A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
British Films, North American Films
Nia DaCosta “28 Years later: The Bone Temple” (2025) At the end of the first film in this trilogy, we saw young Spike (Alfie Williams) being…
Brazilian Films, Portuguese-language Films
Kleber Mendonça Filho, “O Agente Secreto / The Secret Agent” (2025) Folks anticipating a fast-paced spy thriller might be disappointed to discover this film is actually…
Park Chanwook, “No Other Choice” (2025) Behind a convoluted plot in which a paper industry expert, unceremoniously retrenched after 25 years of giving his all to…
Round-up of Films seen in 2025 Dear USE Readers, The good news is that I managed to see more films than I thought I would in…
French and French-language Films
Emmanuel Courcol, “En Fanfare!” (English title: “My Brother’s Band”) (2024) Initially the advertising for “En Fanfare!” suggested this was going to be fairly straightforward light-hearted fare…
Japanese Films, North American Films
Hikari, “Rental Family” (2025) Beginning in the 1990s, rental family services offering actors to stand in for family members, spouses, friends, co-workers or companions at weddings,…
Oliver Hermanus, “The History of Sound” (2025) Based on two short stories by US writer Ben Shattuck who also wrote the screenplay, “The History of Sound”…
Lee Sang-il, “Kokuho” (2025) An ambitious and sumptuous work, paying homage to Japan’s kabuki theatre, its craft and performers, “Kokuho” centres around the conflicts and contradictions…
James Vanderbilt, “Nuremberg” (2025) Combining elements of the psychological and legal thriller genres, James Vanderbilt’s “Nuremberg” follows the Nuremberg trials that were held by the victorious…
Sergei Loznitsa, “Two Prosecutors” (2025) An earnest historical drama, based on a short novel by Soviet physicist / writer Georgy Demidov (1908 – 1987), this film…