In her feature debut the actress-turned-director Ariane Labed dissects up close the intertwined bond between sisters and takes an intriguing path to explore generational trauma and guilt.

Sisterhood is definitely one of those tropes in films that seems overly used, yet is seriously underrepresented, at least in its purely authentic form. Most of the time in the media the relationship between siblings, especially sisters, is diminished to being one dimensional whether it’s portrayed as perfectly...

Chris Andrews‘ directorial debut is a raw and tense tale of revenge and generational trauma, spiralling into ruthless violence that at times might feel too outdated in its brutalism.

I had the chance to catch Bring Them Down earlier this month during a press screening that, frankly, left a slightly bad aftertaste in my mouth. From the opening scene the film establishes itself as a heavy watch not very suitable for a 10 am screening. We’re first introduced to one of our two protagonists – Michae...

In November, I had the chance to catch a few of the screenings during the IFI’s French Film Festival. Shown there was Gilles Lellouches’s highly-anticipated sort of musical epic, originally titled L’Amour ouf (literally translated to Crazy love), but internationally distributed as Beating Hearts.

The film with its big budget and star-studded cast first premiered in May, out of competition, at the Cannes Film Festival and ended up dividing the public and the critics as being labelled as both an...

Anora is a quickly paced, at moments hilarious, but ultimately heart-wrenchingly realistic portrayal of a modern “romance across classes” tale, elevated by a nuanced and hectic performance in the face of Mikey Madison.

From the very first shot Anora is not shying away from what it’s about to offer the audience. Not only is it a close dissection of the life of a sex worker, but also the life of a second-generation immigrant. We are first introduced to “Ani” who is disarmingly charming and seemin...

Review originally published in Bulgarian language in Operation Kino - a Bulgarian website 'from cinema enthusiasts for cinema enthusiasts' https://operationkino.net/2021/07/mothering-sunday-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%8E/

“The Lost Children” is an atmospheric Belgian thriller that dives into exploring the depths of how unresolved childhood trauma can lurk on your “inner” child long after those careless days are over. Michèle Jacob’s first feature film cleverly blends a dysfunctional coming-of-age tale with horror elements to illustrate the importance of facing one’s fears in order to reach closure. We follow Audrey and her siblings who wake up in their large country house, realising that their father has left, without any warning of when he will return. From then, the children are forced to fend for themselves while Audrey begins to experience inexplicable supernatural visions.