1892. California. It’s then and there we find novelist Emma Strand (Scottie Thompson) holidaying with artist husband Albert (Connor Paolo) and doing their best to enjoy a day on the beach when they meet George Ford (Jilon VanOver) and his wife Lillian (Vivian Kerr). After a mannered and somewhat awkward chat, the four end up […]
It never feels like a negative to find there’s a new David Cronenberg film, and with a title and premise like The Shrouds (2024), hopes were bound to be high. Indeed, the main idea here is fascinating, blending Cronenberg’s love for body horror/bodily trauma with a potential source of existential debate, here about life and […]
We start Pins and Needles (2024) in the same brisk, grisly manner which remains consistent throughout the film. The first quick lesson we learn is that blood is hard to shift, even when you’re scrubbing it away as hard as you can. We get this message before the title screen even appears, mind; this is […]
In the opening scenes of Ba (2024), the presence of a strange, hooded figure making its way into a hospital ward is clearly, strongly reminiscent of Grim Reaper folklore. It’s a fair first impression, borne out by what follows – but in its own mythology-building and the careful ways it humanises its main characters, Ba […]
In the early moments of Dirty Boy, the voiceover of the main character of Isaac (Stan Steinbichler) informs the audience that “Your mind is a bus.” In Isaac’s case, it’s hard to tell who’s at the wheel at any one time, as he’s been raised to obey the strict teaching of a religious cult headed […]
I have limited preamble for this review of 28 Years Later; let’s call it shock. Like many other film fans, I really liked 28 Days Later, despite sharing in the laugh at the end of Shaun of the Dead about its key plot point, because it had enough energy, initiative and charm to carry it […]
Mark (Shane P. Allen) and Joshua (John Wilcox) are a married couple whose loving relationship has come under recent stress due to a tragic event. Despite the fact that a wedge has clearly been driven between them, they choose to focus instead on their work, which is to guide recently deceased souls into the afterlife. […]
You never really know which way it’s going to go in a survival story based at sea. What will the main issue be? – will it be the elements (The Perfect Storm)? Will it be the failings of the vessel, or human error (Open Water; Dead Calm; Adrift)? Or will there be something potentially supernatural […]
When vlogger Angus (Charlie Robb) gets an opportunity to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of a remote Northumberland retreat, he jumps at the chance to escape the stresses of everyday life and the thought of a digital detox certainly appeals. Well, until he gets there and sets up multiple cameras in order to record his […]
Independent cinema needs to do a lot with a little, and this has to be one of the reasons it now so often dodges linear narratives, preferring imagined spaces or fractured timelines in order to explore its key themes, particularly if they are large or significant themes. Horror is primed for this by its nature: […]
Bear with me, but here’s a question: how do you connect to other humans when you live in a harsh dystopian future where everyone shelters from the outside world in isolated pods with only apps for company? Phew. It gets answered in a light-touch, quirky kind of way in Future Date (2024), a film which […]
