There is a wonderful visual joke early in Tunisian writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania’s sophomore feature, The Man Who Sold His Skin. A truck filled with check-patterned laundry bags pulls up and out climbs man-on-the-run Sam Ali (Yahya Mahayni) wearing a shirt with the same pattern. For a brief moment I was transported back to the ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) comedies of the 1980s, Airplane, Top Secret and … Continue reading The Man Who Sold His Skin – Review
by Robbie Jones Jeremy Hersh’s directorial debut centres on Jessica (Jasmine Batchelor), a graphic designer for a non-profit organisation who is unhappy with her position in life. Things are turned around suddenly when her best friends Josh (Chris Perfetti) and Aaron (Sullivan Jones) ask her to be the surrogate for their child. All is going well until the 13 week mark, where the trio learn … Continue reading The Surrogate – Review
by Jordan King Florian Zeller’s beautifully made and masterfully performed The Father portrays dementia from both the perspective of the suffering mind and the suffering family in quite extraordinary fashion. Adapted from Zeller’s own acclaimed stage play of the same name, The Father sees Sir Anthony Hopkins star as Anthony, an 80-year-old man suffering with dementia whose daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) is preparing to leave … Continue reading The Father – Review
by Jordan King “Are human beings really intended to have all of our needs met at the push of a button?” This is the question academic Alma (Maren Eggert) asks herself towards the climax of Maria Schrader’s I’m Your Man, a quirky, philosophic drama/anti-romantic comedy/low-key sci-fi film that foists upon its protagonist algorithmically engineered perfection before proceeding to poke holes in the folly of the … Continue reading I’m Your Man – Berlinale 2021 Review
by Jordan King Bringing to the table once again their now-signature style of video store sci-fi, Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson’s latest feature, Synchronic, is a time travel brain teaser with a tight concept and a whole lot of heart. Running with a bigger budget than than their previous DIY outings, Synchronic sees Benson and Moorhead centre their efforts on a story that revolves around … Continue reading Synchronic – Review
by Leoni Horton Dripping in glitter, and bursting at the seams with that good, old fashioned razzle-dazzle, The Prom is a theatrical explosion of energy from showtime to curtains. Flamboyant in every sense of the word, Ryan Murphy’s latest all-singing, all-dancing venture is a High School Musical meets Glee mash-up with the volume turned way up high. Although drowning in unabashed silliness and too wide, … Continue reading The Prom – Review
