Little White Lies - Movie Reviews and News

Little White Lies - Movie Reviews and Articles

Read The Tree of Life Effect

The Tree of Life Effect

Long Read by Maia Wyman

Terrence Malick’s 2011 masterpiece has borne plentiful fruit

Read it
Deep Cuts

Celebrating the Splendour, Anarchy and Creative Genius of Sandy Powell

by Desirae Embree

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of James Whale’s 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein marks 40 years in the singular career of costume designer Sandy Powell.
In Praise Of

The Unspoken Desire of Dečki

by Vuk Winrow

In a landmark piece of Slovenian cinema, Stanko Jost articulated the challenges and beauty of queer desire. 

LWLies 112: The Father Mother Sister Brother issue – Out now!

We deliver a fully-illustrated salute to Jim Jarmusch’s Golden Lion-winning triptych film about the pain and joy of having parents. 

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Latest reviews

Review

Arco review – primary-colour, major-key storytelling

by Michael Leader

Ugo Bienvenu’s feature debut is equal parts polished and particular, whimsical and weird.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Review

Project Hail Mary review – an entertaining adventure, not a memorable one

by Hannah Strong

Ryan Gosling’s charisma is what really sells this adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel about a science teacher-turned-astronaut stranded in space.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Man in black coat and bowler hat walking on wet path between bare trees, viewed from behind on overcast day.
Review

La Grazia review – trite banalities across the board

by David Jenkins

Paolo Sorrentino’s latest tries to recapture the unruly political bite of his early films, with mixed results.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Review

Broken English review – an imaginative ode to the late Marianne Faithfull

by Katherine McLaughlin

The 60s rock legend gets a career-spanning portrait in the form an unconventional hybrid doc by filmmaker duo Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Review

Scarlet review – a disappointing offering from an anime legend

by Callie Petch

Mamoru Hosada sings his typical notes atypically off-key in this ambitious but messy fantasy loosely inspired by Hamlet.

4
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Review

A Pale View of Hills review – a sombre adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s debut novel

by David Jenkins

A final act revelation lands with a clunking thud in Kei Ishikawa’s downbeat story of a mother’s choice to leave Japan after the war. 

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
View all

Features

Deep Cuts

Celebrating the Splendour, Anarchy and Creative Genius of Sandy Powell

by Desirae Embree

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of James Whale’s 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein marks 40 years in the singular career of costume designer Sandy Powell.
Long Read

The Tree of Life Effect

by Maia Wyman

The imagery of Terrence Malick’s 2011 masterpiece has borne plentiful fruit – for better or for worse.
In Praise Of

The Unspoken Desire of Dečki

by Vuk Winrow

In a landmark piece of Slovenian cinema, Stanko Jost articulated the challenges and beauty of queer desire. 
In Praise Of

If you don’t play, you can’t win: Desert Hearts at 40

by Emily Maskell

Donna Deitch’s 1986 lesbian romance is a fearless example of why it’s so important the queer community are able to tell their own stories.
This Just In

How the Scream franchise's mask slipped

by Patrick Sproull

Between the firing of Melissa Barrera for supporting Palestine and a staunch refusal to innovate, the once-beloved horror series has reached new lows.
Interviews

Daniel Blumberg: ​‘The ingredients were there to make something special and unique’

by Claire Biddles

Meeting the compositional maestro behind the complex web of sounds and rhythms in Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee.
View more

Club LWLies Exclusives

Deep Cuts

Celebrating the Splendour, Anarchy and Creative Genius of Sandy Powell

by Desirae Embree

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s reimagining of James Whale’s 1935 classic The Bride of Frankenstein marks 40 years in the singular career of costume designer Sandy Powell.
Two men in black tops against pastel pink and blue cloudy background with scattered geometric shapes and symbols.
Deep Cuts

Playground Love: How Air scored The Virgin Suicides

by Paul Weedon

The French electronic duo were the musical backbone behind Sofia Coppola’s startling debut. A 25th anniversary reissue saw them reconstructing much of their work from scratch.
Illustration depicting a close-up of a fantasy warrior figure with a face painted in bold, vibrant colours of blue, yellow, and red. The figure wears ornate, armoured clothing.
Deep Cuts

Life is a B-Movie: Joe D’Amato’s Bizarre Prophecy of 2025

by Mila Fielker

A dystopian retro-future of telepathic mutants, gladiators and fascists – does Joe D’Amato’s vision of 2025 show any resemblance to our current reality?
Deep Cuts

The New Bootlegs: Open Matte Films & Unofficial Scans

by Lexie Corbett

The unofficial, often open matte scans of these films preserve a tactile history of cinema in its imperfect totality.
Deep Cuts

When pop stars become auteurs

by Anna McKibbin

The visual album is a key, genre-defying vessel for pop music titans transferring the symbolic power of their music to image-making.
Deep Cuts

The complicated legacy of heavy metal in cinema

by Sarah Cleary

Metal is often given short shrift at the movies, but a handful of great auteurs have used the genre and its subculture to brilliant effect.
View all

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