Posts by Katherine McLaughlin

The Last Year of Darkness review – a wild ride through Chengdu’s queer scene

By Katherine McLaughlin

Ben Mullinkosson captures the agony and the ecstasy of Chinese club kids in this ode to one of Chengdu's underground queer spaces.

review

Eileen review – an impressively crafted noir

By Katherine McLaughlin

A shy young prison guard develops an infatuation with her workplace's new psychiatrist in William Oldroyd's twisty new thriller.

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Talk to Me review – visually and emotionally brutal horror

By Katherine McLaughlin

YouTube duo Michael and Danny Philippou make the ambitious leap to feature filmmaking with a thoroughly disturbing, uncompromising horror.

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Rodeo

By Katherine McLaughlin

A young French-Guadeloupian woman enters the male-dominated world of moto cross biking in Lola Quivoron’s daring debut feature.

review

Tall, Dark and Gruesome: a celebration of Christopher Lee’s Count Dracula

By Katherine McLaughlin

On the centenary of a horror icon, we celebrate Christopher Lee's indelible contribution to a vampiric legend.

A Banquet

By Katherine McLaughlin

Ruth Paxton’s debut feature conveys the anxieties and misconceptions surrounding disordered eating through psychological horror.

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Monsters and Men

By Katherine McLaughlin

John David Washington is a cop struggling to come to terms with systematic racism in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s debut feature.

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Ghost Stories

By Katherine McLaughlin

Martin Freeman heads up this unnerving horror compendium from writer/directors Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson.

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Victoria & Abdul

By Katherine McLaughlin

Judi Dench reprises her role as Queen Victoria in this touching study of later-life depression.

review

Patti Cake$

By Katherine McLaughlin

Danielle Macdonald announces herself in storming fashion in this spirited film about finding your voice.

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Lizzie Borden reflects on her vital feminist sci-fi Born in Flames

By Katherine McLaughlin

The American director discusses the issues at the heart of her newly remastered 1983 film.

How Raw channels the bloody coming of age of Ginger Snaps

By Katherine McLaughlin

Both films express a uniquely female concern through visceral imagery.

City of Tiny Lights

By Katherine McLaughlin

Riz Ahmed’s acting talents are wasted in this needlessly convoluted noir thriller.

review

Alice Lowe’s advice to women working in the film industry

By Katherine McLaughlin

The Prevenge director on how she owned her womanhood by flipping a perceived weakness into a strength.

Black Lives Matter – Social media activism and the politics of protest

By Katherine McLaughlin

How a handful of filmmakers and a simple hashtag turned stories of African-American oppression into a national concern.

How Train to Busan channels the social panic of Snowpiercer

By Katherine McLaughlin

The end of the world has a familiar theme in these train-based South Korean allegories.

Jackie – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

Natalie Portman gives a stunning central performance in this emotional portrait of the iconic First Lady.

The Bad Batch – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

Cannibals and Keanu Reeves abound in Ana Lily Amirpour’s crazed vision of post-society America.

A Woman’s Life – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

There’s shades of Lars von Trier in this exquisitely crafted period piece from director Stéphane Brizé.

Hacksaw Ridge – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

Mad Mel returns to the director‘s chair, preaching pacifism in a church whose walls are splashed with gore.

Frantz – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

François Ozon returns with a full-bodied tale of stunted romance and the pained legacy of warfare.

How Summertime channels the pro-choice spirit of One Sings, the Other Doesn’t

By Katherine McLaughlin

Catherine Corsini’s new film carries the torch for Agnès Varda’s feminist musical.

Maggie’s Plan

By Katherine McLaughlin

Greta Gerwig has the time of her life in Rebecca Miller’s shallow portrait of middle-class ennui.

review

Central Intelligence

By Katherine McLaughlin

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart prove perfect comedic bedfellows in this snappy crime caper.

review

How When Marnie Was There evokes the melancholy of Lilo & Stitch

By Katherine McLaughlin

Studio Ghibli’s latest and Disney’s 2002 film both deal with themes of abandonment, alienation and loss.

Elle – first look review

By Katherine McLaughlin

Isabelle Huppert delivers a stunning, unflinching performance in this blackly comic rape-revenge thriller.

How Mustang evokes the coming-of-age melancholy of The Virgin Suicides

By Katherine McLaughlin

Sofia Coppola and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s films speak of innocence lost and the trials of young womanhood.

How Midnight Special channels the cosmic force of Starman

By Katherine McLaughlin

Jeff Nichols’ new film maps a similar thematic route to John Carpenter’s classic 1984 sci-fi.

10 Cloverfield Lane

By Katherine McLaughlin

This frisky and frenetic sort-of-sequel to Matt Reeves’ 2008 monster movie boasts a trio of amazing performances.

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How Anomalisa echoes the existential blues of Chantal Akerman’s Je, Tu, Il, Elle

By Katherine McLaughlin

Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s meditative drama is the spiritual cousin of the late Belgian director’s 1974 debut.

Freeheld

By Katherine McLaughlin

Julianne Moore and Ellen Page can’t salvage this tame dramatisation of a momentous civil rights case study.

review

How Our Brand Is Crisis evokes the sparky political satire of Election

By Katherine McLaughlin

Sandra Bullock’s spin doctor reminds us of another memorably strong and highly strung antiheroine.

Tangerine

By Katherine McLaughlin

This euphoric night-before-Christmas revenge caper is one of the year’s most purely enjoyable films.

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The Second Mother

By Katherine McLaughlin

The inequalities of Brazilian are writ large in this delightful upstairs/downstairs drama.

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Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

By Katherine McLaughlin

Crash, bang, wallop! Don't miss this lid-lifting exposé on the trailblazing B-movie studio.

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The Duke of Burgundy

By Katherine McLaughlin

Director Peter Strickland’s sumptuous, all-female S&M fable is his greatest film to date.

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Palo Alto

By Katherine McLaughlin

Gia Coppola’s debut about the teen experience has a lyricism that transcends James Franco’s source novel.

review

Mood Indigo

By Katherine McLaughlin

Michel Gondry’s woozy take on an ‘unfilmable’ Boris Vian novel offers a cloudburst of astonishing visuals.

review

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Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.

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