Review 98min Genre:       Comedy, Drama, Horror Director:     Marielle Heller Cast:         Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy, Emmett Snowden…and more Writers:     Marielle Heller and Rachel Yoder -Synopsis- In present day American suburbia, a stay-at-home mom struggles with the pressures of parenthood and its effect on her life and career, only to unexpectedly connect with a more primal instinct […]

Review 124min Genre:       Fact-based, Drama, Music Director:     Pablo Larraín Cast:         Angelina Jolie, Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher…and more Writers:     Steven Knight -Synopsis- During her final days in 1970s Paris, the great Maria Callas recounts her life whilst struggling with her health and a hallucinatory pill addiction, reflecting on her loves and losses and on an incredible […]

Review 122min Genre:       Fact-based, Drama Director:     Ali Abbasi Cast:         Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova…and more Writers:     Gabriel Sherman -Synopsis- In the 1970s through the ’80s, a young Donald Trump’s star rises through New York real estate and beyond as his personality and life ethos is shaped by his close relationship with a questionable mentor—US […]

After another turbulent and disruptive year in 2023 for a film industry in constant flux, cinema returned with a vengeance in 2024, once again taking over an autumnal “Big Smoke” and UK cinemas beyond, courtesy of the the British Film Institute (BFI), as the 68th edition of one of the world’s most accessible major film […]

Review 219min Genre:     Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance Director:   Sean Baker Cast:       Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelshtein, Karren Karagulian…and more Writers:   Sean Baker -Synopsis- A spirited young New York exotic dancer and working girl finds a seemingly fairytale way out of the sex industry when she beguiles and swiftly marries a wild and wealthy young Russian, only […]

Review 120min Genre:       Drama, Thriller, War Director:     Steve McQueen Cast:         Saoirse Ronan, Elliott Heffernan, Paul Weller…and more Writers:     Steve McQueen -Synopsis- In the midst of the Nazi bombings of the British capital, a young East End mother struggles to track down the son she sent to the country for safety, but who decided to return […]

Review 90min Genre:       Comedy, Drama Director:     Jesse Eisenberg Cast:         Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Grey…and more Writers:     Jesse Eisenberg -Synopsis- Two estranged and very different American cousins come together on a trip to Poland to honour their grandmother’s origins and re-connect with their Jewish roots, only to get on each other’s last nerve and […]

Review 105min Genre:       Fact-Based, Drama Director:     Jonathan Glazer Cast:         Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Freya Kreutzkam…and more Writers:     Jonathan Glazer and Martin Amis -Synopsis- During War War II in the house and garden next to Auschwitz, the camp commandant tries to build an idyllic family life in the shadow of the horror he oversees, only to […]

Review 136min Genre:       Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama Director:     Jeymes Samuel Cast:         LaKeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, Omar Sy…and more Writers:     Jeymes Samuel -Synopsis- In Jerusalem of 33 AD an aimless highfalutin hustler sees an opportunity in the rise of Jesus Christ where others see salvation, as he carves out a piece of the worship and adulation […]

Review 105min Genre:       Drama, Fantasy, Romance Director:     Andrew Haigh Cast:         Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Claire Foy…and more Writers:     Andrew Haigh and Taichi Yamada -Synopsis- A lonely gay screenwriter begins to develop a bond with an enigmatic neighbour in London while some visits back to his childhood home spark an unexpected reunion with his long-deceased parents, […]

Review 129min Genre:       Fact-based, Drama, Music, Romance Director:     Bradley Cooper Cast:         Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke…and more Writers:     Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer -Synopsis- The life of acclaimed larger-than-life American conductor-composer and cultural icon Leonard Bernstein is revisited through the prism of his complicated marriage to wife and fellow artist Felicia Montealegre, as the […]

Review 118min Genre:       Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller Director:     David Fincher Cast:         Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell…and more Writers:     Andrew Kevin Walker, Alexis Nolent, Luc Jacamon -Synopsis- A skilled and meticulous assassin who finally fails to stick to the plan is forced into hiding when an assignment goes wrong, only to be drawn into a […]

Review 221min Genre:       Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sci-fi Director:     Yorgos Lanthimos Cast:         Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo…and more Writers:     Tony McNamara and Alasdair Gray -Synopsis- In a surrealist Victorian Britain, a tragically deceased young woman is re-born and given a second shot at life when she’s re-animated by an eccentric mad scientist, as her […]

Review 127min Genre:       Comedy, Drama, Thriller Director:     Emerald Fennell Cast:         Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike…and more Writers:     Emerald Fennell -Synopsis- A young outsider from humble origins studying at Oxford University becomes drawn into high society when he befriends a charming aristocratic fellow student, and is invited to spend a fateful summer at his eccentric […]

In the midst of yet another turbulent and disruptive year for the film industry, cinema once again took over “The Big Smoke” and UK cinemas beyond, courtesy of the the British Film Institute (BFI), as the 67th edition of the London Film Festival (LFF)—one of the world’s most accessible major film festivals—gathered global cinema players […]

Review 206min Genre:       Fact-based, Crime, Drama, Romance Director:     Martin Scorsese Cast:         Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro…and more Writers:     Martin Scorsese, Eric Roth and David Grann -Synopsis- In 1920s Oklahoma a series of unexplained murders and exploitation of the oil-rich Osage Nation sparks an FBI investigation which uncovers a sobering conspiracy, triggering the breakdown […]

Review 126min Genre:       Drama, Thriller Director:     Hirokazu Kore-eda Cast:         Soya Kurokawa, Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama…and more Writers:     Yûji Sakamoto -Synopsis- A young Japanese boy’s single mother takes matters into her own hands when his behaviour takes a turn towards the odd and disturbing and she suspects his school life to be the cause, as she […]

Review 161min Genre:       Comedy, Drama Director:     Alejandro G. Iñárritu Cast:         Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Íker Sánchez Solano… Writers:     Nicolás Giacobone and Alejandro G. Iñárritu -Synopsis- A Mexican filmmaker/journalist who made his name with acclaimed socially-conscious work has his identity challenged and is plunged into an existential crisis upon his celebratory return home after 20 […]

Review 103min Genre:       Drama, Mystery, Thriller Director:     Sebastián Lelio Cast:         Florence Pugh, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Tom Burke…and more Writers:     Emma Donoghue, Sebastián Lelio and Alice Birch -Synopsis- A pragmatic English nurse with a painful past is sent to an Irish village in the mid-1800s tasked with observation of a special patient, which soon turns into […]

Review 117min Genre:       Drama Director:     Darren Aronofsky Cast:         Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau…and more Writers:     Samuel D. Hunter -Synopsis- Stuck in his apartment with little human contact and the scars of grief weighing him down, an ailing and obese reclusive English teacher eating himself to an early grave takes the painful step of […]

Review 139min Genre:       Comedy, Crime, Mystery Director:     Rian Johnson Cast:         Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe…and more Writers:     Rian Johnson -Synopsis- A mysterious invitation brings renowned detective ‘Benoit Blanc’ and a rag-tag group of “disruptors” to a luxurious coastal getaway and the Greek private island home of a tech billionaire, where a seemingly friendly […]

Review 109min Genre:       Comedy, Drama Director:     Martin McDonagh Cast:         Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon…and more Writers:     Martin McDonagh -Synopsis- A lifelong friendship on an isolated island off the Irish coast is unexpectedly ended when one shuns the other for an incomprehensible reason, and the other refuses to accept it, leading to a feud which […]

After two of the most disruptive years in the history of a film industry still in flux and the success of a streamlined hybrid event last year, cinema once again returned en force to “The Big Smoke” and beyond, courtesy of the the British Film Institute (BFI) in the form of the 66th London Film […]

Review 136min Genre:       Comedy, Drama, Thriller Director:     Noah Baumbach Cast:         Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Raffey Cassidy…and more Writers:     Noah Baumbach and Don DeLillo -Synopsis- A quirky academic and his anxious wife struggle to lead their paranoid young family through the turmoil of everyday life in suburban 1980s America, only to be forced onto a […]

Review 117min Genre:       Comedy, Family, Musical Director:     Matthew Warchus Cast:         Alisha Weir, Lashana Lynch, Emma Thompson…and more Writers:     Dennis Kelly and Roald Dahl -Synopsis- Sent by her spiteful neglectful parents to a notorious school run by a monstrous headmistress with an iron fist, a young English girl genius is nurtured by a loving teacher and […]

Review 116min Genre:       Crime, Drama, Thriller Director:     Ali Abbasi Cast:         Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani…and more Writers:     Ali Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami -Synopsis- In the streets of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, a dogged female journalist plunges into the dark underbelly of society to track down an elusive serial killer preying on […]

Review 106min Genre:     Drama, Horror, Mystery Director:   Valdimar Jóhannsson Cast:       Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson… Writers:   Valdimar Jóhannsson and Sjón -Synopsis- On an isolated Icelandic sheep farm, a grieving farmer couple form an unnatural connection to a particularly special newborn lamb, but their fixation with their new lambkin soon blends with their […]

Review 105min Genre:       Drama, Thriller Director:     Joel Coen Cast:         Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand , Bertie Carvel…more Writers:     Joel Coen and William Shakespeare -Synopsis- A medieval Scottish lord and his ambitious wife execute a dastardly plan to ruthlessly seize power in the land after the prophecy of three weird witch sisters, only to be plunged into […]

Review 98min Genre:       Comedy, Drama Director:     Kenneth Branagh Cast:         Jude Hill, Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan…and more Writers:     Kenneth Branagh -Synopsis- The political tumult, social and cultural change of late 1960’s Britain and Northern Ireland is seen through the eyes of a young boy and his working-class family, as the joy, pain and innocence of […]

