Drama Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Drama

A group of people seated around a table, eating a meal together in a dimly lit room with a window overlooking a garden.
Review

Vermiglio review – a hushed yet effectively emotive drama

by Natasha Jagger

Set in 1944, Maura Delpero’s Italian drama presents a complex familial portrait against the backdrop of a remote Alpine village.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and fur-trimmed coat, gazing pensively.
Review

Maria review – a tender eulogy for a remarkable talent

by Hannah Strong

Angelina Jolie has never been better as the legendary opera singer Maria Callas, captured in the final week of her life by Pablo Larraín’s elegant biographical drama.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Black-and-white crowd scene, people wearing hats, one woman's face in the centre.
Review

The Girl With The Needle review – politically pertinent Gothic horror story

by David Jenkins

Magnus von Horn brings subtlety and empathy to the serial killer genre in this extraordinary true-life yarn.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A couple embracing on a path surrounded by autumn foliage.
Review

A Real Pain review – an amusing and compelling inquiry into human pain and suffering

by Katherine McLaughlin

Based on a trip he took to Poland with his own cousin, Jesse Eisenberg crafts a sensitive dramedy co-starring Kieran Culkin.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Pensive Black man with serious expression in natural setting.
Review

Nickel Boys review – a miracle of a movie

by Sam Bodrojan

With this adaptation of Colson Whiteheads Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, filmmaker RaMell Ross delivers 2024’s most harrowing and transcendent film.

5
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in Queer, engaged in animated conversation at a bar table.
Review

Queer review – Burroughs would be proud

by Hannah Strong

Luca Guadagnino heads on down to Mexico with Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey in his freewheeling take on William S. Burroughs’ eponymous novel.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Close-up of a man singing and playing a guitar, with a microphone on his head and warm lighting.
Review

A Complete Unknown review – drips with hollow trivia

by David Jenkins

Timothée Chalamet plays music legend Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s latest, which appears totally unwilling to escape the vapid biopic formula.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
A group of people dining outdoors on a terrace, with a lake and autumn trees visible in the background. The table is set with dishes and a chandelier overhead.
Review

Rumours review – laughing while crying inside

by Josh Slater-Williams

Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin’s political satire pits world leaders against an unlikely climate event.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Individual sitting in armchair holding mug, looking out window, in cosy domestic setting.
Review

Remembering Every Night review – cinema as poetry

by Barney Nuttall

Yui Kiyohara’s wistful, meditative new film follows three women’s lives as they intersect in the quiet outskirts of Tokyo.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Heavily-jewelled headdress worn by a person with dark sunglasses and a black outfit, set against a dimly lit background.
Review

On Becoming A Guinea Fowl review – searing and disorientating

by Hannah Strong

The death of a beloved uncle in a middle-class Zambian family brings some difficult truths to light in Rungano Nyoni’s surreal second feature.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect