We have all heard the adage “Be nice to people on the way up because you’ll meet them on the way down”, since its often been replicated in many an inspirational seminar and awards show acceptance speech – and when acclaimed playwright Wilson Mizner made this memorable quip, he managed to condense perhaps the most…
Category: Drama
My Father’s Shadow (2025)
One of the bravest and often most challenging parts of making a film is realising that every piece of art one creates is rooted in the personal, even if it isn’t intentional. We all tell stories that resonate with us, and even the most abstract and experimental works are often formed as a result of…
Urchin (2025)
In her book Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag critically discussed how we position ourselves as empathetic beings, expressing our desire to help those who are less fortunate than us – but in the process, repeated exposure to those who are suffering can cause a psychological fatigue, even amongst those who genuinely set out…
Georgia (1995)
Independent cinema has had a long and storied history, but it cannot be viewed as a single endless stream, but rather a series of chapters, each one defined as something of a generation in a long journey towards negotiating the boundary between the mainstream and the arthouse. One of the most fascinating, at least in…
Orphan (2025)
There was a point when we thought László Nemes was going to be the next great European auteur. He showed a lot of promise with Son of Saul, a film that has some flaws but is still an ambitious achievement. That proved to be somewhat of a divisive work, and one that did contain several…
Red (2008)
When someone has experienced an unspeakable tragedy, there is very little that can be done to soothe a broken soul – but for some, accountability is more than enough to push them towards a place of healing. This isn’t always necessarily easy to acquire, especially not when it involves people who don’t understand the enormity…
Last Orders (2001)
“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” These words form perhaps the simplest but effective summary of what friendship represents – and surprisingly, it is not a contemporary quote, but rather found in the musings of the great philosopher Aristotle, who spoke about the concept of friendship with such beautiful and…
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)
There are some topics that are naturally more suitable to the cinematic form, based on their universality and the fact that we can usually relate to them thoroughly in one way or another. However, there are also those that are the inverse – regardless of how hard one may try, it’s very difficult to explore…
Matt and Mara (2024)
Change is good – there isn’t anyone who has ever benefited from remaining the same, and whether it’s small shifts in attitudes or an entire overhaul of your identity and its external expression, the tendency to grow is undeniably important and frankly exciting in most instances. However, there’s something peculiar that happens when we encounter…
After the Hunt (2025)
We live in a time where watching your words has never been more essential. Even the simplest of statements, or a joke delivered to the wrong audience, could land someone in a position where their entire reputation is at stake, and sometimes even entirely tarnished. My personal thoughts on the issue are complex and layered,…
The Postmodern Pelican 