Contributions from David Jenkins | Little White Lies

Contributor David Jenkins

Joyful couple embracing under fireworks display, woman holding red rose.
Review

Anora review – an amazing, hypermodern concept for a film

by David Jenkins

A young sex worker thinks she’s hit the jackpot when she falls for a Russian nepo baby, but his parents have other plans in Sean Baker’s anti-rom-com.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Close-up of a bearded man with a weathered face, wearing a dark, wet jacket, standing in a dark, rainy environment.
Review

Venom: The Last Dance review – air-headed escapism

by David Jenkins

Tom Hardy seems tired and confused in this comic book sci-fi sequel that hasn’t got an original bone in its alien symbiote body.

2
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A serious-faced young man wearing a red neckerchief and a white suit, surrounded by a dimly lit room with shelves in the background.
Review

Dahomey review – a blueprint for anti-colonialist action

by David Jenkins

Mati Diop offers a creative and moving guide to discussing anti-colonialist action in her very fine follow-up to 2019’s Atlantics.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two adults standing in a field, one wearing a denim jacket and the other a yellow cardigan.
Review

Portraits of Dangerous Women review – pleasant to a fault

by David Jenkins

Following a bizarre road accident, the lives of three strangers collide in this cheerful yet meandering dramedy.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Stylised illustration of a woman with ornate blonde hair and an elaborate blue dress, surrounded by abstract shapes and patterns in pink, red and blue against a dark blue background.
Interviews

Alice Lowe: ‘I do want to make something timeless’

by David Jenkins

British filmmaker/​actor Alice Lowe reflects on the making of her sublime and refreshingly self-critical second feature, Timestalker.
Ornate headdress, elaborate gown, dark red background.
Review

Timestalker review – ripples with insight and emotion

by David Jenkins

Alice Lowe’s miraculous second feature is a triumph of imagination, soul-searching and a refined comic instinct.

4
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
A person in traditional dress herding cattle along a dirt path through a lush, green landscape with trees.
Review

The Battle For Laikipia review – captures a violent story as it happens

by David Jenkins

A conflict between indigenous communities and white settlers in a region ravaged by historical grievances and climate change is the subject of this powerful doc.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Man in a suit pointing a gun at the camera in a dramatic, cinematic setting with yellow lighting.
Review

Megalopolis review – scintillating, absurd and violently original

by David Jenkins

Ignore the haters – this is the kaleidoscopic, enriching, Wellsian vision of a grand old master with nothing to lose.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Young person standing in a cluttered bookshop, looking pensive.
Festivals

On Falling – first-look review

by David Jenkins

The dire lot of a low paid factory worker is the subject of this rigorous if hardly revelatory character study from debut director Laura Carreira.
Man in suit applying makeup to white garment with red floral pattern.
Festivals

Afternoons of Solitude – first-look review

by David Jenkins

Albert Serra’s extraordinary, intense portrait of toreador Andrés Roca Rey is one of the Spanish director’s finest works to date.