The Forgiven  ★★★★ RALPH Fiennes and Jessica Chastain make an electric pairing in the deceptively complex drama The Forgiven. As husband and wife David and Jo Henninger they trade barbs at each other and the world in general, battling to prove who is the most cynical and acerbic. They are […]

Fiennes and Chastain make great pairing

Employee of the Month  ★★★ FRENCH comedies are hit-and-miss affairs. I have thoroughly enjoyed some, but others that have come highly-credentialled  left me largely non-plussed. Employee of the Month mostly sits in the first category, delivering plenty of laughs due mainly to writer, director and lead actor Jérôme Commandeur. It’s […]

Commandeur gets balance right

Nope  ★★★ TWO out of three is pretty good in any language. In the case of American film director Jordan Peele, his first film, Get Out, is a modern horror classic and the follow-up, Us, isn’t far behind. Both films deliver as straight thrillers and multi-layered examinations of societal issues, […]

Enjoyment in peeling back the layers

Bullet Train ★★★  THERE’S a rule of film criticism that should be obeyed at all times – review the film you saw; not the one you wanted to see. Apparently, the American action/comedy Bullet Train was originally going to be a straight MA-rated action film which, to be honest, is […]

Familiar fire in Bullet Train

You Won’t Be Alone  ★★★ AUSTRALIAN writer/director Goran Stolevski has delivered an impressive debut with the period horror film You Won’t Be Alone. Stolevski delves deep into his family roots to present the story of a teenage girl’s coming-of-age under the influence of a witch in rural 19th Century Macedonia. […]

Debut horror draws attention

The Woman in the Window ★★½  THERE’S nothing like a bit of controversy to help sell a film. In the case of the 2022 thriller The Woman in the Window, it’s probably needed. Despite having strong hands on both pen and camera – adapted script by Tracey Letts (Bug, Killer […]

Reflections of Hitchcock

Asking For It  ★★½ “YOU don’t get to tell my story; I do.” So says one of the main characters in the well-intentioned but heavy-handed feminist drama Asking For It. Writer/director Eamon O’Rourke’s 2021 debut feature tells the story of a young woman who is sexually assaulted and ends becoming […]

Good intentions but heavy hand

Caged Fury  ★★★ DON’T confuse 1989’s Caged Fury with the 1983 film of the same name or 1974’s Caged Heat or Chained Heat, also from 1983. They’re all examples of ‘women-in-prison’ dramas but Caged Fury aka 1989 is one of the weakest. This sub-genre of low-budget exploitation cinema was effectively […]

Queens of the prison

The Gray Man  ★★★ THE Russo brothers’ latest, The Gray Man, is a fairly standard but well made thriller highlighted by one of the best action sequences of the year. The directing/writing team of Anthony and Joe are renowned for their key entries in the Marvel franchise – two Captain […]

Prague sequence a highlight

Event Horizon  ★★★ BELOVED Kiwi actor Sam Neill is not a name synonymous with the horror genre. Throughout his career he has played every type of character imaginable and been equally at home in drama, adventure, comedy and romance. Setting aside the thriller Dead Calm, he has also appeared in […]

Sam’s horror turn an event

Dashcam ★★ IT DOESN’T take long for the makers of Dashcam to ditch the promoted cinematic device. I was wondering how they were going to present an entire film, albeit less than 80 minutes long, solely from the perspective of dashcam within a vehicle. Turns out they do it by […]

Dashcam quickly breaks rule

King Richard  ★★★½ DON’T let Will Smith’s real-life antics put you off watching his performance in King Richard. ‘The Oscars Slap’ stopped me from watching this 2021 sports drama for a while, but I’m glad I eventually put that aside. Smith is very good as Richard Williams, the matriarch of […]

Williams’ story one-of-a-kind