Category Archives: Review in Brief
Review in Brief: Decision to Leave (2022)
Park Chan-wook’s latest is less extreme than the films he’s most famed for (that’s the Vengeance Trilogy, particularly OLDBOY for most audiences) but is just as dazzlingly stylish and intriguing to unpack, a good deal sexier (OK, not sexier than … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Something in the Dirt (2022)
Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s follow-up to the weird THE ENDLESS and the (slightly) more mainstream SYNCHRONIC is another low-key, cerebral sci-fi, this time filmed mostly in Moorhead’s own LA apartment out of Lockdown necessity. Two new neighbours discover a … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Pearl (2022)
X was a huge surprise horror hit earlier in 2022, so when the news dropped that director Ti West and star Mia Goth had simultaneously shot a prequel movie in secret, fans were eager to see what came next (or … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Living (2022)
How can you improve on a classic from a master? You lean into the period detail, come at it from a new cultural perspective and make the meditation on mortality even sadder. Based on Akira Kurosawa’s IKIRU, Oliver Hermanus’ (director … Continue reading
Review in Brief: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
In Martin McDonagh’s latest dark fable, friends become separable on an island off Ireland small enough to not be able to avoid each other. Day after day Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson) meet at the pub and chatter … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Aftersun (2022)
Charlotte Wells is a filmmaker unafraid to let a scene play out, to hold exactly as long as is required. AFTERSUN follows 31 year-old divorced dad Calum (Paul Mescal, sensational) and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio, an instant star), both … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Do Revenge (2022)
DO REVENGE is MEAN GIRLS meets STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, but with plenty of choice 90s needle drops. After a humiliating sex tape is leaked to her prep school, former queen bee Drea Torres (Camila Mendes) makes a deal with … Continue reading
Review in Brief: The Quiet Girl (2022)
Colm Bairéad’s unassuming Irish Language drama THE QUIET GIRL completely broke me more than any other film this year. In the 1980s (though it could really be set in any era) timid girl Cáit (Catherine Clinch) is fostered on her … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Brian and Charles (2022)
This simply delightful Wallace and Gromit-riffing absurdist comedy from Jim Archer follows Brian (David Earl), a lonely inventor of useless things who makes himself a robot friend from a mannequin and a washing machine. The AI mind of the robot, … Continue reading
SSP Thinks Film 