Thursday, 22 January 2026

January 23rd 2026

Marty Supreme
Somebody to Love
No Other Choice
The Secret Agent
28 Years Later
Surviving Malka Leifer (streaming on Stan)

The pinnacle of awards season, the Oscars, is on its way. And "awards" seems to be a prominent word in many of the films reviewed  this week. It's a spectacular week for movie going, with so many fine films in a variety of genres. 

Marty Supreme
Dir: Josh Safdie
© A24 - never was table tennis so exciting
in this tale of a driven young man
Nominated just yesterday for nine Oscars, Marty Supreme is film-making at its best, story telling at its most compelling, acting that feels like reality, and entertainment to the max. The setting is 1950s' New York. Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) reluctantly works at his uncle's shoestore, only to get enough money to pursue his passion - table tennis. His ambition is to be the best in the world, and put a sport on the map that until then was generally unrecognised in the USA. Marty's story (inspired by actual player Marty Reisman), is that of a young man who is at once charming, a rogue, a hustler, arrogant, likeable, infuriating, driven and supremely confident. I could rave on ad infinitum about Chalamet's extraordinary performance, yet every aspect of this film combines to make it a powerhouse, energy driven tale. The filming of every match is amazing, and more so because Chalamet actually trained for about seven years and really can play! Never was table tennis so exciting. Settings recreate a bygone, lower-class side of New York, with its memorable characters and ping-pong halls, while the choice of music, mixing eras to create emotion, is inspired. Superclose up shots make everything feels gritty and real, while the pace of the action (both at the tables, and in every other mad-cap adventure Marty finds himself caught up in), makes for an adrenalin-fuelled ride. Gwyneth Paltrow makes an impressive return as ageing glamorous movie star Kay Stone, but every single character from major to minor leaps off the screen. The arc of Marty's journey is rivetting, and ultimately very moving. A wonderful film.
5 - unmissable

Somebody to Love (FolleMente)
Dir: Paolo Genovese
© Palace - cute, funny, and hits the mark
for those on the dating scene
The Italian title of this film, meaning "crazy mind", says a lot more about it, in some ways, than the English. Lara (Pilar Fogliati) is preparing dinner at her home for her blind date Piero (Eduardo Leo). He is en route, stopping to buy a bunch of flowers. We are soon confronted with the inner workings of each character's mind, with their emotions and inner voices represented by actual characters, who debate incessantly the right way to handle this date. So Lara and Piero each have four inner "selves", ranging from romantic, to logical, sexually impulsive and cautious, controlling their hearts and minds throughout what feels a very authentic, at times awkward,  first date between people anxious to find love. The film is warm-hearted, funny, at times poignant, and overall rather clever conceptually. Despite a confined setting, muted lighting, and endless dialogue, the film shows Genovese's talent for writing a script that actually feels very real for those who've been through this dating scene. (The film is also the winner of several awards within its own country.)
4 - highly recommended

No Other Choice
Dir: Park Chan-wook
© Madman - darkly funny with underlying
comment upon society, employment,
and moral ambivalence 
Man-su (Lee Byung-hun) has just been made redundant at his job with a paper company, where he has taken pride in his work for 25 years. Wife Miri (Son Yi-jin) instructs the family to cut back on everything, while Man-su hatches a plot to get himself a new job. He selects several other high ranking candidates for the same position, and decides he has no choice but to eliminate them in order to save his family and his lifestyle. Park, known for black humour, violence and blending genres, goes for moments of near slapstick, as our bumbling protagonist lurches from one funny catastrophe to another. But there's a deeper side to the film, as corporate culture and ambition, plus the desperation of becoming jobless, underscores much of the plot. This is a real entertainment, with fast pacing, thrills and laughs, and a very unexpected surprise at the end. Though no Oscar nominations, this film has plenty of other awards and nominations from major festivals and critics groups. 
4 - highly recommended

