Posts by Josh Slater-Williams

Klokkenluider review – a strong tonal balancing act

By Josh Slater-Williams

Actor Neil Maskell makes his debut as a filmmaker with this spiky thriller.

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Small, Slow but Steady

By Josh Slater-Williams

A young hearing impaired boxer finds her hopes of going pro under threat due to the Covid-19 pandemic in Shô Miyake's loose adaptation of Keiko Ogasawara's autobiography.

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Harka

By Josh Slater-Williams

A young man in Tunisia steps up to care for his younger sisters following the death of their father in Lotfy Nathan's electrifying drama.

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Godland

By Josh Slater-Williams

A Danish priest mounts an escapade to Iceland with a camera in hand and a dream of building a church in Hlynur Pálmason’s darkly comic epic.

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Why Decision to Leave deserves the Best Costume Design Oscar

By Josh Slater-Williams

Park Chan-wook's elegant neo-noir has been shut out of the awards race, but Jung Ae Kwak's impeccable costume work deserves a closer look.

Elegance Bratton: ‘Growing up, I never saw any Black queer heroes in movies’

By Josh Slater-Williams

The director of The Inspection reflects on the experience of translating his time as a closeted marine into an affecting drama.

Hunt

By Josh Slater-Williams

Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae stars in his directorial debut, a high-voltage espionage thriller set in 1980s South Korea.

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Klokkenluider – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Actor Neil Maskell makes his debut as a filmmaker with this spiky thriller.

The Forgiven

By Josh Slater-Williams

Jessica Chastain and Ralph Fiennes are unhappily married in John Michael McDonagh's uninspired culture clash drama.

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Eiffel

By Josh Slater-Williams

A strong showing from Emma Mackey aside, this biopic of engineer Pierre Eiffel is built on rocky foundations.

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a-ha: The Movie

By Josh Slater-Williams

Norway’s favourite synth-pop sons receive the full music biography treatment in this intimate documentary.

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The Outfit

By Josh Slater-Williams

A tailor and his assistant become caught up in organised crime in Graham Moore’s compelling drama.

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Lucie Zhang: ‘The nudity was like wearing a costume’

By Josh Slater-Williams

The star of Jacques Audiard’s Parisian drama reflects on her whirlwind journey from first-time actor to the Cannes red carpet.

Munich: The Edge of War

By Josh Slater-Williams

Netflix rings in the new year with an austere World War Two espionage thriller from director Christian Schwochow.

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The Great Yokai War: Guardians – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

It’s legends only as Takashi Miike returns to the scene of his family-friendly fantasy extravaganza from 2005.

Five of the best films from the 74th Locarno Film Festival

By Josh Slater-Williams

The global pandemic seeped into this year’s programme in some unusual and surprising ways.

Tallulah Greive: ‘Working-class women aren’t homogeneous’

By Josh Slater-Williams

The star of the riotous Our Ladies talks classism, taking teens seriously and why Derry Girls comparisons are off base.

Our Ladies

By Josh Slater-Williams

Set in ’90s Scotland, Michael Caton-Jones’ winning comedy-drama sees a group of Catholic girls cut loose.

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The Devil’s Deal – first look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Lee Won-tae follows up his 2019 hit The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil, with another accomplished underworld crime saga.

Fear Street: 1666

By Josh Slater-Williams

Netflix’s time-skipping horror trilogy reaches a satisfying conclusion via a 17th-century Sarah Fier origin story.

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Fear Street: 1978

By Josh Slater-Williams

The second part of Netflix’s RL Stine-inspired horror trilogy is a serious upgrade on its muddled predecessor.

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Fear Street: 1994

By Josh Slater-Williams

A lacklustre opening to this new trilogy of teen slasher yarns based on the books by RL Stine.

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WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc

By Josh Slater-Williams

A charming and insightful docu-journey to rediscover one of the great pioneers of the ‘Zamrock’ movement.

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Surge

By Josh Slater-Williams

A powder-keg performance from Ben Whishaw powers this visceral London-set crime thriller.

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I Blame Society

By Josh Slater-Williams

A filmmaker turns serial killer in this lively meta mockumentary from writer/director Gillian Wallace Horvat.

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Stray

By Josh Slater-Williams

Istanbul’s semi-feral dog population is the focus of this thought-provoking ethnographic documentary.

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Limbo – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Soi Cheang’s grisly yet dazzling monochrome noir follows a pair of cops investigating a serial murderer.

Tides – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Tim Fehlbaum’s effective if overfamiliar sci-fi sees an astronaut become shipwrecked on a desolate Earth.

Creation Stories – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

This muddled biopic of music industry figurehead Alan McGee features some truly disastrous cameo appearances.

Rose Island

By Josh Slater-Williams

An eccentric Italian engineer constructs an island utopia in the Adriatic Sea in this old-fashioned charmer.

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Murder Me, Monster

By Josh Slater-Williams

A headless woman sparks a search for a mythical creature in Alejandro Fadel’s taut mountainside thriller.

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Isadora’s Children

By Josh Slater-Williams

Damien Manivel’s drama captures the grace and poise of pioneering choreographer Isadora Duncan.

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Special Actors – first-look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Shinichiro Ueda follows up his breakout hit One Cut of the Dead with a similarly entertaining and inventive character drama.

A Julia Fox erotic drama explores domination and digital life

By Josh Slater-Williams

She stars alongside fellow Safdie brothers alumni Buddy Duress in this darkly funny modern cautionary tale.

Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles

By Josh Slater-Williams

Salvador Simó presents a creative cartoon portrait of pioneering filmmaker Luis Buñuel.

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The Vast of Night

By Josh Slater-Williams

Andrew Patterson’s incredible debut feels like a spiritual successor to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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Blow the Man Down

By Josh Slater-Williams

Grieving sisters attempt to cover up a grisly crime in this Coens-esque noir set in a small fishing town.

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Dogs Don’t Wear Pants

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s myriad pleasures to be had in this sex-positive romantic comedy set in the world of BDSM.

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Run

By Josh Slater-Williams

Scott Graham’s impressive third feature stars Mark Stanley as a factory worker with a need for speed.

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So Long, My Son

By Josh Slater-Williams

Wang Xiaoshuai’s domestic drama charts a generation of political and social upheaval in his native China.

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Earthquake Bird

By Josh Slater-Williams

Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough flounder in tepid psychosexual thriller, based on the Susanna Jones novel.

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Chained for Life

By Josh Slater-Williams

Adam Pearson of Under the Skin fame takes centre stage in Aaron Schimberg’s smart meta comedy.

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Monos

By Josh Slater-Williams

A group of teenage guerrillas enter the heart of darkness in Alejandro Landes’ mountaintop tour de force.

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Gwen

By Josh Slater-Williams

William McGregor’s atmospheric Industrial Revolution-era folk horror runs out of plot.

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The Vast of Night – first look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s shades of early Steven Spielberg and The Twilight Zone in Andrew Patterson’s debut feature.

Halston

By Josh Slater-Williams

The colourful life of the late American fashion designer is the focus of Frédéric Tcheng’s latest documentary.

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The Perfection

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s shades of Brian De Palma and Park Chan-wook in this Allison Williams-starring Netflix thriller.

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Beats

By Josh Slater-Williams

Mismatched buddy antics power this enjoyable and euphoric trip back to the '90s warehouse rave scene.

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A Keanu Reeves film festival promises a most excellent adventure

By Josh Slater-Williams

Matchbox Cineclub’s KeanuCon weekender will chart the cult star’s career from babe to Baba Yaga.

Loro

By Josh Slater-Williams

Toni Servillo is Silvio Berlusconi in this partially fictionalised biopic from Paolo Sorrentino.

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Unicorn Store

By Josh Slater-Williams

Brie Larson directs and stars in this enjoyably idiosyncratic comedy about realising your childhood dreams.

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The best new films at the 2019 Glasgow Film Festival

By Josh Slater-Williams

Highlights from this year’s programme, including a tribute to legendary DoP Robby Müller.

Maiden

By Josh Slater-Williams

This timely documentary recounts the inspiring story of a female sailing crew’s round-the-world voyage.

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Beats – first look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Two best friends have the night of their young lives in Brian Welsh’s rave-era coming-of-ager.

David Dastmalchian on poverty and abuse drama All Creatures Here Below

By Josh Slater-Williams

The character actor and screenwriter talks presenting truth on screen, and what he’s learned from his time in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.

A beginner’s guide to the films of Lee Chang-dong

By Josh Slater-Williams

To celebrate the release of Burning, we survey the South Korean writer/director’s earlier work.

Waru

By Josh Slater-Williams

Eight Māori female directors combine for this heart-rending drama centred around a young boy’s funeral.

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Shirkers

By Josh Slater-Williams

The curious tale of a first feature stolen by a crew member is the subject of Sandi Ten’s fascinating autobiographical documentary.

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The sex work-positive horror written by a former camgirl

By Josh Slater-Williams

Filmmakers Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber discuss their provocative techno-thriller Cam.

The 10 best films from the 2018 Locarno Film Festival

By Josh Slater-Williams

A smorgasbord of international cinematic treasures was on offer at this year's festival.

Unicorn Store – first look review

By Josh Slater-Williams

Brie Larson directs and stars in this free-spirited indie comedy about a woman in pursuit of a pet unicorn.

The Ciambra

By Josh Slater-Williams

A small Romani community is the setting for Jonas Carpignano’s tender coming-of-age story.

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A new cult film festival is spotlighting forgotten cinematic gems

By Josh Slater-Williams

Matchbox Cineclub have programmed a weekend of strange and unseen cinema from around the world.

Grease at 40: A first-time look at a pop culture classic

By Josh Slater-Williams

You know the songs, but is there more to this seemingly innocent high school musical than meets the eye?

Eight films to watch before you see The Shape of Water

By Josh Slater-Williams

Seek out these inspirations for Guillermo del Toro’s latest, including The Red Shoes and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Why I love Nicolas Cage’s performance in Bringing Out the Dead

By Josh Slater-Williams

The actor is at his intense and emotional best in Martin Scorsese’s underrated late ’90s thriller.

Brigsby Bear

By Josh Slater-Williams

If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure to be underwhelmed...

review

Why I love Dwayne Johnson’s performance in Pain & Gain

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s more to his larger-than-life turn than meets the eye.

How The Lost World taught me that films can be cruel

By Josh Slater-Williams

A key death in Steven Spielberg’s 1997 sequel completely altered my perception of cinema.

Detour

By Josh Slater-Williams

Some major young acting talent is put to waste in Christopher Smith’s garbled and derivative neo-noir.

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The Secret Scripture

By Josh Slater-Williams

Rooney Mara is let down by weak scripting in this underpowered study of religious persecution in Ireland.

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Gimme Danger

By Josh Slater-Williams

Jim Jarmusch lauds The Stooges, the greatest rock ’n’ roll band that ever lived.

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Gary Numan: Android in La La Land

By Josh Slater-Williams

The electro pop pioneer opens up his home and his studio in this intimate if uneven documentary profile.

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The Library Suicides

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s plenty to admire about this nifty, twisty Welsh-language thriller from director Euros Lyn.

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Kids in Love

By Josh Slater-Williams

Cara Delevingne and Will Poulter star in this bland bohemian coming-of-ager from Chris Foggin.

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The Boss

By Josh Slater-Williams

Despite Melissa McCarthy’s best efforts this loose capitalist satire is a comically bankrupt affair.

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The Daughter

By Josh Slater-Williams

There’s a touch of Thomas Vinterberg about this impressive Aussie debut from Simon Stone.

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The five best films from IndieLisboa 2016

By Josh Slater-Williams

From the story of an easily seduced movie sub-titler to an innovative study of exhuming the dead through acting.

A brilliant film about pregnancy plays at IndieLisboa

By Josh Slater-Williams

Olmo and the Seagull deserves its comparison to Rosemary’s Baby, despite being a very different beast.

Hardcore Henry

By Josh Slater-Williams

This ultra-violent FPS inspired actioner is about as fun as watching someone else play a video game.

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Six of the best films featuring all-female rock bands

By Josh Slater-Williams

The release of Jem and the Holograms reminded us of these great fictional female groups.

Swung

By Josh Slater-Williams

This Glasgow based sex odyssey offers little more than soap opera erotica.

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The Hallow

By Josh Slater-Williams

A nifty, inventive horror film which sadly comes up a little short when it comes to cold, hard scares.

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