Some stories exist to teach a lesson, others to communicate a specific message. The kind that I find is often the most surprising, but yet oddly the one we see only sporadically, are those which set out to just capture emotions more than reaching a specific narrative point. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of striking…
Happyend (2025)
A couple of years ago, I attended a film festival in which one of my most anticipated titles was Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, which was the final concert by arguably the greatest pianist of the 20th century, an essential voice who we lost far too soon, but who managed to (in the final chapter of his…
Sister Midnight (2025)
Marriage is not for everyone, and some of us are not entirely cut out to lead a conventional domestic life for various reasons. However, we still live in a world where entire societies are built on the concept of heteronormative, traditional pairings – and in many cases, someone’s future is predetermined for them from childhood….
Cover-Up (2025)
George Orwell famously defined a journalist as the act of “printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations”, which is not only a great example of the esteemed writer’s wit, but an oddly prescient statement that was made as both an observation of the era in which he lived, and…
Dreams (2025)
There is a quote by Marcel Proust that appears in Les Plaisirs et les Jours (Pleasures and Days), a collection of miscellaneous writings in which he ponders every recess of human existence, that simply states “Desire makes everything blossom, possession makes everything wither and fade”, and while there is certainly no shortage of discussions on…
As Estações (2025)
Nestled towards the south of Portugal is the Alentejo region – it covers approximately a third of the country (making it by far the largest region), and is known for many different elements that draw tourists in year after year, ranging from the layered history to the sprawling natural landscapes in which the stories of…
The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)
Music is the universal language, the common thread that connects us under a unified humanity, transcending cultural, geographical and temporal boundaries and speaking directly to our souls in a way that everyone unquestionably understands. Some of the greatest works of literature began their lives as songs or strummed, featuring stories of star-crossed lovers or perilous…
Repo Man (1984)
Some filmmakers are destined to produce work over a longer period of time, their presence being evergreen and consistent year after year, and then some find themselves having a much shorter tenure at the top, but where they burn brighter and with more energy than many of their peers. There was a time when Alex…
Death of a Unicorn (2025)
There are two categories of horror films: those which rely on tried-and-tested methods of inspiring terror and those that attempt to be innovative and unique, finding new ways to scare audiences. If we are lucky, we will encounter a select few who attempt to do both, acknowledging the past but also looking towards the future….
H is for Hawk (2025)
For nearly a decade, I worked in a bookstore, and from the beginning of my time there until I left a few years ago, there was a particular book that seemed extremely popular for reasons no one could ever explain to me. It proved to be a puzzling exercise in trying to determine exactly why…
The Postmodern Pelican 