Drama Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Drama

Two individuals in formal attire, a woman with curly hair in a green dress and a man in a tuxedo, standing together.
Review

The Beast review – a mind-boggling, sprawling romantic epic

by Hannah Strong

Across three time­lines, a pair of lovers find each oth­er again and again in Bertrand Bonel­lo’s ambi­tious, genre-defy­ing latest.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people sitting on a sofa, man wearing grey vest and woman wearing yellow top.
Review

Hoard review – proudly strange and provocative

by David Jenkins

Seek out this stun­ning, empa­thet­ic and rad­i­cal British debut from first-time British film­mak­er Luna Carmoon.

4
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
A man with curly hair and a beard, wearing a light-coloured jacket, sitting on a bench and holding a small white dog.
Review

La Chimera review – shows new ways a movie can be

by Esmé Holden

Alice Rohrwach­er cre­ates a mag­i­cal fairy­tale about a group of tomb raiders, anchored by a soul­ful per­for­mance from Josh O’Connor.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Two people, a man and a woman, engaged in conversation in a dimly lit room.
Review

The Idea of You review – a sultry unexpectedly entertaining romance

by Hannah Strong

Anne Hath­away plays a 40-year-old sin­gle moth­er who embarks on a tor­rid love affair with a 24-year-old pop star in Michael Showal­ter’s schmaltzy but not with­out charm rom-com.

2
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Boxer in red jacket lying on ground, hands grasping metal pole, face obscured.
Review

The Fall Guy review – good stunts, appalling script

by Hannah Strong

In David Leitch’s bom­bas­tic salute to the Hol­ly­wood stunt indus­try, Ryan Gosling becomes inad­ver­tent­ly embroiled in a nefar­i­ous plot while try­ing to regain the trust of his for­mer lover.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A person in a black vest and underwear sits on the floor next to cardboard boxes, surrounded by various household items.
Review

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry review – a perfect lead performance

by David Jenkins

A hap­pi­ly sin­gle Geor­gian woman is forced to recon­sid­er her life of soli­tude when she falls in love in Elene Nave­ri­an­i’s bit­ter­sweet roman­tic dramedy.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A young person lying inside a dark, crumbling concrete tunnel, with graffiti visible on the walls.
Review

Nezouh review – compassionate but needlessly convoluted

by Hamza Shehryar

Soudade Kaadan’s sec­ond fea­ture is tru­is­tic yet force­ful in exam­in­ing the com­plex­i­ties of human suf­fer­ing and con­fine­ment through a teenage girl stuck in the thick of the Syr­i­an civ­il war.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two smiling Asian children, a boy and a girl, wearing winter hats and coats, peeking out from behind a worn, textured wall.
Review

If Only I Could Hibernate – a very fine first feature

by Hamza Shehryar

This Mon­go­lian dra­ma of a pover­ty-strick­en young aca­d­e­m­ic aban­doned by his moth­er makes for a intrigu­ing debut.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people lying together on a red surface against a dark background.
Review

Opponent – a searing, psychological immigrant drama

by David Jenkins

An Iran­ian immi­grant in Swe­den seeks solace in their nation­al wrestling team in this riv­et­ing sto­ry of inter­nal torture.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
An older man sitting at a desk, reading from papers by the light of a desk lamp in a dimly lit room.
Review

Close Your Eyes review – Erice only deals in masterworks

by David Jenkins

The leg­endary Span­ish film­mak­er returns with his first fea­ture film in 32 years, which cen­tres on the strange case of an actor who dis­ap­peared under mys­te­ri­ous circumstances.

5
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect