenever privileged white westerners make any kind of film about the rest of the world there is a danger that they either put themselves in the centre of the narrative or that they treat their subject as an exotic bird to be watched in awe and not interacted with. Thankfully the makers of ‘Children of Snowland’ did none of that. Instead they provided three of the youngsters with camera equipment and some training and let them tell their own story. And the result is spectacular. There is a great sense of discovery throughout since these children were very young when they left their home and so have very few memories and are not at all used to the way of life in the remote mountain villages of Nepal. But there is also familiarity and an inevitable sense of belonging as they breathe the mountain air and wrapped in the love of their family, slowly find their roots.

Family, truth, inevitability, time, loyalty. These are the precious strands of saffron running through this film which make it absolutely compelling.

'Everybody Knows' is a thriller, but not in a conventional sense. It's not about a heightened sense of fear, but an immersion in the realism of family and village life. So identifiable and human, that when disaster strikes for main character Laura (Penelope Cruz), it keeps you on the edge of your seat with compassion. Laura is on a trip back home to Spain from Argentina with her children, for a family wedding. Her 16 year-old daughter is played by Carla Campra, whose performance stands out, then lingers for being as riveting as it is natural.

Like the walls of the sun-bleached brick houses of the Spanish village where the story is set, this is a film built from many parts. It’s a puzzle film, a mystery to be solved by the viewer. It’s immersive, I could taste the dust in the wind and mouthfuls of the meals that Penelope Cruz’s character could hardly eat. I didn't want it to end. The chemistry between real-life couple Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem (Paco) sizzles out from the screen and seems inevitable, befitting the script and sumptuous to watch.

Some of the early dialogue, action and cinematic choices early on in the film may feel a little heavy-handed in terms of plot direction to begin with. It could even feel as though the writer director, Asghar Farhadi, is underestimating his audience. But in a more subtle way, this is the genius of the film. This creates the sense of inevitability, that drives the film forward, told to the audience first with the with the clockwork mechanism of the village clock in the opening credit sequence. Family life, and love can seem inevitable. And with this Asghar Farhadi asks, is love inevitable? And it’s a fascinating question to ask. As such the symmetry of this film is perfect. Intellectually it's like a chewing gum that doesn't run out of flavour.

'Everybody Knows' doesn’t have the subtlety of Asghar Farhadi’s other films, like 'A Separation', for instance. This is a more glamorous and melodramatic beast. But even with a large serving of Hollywood glamour, it’s still peppered with the realism of messy interiors and tired decor, which makes the imperfect lives of the characters seem even more real.

Simon Amstell constantly defies expectation. As the host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks his caustic wit and self-deprecating charm married with a total lack of affectation lent him an air of cool invincibility, an image utterly at odds with his stand-up persona, which dealt – and deals – almost exclusively in halting, painfully honest vulnerability. And neither of the above serve as any preparation for his turn as the impishly amoral Eric Sacks in 'Black Pond', a role he seemingly procured through bald-faced pushiness, challenging his friend Will Sharpe to insert him into an already completed film, and creating one of the most deliriously enjoyable comic turns of the decade in the process. More recently he was responsible for the feature-length pseudo-doc 'Carnage', an ode to veganism starring Samantha Spiro as a singing cow.

The surprising thing about 'Benjamin' therefore is it’s the first of his career moves that feels wholly unsurprising, playing as it does like a Greatest Hits album. The acerbic, machine gun patter of his presenting days combined with the aching tenderness of his live shows, finished off with the gleeful blurring of fiction and reality that made 'Carnage' such a mischievous joy.

A familiar figure to long-time fans, the titular Benjamin Oliver is a pallid, mop-haired (vegan) creative with a penchant for thin, ill-looking boys, and star Colin Morgan deftly replicates many of Amstell’s own tics and mannerisms in his brazen yet masterfully restrained central performance. It’s hard to say how much of this was at Amstell’s behest and how much was down to the actor eyeballing his director between takes, à la Peter Sellers in Kubrick’s similarly melancholic 'Lolita'. It’s undoubtedly true the script makes no effort to distance Amstell and his besweatered creation. Some lines are lifted almost verbatim from his stand-up shows, and indeed one scene features a goofy yet fragile Joel Fry as a flailing pub comic, performing a bit that could easily be read as all of Amstell’s insecurities about his work in the form translated into the verbal equivalent of blunt force trauma.

Off the stage Fry continues to impress, brilliantly capturing the pain of an artist adrift in a sea of more successful peers. Enthralled and ensnared by the beguiling Billie (a deliciously reckless Jessica Raine), his is the story that lands the film’s only real emotional gut-punches. Though a beautifully understated cameo from Nathan Stewart-Jarrett rivals it by eloquently cutting to the heart of Morgan’s wounded auteur in the course of a single brief exchange.

In many ways 'Benjamin' is an examination of how we deal with success, and the stresses of trying to maintain it. Both the film and its subject exist in a perpetual state of rictus. We are never allowed to relax. Every decision Benjamin faces is paralysing and every utterance the least-suited for the situation at hand. “Maybe we should just have fun” he observes wistfully at one point. An innocuous enough phrase in the context of a conversation with a prospective boyfriend, but one which masks a rich seam of existential desperation. A terror that the niche he has spent years carving out for himself is neither desirable nor sustainable, and whatever form of fun he currently has is resoundingly not the kind he needs.

If the film has a flaw it’s that it lacks the naked ambition and originality of 'Carnage', Amstell’s directorial debut, and while Morgan’s performance is endlessly relatable, the script doesn’t allow him to plumb the depths of his character as much as one feels he could, so it falls short of being genuinely affecting.

Ultimately 'Benjamin' feels like the natural culmination of numerous threads which have wended their way through Amstell’s career to date. And as such one finds it hard to predict where he might go next. It’s fair to say that whatever he chooses to do now, short of Benjamin II, it cannot but be surprising.

Tom Beard’s first full-length feature 'Two for Joy' delivers a remarkable take on Britain’s hidden underclass through the lens of three chided children who, as a result of familial tragedies, are left by the wayside to forge their own lives amidst the fire and fury of adult error. It’s a searing look at how poverty and mental illness can disrupt childhood and, thanks to Tim Sidell’s cinematography, is captured perfectly in the bleak and sorrowful seascapes and worn interiors of caravans and council estates. The landscape and mood ebbs like that of the brash English coastline as the children are caught in tragedy of Grecian proportions when a retreat to the seaside turns rapidly ruinous. The film is peppered with powerful visuals and stunning stills; a bucket of fish heads, gawping like a wailing Greek Chorus, sits on the screen as a silent screech of impending doom, and as the title suggests, magpies make a constant reappearance. Consciously curated shots delay pastiche poverty shots and in most instances the film, while wading through some dark subject matter, manages for the most part to stray away from foisting frail caricatures of working life upon its audience.

Starring Billie Piper as the abused and abrasive Lilah, whose struggles to maintain composure amidst the chaos of her world are as ever portrayed with poignant clarity and Samantha Morton as Aisha, tortured mother of two battling with her own demons while her children strive to keep her and their tenuous lives afloat, the film has some truly excellent performances. However, it is the portrayal of isolation and bittersweet youth captured by the film’s young stars, Bella Ramsey, Badger Skelton and Emilia Jones that undeniably catapult the piece into a thing of cinematic curiosity. Skelton’s careening Troy hurtles through the streets with a fishing rod almost permanently affixed to his person, a silent and sullen child constantly looking for escape, while Jones as his sister, Vi, marches doggedly onwards through life shouldering the burden of French GCSE orals and of being the family’s primary caregiver. Yet it is Bella Ramsey’s Miranda who, like her namesake, is ever searching for a brave new world with angry zeal and fury, who most fully embodies the film’s magpie motif as she furtively fights for an identity of her own amidst the mess of her misfortune and delivers a lasting impression. Draped in a neon necklace that pulsates with light among dark waves far out to sea, her portrayal of giddy, gritty girlhood is truly one of the film’s unparalleled highlights and most memorable images.

'Two for Joy' captures a rarely glimpsed world and one that is seldom selected for cinematic study with tenderness and bravery. It consciously questions the quality of life for children in tentative situations and the adults that surround them without patronising or belittling Britain’s unseen communities while delivering a stunning and remarkable feat of filmmaking that is as terrible and tragic as it is bewitching.

Monsters. Humans. Lovers. Fighters. ‘Abnormal Attraction’ is a comedy-horror unlike anything I’ve seen in recent years. In a world that’s moved on from the prejudice of class, race and gender; monsters, mythical creatures and humans are forced to unhappily coexist. Centring on the idea of how it’s unacceptable to enslave these creatures, it’s a story honing in on the human truths of scaremongering, and inflicting one’s self-loathing onto the community. Not your typical jump-scare watch, Director Michael Leavy draws the tension from the depth of the viewers own imagination; is this your average ice-cream truck I hear coming towards me? Or is it a monster coming to feast on my brains?


Presented in three chapters - Genesis, Exodus and Revelations - this film doesn’t bear the biblical grounding it suggests, nor places itself in the mystical realms of the supernatural, but is surprisingly gritty, heartwarming and hilarious. And at times, the building of anticipation is really quite terrifying. The visual highlights are the prosthetics and special effects used to create the creatures, all of which were genuinely believable, although at times farcical in their extravagance. The script, written by Steven Della Salla, and Michael and Jason Levy is a really high quality piece of work, and although I don’t think this could have been produced as a big-budget Hollywood feature, the tone and demographic really suits the indie vibe that runs through the film. It’s clear that it’s not a bad film, but also doesn’t take itself too seriously.


Across the board, all performances were good, however Jason Leavy’s ‘Finbar’ blew everyone out of the water. Without deterring compliment, I wouldn’t say it was an enjoyable experience watching him on screen; I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable watching his character’s interactions with everyone he comes across, and at times he had me hiding from my screen with his aberrant looks and quips. Leavy’s intentions to make the audience feel perpetually on-edge were achieved a hundred times over in his performance.


The story itself was overtly simple, but the underlying message of accepting and liking one’s self is a truth we humans should all live by, despite being delivered by a closeted werewolf. It’s not a film I would have jumped at seeing, but it would definitely be one I revisit in the future.

It's about time the "Notorious R.B.G." gets the biopic treatment. A real shame that despite solid performances it doesn't come close to the badassery associated with the letters R-B-G.

In case you don't know what R.B.G. stands for, this is the well known abbreviation for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who, in recent years, has become a pop culture phenomenon. Only the second woman ever to be nominated to the US Supreme Court - where she served as the only female judge until Sotomayor was appointed - an advocate for equality and women's rights, infamously portrayed by the impeccable Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Life and one of the most well known people holding office in the United States – R.B.G. even has her own hashtag. And here we finally have her story in movie form.

With a solid performance by Felicity Jones as R.B.G., 'On The Basis Of Sex' immediately greets the viewer with the apparent misogyny of post WW2 America. Not that it's much different today but that's a whole other can of worms and makes this film a rather timely piece despite its dated setting. Ruth is one of only nine women accepted to Harvard Law School, where her husband Marty also studies Law. The rampant sexism and inequality isn't even the worst Ruth has to deal with. Issues arise with her husband and all of a sudden she has double the work load while looking after hubby and baby. In short, not everyone would have been able to cope, but this is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the undeterred warrior and epitome of badassery we know, so it's no surprise that Ruth is invested to remedy the situation. She famously fought for gender equality and took this and more before the Supreme Court and 'On The Basis Of Sex' tells the story of her struggle to overturn over a century of sexual discrimination.

Like most biopics 'On The Basis Of Sex' falls into the trap of checking off bullet points of important events in the life of our protagonist, showing you all stepping stones so you understand where she eventually ends up. It makes for dreary storytelling with heavy pacing issues that even the captivating and charming Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer (playing Ruth's husband Marty) cannot fully make up for. Worth mentioning Kathy Bates as Dorothy Kenyon, a lawyer and activist Ruth contacts during the proceedings as well as Justin Theroux as Mel Wulf, a lawyer for the ACLU who helps Ruth with her case. Overall a great cast that should deserve a spunkier script, worthy of the world-changing people it's trying to depict. If only the film had half as much fighting spirit as its protagonist this would have been an electrifying and entertaining piece of cinema, worth recommending not just to women studies majors.

As interesting as it is to learn about the Notorious R.B.G. I couldn't help but feel let down by the narrative structure, especially the ending, which in my opinion wasted a huge opportunity to go out with a poignant bang (I won't spoil it for you). That is not to say the film is a waste of time. There are plenty of moments of greatness and entertainment, which made me wish even more that the rest was more coherent, well paced material to make for a good film. But overall I couldn't help but feel disappointed, let down by a film that could easily have hit home on the epic awesomeness R.B.G is known for. I'm a huge fan of this brilliant woman, who has fought and achieved so much, having a profound impact on the world and with only a few tweaks this film could have done her justice.

After 'Moonlight's now infamous Best Picture win at the 89th Academy Awards, director / writer Barry Jenkins has finally returned with his latest creative outing, the equally critically acclaimed 'If Beale Street Could Talk'. Based on the 1974 novel of the same name by William Baldwin, 'Beale Street' deals with the eternal love story of two people society is trying to keep apart.

'Beale Street' is set in the 70s, centred on young couple Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) who have to deal with Tish's pregnancy and Fonny's imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. With the help of their families they're fighting the never-ending uphill battle against an unjust system. The film stars KiKi Layne as Tish, Stephan James as Fonny, Regina King and Colman Domingo as Tish's parents, with Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach and Brian Tyree Henry rounding out a brilliant ensemble cast in memorable roles. The performances are the highlight of 'Beale Street'.

The narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion, with flashbacks interspersed frequently to peel away layer upon layer, eventually revealing the big picture. With its perfect casting 'Beale Street' plays to its strength right from the start, opening with one of its most memorable scenes with Tish delivering the latest news to her immediate and extended family, which makes for some of the most delightful and harrowing highlights of the entire film.

Brimming with social commentary 'Beale Street' focuses on love against all odds and it is KiKi Layne's central performance as Tish that keeps you engaged throughout. Supported by a strong ensemble led by Regina King, who just won a Golden Globe for her performance, 'Beale Street' truly shines in its quieter moments. Before Jenkins casts society's oppressive shadow and makes the story about man vs. system, we are introduced to and get to experience the characters just as part of a family, dealing with the ups and downs of familial relationships and dynamics. Cementing Tish and her family in such normal and easily relatable circumstances immediately gets the audience engaged and on their side. We know who everyone is and more importantly what they stand for as we dive into the battle to right a wrong.

Jenkins is telling the love story before the incident entirely through flashbacks, which helps to round out the main characters, their relationship and motivation. As beautiful as they are at first they unfortunately fall victim to repetitiveness and this is where the film ultimately falls shorts. Overall the film drags, especially thanks to too many flashbacks that overstay their welcome. But at the same time it also feels rushed in places, most notably near the end. This inconsistent, unfocused execution takes the audience out of it despite great performances by the entire ensemble. My friend and I got tired of the flashbacks about halfway through the film and just wanted to see the plot unfold.

Thanks to the beautiful cinematography by James Laxton and a gorgeous score by Nicholas Britell 'Beale Street' creates a vivid 70s atmosphere and Tish coming out about her pregnancy first to her mom, then her dad, followed by the future in laws is priceless and a great start into the film. It was my absolute highlight. It's a shame that the flashbacks drag the well paced momentum almost to a complete stop in the second act, which makes the rest of the film feel like walking through treacle until you've finally reached the end. If Beale Street actually could talk I hope it would do so in a less draggy and more focused way than Jenkins' film. The great performances, the beautiful cinematography and score, and the still outrageously timely theme unfortunately cannot undo the tedious narrative.

'Blood Runs Down' delivers memorable miasmic aestheticism within its Louisiana setting and monochrome design. Candlelight spills from every surface and Jesse Ray Guillory’s production design guiles us into a tapered tapestry of white linens and gentle luminescence. While a southern storm rages outside, psychological possessions are padded with whispers and piano chords inside, creating a delightful undercurrent of distress. The atmosphere is brilliantly set thanks to Sultana Isham’s soundtrack and Zac Manuel’s cinematography but sadly Zandashé Brown’s screenplay falters in its progression of a compelling storyline.
The image of a small girl in a white dress wielding a baseball bat is a wonderful reclamation of girlhood as something other than delicate candlelit delights and the overall attempt at addressing intergenerational trauma and the long lasting effects of loss is a poignant one but the film fails to arrest its audience with anything other than scintillating visuals. 'Goodnight', directed by Diane Michelle, features an exploration of psychosexual nightmares and gender in the family unit. Its jump scares and picture perfect family place it firmly in the realm of Hollywood horror, yet the disturbing direction the piece takes in exploiting childhood fears and twisting them into a thing with carnivorous connotations shows there’s more to 'Goodnight' than meets the eye.y

Looks like Black Panther started a new trend last year with blockbuster season beginning early again; this time with Robert Rodriguez's 'Alita: Battle Angel'. Based on the original manga series by Yukito Kishiro, with the screenplay written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, 'Alita: Battle Angel' tells the story of a young cyborg (Rosa Salazar) found in a scrap yard. With the help of her repairman and mentor Dr Ido (Christoph Waltz) and soon-to-be boyfriend Hugo (Keean Johnson) Alita sets out on a journey of discovery – who she was, who she is and who she wants to be - through a magnificently detailed world that will never be the same.

The film lives off Salazar's endearing performance as Alita. She perfectly embodies Alita's naivety, curiosity and excitement, with Alita's big eyes enhancing that aspect of her personality. She is adorable as she discovers different foods and other sensations and is equally captivating and convincing in her fight sequences. Rounding out the cast are Christoph Waltz as Dr Ido, Mahershala Ali as Vector, Jennifer Connelly as Dr Chiren, Ed Skrein as Zapan and several other people you will recognise. It's a cameo game of sorts, not too distracting (with the exception of the last two appearances in the film), so reading the credits might be fun to check your results of "spot the celebrity". That last cameo really took me out of the film which was a shame given it is right at the very end and that unpleasant taste stuck with me for a bit while the credits rolled.

There is so much going on in Alita: Battle Angel that they could have made a series of films, or at least the now popular trilogy treatment. Unfortunately the film never dives under the surface, peeling back some of the layers. We are merely treated to a few hints and glimpses of what could have been, but it feels as if Rodriguez decided to go for the Hollywood blockbuster, and not the layered, intelligent sci-fi route. A real shame as the film's premise would have easily sustained a more complex approach especially given the theme of identity and existential crisis. Instead we get clumsily written exposition pieces, none of the “show, don't tell” school of film making. It is thanks to Salazar that these overlong pieces aren't dumping the film into tedium territory and once the first action sequence hits your eyeballs you know that exposition is just a precursor for yet more mind blowing action spectacle, so you won't mind as much. Gotta eat the veggies if you wanna get dessert. And trust me, this dessert is yummy!

'Alita: Battle Angel' looks magnificent. I watched this in IMAX 3D and I wouldn't want to see it any other way. The image is sharp and detailed, the effects flawless. Even in the fastest and busiest action sequence the audience knows exactly what is going on. That is no small feat as especially group brawls can turn into eye sores and coma inducing flurries, especially in 3D; none of that here.