After eighteen of the most disruptive months in the history of the film industry and a year after a hybrid, mostly virtual and streamlined 64th version of the festival, cinema returns to “The Big Smoke” in force courtesy of the the British Film Institute (BFI) in the form of the 65th London Film Festival (LFF)—one […]

Review 108min Genre:       Comedy, Drama, Romance Director:     Wes Anderson Cast:         Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright…and more Writers:     Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola…more -Synopsis- A picturesque fictional mid-20th century French town brings together a collection of colourful journalists and their stories, published by a French outpost of an American paper on the […]

Review 126min Genre:       Crime, Drama, Thriller Director:     Julia Ducournau Cast:         Agathe Rousselle, Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier…and more Writers:     Julia Ducournau -Synopsis- A detached and fearsome exotic dancer with a scarring past and morbid present goes on the run, plunging into gender fluidity and a new identity when she forms a curious deceptive bond with a […]

Review 126min Genre:       Drama, Romance, Western Director:     Jane Campion Cast:         Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons…more Writers:     Jane Campion and Thomas Savage -Synopsis- In early 20th century rural Montana, a domineering rancher ruthlessly rules his roost only for his life to be upended by the arrival of his brother’s new widower wife and her son, […]

Review 116min Genre:       Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller Director:     Edgar Wright Cast:         Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith…and more Writers:     Edgar Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns -Synopsis- A young small town aspiring British fashion designer heads to the capital and mysteriously drifts between the present day and the swinging London of the 1960s, where she forges […]

Review 130min Genre:       Action, Thriller, Western Director:     Jeymes Samuel Cast:         Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors…and more Writers:     Jeymes Samuel and Boaz Yakin -Synopsis- In the old American west, a vengeful outlaw assembles his rag-tag crew for some payback on his fearsome recently-released enemy and his own gang, in this classic yet modern ensemble […]

Review 110min Genre:       Drama Director:     Regina King Cast:         Eli Goree, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Leslie Odom Jr.…and more Writers:     Kemp Powers -Synopsis- During the aftermath of Cassius Clay’s historic heavyweight championship victory over Sonny Liston in 1964 and on the eve of his conversion to Islam, cultural icons and leaders of the black community Clay, Muslim minister […]

Review 88min Genre:       Drama Director:     Michel Franco Cast:         Naian González Norvind, Diego Boneta, Fernando Cuautle… Writers:     Michel Franco -Synopsis- A wealthy Mexico City family wedding becomes a bloodbath when anarchy reigns after angry protests against corruption and inequality turn into a violent wave which rips through the fabric of society, while the aftermath for both […]

Review 103min Genre:       Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller Director:     Brandon Cronenberg Cast:         Andrea Riseborough, Christopher Abbott, Jennifer Jason Leigh… Writers:     Brandon Cronenberg -Synopsis- A deadly but troubled operator for a shadowy organisation infiltrates the bodies of high value targets with brain implants and mind control technology, turning them into avatars for profit, only for her latest […]

Review 105min Genre:       Drama, Music, Musical Director:     Spike Lee Cast:         David Byrne, Angie Swan, Bobby Wooten III…and more Writers:     David Byrne -Synopsis- David Byrne gets the Spike Lee treatment as the veteran New York director captures the singular new wave star’s 2019 Broadway show in all its glory. An expertly executed minimalist concept featuring Byrne […]

Review 117min Genre:       Comedy, Drama Director:     Thomas Vinterberg Cast:         Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang…and more Writers:     Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm -Synopsis- An indifferent, straight-laced pushover Danish high school teacher in an existential rut and his three scholarly colleagues think they have found the key to a successful and fulfilling life within […]

Review 93min Genre:       Drama, Romance Director:     Harry Macqueen Cast:         Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci, Pippa Haywood…and more Writers:     Harry Macqueen -Synopsis- A RV road trip home to rural England for a middle-age artist/intellectual long-term gay couple is made all the more precious and definitive when the one suffering with dementia begins to steadily decline, while the […]

Review 89min Genre:       Drama, Horror, Thriller Director:     Natalie Erika James Cast:         Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote…and more Writers:     Natalie Erika James and Christian White -Synopsis- An Aussie grandmother’s inexplicable disappearance becomes even more bizarre when she returns a changed figure, plunging her daughter and granddaughter into despair when they lose touch with a matriarch […]

Review 120min Genre:       Drama, Fact-Based, Romance Director:     Francis Lee Cast:         Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones…and more Writers:     Francis Lee -Synopsis- On the Southern windswept coast of 19th century England, the solitary life of a withdrawn fossil hunter and academic is upended by the arrival of a young and melancholy gentleman’s wife who becomes […]

Towards the bitter end of one of the most disruptive years in recent human history, in the middle of a global pandemic and during some of the most uncertain times in the century-old history of the global film industry, cinema returns to “The Big Smoke” and appreciative London cinephiles courtesy of the the British Film […]