Category Archives: Review in Brief
Review in Brief: Rye Lane (2023)
Rom-coms have an established grammar and beats everyone expects you to hit, but RYE LANE follows its own rules. A chance meeting in a club bathroom sees two lost souls find each other following all-time bad breakups. Dom (David Jonsson) … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Women Talking (2022)
It’s a clear sign of writer-director Sarah Polley’s skill and awareness that her beautiful, hard-hitting and verbose piece about processing sexual assault isn’t wall-to-wall misery. Yes, the debate this community of Mennonite women are having is important and will change … Continue reading
Review in Brief: Tár (2022)
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but TÁR is a bit good. An often uncomfortably close character study of a complicated genius, we follow conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) hailed as the greatest of her generation as she goes through … Continue reading
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
SSP Thinks Film 