drama
Ophelia review - tragic no moreSaturday, 23 November 2019
Ophelia is one of Shakespeare’s most iconic yet underdeveloped dramatic roles. A sweet and naïve girl, she’s driven mad by Hamlet’s wavering affections and her father’s death. She was often the subject of paintings, yet rarely of novels until the... Read more... |
Judy & Punch review - a bold but blunt taleThursday, 21 November 2019
Professor Punch (Damon Herriman) was once famed throughout the lands as a masterful puppeteer, performing shows night after night with his dutiful wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska). Now, they have been relegated to the provinces. Specifically, the backwash... Read more... |
Permission review - suspenseful melodrama of a true-life eventThursday, 21 November 2019
Permission tells the story of Afrooz, the captain of Iran's National Futsal Team, who is stopped from joining her team at the Asia Cup Final because of the last minute whim of her estranged husband. It is based on Iranian football... Read more... |
'Shakespeare is mistakenly considered something for the elite': director Claire McCarthy on 'Ophelia'Tuesday, 19 November 2019
Ophelia is one of Shakespeare's most enduring characters in both literature and art, and yet her part in Hamlet is limited to few lines and fewer motivations. Based on Lisa Klein's novel, the new film Ophelia challenges this interpretation. Daisy... Read more... |
The Report review - searing political dramaSaturday, 16 November 2019
It should come as no surprise that the writer of Side Effects and Contagion, Scott Z. Burns, is capable of directing a whip-smart drama like The Report. Known for his collaborations with Steven Soderbergh, most recently on... Read more... |
Marriage Story review - superior weepieThursday, 14 November 2019
Forty years after the classic, multi-Oscar winning Kramer v Kramer comes another divorce drama involving two young Americans and a son caught in the crossfire. And this one is even better. Marriage Story is a sublime film, a... Read more... |
'I’m having too much fun writing novels': author Nicolas Searle on The Good LiarThursday, 07 November 2019
"Surreal" is how the man calling himself Nicholas Searle describes the last five years of his life. He began working on his debut novel The Good Liar in 2014 at the age of 57, having recently retired from the Civil Service. The nature of his former... Read more... |
The Irishman review - mobster masterclassThursday, 07 November 2019
Much has been made of Martin Scorsese’s recent dismissal of Marvel films. Putting that debate aside, there’s no escaping the fact that in an era of rapid-fire sequels, with the same ensembles trotted out year after year, there’s far more ... Read more... |
The Aeronauts review - up, up and okayThursday, 07 November 2019
Wild Rose director Tom Harper blends fact with fiction in a charming Victorian ballooning adventure that reunites Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones for the first time since The Theory of Everything.Redmayne gives an earnest performance as the real-... Read more... |
After the Wedding review - a high-tension gut punchFriday, 01 November 2019
How long can one decision follow you? How long can you hide from it? This is what underpins After the Wedding, a remake of Susanne Bier’s Efter brylluppet. It’s a drama shaped like a thriller, driven by emotion rather than intrigue. We’re introduced... Read more... |
Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's unapologetic assault on the gig economyThursday, 31 October 2019
If the recent period of British history that has involved recession, austerity, the hostile environment and Brexit is to have chroniclers, who better than Ken Loach and his trusty screenwriter Paul Laverty. Their blend of carefully researched social... Read more... |
Official Secrets review – powerful political thrillerThursday, 17 October 2019
Early in the political drama Official Secrets, Keira Knightley’s real-life whistleblower Katharine Gun watches Tony Blair on television, giving his now infamous justification for the impending Iraq War, namely the existence of weapons of mass... Read more... |
