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Pillion (2025) Review – When Intimacy Defies Expectation
In one sentence: Pillion shows a shy, sheltered man who enters into a consensual dom/sub relationship with an aloof biker, forcing both characters and audience to confront uncomfortable questions about power, intimacy and choice. Queer romance has increasingly found space in mainstream cinema, which is both welcome and necessary. Pillion, adapted from Adam Mars-Jones’ novel…
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Die My Love (2025) Review – A Portrait of Postpartum Descent
In one sentence: Die My Love presents a new mother’s descent into postnatal depression and psychosis that is intensified by isolation, dislocation and the emotional fallout of motherhood. We are often told that becoming a mother is transformative in the best possible way, but cinema rarely explores what happens when that transformation is destructive rather…
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The Housemaid (2025) Review – Lust, Lies and Locked Rooms
In one sentence: The Housemaid follows young woman, Millie, who takes a live-in job with a wealthy couple, only to find herself trapped in a seductive, gaslit power game where desire, deception and control are tightly locked behind closed doors. Bestselling psychological thrillers have become fertile ground for screen adaptations and The Housemaid sinks its…
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One Battle After Another (2025) Review – Revolution Without Rest
In one sentence: One Battle After Another follows a former revolutionary forced back into conflict when the past he tried to escape comes violently for his daughter. Cinema often treats conflict as something external, a battle to be fought and resolved, but One Battle After Another is more interested in conflict as a way of…
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Permission (2017) Review – Testing the Boundaries of Commitment
In one sentence: Permission follows a long term couple who, on the brink of engagement, agree to explore other relationships, only to discover that freedom comes with unexpected consequences. How can you be sure your partner is the one? Permission confronts this question head on. Anna (Rebecca Hall) and Will (Dan Stevens) are a couple…
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Summer in February (2013) Review – When Art and Love Collide
In one sentence: Summer in February follows two close friends in pre WWI Cornwall whose bond is tested when a young woman enters their creative circle, igniting desire, rivalry and tragedy. Period British dramas were as popular as ever at the time Summer in February was released. Downton Abbey dominated television and Dan Stevens had…
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On Swift Horses (2025) Review – When Longing Outpaces Action
In one sentence: On Swift Horses is a post-war American drama following Muriel and Julius as they navigate repression, risk, and emotional longing in the aftermath of the Korean War. Based on the book by Shannon Pufahl, On Swift Horses brings together some of the most talked-about actors of the moment in a quiet, beautifully…
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The Ticket (2016) Review – A Modern Moral Fable
In one sentence: The Ticket is a modern moral fable in which a blind man’s newfound vision forces him to confront his life. Growing up, many of us encountered Aesop’s fables and their clear moral lessons, yet overtly moralistic films are relatively rare in contemporary cinema. Modern storytelling often favours ambiguity, inviting audiences to draw…
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Troll (2022) Review – A Nordic Legend Goes Large
In one sentence: Troll is a Norwegian creature feature that brings ancient folklore and large-scale action together in a dramatic, monster-driven narrative. Cinema has always had a fondness for creature features and the ongoing success of the Kong and Godzilla franchises proves that audiences still enjoy watching things get bigger, louder and more destructive. Norway…
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Ideal Home (2018) Review – Love, Laughter and an Unlikely Family
In one sentence: Ideal Home is a warm comedy about an unlikely family navigating unexpected guardianship and the joys and frustrations that come with it. There was a time when I would have actively avoided a film led by Steve Coogan, but those days are long gone. Since the excellent Philomena, Coogan has grown into…
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