Despite the film's 12A rating some viewers might find it more violent than expected. We see people maimed and torn apart. Most of these people are made of cyborg parts, which cushions the impact a bit. Nonetheless some viewer discretion might be advisable.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed 'Alita: Battle Angel' thanks to its premise (I'm a sucker for anything sci-fi) and engaging lead. The breathtaking cinematography, the world's sense of wonder and the amazing action sequences blew my mind. Even sequences I consider filler were entertaining and great to look at. I wish the film's predictable plot could have been turned into a more complex narrative, more fitting to its genre and source material. With a running time of just over two hours the film has a lot of fat that could have been trimmed, making way for more character, world and plot development. But all of its padding is too glorious to cut so I can't really fault Rodriguez; ok, I really didn't need that love story. There is plenty more to show and tell and I am counting on a sequel. Maybe I did call it (trilogy!) earlier?

'Alita: Battle Angel' is a beautiful spectacle with a predictable storyline, enhanced by an endearing performance of Salazar as Alita, Get through slightly tedious exposition, stay for the intriguing world & kickass action. A must see in IMAX 3D!

The year is 1613. A mishap with a stage canon during a performance of Henry VIII ignites a fire and a 49 year old William Shakespeare watches his beloved Globe Theatre burn to the ground. Deciding that now is as good a time as any to retire; he rides away, leaving London and a life as the greatest playwright the world has ever known.

There are very few historical records of what Shakespeare got up to on his return to Stratford Upon Avon and during the following 3 years before he died. It is perhaps for this reason that Kenneth Branagh and Ben Elton have chosen this period of the Bard’s life to tell their tale. Unshackled by the restrains of historical accuracy and the need to portray the many dramas and adventures that must undoubtedly have been part of his glamorous London life, they can explore the more existential questions and show us the man rather than the writer. Who was he? What drove him to elevate himself from a commoner, a son of a glover, to the most successful Actor/Playwright, who’s works were performed for the Queen herself? And the most important question of all: How? How could an uneducated man from the country, who had never traveled be capable of writing such beautiful and imaginative tales and poetry?

‘All Is True’ starts with a series of aesthetically pleasing scenes of rural England and in quick succession introduces the main characters and key plots without taking a single breath for almost 15 minutes. Honestly it was a bit exhausting. The pace is slowed down eventually but throughout the film I couldn’t reconcile myself with the lack of satisfactory development of most of the interpersonal relationships.

Except for a brief but wonderful cameo by Ian McKellen as Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton who is assumed to be the “Fair Youth” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets and a possible love interest, it is the women in Shakespeare’s life that shine here. Judi Dench is as bewitching as ever, proving once again why she is the queen of our hearts. Her ability to peel away the layers from Anne so lovingly but without hesitation until she stands before us with her soul bared but her strength intact is magnificent to watch. Kathryn wilder is marvelous as Shakespeare’s youngest daughter, Judith. Her portrayal of a young woman imprisoned by her own guilt, the age old resentment she feels towards her father and her yearning to be seen and heard is assertive, yet she retains her sensitivity and humour.

‘All Is True’ is overall an enjoyable enough watch but unfortunately it is let down by it’s main character. After 90 minutes I still felt no closer to knowing who Shakespeare was and how he felt about and dealt with his own genius, the loss of his child, being heralded as the greatest at the same time as being treated as the commoner that he was. For me Kenneth Branagh was not believable as William Shakespeare. As a devout Shakespearian actor/director Branagh seems to be woefully short of insight into the mind of the character he is trying to portray. I found his performance mostly shallow, at times wooden and rather self-indulgent. The biggest cringe moment was when he started quoting Shakespeare as Shakespeare… I can’t tell you how much I wish that hadn’t happened! To me it was a pathetic display of the actor’s self-adulation rather than any real love for the poet.