For many film fans, director Karim Ouelhaj probably established his style and vision with the staggering, stark Megalomaniac (2022) – and Heat of Madness (2026) is his first feature since that break-out title, which perhaps invites a certain level of comparison. The first thing to note is – despite some similarities in aesthetics and a […]
There’s been a tendency in pop culture to present serial killers as monolithic: they’ve often been painted as almost supernatural, not only ungoverned by the usual social and cultural norms but devoid of familial ties, too. But that is changing: more recent films and TV have hinted at least at something more going on with […]
The legacy of Catholicism in French and Belgian left-field cinema seems to mean a strange predilection for Christian themes, although it finds its form in curious ways. In recent years we’ve had Calvaire, made in 2004 (retitled ‘The Ordeal’ for English audiences, which neatly strips it of its Biblical meaning), the Christmas creation horrors of […]