Reviews

The Seed of the Sacred Fig review – a melodrama of resistance

By Mark Asch

An Iranian judge appointed to Tehran's Revolutionary Court grapples with dissent both at work and at home in Mohammad Rasoulof’s politically charged thriller.

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Love Hurts review – no love, much hurts

By Marina Ashioti

Ke Huy Quan and Ariana Debose star in stunt performer Jonathan Eusebio’s Valentine’s Day-themed directorial debut.

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Dog Man review – zippy, beautifully constructed family fun

By Callie Petch

DreamWorks’ second feature-length Dav Pilkey adaptation is a lot of bark and solid bite.

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The Fire Inside review – a sporting biog that lacks originality

By David Jenkins

Rachel Morrison directs a script by Barry Jenkins with this sadly-underwhelming underdog boxing biopic of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.

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Bring Them Down review – a chilling neo-western

By Hannah Strong

Tensions reach fever pitch in a rural Irish farming community in Christopher Andrews' fierce feature debut.

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Companion review – no thrills, only spills in this AI apologia

By Hannah Strong

Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid star as a young couple whose weekend away uncovers difficult truths about their relationship in Drew Hancock's sci-fi thriller.

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The Colours Within review – hits with the power of a dodgeball

By Josh Slater-Williams

Anime director Naoko Yamada returns with a wonderful coming-of-ager set in a Catholic girls' boarding school.

review LWLies Recommends

By the Stream review – burrows under your skin

By David Jenkins

Korean director Hong Sang-soo returns with this playful study of creation, performance and why films don’t need audiences to be successful.

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Saturday Night review – unappealing nepo baby triumphalism

By Mark Asch

Jason Reitman pans back to 1975 and Lorne Michaels' ambitious plans for a live broadcast sketch show in his fanfiction retelling of SNL's inception.

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Hard Truths review – incredible in small, measured strokes

By Mark Asch

Reuniting with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Mike Leigh makes a welcome return to contemporary filmmaking with a searing portrait of a woman on the brink.

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Presence review – an enjoyably swift chiller

By Manuela Lazic

Steven Soderbergh plays with the cinematic form to craft a compelling story about family dynamics and grief.

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The Brutalist review – gorgeous, capital-C Cinema

By Hannah Strong

Adrien Brody is phenomenal in Brady Corbet's sublime three-and-a-half hour drama, as a Jewish architect arrives in post-war America to a hostile new world.

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Wolf Man review – a bit of a howler

By Adam Woodward

Leigh Whannell follows up The Invisible Man with another present-day revival of a Universal Monster. This one bites.

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Here review – a forgiving and open mind is required for this one

By David Jenkins

This conceptually-intriguing folly sees Robert Zemeckis reteaming with Tom Hanks for an effects-driven everyman tale that never gets off the ground.

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Emmanuelle review – anticlimactic and unerotic

By David Jenkins

Audrey Diwan’s cold take on the infamous erotic softcore French novel leaves a bit too much to be desired.

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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.

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Architecton review – taps into the short-order nature of modern construction

By David Jenkins

Viktor Kossakovsky takes us on a journey through the concrete and stone that makes up much of our modern world.

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The Damned review – haunting but disappointing

By Billie Walker

A young widow in an Icelandic fishing village faces difficult decisions in Thordur Pallson's period folk horror.

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Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.

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