Drama Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Drama

Young woman in white top and orange headscarf, young boy in colourful blanket, looking out of window frame
Review

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

by Rógan Graham

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s powerful drama is a poignant ode to a subtly complex vision of feminine solidarity.

3
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Two people embracing in a kitchen, a man and a woman with distinctive hairstyles.
Review

Parallel Mothers

by David Jenkins

Femininity, pathos, generational trauma and collective memory converge in Pedro Almodóvar’s latest masterpiece.

5
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Person in a white dress standing in a wheat field, with a clear sky in the background.
Review

Flag Day

by Mark Asch

Sean Penn’s directorial follow-up to The Last Face is a blatantly self-indulgent vanity project full of tiring clichés.

1
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A young woman with curly dark hair looking concerned, sitting at a desk with books and stationery in a colourful, cosy room.
Review

Memory Box

by Steph Green

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige craft a thoughtful collage that blends personal archives with intergenerational traumas.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Three young people, two girls and a boy, posing for a photograph outdoors. The boy holds a sword and a large circular object, while the girls hold smaller, decorated umbrellas.
Review

Belfast

by Hannah Strong

Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical drama about The Troubles is undermined by its depthless and apolitical tone.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Two people, a man in a grey top and a woman in a yellow top, interacting outdoors in front of a building with columns.
Review

A Journal for Jordan

by Marina Ashioti

Denzel Washington’s fourth directorial effort is a story of love, loss and sacrifice told through the journal of Charles Monroe King.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Two men sitting on a sofa, one with darker skin and the other with lighter skin.
Review

Cicada

by Marina Ashioti

A bookstore meet-cute leads to a transformative relationship for two gay men in Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare’s drama.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
A woman in a black dress sitting on a chaise lounge, while a man in a dark coat stands nearby in a dimly lit room.
Review

Nightmare Alley

by Leila Latif

The great Guillermo del Toro returns with this deliciously-dark tale of a circus huckster who takes things too far.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Monochrome portrait of a mature man with a long beard in a pensive gaze, set against a dark background.
Review

The Tragedy of Macbeth

by Charles Bramesco

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand take on the most infamous power couple in literary history, care of Joel Coen.

5
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Glass enclosure with grassy environment and silhouetted figure.
Review

Memoria

by Mark Asch

Apichatpong Weerasethakul meticulously crafts a sensory journey soaked in introspection and metaphysical perplexity.

4
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect