Thursday, 19 February 2026

February 20th 2026

Jimpa
Crime 101
Pillion
Fackham Hall
Europa! Europa FF

Again we are spoiled for choice with new cinema releases, plus a fantastic film festival showcasing the best of European arthouse movies. 

Jimpa
Dir: Sophie Hyde
© Kismet - family dynamics and finding
one's place in the world
Hannah (Olivia Colman) is an Adelaide filmmaker making a movie loosely based around her own family. She travels to Amsterdam, where her father Jim (John Lithgow) now lives, having left his family years ago to live an openly queer life. With her are husband (Daniel Henshall) and daughter Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde), a 16-year-old who identifies as a non-binary "they". The stories Hannah has always told herself about her father prove to be not as accurate as she thought, while Frances' hopes to live with her "Jimpa" as she calls him will be questioned. Much of this is inspired by director Hyde's own life, and Aud Mason-Hyde is in fact her own non-binary child. So there's plenty of truthful insights in this tale, and a totally authentic performance from Aud, as a young woman having her first romantic experiences and finding her place in the world. The film shines a light on the queer community in Amsterdam, (many people playing themselves) and into what traumas gay men experienced through the AIDS crisis. Lithgow is surprisingly good as Jim, but while I'm a Colman fan her inability to nail an Aussie accent bothered me. However the dynamics of the parent child relationships, and the love and acceptance, makes for a moving, truthful and interesting film.
3.5 - well recommended

Crime 101
Dir: Bart Layton 
© Sony - wonderful cast in a
thrilling heist story
Crime thrillers are not usually my favorite genre, but this one blitzes. With an intelligent script, stunning cast, tight editing, and an especially nail-biting, hair-raising chase scene, this has it all. Perhaps no surprise, as master crime/thriller writer Don Winslow has co-scripted it. Mike (Chris Hemsworth) has conducted a string of heists up and down Highway 101, but he's totally baffled the cops; no violence and no evidence. World-weary policeman Lou (Mark Ruffalo) has a theory, which is not listened to. Meantime, insurance agent Sharon (Halle Berry) is selling multi-million dollar policies to uber-rich folk who fear theft, while young thug Ormon (Barry Keoghan) starts working for the man (Nick Nolte) who has been employing Mike. And so a series of tightly interwoven plot threads burst onto our screens, with stylish, evocative cinematography and taut editing that gets us in from the opening scene of an upside down Los Angeles. This is one of Hemsworth's finest performances; he feels totally authentic as a closed and secretive guy who desperately wants money but also craves a relationship with the very open Maya (Monica Barbaro). This film has multiple underlying themes: police corruption, rapacious behaviour of insurance companies, decadence of the rich in the face of LA homelessness; along with layers of moral ambiguity. The surprises at the end come thick and fast, and we can't help but feel for so many of the characters, despite their dubious deeds! I found myself 100% absorbed in this film, and almost disappointed when it came to an end.     
4.5 - wholeheartedly recommended

Pillion
Dir: Harry Lighton
© Rialto - two excellent leads shine a light
on a very alternative relationship
Imagine combining elements of BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism, for those not in the know), with romance and a small element of comedy. Add a hulking, handsome queer biker, his LGBTQI+ biker mates, and a weedy insecure fellow looking for his place in life, and you have a recipe for one of the most out-there, unusual films of late. (Up front warning for those who find man-on-man sex confronting.) Colin (Harry Melling) lives an unassuming life working as a parking inspector and singing in a barber-shop quartet. When he meets hunky biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgaard), he becomes willingly lured into a dominant/submissive relationship, in which his eagerness to please sees him sexually enslaved, his head shaved, and a chain and padlock round his neck. The film may sound kinky, but underneath the overtly sexual plot are some surprising elements: a sort of warped sweetness in the relationship, and a revealing journey of self discovery for Colin, culminating in a surprisingly fun conclusion to the tale. The deep love and acceptance Colin's parents feel for their son is also very touching. No judgment is ever made of either man; their vulnerabilities and needs are front and centre, and the brilliant, quite moving, performances from Skarsgaard and Melling, helping us understand exactly how this kinky relationship works, are central to making this story work. 
4 - highly recommended

Fackham Hall
Dir: Jim O'Hanlon
© VVS - British silliness at its best
Here comes the eternal problem of recommending comedy films to viewers. Everyone's sense of humour is so vastly different. Fans of Downton Abbey may be offended by this one while lovers of old-fashioned, silly, satirical British humour will love it. I'm in the latter category. Lord and Lady Davenport (Damien Lewis and Katharine Waterston) preside over their estate, Fackham Hall, which is facing financial ruin if their daughter Rose (Tomasin McKenzie) doesn't marry cousin Archibald (Tom Felton). Enter the new butler, street-smart pickpocket and one-time orphan  Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe), who instantly forms a mutually romantic but forbidden attachment to Katharine. Much of the film's humour relies on wordplay (just think of the title!), along with huge helpings of silliness, farce and slapstick, which all the cast execute with expert timing and obvious enjoyment. Yes it's silly, making maximum fun of the British class structure, but in this fraught era of geopolitical turmoil, sometimes a good belly laugh (which I sure had) is just the antidote needed to lighten things up.
3.5 - well recommended

Europa! Europa Film Festival
Melbourne 19th Feb - 19th March
Classic Elsternwick; Lido Hawthorn; Cameo Belgrave
The festival is also expanding to interstate
For all details, times, film programs visit https://www.europafilmfestival.com.au/

43 films from 22 countries in Europe; these are wonderful films that you may only have this one opportunity to see, as they are not your average multiplex popcorn-brigade movies! So why not plan your schedule now? As well as featuring the best of modern European cinema, there will be a retrospective of films from Michelangelo Antonioni and Eric Rohmer. I'm lucky to have previewed a selection. 

The Birthday Party
Based upon a Greek novel of the same name, the film tells the story of ruthless tycoon Marcos Timoleon (Willem Dafoe), who holds a lavish and hedonistic 25th birthday party for his daughter and heir Sofia (Vic Carmen Sonne). Guests arrive at his private island, including journalist (Joe Cole) who is writing a biography of Marcos. This is one of those films that looks fabulous, with an intense, broody seething atmosphere, and a plot involving secrets and betrayals. I don't find myself caring much about the characters, but Dafoe, as always, is simply wonderful to watch as he inhabits the steely cold personality of  a man for whom money is king. 

Afternoons of Solitude
This award-winning documentary from a Spanish director, features Peruvian-born toreador Andrea Roca Rey. It is set in one of today's most controversial sporting arenas - the bullfighting ring. There is no judgment or debate about this ancient traditional sport; rather we witness Andrea's preparations, his pre-fight rituals, the camaraderie of his team, and his encounters in the ring with massive animals, bred for this mesmerisingly awful blood sport, pitting man against beast. Granted this is a film not everyone will be able to endure, with its cruelty to the bulls, but it honors one of Spain's most sacred traditions, and showcases the extraordinary bravery of the matadors. Shot in sun-drenched colors and with hypnotic repetitive close-ups of the action, this is a confronting documentary unlike any I've seen before.

With plenty of nominations for awards at various international festivals, this gentle film tells the story of young Dalia (Ydalie Turk) who comes from London to  northern Italy to care for her 90-year-old aging grandfather Igor (Umberto Usini). He has been a passionate truffle hunter all his life, but his way of life is being threatened, as large grape-growing corporations are destroying the forests where truffles grow. Igor sends Dalia out with his beloved truffle dog Birba, hoping they can find a big  truffle to show at the local fair. There are plenty of surprises in the plot, including some weirdly surreal quasi-fairytale moments. Most striking are the breathtaking visuals of the Piedmont landscape - glowing autumn forests, mists over the vineyards, winding village streets. This gorgeous insight into tradition, love of land, and a dying way of life make for a memorable movie experience.

The Portugese House
This multi-award-winning film from Spain tells the story of teacher Fernando (Manolo Solo), who comes home one day to fnd his wife mysteriously gone. He abruptly leaves his job and heads to Portugal, where, through a twist of fate, he ends up impersonating a gardener he has met along the way and who had been going to work at a large villa owned by the mysterious Amalia. After a relatively low-key first half, the film then introduces a new plot thread featuring another woman with an assumed identity, and a link to Fernando. The lovely settings make one's travelling feet itchy, while performances are subtle, and there is no condemnation of those masquerading as others (good reasons all round!). There is a kindness and warmth displayed in this delicate, lovely film that fills the viewer with warmth and a much-needed, renewed faith in humanity.  
Europa Europa FF is of course wholeheartdly recommended
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