★★★★☆ Golden Bear-winning cultural assimilation drama Synonyms is expertly handled by its director Nadav Lapid. That of relocating, whether it be by city, country or even school, is an unsettling experience most can relate to, though it’s heightened – and duplicated – for that […]
★★★☆☆ The strained relationship between a father and his son is tenderly observed in End of Sentence, the debut feature film from Elfar Adalsteins. Predominantly set against the backdrop of Ireland, this drama – starring John Hawkes and Logan Lerman – treads a familiar […]
★★★☆☆ Filmed in and around Scotland’s fourth largest city Dundee, Schemers – receiving its World Premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival – makes up for in rough-and-ready charm what it lacks in technical finesse. It’s a film backed by community spirit; Dundee-born […]
★★★☆☆ The curtain rose on the 73rd Edinburgh International Film Festival last week with music director Ninian Doff’s feature debut Get Duked! (aka Boyz in the Wood). Set in the Scottish Highlands, this inspired mashup of comedy, thriller and social satire is an unexpected delight that […]
The full programme for this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival has been revealed, bolstering 18 world premieres and 72 UK premieres of films brought to the Scottish capital from countries all over. Now in its 73rd year, the world’s longest continuously running film festival […]
★★★☆☆ Jim Haynes is the focus of Meeting Jim, an unexpectedly captivating documentary by Ece Ger that’s been nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Film award at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Quite rightly too, as Jim spent a large portion of his […]
★★★★☆ Matt Palmer’s debut feature Calibre is a tense, brutal thriller set in the rural Scottish Highlands. It boasts meaty performances from local talent Jack Lowden and Martin McCann as Vaughn and Marcus respectively, two childhood friends reunited for a weekend hunting trip. Vaughn […]
★★☆☆☆ It’s a who’s who of comedic talent in The Little Hours, which puts a modern spin on The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio’s collection of 14th century tales that is said to have inspired Chaucer and Shakespeare, amongst other celebrated writers.Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and […]
★★★☆☆ This culture clash comedy in the vein of late 1990s classic East Is East is warm-hearted, funny and light-footed. Raghdan (Nikesh Patel) lives in Sligo, where he moved from Bradford a few years ago to live with his uncle Jamal (Paul Tylak). He […]
★★☆☆☆ Up in the Scottish highlands on a break to try and rescue their fledging relationship, Louise (Rebecca Calder) and Claire (Deirdre Mullins) endure difficult occurrences in Gary Love’s less-than-inventive thriller.It starts out well enough. Louise, clearly experiencing a level of past trauma teased […]
★★★★☆ Honouring and recognising the city of London through the power of images set to a beautifully orchestrated score, London Symphony – the crowdfunded documentary film from critic and filmmaker Alex Barrett – is an ode to a bustling, diverse and ever-changing capital.It’s a […]
★★★☆☆ Michelle Pfeiffer delivers one of her best performance in years in Where is Kyra?, director Andrew Dosunmu’s follow-up to Mother of George. It’s a dark, often suffocating character study that revels in misery, barely a hint of levity in sight as a woman […]
★★★☆☆ Damien Power’s feature debut Killing Ground adopts an interesting non-linear structure that nicely builds tension to tell a story that’s otherwise unremarkable. However smart it is in its plotting, the film ultimately succumbs to needlessly over-the-top violence.Ian (Ian Meadows) and Sam (Harriet Dyer), […]
★★☆☆☆ Esteemed British actor John Hurt sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 77, with one of his final roles being in Eric Styles’ That Good Night, which receives its World Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this week.That Good […]
★★★★☆ This biopic of celebrated gay icon Touko Valio Laaksonen (known to many as Tom of Finland, played by Pekka Strang) is smartly made by Finnish director Dome Karukoski, whose feature treads on the heels of a well-received documentary released in 1991.The film spans […]
★★★☆☆ Adapted from the best-selling novel Why We Took the Car, Goodbye Berlin is a quirky German coming-of-age comedy that’s funny if a bit formulaic. Maik (Tristan Gobel) is a disconnected teen; his mother is an alcoholic, his father isn’t interested and he has […]
★★★★☆ Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country, a poignant gay romance about self-discovery in rural West Yorkshire, has been labelled a Brokeback Mountain on the Dales. It’s an understandable analogy, but it does understate the brilliance of Lee’s vivid depiction of love, lust and lambing.Johnny […]
Doors to the Edinburgh International Film Festival reopened tonight with the UK premiere of acclaimed coming-of-age drama God’s Own Country. The festival, now in its 71st year, closes with the World premiere of unofficial Morrissey biopic England Is Mine.Films set to screen in the […]