The Secret Agent
Dir: Kleber Mendonca Filho
© Rialto - dense with plot points, this is a
real indictment of corrupt authortaian regimes
Yet another film with countless wins and nominations to its name including five huge awards at Cannes, along with Best Drama and Best Male Actor at the recent Golden Globes, and four Oscar nominations. Brazil in 1977 is run by a military dictatorship. Dismissed professor Armando (Wagner Moura), under the alias of Marcelo, flees to his home town of Recife during Carneval time. He has run foul of authorities and is being hunted by hitmen, thanks to a businessman with government connections wanting a patent Armando refuses to give up. In the present day, two young researchers are trying to find out as much as they can about Armando and his young son, as well as what went on in Brazil in that repressive era. This film is more dense and layered, with more plots, subplots, and merely hinted-at plots than my feeble brain can absorb. I recognise the cleverness, the originality and the skilled film-making, but there is simply too much for me to absorb in a single viewing. This is definitely a reflection upon me, rather than the film itself, as it has obviously blown the critical world away, as a commentary on corruption, memory, identity and much, much more! With so many plot threads and characters, I found it simply too hard to emotionally engage, and feel a second viewing could well be in order for me to fully appreciate this one.
3.5 - well recommended

28 Years Later
Dir: Danny Boyle
© Sony - a post-apocalyptic world in which
survival necessitates killing
Alex Garland, the writer/director of Civil War and Warfare has plenty to say about the nature of war. This film picks up 23 years after 28 Days Later, when a mysterious rage virus decimates Britain, killing many, leaving hordes of rabid infected to roam the wilderness, while a few lucky survivors hunker down in small uninfected communities, guarding the perimeter. Jamie (Aaron Taylor Johnson), his 12-year-old son Spike (Alfie Willliams), and unwell mother Isla (Jodie Comer) live on an island off the British mainland. Jamie takes Spike on his first hunting expedition, to kill infected people, and there Spike learns that an uninfected man, Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) survives on the mainland. He becomes determined to get his mother over there for treatment. There is so much material here - thought-provoking, repugnant, exciting, and surprisingly moving at times. The thrill is in the many near escapes from the infected, while the human male as an aggressive hunter is celebrated as part of the coming of age rituals of the post-apocalyptic society. The infected are downright terrifying and gross - both the fat slug-like ones, and the rapidly evolving fast, huge alphas. But it is Spike's tender relationship with Isla that stands out, along with Dr Kelson's philosophical approach to life and death, building his temple of human bones to honor the dead and remind us all that we will die. A little too much graphic blood and gore for many people's tastes, but an intriguing sequel, non-the-less.
3.5 - well recommended

Surviving Malka Leifer
Dir: Adam Kamien
Length: 95 mins
Streaming on Stan
© Stan - a real life horror story of abuse, and the bravery
of three sisters seeking justice
Anyone who hasn't heard of Malka Leifer must have been hiding under a rock. Principal of an ultra-orthodox Jewish school, she fled to Israel after being acccused of sexual abuse of several of her female students. Three sisters, Elly, Nicole and Dassi all accused Leifer of abuse, and spent 13 years working on getting her extradited from Israel to stand trial. This is a story of trauma, persistence and ultimately a level of justice. Told from the very personal viewpont of the three sisters, the doco follows the case, and the emotional toll it took on the women. But it is also about resilience and extreme courage, as the women, must constantly revisit and relive their childhoods, abused not only by Leifer but also victims of neglectful and abusive parents. Though not an easy watch, this is important viewing.
3.5 - well recommended


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Wednesday, 14 January 2026

 January 15th 2026

Hamnet  
Song Sung Blue
Rental Family
Christy
David 
Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember (streaming on Disney)
Last Breath (streaming on Netflix) 
Wallace & Gromit - Vengeance Most Fowl (streaming on Netflix)

Belated Happy 2026, dear readers! After a much-needed break I'm back with a bumper edition, having finally caught a couple of the Boxing Day and New Year's Day releases that I'd missed. And they are great!  Plenty of tears shed over several of this week's films too. Also, I've had a bit of a streaming binge over the break. Awards season is upon us and already the nominations and wins are coming thick and fast. Whether it's the cinema experience you seek, or the sofa-at-home streamers there's plenty of fab films to choose from this week. 

Hamnet 
Dir: Chloe Zhao
Length: 125 mins
© Universal - nothing less than exquisite!
It has 53 wins and 230 nominations already, with Best Motion Picture, and Best Actress at the recent Golden Globes. And why not, I ask, having surrendered to this exquisite film and then dried my copious tears at its conclusion. The story speculates upon what exactly inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, but it is also a reflection upon artistic inspiration, passionate love, familial devotion, loss and grief. Will Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) meets and falls instantly in love with Agnes (Jessie Buckley), who is a healer and has an other-worldly bond with nature. Three children later, and Will's star is starting to rise, as he spends more time away from his family at the Globe theatre in London with his plays.  While Will is absent, their beloved son Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) dies. Both Agnes and Will must process their grief in different ways. Director Zhao knows how to bring immediacy, modern-day relevance, and intensity to a centuries old tale. The couple's devotion and passion is palpable, the familial bonds authentic and real, the idyllic English country life mesmerising, and the artistic drive that haunts the Bard is something writers will relate to. The film is a visual treat, capturing nature resplendently, while Agnes' connection to healing and the forest suffuses the story with a near mysticism. Suffice to say Buckley and Mescal are searingly powerful, bringing tenderness and eroticism to their relationship. The film's conclusion, set in the Globe theatre, is quite unforgettable, an emotional tour-de-force from Buckley. This film transcends the generally accepted story of Shakespeare, and moves into a realm of those things that makes humans both great and at the same time humble in their shared humanity. 
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

Song Sung Blue
Dir: Craig Brewer
Length: 132 mins
© Universal - these guys sing up a storm
Who doesn't love a good tribute band? Here's the true story of a Neil Diamond tribute band, consisting of Milwaukee husband and wife team known as Lightning and Thunder, real names Mike (Hugh Jackman) and Claire (Kate Hudson). Regardless of whether you are a Diamond fan or not, there is much to love about this heartfelt film. It celebrates love - love between the couple, love of music, and love of life. Despite tragedy striking, the pair rise above it, to bring joy to countless fans. Films like this can risk running into cliche, but the performances from Hudson and Jackman are so authentic, you can't help but be swept up in the emotion of it all. They play everyday (but talented) battlers that we can really relate to. Costuming is a terrific sequin-encrusted homage to the period, while most impressive is the soundtrack, all vocals expertly performed by Hudson and Jackman. Yes, it's feel good, in a truly uplifting and joyous way, despite the need for plenty of tissues.
4 - highly recommended

Rental Family
Dir: Hikari
Length: 110 mins
© Searchlight Pictures - how could you not
love these characters?
American actor Phillip (Brendan Fraser) has lived in Tokyo for seven years. His acting engagements are few and far between, and he leads a lonely life. He takes a job with "Rental Family", an agency which provides a service to strangers in which someone stands in as a friend or family member to either keep up appearances or provide emotional support. From a mourner at a funeral, to a groom, to a biographer for an aging famous actor, he juggles one role after another. The connection with the actor (Akira Emoto) will draw him into the old man's world, but when he plays pretend Dad to Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman) to help get her into a private school, he discovers a depth of human connection he hasn't experienced before. What starts off with a lot of humour, becomes a film of such emotion and sincere humanity, that it soon had me in a flood of tears. Brendan Fraser is poignantly powerful in a lovely understated performance, while Gorman's Mia, desperate for a Dad, is a perfect pairing. The plot is clever, with a couple of fun surprises, and the choice to mix the Japanese and English spoken word works well. Such crowd-pleasing films are often accused of emotional manupulation, but for me this one works supremely well, and, while entertaining to the max, underscores the profound need for human connection.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

Christy
Dir: David Michod
Length: 135 mins
© Roadshow - true tale of a fighter - 
in sport and life
Here's another true story, this one tackling a woman who made her name and trailblazed for women  in the world of boxing in the 1990s. Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) comes from a conservative family, where she has to hide her sexuality and love for Rosie (Jess Gabor). She begins her boxing training with Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who she marries and together they run a boxing gym. Her career trajectory is stellar, but on the home front she fights a darker battle: Jim is controlling and abusive, eventually trying to kill her. This is a power-house performance from Sweeney, who underwent intensive training for the role. The scenes of Christy's many battles in the ring are visceral and thrilling, and make for a terrific narrative contrast with the other more serious battles in her life. Even if you hate boxing, the theme of domestic abuse is so powerfully handled it gives the film a deeper layer. My one big gripe is that twenty years are spanned in this movie, and Christy never seems to age.  Putting that aside, it's an engaging, disturbing and ultimately inspiring watch.
3.5  - well recommended

David
Dir: Phil Cunningham & Brent Dawes
Length: 109 mins
© Rialto - good family entertainment based
on a timeless story
A classic biblical story has been taken by a faith-based animation studio and turned into a rousing musical. It's the tale of shepherd boy David, who is chosen by prophet Samuel to be the next King of Israel. No need to go into the full details of the plot, rather to say what a visually gorgeous animation this is. Scenes of the biblical lands are rendered in stunning colorful animation, and the songs have the feel of a bona-fide musical, as strong as any out there. It's the heavy Americanisation of the whole thing I find a little offputting, with too many corny gestures and scenes played for laughs. The visual characterisation of the various tribes of middle-eastern nomads is also a little heavy-handed, with the very ugly bad dudes (Philistines? Malachites?) too starkly contrasted with the good guys, the chosen people of Israel. No doubt this film could stir up political debate, but as an entertaining and educational  family film, telling a timeless story, it works well. 
3 - recommended

Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember
Dir: Tom Barbor-Might
Length: 52 mins
Streaming on Disney +
© Disney+ & Hulu - a son shows the 
greatest love for his ailing father
If you want your heartstrings tugged some more, you can't go past this short and very sweet doco about hunky actor Chris Hemsworth, who takes his ailing Dad, who is developing dementia, on a memory-laden road trip. Having molto money at his disposal, Chris is able to organise a reconstruction of their family home from the '90s. Brain specialist Dr Suraj Samtani assures Chris and viewers that this is an excellent way to delay full blown dementia, getting sufferers in touch with their past memories. Chris makes a wonderful narrator, coming across as a man of much heart, and the love on show in his family is joyful and stirring. As the pair revisit their time spent in a remote community in the Northern Territory, another whole dimension comes into play, with strong connections with Indigenous community front and centre.  
4 - highly recommended

Last Breath
Dir: Alex Parkinson
Length: 93 mins
Streaming on Netflix
© Netflix - nail-bitingly suspenseful
at great ocean depth
Director Parkinson has adapted his own 2019 doco to tell the true story of a diver Chris (Finn Cole), who works in a team repairing damaged cabling on the freezing ocean floor of the North Sea. The thing about these men, known as saturation divers, is that they live for long periods in special undersea quarters, allowing them to work at great depths for weeks on end. It's a nail-bitingly gripping tale, because (as expected) something major goes wrong, and it's a race to rescue Chris. Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu are excellent as Chris's diving teammates, while the above sea drama going on in the control room is just as exciting as what goes on at depth. Ocean storms, failed computer systems, snagged cables, depleted oxygen tanks - it's all there to make for a heart-stopping and very stressful ride. 
3.5 - well recommended

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Dir: Merlin Crossingham; Nick Park
Length: 82 mins
Streaming on Netflix
© Netflix - as always a heap of fun with
this crazy pommie pair
Fans of Wallace and his canine companion should love this latest mad-cap adventure. Wallace has invented Norbot, a robotic gnome to help with gardening and to be part of a new neighborhood business. Meantime, imprisoned penguin Feathers McGraw hacks into Norbot's software to help plan his jailbreak. The technology turns rogue and a whole host of evil Norbots wreak havoc. What's not to love about this well-scripted, funny tale which has plenty of not-so-subtle digs at the dangers of technology? It's a great fun family watch, and a worthy BAFTA winner for Best Animated Feature 2025.
4 - highly recommended


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Tuesday, 23 December 2025

 December 24th  2025

My Brother's Band
The Housemaid
Urchin
Sentimental Value
Hurstos Top Films of 2025

And so the year closes, with only the Boxing Day films yet to release. And they are such winners, as you will see from my high scores here. I've still to catch one more, and will be unable to review the New Year's Day films until after their release, so for now I'll take a short break of a couple of weeks and be back with you in 2026. Meantime have a wonderful festive season, enjoy whatever you are celebrating, and watch a lot of good movies. Here's to another year of terrific films, and hopefully more peace and harmony in the world. 

My Brother's Band
Dir: Emmanuel Courcol
Length: 103 mins
© Palace - love, kindness and music -
a powerful combo in a gorgeous French film
Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe) is a world-renowned orchestra conductor. When he is diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant, he learns that he was adopted and has a brother, Jimmy (Pierre Lottin). The two are chalk and cheese - Thibaut was adopted into an upper class family, while Jimmy was raised in humbler surrounds, and is now trombone player in a community brass band. This film received many nominations in the French Cesars and had the most ever votes as audience favorite at the San Sebastian film festival. I can totally see why. There is a tenderness to this story that is executed so well, avoiding formulaic schmaltzy dialogue, and yet bringing me to floods of tears with its humanity, kindness and optimism. The contrast is ever-present between Thibaut's priveleged world of refined classical music, and Jimmy's working class town where workers are striking against the eventual closure of their factory. But it's the relationship that slowly develops between two strangers that is so deeply emotional. I guess if I'm honest there is a soupcon of emotional manipulation, but with the beautifully drawn characters, the lovely music, and the uplifting message, for me it's a total winner.
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

The Housemaid
Dir: Paul Feig
Length: 131 mins
© StudioCanal  - what secrets lurk in the
homes of the rich?!
Millie (Sydney Sweeney) is interviewing for a job as a housemaid at the opulent home of Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried). The women are seemingly polar opposites; Millie has been sleeping rough, while Nina is groomed and very upper-crust. Surprisingly, Millie gets the job and discovers her quarters will be in a spartan attic, which only locks from the outside. Enter the rest of the Winchester family: spoilt brat Cece (Indiana Elle) and handsome hubby Andrew (Brandon Sklenar). The scene is set for conflict, thrills and unexpected revelations, with neither Nina nor Andrew being what they initially appear to be. What starts out as a conventional thriller eventually veers off into something quite different, keeping the tension but heading into moments of deliciously black comedy, inviting us to gasp in horror and laugh at the same time. Seyfried and Sweeney are fabulous in the thrust and parry of their complex relationship, with Nina's psychological shenanigans being at times over the top, all in the service of an excellent plot (based upon a best-selling novel). While some of the underlying themes are in fact to be taken very seriously, this is a film to simply surrender to and enjoy as a shock-schlock, gasp-inducing entertainment.
4 - highly recommended

Sentimental Value
Dir: Joachim Trier
Length: 133 mins
© Madman -  family relations and artistic ambitions
combine, in a deeply moving film  
Here's a statistic for you: so far 22 wins and another 143 nominations, including for the upcoming Golden Globes. So it seems that this film is serious contender. It's the story of Norwegian film director Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgaard), and his two estranged daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inge Ibbsdotter Lilleaas). The family's history is full of trauma, over two generations, among them Nazi persecution; suicide, and the absent father in the form of Gustav. He turns up again when the sisters' mother dies. He has come back to filmmaking after 15 years to write a script based around his own mother, and wants Nora, a theatre actress, to star in it. When she declines, he engages upcoming American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) for the role (an inappropriate choice). This film contains deeply interwoven thematic and emotional intricacies, and it is impressive to see the way that the three leads embody these emotions, often wordlessly, with subtle facial gestures alone. Less is more in this style of acting, and these are strong, honest and deeply moving performances. Sentimental Value also examines the role of using art to resolve personal issues, and the significance of the family home (almost a character in itself) as a repository of events and memories. Certain scenes are a little too long, but overall this is an insightful and challenging look at how families and their fraught histories can make or break us.
4 - highly recommended

Urchin
Dir: Harris Dickinson
Length: 100 mins
© Rialto - trying to make a new life
can be near impossible for addicts
Yet another highly-lauded film, this has won the prestigious critics prize for Best Film and Best actor at Cannes. Mike (Frank Dillane) sleeps rough on the streets of London and is addicted to drugs. After he assaults a man who tries to help him, he serves a few months in jail, and upon his release social services give him a chance at a new life - temporary housing, and a job cooking in a hotel restaurant. Can Mike turn his life around?  Dillane's stunning performance brings an empathy and likeability to Mike, and yet we sense the demons that constantly lure him back to self-destruct mode. The film doesn't seek to judge Mike, but does portray the childishness and unrealistic attitude he has to life, blaming others and being unable to grasp the opportunitiy to break the vicious cycle of dependence. Urchin is not an easy film to watch, although the director brings lighter moments, such as Mike going to karaoke with his new friends, and other times retreating in his head to some visually interesting places - deep caves and forests, suggesting either his feeling of despair and being trapped, or perhaps a richer inner life than his exterior aimlessness. This is a solid directorial debut, with Ken Loach and Mike Leigh slice-of-life overtones, and a determination to never give the audience feel-good easy solutions to a problem that afflicts inviduals and society at large. And Dillane is just superb!
4 - highly recommended

Link for updated index
I promised to regularly update the index of all the films I've reviewed on this site over the past ten year. This update is to mid-December this year. 

Hurstos top films for 2025
It's always a tough decision to choose my top films each year. Here they are, not in any particular order:
Flow
Life of Chuck
Sinners
A Complete Unknown
Hans Zimmer and Friends: Diamonds in the Desert
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Train Dreams (Netflix)
My Brother's Band
Before What Comes After
One Shot with Ed Sheeran (Netflix)

Honorable Mentions: 
Bob Trevino Likes It
Emilia Perez
One Battle After Another
The Story of Souleymane
The Brutalist
The Count of Monte Cristo 

Sadly not too many Aussie films caught my attention (though I certainly missed quite a few), but notable were:
Kangaroo
Kangaroo Island
 
Top documentaries:
Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk
Signorinella Little Miss (Aussie doco)
But Also John Clarke (Aussie doco)
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Thursday, 18 December 2025

December 19th  2025

Avatar: Fire and Ash
The History of Sound
Steve (streaming on Netflix)
After the Hunt (streaming on Prime)

Blockbuster! The third in the Avatar franchise arrives. The other three films reviewed are somewhat less mainstream fare, each distinctively different, two of them for home streaming. 
Coming next week: Hursto's top films for 2025

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Dir: James Cameron
Length: 197 mins
© 20th Century Studios - a visual stunner
The original Avatar in 2009 blew me and the rest of the world away. It made my top ten for the year. Unfortunately this third film in the trilogy won't. But not because it isn't visually and technically spectacular, but simply because it is too long, tries too hard to be epic, and ends up feeling bloated. Your fave characters are still here - Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a US marine now inhabiting a Na'vi body and married to native Pandoran Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), along with his four kids. Antagonistic marine Quaritch (Stephen Lang) plays a large role, while the new villain of the piece is Varang (Oona Chaplain), vicious and seductive leader of a war-mongering, seemingly brainless tribe, and in cahoots with the humans on the planet. Building a new world is definitely the franchise's forte: every visual is breath-takingly lovely, and Cameron's awesome action scenes are filled with sound and fury - it's just that there are too many of them and they are too repetitive. We revisit the old theme of the humans (or sky people) as the Na'vi call them, being hellbent on pillaging the planet they are trying to colonise, killing all the Tulkun (whale-like creatures) for age-defying substances in their brains, and their new mission: capturing Spider, Jake's adopted son, as he has learned to breathe the air on Pandora, and this would really give the humans an advantage. I certainly enjoyed immersing in the world, (how could one not?) Seeing it in 3D is almost mandatory, but a bit of serious editing and script tightening may have given Cameron the epic he was aiming for.
3 - recommended

The History of Sound
Dir: Oliver Hermanus
Length: 128 mins
© Universal - melancholy with strong
lead perfs and great music
Lionel (Paul Mescal) is a country boy with a gift for music. At the Boston Conservatory in the early 1900s he meets fellow student and composer David (Josh O'Connor) and the two instantly connect and become lovers. War interrupts their life, David is posted, but on his return he invites Lionel to join him on a trip, collecting and recording traditional American folksongs. But their ways part again. Years later, and after various relationships with men and women, Lionel decides to track down David, and to hopefully find the wax cylinders on which they recorded the music. This film has a melancholy understated lyrical quality, redolent of longing and nostalgia. While both Mescal and O'Connor perform wonderfully, the film is a little coy about their forbidden love, not letting us ever feel the depth of their passion. The music collecting is an interesting insight into an era of US folk music (also highlighted in the film Songcatcher), and the film's style and production values cannot be faulted. I'm not sure if the film is a love story, a homage to folk music, or a meditation upon loss. I guess it's all three, and while I'm not 100% emotionally drawn in by the handling of any single one of these themes, the film makes for worthwhile and engaging watching.
3.5 - well recommended

Steve
Dir: Tim Mielants
Length: 93 mins
Streaming on Netflix
© Netflix - a teacher battles himself
and the disturbed boys of his school
Steve (Cillian Murphy) is head teacher at a boys' reform school. The movie follows one chaotic day in the life of the students and the staff. A film crew comes to document the school, and one of Steve's favorite students Shy (Jay Lycurgo) has a near meltdown. The frenetic and immersive style of the film puts the viewer front and centre into the school environment, with constant crises, both small and large. As the movie crew shoot, we get an insight into the boys as they are asked to describe themselves in three words. The staff battle overwhelming odds. Emily Watson plays the school counsellor, trying to maintain a modicum of sanity, but it is Steve who obviously adores the boys but has his own demons of guilt and addiction to overcome. Featuring a gripping performance from Murphy, this is a film that never feels comfortable to watch, but is so important on many levels, dealing with the dedication of teachers, mental illness, and the compassion needed to mend broken lives and a broken system.
4 - highly recommended

After the Hunt
Dir: Luca Guadagnino
Length: 138 mins
Streaming on Amazon Prime
© Prime - the acting is stronger
than the convoluted plot
University academia can be a somewhat rarefied area. But when it gets down to "he said, she said" allegations of sexual harrassment, people are often dragged from their lofty perches. So it is in this provocative, sometimes muddled tale of professor of philosophy Alma (Julia Roberts), her co-worker and friend Hank (Andrew Garfield), and star student Maggie (Ayo Edebiri, well known from The Bear). The number of issues and plot twists are at times too overwhelming and convoluted, but there's no denying the quality of the acting on show here, from the leads and all supporting cast. The film can certainly provide a strong catalyst for conversations on class, academia, truth, and the ever-murky realm of human relationships.
3 - recommended




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