Drama Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Drama

Two people seated at a wooden table in a cosy, dimly lit room. Warm-toned walls, shelves, and decor visible in the background.
Review

My Favourite Cake review – a charming slice-of-life film

by Fatima Sheriff

An elder­ly woman dis­cov­ers romance again in Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaee­ha’s touch­ing dramedy.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
A smiling man with a beard wearing a red and black checked shirt, looking through a wooden doorway.
Review

Speak No Evil review – an effective game of cat and mouse

by David Jenkins

James McAvoy is a blast as the over­ly-friend­ly patri­arch who invites unwit­ting tourists back to his west coun­try stack for fun and games.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Portrait of a man with a serious expression, his face illuminated by dim light against a dark background.
Review

In Camera review – a star is born in Nabhaan Rizwan

by Hannah Strong

Naqqash Khalid’s inven­tive fea­ture debut is a spiky take on nav­i­gat­ing the British film indus­try as a non-white actor.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people in a cluttered room, one gesturing while the other appears on a TV screen.
Review

The Queen Of My Dreams review – exceptionally pleasant

by Grace Dodd

Fawzia Mirza­’s joy­ful, Bol­ly­wood-inspired debut fea­ture explores a tumul­tuous moth­er-daugh­ter relationship.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Person blowing out candles on birthday cake in a kitchen setting.
Festivals

The End – first-look review

by Mark Asch

Joshua Oppen­heimer returns with an ambi­tious, post-apoc­a­lyp­tic musi­cal whose the­mat­ic flights of fan­cy are always just a lit­tle too strident.

2
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Young Black man sitting on kerb outside building, looking thoughtful
Review

Rebel Ridge review – Aaron Pierre delivers the goods and then some

by Kambole Campbell

Jere­my Saulnier returns with a flinty, restrained crime-con­spir­a­cy thriller explor­ing small town police cor­rup­tion and the one guy who they should nev­er have messed with.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A man with long brown hair lying on the rocky ground, looking pensive. Muted tones of grey, brown, and black dominate the image.
Review

Starve Acre review – all texture and no teeth

by Michael Leader

Matt Smith and Morfy­dd Clark play a cou­ple who move to an iso­lat­ed York­shire Dales estate in Daniel Kokotajlo’s folk horror.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Three children sitting on a pavement near a grassy area, one girl with curly hair and two boys, one wearing a patterned shirt.
Review

Paradise is Burning review – chaotic and wonderfully tense

by Grace Dodd

Rage, ten­der­ness and no small amount of laugh­ter com­bine in this nuanced por­tray­al of the Swedish work­ing-class from writer/​director Mika Gustafson.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Close-up of a serious-looking Black man with a beard wearing a purple top, with another man in the background.
Review

Sing Sing review – Domingo and Maclin deliver powerhouse performances

by Isaac Feldberg

Set in a cor­rec­tion­al facil­i­ty, Greg Kwedar’s poignant dra­ma offers an explo­ration of art’s trans­for­ma­tive potential.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two people, a man and a woman, embrace in a cosy, dimly lit room with a painting on the wall and a table with plates of food.
Review

Only the River Flows review – a spellbinding nightmare

by Josh Slater-Williams

A detec­tive is haunt­ed by a mur­der case he can’t crack in Wei Shu­jun’s unset­tling crime drama.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect