Category: Film

★★★★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.…

★★★½ Full of energy, affection and personality, Digby & Camille is a sweet slice-of-life documentary about a couple living with Down syndrome, making its world premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival. Tender, funny and unabashedly affectionate, Digby & Camille captures an intimate portrait of a relationship that has spanned eight…

A story of grief and female trauma, The Latcher tells the story of a midwife haunted by an entity that materialises after the loss of her baby postpartum. Paralysed with fear, Alice, the film’s protagonist (Lucy Lovegrove), tries to find a way to get back with her husband and patch…

Let’s address the obvious question first. Why would anyone pay to watch cat videos on the big screen when they can spend hours watching them for free online? The answer is surprisingly simple. Because CatVideoFest isn’t really about the videos themselves; it’s about sharing them. Part compilation film, part celebration…

★★★★½ Obsession, the newest offering by Curry Barker, leans into the age‑old warning to be careful what you wish for, delivering an unexpected fusion of romance/horror that challenges the viewer’s assumptions about the nature of fixation. The film follows Bear (Michael Johnston), a music store employee who stumbles upon a…

★★★★☆ A hilarious yet surprisingly tender family drama, The Last Viking is an absurd journey of acceptance and the development of unconditional love. It’s also about a gaggle of folks with dissociative personality disorder who believe themselves to be the members of The Beatles. They attempt to form a band,…

★★★★☆ 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…

★★★★★ The first time we see Pene Pati, he is not standing beneath a chandelier in one of Europe’s grand opera houses. He is wearing shorts and a singlet, pulling a lawnmower from a shed. With the physique of a rugby forward or UFC heavyweight, he does not immediately resemble…

★★★½ There’s something viscerally beautiful about a film so grounded in time and space. In our current cinematic landscape dominated by elevated horror, big blockbusters and financially safe remakes, seeing an understated film laced with raw honesty is a refreshing change. Set in the pristine, frosty white lands of Sápmi,…

★★★½ Set in Helsinki in 1930, The Kidnapping of a President, funnily enough, tells the story of exactly that: the kidnapping of President Stahlberg. What ensues is a series of incompetent events. An alcoholic Lieutenant Colonel, Eoro, drunkenly issues the call for a revolution early, enlisting a team of ragamuffins…

★★★½ The sea is calling… or more accurately, Disney is calling audiences back to cinemas with its live-action remake of Moana. Since its release in 2016, Moana has become Disney’s most-streamed film on Disney+. Between 2020 and 2025 alone, audiences streamed 37 billion minutes of the beloved adventure, cementing its place as one…

★★★☆☆ 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.…

★★★★★ Reach for the sky…or a screen. In Toy Story 5, the rise of technology can only mean one thing…extinction for toys and relegation to a dreaded place: long-term storage. Writer-directors Andrew Stanton and McKenna Harris, alongside the team at Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, have put together an…

★★★½ There’s a scene in Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz’s Another League which would be hilarious were it not so cringeworthy. A class of teenage girls receives a visit from a well-coiffed speaker, looking a lot like Margaret Thatcher. She represents the bizarrely named “Women’s Section” of the Spanish government.…

★★★★½ Directed by Juan Carvajal, La Salsa Vive is a pulsating and insightful documentary that tells the story of two cities that share a common bond – the rhythm of salsa – from its roots in New York City to its current location in Cali, Colombia.  Through more than five…

★★★★☆ There was a cinematic trend in the eighties and nineties where it was near impossible to kill off the villain. In Cape Fear, Sleeping with the Enemy and Fatal Attraction, the enemy simply refused to die easily – or sometimes appeared to die twice. Echoes of the syndrome appear…

★★★★☆ Loosely based on Tiziano Scarpa’s novel Stabat Mater, Primavera offers a compelling portrait of music as both refuge and liberation. Through the developing bond between an orphaned violinist and Antonio Vivaldi, the film explores how artistic expression can flourish even within the constraints of eighteenth-century Venetian society. An Official…

★★★★½ Prime Minister…The Queen is waiting. Since 2009, National Theatre Live has screened world-class filmed productions across the globe. Australian audiences can experience Dame Helen Mirren at the height of her powers when the celebrated 2013 production of The Audience makes its return to the screen. Each week at approximately…

★★★★☆ Inspired by a true sibling relationship, Buffalo Kids is a wholesome animated adventure film that contains just the right amount of slapstick humour to delight young audiences.  It begins with a slip-sliding action sequence as a ship docks in New York. Among those on board are two young orphans, Tom (Conor…

★★★★☆ A short time ago in a cinema not very far away… Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The first live-action Star Wars film to hit cinemas since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. In a surprising pivot away from Disney+, director and co-writer Jon Favreau takes what could…

★★★★☆ Premiering Out of Competition at Cannes in 2025, Thierry Klifa’s The Richest Woman in the World arrives with the glossy whiff of scandal and the even glossier whiff of perfume capital. The film is loosely inspired by the Bettencourt affair, but Klifa, co-writing with Cédric Anger and Jacques Fieschi,…

★★★☆☆ We’re all familiar with democracy sausage. Each election, fortified by the local butcher’s bangers, we bond over the most elementary democratic activity. Well, here the sausage is collateral damage in a bin-fire argument that breaks out over a seemingly innocuous decision to upgrade a BBQ – the titular Holy…

★★★☆☆ Power Ballad sees intellectual property theft that will make your head explode and your belly jiggle. Cat burglaries and heists are always great fodder for the crime thriller. We cheered on Sean Connery when he had to straddle laser beams to reach treasure in Entrapment, and again with Michael…

★★★½ In a cinematic landscape crowded with dystopian road films, The Run enters the conversation with familiar terrain under its wheels. Written and directed by Stephen de Villiers, this South Australian production, which premiered at the 2025 Adelaide Film Festival, follows an ageing smuggler navigating a fractured, post-pandemic world shaped…

★★★★★ Trust in institutions is at a tipping point. You feel it in the opinion polls. You see it in the weekly protests on the inner-city marble steps. Prosecution (Staatsschutz) is a contemporaneous reflection on our tearing social fabric. Directed by Faraz Shariat and winner of the Audience Award at…

★★★☆☆ The Talented Mr F is a German documentary that follows Berlin filmmakers, Julius Drost and Moritz Hennenberg, after their animated short film is stolen and submitted to festivals by an American, Samuel Felinton. Samuel receives critical acclaim from these festivals, multiple awards, and prize money, and gives interviews to…

★★★★☆ Written and directed by then 32-year-old Fatih Akin, Head-On (Gegen die Wand) was released in 2004 and is now showing at the HSBC German Film Festival as part of an Akin retrospective, Spotlight on Akin. It’s a story of the migrant experience, specifically the Turkish community in Hamburg, Germany. Akin, as a German…

★★★★☆ 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…

★★★½ With movie sequels trending in Hollywood, there’s nothing more stylish than bringing back a fan favourite. The Devil Wears Prada 2 does exactly this, decked out with stunning fashions, celebrity cameos, pop music, and talented actors. It’s unsurprising that it’s been so highly anticipated. According to Forbes, The Devil…