Drama Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Drama

Two people walking through a garden, a woman in a light coloured outfit and floral jacket, and a man in dark clothing.
Review

Master Gardener

by Hannah Strong

Joel Edger­ton plays a hor­ti­cul­tur­ist with a trou­bled past in Paul Schrader’s beau­ti­ful but under­whelm­ing drama.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
A smiling man embracing two women, one with short wavy hair and the other with long dark hair, in a cosy indoor setting.
Review

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

by Weiting Liu

Kel­ly Fre­mon Craig’s take on Judy Bloom’s icon­ic pre­teen nov­el is a sweet tale of a young girl fig­ur­ing out reli­gion, boys and puberty.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Woman wearing floral headscarf smiling outdoors.
Review

Under the Fig Trees

by Marina Ashioti

Devel­oped along­side her cast of non-pro­fes­sion­al actors, Erige Sehiri builds an inti­mate fic­tion debut set in the Tunisian countryside.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Woman in jumper on phone in office.
Review

Plan 75

by Trevor Johnston

Chie Hayakawa’s dystopi­an dra­ma about a gov­ern­ment-spon­sored euthana­sia pro­gramme is affect­ing, but leaves key ques­tions unexplored.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two people, a woman and a child, embracing in a grassy field with mountains and trees in the background.
Review

The Eight Mountains

by Rafa Sales Ross

The life­long friend­ship between two men is the sub­ject of Felix van Groenin­gen and Char­lotte Vandermeersch’s poignant Alps-set drama.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Middle-aged man in military jacket sitting on bench against bright, colourful landscape backdrop
Review

Pamfir

by David Jenkins

An in-your-face and vibrant gang­ster com­e­dy set on the Ukraine-Roma­nia bor­der about a man who pow­ers through life and direct­ly into disaster.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two men, one with curly hair and one with a moustache, in a close, intense conversation.
Review

The Blue Caftan

by Marina Ashioti

In her sec­ond fea­ture, Maryam Touzani fash­ions a com­plex tale about love that apt­ly deals with the com­plex­i­ties of repressed sexuality.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A man with curly dark hair wearing a light-coloured shirt, gazing thoughtfully.
Review

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.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A young woman reading a map on a city street, surrounded by traffic and pedestrians.
Review

Return to Seoul

by Ella Kemp

Davy Chou’s bit­ter­sweet com­e­dy of a Kore­an adoptee search­ing for her bio­log­i­cal par­ents is pow­ered by a daz­zling lead performance.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Cyclists riding motorcycles on a road with trees and sky in the background.
Review

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.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect