This Month
This biker-gang film centres on an unusual ménage à trois
The Bikeriders is based on Danny Lyon’s book of the same name, originally published in 1968.
- John McDonald
Sexual pathologists would have plenty to say about this film
Director Yorgos Lanthimos has returned to his arthouse roots in Kinds of Kindnesses.
- John McDonald
June
A Silence movie review: a sex fiend’s lawyer seeks atonement
In Belgian director Joachim Lafosse’s film, a legal professional’s crimes catch up with him, plus we take a look at Australia’s Spanish Film Festival.
- John McDonald
The Sitting Duck movie review: A true story of a nuclear whistleblower
The role of Maureen Kearney is tailor-made for 71-year-old Isabelle Huppert, an actor with a unique ability to tell us everything we need to know, while giving nothing away.
- John McDonald
Finally, a documentary about Midnight Oil
Paul Clarke’s ‘The Hardest Line’ is largely a celebration of the Oils that never ventures a word of criticism.
- John McDonald
Swashbuckling Dumas classic a double dose of pure escapism
Director Martin Bourboulon has taken numerous liberties with Alexandre Dumas’ plot, but preserved its breathless sense of adventure.
- John McDonald
May
Movie review: High & Low – John Galliano is a breathless ride
This documentary tracks the rise and fall and rehabilitation of the acclaimed fashion designer, whose grotesque extravagance was no impediment to success.
- John McDonald
Movie review: Furiosa – drives hard but takes too many wrong turns
George Miller’s latest Mad Max film is bogged down by the gruesome particulars of his post-apocalyptic world – and Chris Hemsworth’s wooden acting.
- John McDonald
The Taste of Things movie review – a feast for the eyes
Director Anh Hung Tran has created an utterly absorbing film about cuisine as a model for life.
- John McDonald
‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘Monster’ movie reviews
One is set to be a blockbuster, but the other is one of those critically acclaimed films that can expect to enjoy only a modest success at the box office.
- John McDonald
Bad timing for biopic about an Israeli prime minister
Golda looks at the stakes of high-powered confrontation in the Middle East, and Fremont is a subtle, bittersweet, wryly humorous film.
- John McDonald
April
This might be the most explosive tennis movie ever made
Challengers packs a punch with breathless action while Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Evil Does Not Exist builds slowly and silently.
- John McDonald
This new Aussie horror is scary and funny
There’s not a moment in “Late Night with the Devil” when you’re not eager to know what’s going to happen next.
- John McDonald
This new nunsploitation film is a good omen
This is a cinephile’s movie, but it also delivers the thrills and suspense one expects from the horror genre.
- John McDonald
This debut feature is an instant classic
Director Mohamed Kordofani effortlessly weaves political issues into an ongoing moral drama in Goodbye Julia.
- John McDonald
March
This movie may show you how to be happy in your job
Small events take on momentous significance in Perfect Days’ minimal narrative.
- John McDonald
This movie shows what happens when ‘economic refugees’ chase riches
Oscar contender “Io Capitano” does not moralise. Instead, it takes you along for the brutal ride as poor people from Africa set out for fabled European lands.
- John McDonald
Oscar winner is a sharp satire on identity politics
This is a much-needed and long overdue as a skewering of white, bourgeois hypocrisy.
- John McDonald
Hitchcockian Iranian thriller works wonders within strictures
Subtraction is a thriller, a mystery, a low-level horror movie quite unlike anything else from this nation of talented filmmakers.
- John McDonald
February
Auschwitz meets suburbia in film of Martin Amis novel
In its depiction of a Nazi commandant and his family’s life near a concentration camp, The Zone of Interest is a chilling depiction of humanity’s ability to compartmentalise.
- John McDonald