Author: Alex Thompson

★★★★½ We hear about the French Resistance, and rightly so, but what happened to the French military after France fell? What exactly was Free France, who fought for it, and how did those forces contribute to the eventual Allied victory? Until watching De Gaulle: Résistance, I realised I really didn’t know.…

★★★★☆ There are certain places in the world that fascinate me despite never having visited them, and Russia is one of them. Its snow-covered forests, imposing cities, complex history and political intrigue have always drawn me in. I had just finished reading Red Notice by Bill Browder, an extraordinary account of the…

★★★☆☆ There is something undeniably appealing about Glenrothan. Set against the breathtaking landscapes of Scotland, it centres around family, regret, forgiveness, and identity. Directed by Brian Cox in his feature directorial debut and starring Cox alongside Alan Cumming and Shirley Henderson, the film has all the ingredients for an emotional crowd-pleaser.…

★★★★☆ There’s something quietly charming about the film You, Always. In a landscape increasingly dominated by large-scale international productions, this is a heartfelt and proudly local Australian romantic comedy. Produced by Jaggi Entertainment, who continue to build a strong catalogue of accessible, audience-driven films, this release is another reminder that Australian…

Alphabet Lane is a quietly unsettling Australian film that explores loneliness, identity, and the fragile ways people cope when connection disappears. Written and directed by James Litchfield and set against a beautifully shot rural backdrop, the film follows Anna (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) and Jack (Nicholas Denton), a couple who relocate from Sydney…

★★★★☆ There’s a quiet confidence to All That’s Left of You that immediately sets it apart from most films tackling the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Written, directed, and co-starring Cherien Dabis, the film resists the urge to lecture. It trusts the audience to sit inside the lived experience of a Palestinian family and draw…

There’s no shortage of reasons to head to the cinema for a filmed stage production, not least the simple pleasure of settling in with a choc top and some popcorn while someone else does the emotional heavy lifting. When that production happens to feature Toby Jones sinking his teeth into…

★★★☆☆ We’ve known since Jaws that isolating people in open water with a large sea predator is a reliable way to churn up tension, so how about a killer whale? The orca has already breached once before in the 1977 film Orca, so this isn’t uncharted territory. What Killer Whale attempts instead is to shift…