Fantasy Reviews and Features | Little White Lies

Genre Fantasy

Blue humanoid figure with tribal jewellery, against a mountainous landscape with flying creatures.
Review

Avatar: The Way of Water

by David Jenkins

A gaudy blue folly which encapsulates James Cameron’s strength as an image-maker, but weakness as a storyteller.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Two characters from a sci-fi film, a bald man in colourful costume and a woman in a grey outfit with an elaborate hairstyle, standing and looking at each other.
Review

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

by Cheyenne Bart-Stewart

Writer/​director Ryan Coogler expands his colonialist critique in this epic MCU sequel which also pays moving tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

5
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Young woman in a blue top smiling surrounded by lush greenery and vibrant flowers.
Review

Cette Maison

by Marina Ashioti

Miryam Charles’ debut is a stunning drama that takes direct inspiration from her cousin’s unexpected death.

3
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Vibrant autumn landscape with horses on a path, surrounded by colourful foliage and hills.
Review

Inu-Oh

by Daniel Schindel

A dancer and a musician form a unique friendship in Masaaki Yuasa’s fantastical animated musical.

5
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A person in dark clothing seated at a white table in a bright pink room.
Review

Strawberry Mansion

by Charles Bramesco

A dream auditor becomes caught up with an ageing eccentric in Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s highly imaginative feature.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two individuals, a light-skinned person and a dark-skinned person, seated together in a dimly lit room.
Review

Three Thousand Years of Longing

by Catherine Bray

Mad Max director George Miller returns to the big screen with an adaptation of modern-day fable The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye.

4
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two people facing each other, silhouetted against a purple sky.
Review

Thor: Love and Thunder

by Adam Woodward

Taika Waititi returns to the MCU five years after Thor: Ragnarok with a disappointing sequel sorely lacking in charm and imagination.

3
Anticipation
2
Enjoyment
2
In Retrospect
Shattered glass covering a face, with fragments in various shades of red and brown against a blurred, dark background with specks of light.
Review

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

by Hannah Strong

Director Sam Raimi injects some much needed personality into Marvel’s latest brand-building exercise.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Illustration of a young woman with pink hair against a surreal, psychedelic background with floating shapes and lights.
Review

Belle

by Hannah Strong

A tale as old as time gets a cyberspace makeover in Mamoru Hosoda’s reimagining of Beauty and the Beast.

4
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A person standing in a dark room, with a large flame visible behind them.
Review

Titane

by Sam Bodrojan

All hail the new flesh in Julia Ducournau’s dreamlike fable of a fractured young dancer grappling with the fire inside her.

2
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect