Author: Oscar Huckle

Every Film In The 28 Days Later Series Ranked (Including 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple)

Rankings
Still from '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple'
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Oscar Huckle

Little did we know in 2002 when Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s genre-furthering zombie horror 28 Days Later released that it would spawn an entire series. With four films in the franchise (and a fifth reportedly on the way), the franchise depicts the outbreak and effects of the contagious Rage Virus that induces homicidal rage in those that become infected, be it from a full-on bite or just a small drop of blood. The series focuses on the impact of the disease and how it decimates British society, and the original became quickly lauded as a cult classic and has had a significant influence in expanding the the zombie horror genre.

After the critically acclaimed 28 Days Later, neither director Danny Boyle or writer Alex Garland returned for the second instalment, 28 Weeks Later, handing the keys to Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Although it received good reviews, many felt it wasn’t a patch on the original.

The series remained dormant until 2025, when both Boyle and Garland returned with 28 Years Later. This was intended as the start of a new trilogy written by Garland, and was filmed back-to-back with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, although Boyle passed the baton to Candyman director Nia DaCosta. With The Bone Temple generating a rapturous response, a trilogy capper has been greenlit with Boyle back at the helm.

In this article, I’ll rank the four films to date – and it proved a rather difficult task because this is one of the most consistent horror series out there where even the film in last place is well above average.

4) 28 Weeks Later

Still from '28 Weeks Later'

The second film in the series is the only one to date that didn’t have Alex Garland on writing duties, but 28 Weeks Later is still an above average zombie horror with plenty going for it. Robert Carlyle makes for an excellent lead as Donald ‘Don’ Harris, who we witness leave his wife behind during a zombie attack in the brilliant opening scene. The rest of the film then relocates the action to London, where the American-led NATO forces try to establish a safe zone. Don tries to reunite with his children Tammy (a young Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) where he lies about abandoning their mother. But Tammy and Andy quickly discover they haven’t been told the truth when she’s found alive and well, and it’s discovered she’s an asymptomatic carrier of the Rage Virus. What follows is an insightful study into how societal breakdown reveals our worst selves and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directs the film with plenty of energy in its thrilling second half. It may lack Danny Boyle’s frenetic direction, but 28 Weeks Later is a very fun ride.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

3) 28 Days Later

Still from '28 Days Later'

While I’m sure many will feel the original film placing third in this list is blasphemous, hear me out. 28 Days Later is an excellent zombie horror that progressed the genre with its fast-moving infected and clear inspiration from George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Garland’s script provides plenty of sharp commentary on the breakdown of society and there’s some excellent performances from Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson. The first hour has a real bravura energy to it with some terrific set pieces, and is unmistakably Danny Boyle with Anthony Dod Mantle’s kinetic cinematography. John Murphy’s score is also endlessly memorable in its simplicity. But I’ve always thought the second half doesn’t live up to the first when the central quartet arrive at Christopher Eccleston’s army compound. At this point, the film becomes less about its characters and while it’s still very entertaining, it’s the first half that really shines.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

2) 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Still from '28 Years Later: The Bone Temple'

While 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple lacks Danny Boyle’s frenetic directorial style, it more than makes up for it with its fascinating narrative and memorable characters. It’s the very antithesis of 28 Years Later – a shaggy-dog affair with Anthony Dod Mantle’s disorienting but beautiful camerawork (often on an iPhone) that’s stuffed to the brim with thoughtful ideas and themes, while Nia DaCosta’s sequel is a focussed and polished film that feels smaller in scope. But that’s not a problem because this is a powerfully gripping sequel from start to finish (28 Years Later‘s second act relies on a slightly far-fetched decision that throws you out a little) with some sensational performances.

DaCosta sets the grim tone from the very first scene with Spike’s brutal and foul-mouthed initiation and never relents – this film is gleefully nasty and doesn’t hold back with its torture or body organ consumption. It’s certainly the strongest film in the 28 Days Later series to earn its 18 BBFC age rating. Jack O’Connell’s turn as the Satanic cult leader is absolutely fantastic – he makes for a truly repugnant villain, but with plenty of charisma to make him memorable. Both Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry are just as impressive in the film’s second storyline and when the two arcs eventually collide, it results in a giddily exciting third act climax of immense proportion. What’s more, there’s a brilliant score by Hildur Guðnadóttir and although Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography isn’t as memorable as Anthony Dod Mantle’s work, there are some stunning shots here.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

1) 28 Years Later

Still from 28 Years Later

But the edge goes to 28 Years Later, the third film in the series and the first of a proposed trilogy. This is a very exciting and ambitious sequel that was worth the long wait and it often really soars. This is a Danny Boyle film through-and-through, so expect the grainy feel of the original (this time, lots of the film is shot on iPhones), coupled with seriously kinetic cinematography from Anthony Dod Mantle – it’s one of the most striking-looking films of 2025. This is a film that’s full of ideas, and one that refuses to take obvious choices and like some of returning screenwriter Alex Garland’s recent filmography, there are plenty of influences from the UK’s recent political turmoils as the duo paint a picture of a national identity crisis.

When we get to the action, 28 Years Later is absolutely bursting with adrenaline and you’re constantly looking around the screen (when Mantle chooses to settle the camera for a second) for danger. The first act is where the film is strongest, especially a sequence where Spike and Jamie find themselves cornered in a house and a white-knuckle chase along a causeway. I love the way Mantle chooses to briefly pause a shot when an infected is killed and replay the kill from a different angle, and there are some stunning shots of the lush Northumbrian countryside, as well as the sadly-no-more Sycamore Gap tree near Hadrian’s Wall. The film makes a choice in the second act, which prompts Spike to return to the mainland and this stretch felt a little clunky to me, even if it’s still very entertaining. But the third act when Ralph Fiennes’ character enters the fray sees the film back on firmer footing and there’s plenty of the folkloric and elegiac elements clearly inspired by Garland’s Annihilation and Men. I can forgive the slightly wonky second act for the sheer ambition of the rest of the film because it is often transcendent.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Rental Family (Review)

Review
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Director: Hikari
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, Akira Emoto
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 110 mins

Rental Family is a comedy drama starring Brendan Fraser as Phillip Vanderploeg, a Japanese-based American actor who has been struggling to find meaningful work after a successful toothpaste advert seven years earlier. He meets Shinji (Takehiro Hira) who introduces him to his company, ‘Rental Family’, a business that provides actors to play stand-in family members and friends for strangers. “We sell emotion” is how Shinji sells it. Although somewhat reluctant at first, Phillip takes on two long-term jobs – one acting as the estranged father of a young half-Japanese girl called Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), who her mother thinks will be a great way to boost her daughter’s mood to get her into private school, and another as a journalist profiling retired actor Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto) with dementia. But Phillip finds himself getting a little too involved and finds himself caring for them.

This is a sweet-natured and very positive comedy-drama with an excellent Brendan Fraser performance that you’re sure to walk out of with a smile on your face. While the first half borders on saccharine, director Hikari does enough to keep things more than interesting in the latter half where the complexities and moral questionings of what the firm’s employees do come into the fray and it takes a more melancholic tone.

It’s hard not to be totally wrapped up by Fraser’s deliciously twinkly performance, with a gentle physicality and affable temperament – and Rental Family wouldn’t be half of what it is without that central performance. There’s good supporting performances from the rest of the cast, and there’s reasonably strong development of the firm’s employees who begin to form a warm dynamic. Takurô Ishizaka lenses the film neatly too, with some colourful, sweeping shots of the luscious Japanese landscape.

But although I enjoyed Rental Family for what it is, I wanted a deeper exploration into the themes of loneliness and loss, which the film only touches on. That would have given the narrative more of a complete circle. Still, if you want an uplifting comedy-drama with an effortlessly likeable Brendan Fraser, Rental Family hits the spot.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Review)

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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Director: Nia DaCosta
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Erin Kellyman, Chi Lewis-Parry
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 109 mins

Fittingly arriving 28 weeks later after last year’s excellent 28 Years Later is 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which was filmed back-to-back with its predecessor. While Danny Boyle returned to the director’s chair for the first film in the proposed trilogy, The Bone Temple is directed by Nia DaCosta. I’ve had mixed opinions on her filmography to date – both Little Woods and Candyman were excellent, The Marvels was rather ropey (although DaCosta reportedly experienced a rough ride under the Marvel Cinematic Universe regime) and I don’t understand what all the fuss is about for her most recent film Hedda.

This sequel picks up immediately after 28 Years Later‘s jaw-dropping final scene, which generated rather a lot of controversy. The film opens as Spike (Alfie Williams) is initiated into the Fingers gang, led by the psychopathic “Sir Lord” Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell), who claims to be the son of Satan. Crystal styles himself after Jimmy Savile, as do his gang members. The group go around disturbing the peace with any non-infected humans they can find, with torture and violence regularly on the menu (much to Spike’s disgust).

This storyline is intercut with another featuring Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who continues to maintain the titular Bone Temple, and his interesting relationship with Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the villainous Alpha zombie from the previous film. In the film’s third act, the two storylines are brought together to a rather memorable climax.

While 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple lacks Danny Boyle’s frenetic directorial style, it more than makes up for it with its fascinating narrative and memorable characters. It’s the very antithesis of 28 Years Later – a shaggy-dog affair with Anthony Dod Mantle’s disorienting but beautiful camerawork (often on an iPhone) that’s stuffed to the brim with thoughtful ideas and themes, while Nia DaCosta’s sequel is a focussed and polished film that feels smaller in scope. But that’s not a problem because this is a powerfully gripping sequel from start to finish (28 Years Later‘s second act relies on a slightly far-fetched decision that throws you out a little) with some sensational performances.

DaCosta sets the grim tone from the very first scene with Spike’s brutal and foul-mouthed initiation and never relents – this film is gleefully nasty and doesn’t hold back with its torture or body organ consumption. It’s certainly the strongest film in the 28 Days Later series to earn its 18 BBFC age rating. Jack O’Connell’s turn as the Satanic cult leader is absolutely fantastic – he makes for a truly repugnant villain, but with plenty of charisma to make him memorable. This is a much nastier performance than his much-lauded villainous turn in Sinners.

There’s some good performances from the rest of the Fingers gang (which reminded me of A Clockwork Orange), although some characters are inevitably short-changed with Jimmy Crystal’s penchant for needless violence. Erin Kellyman is brilliant as Jimmy Ink, one of the cult’s more empathetic members and Emma Laird is another highlight as one of the more sadistic figures.

The second storyline with Ralph Fiennes is also excellent, and his relationship with Samson is fascinating and even becomes touching as it progresses. Fiennes was one of the highlights of the last film, and here we get to dig even deeper into his methodological psyche as he tries to memorialise the victims of the epidemic and perhaps find a cure. Chi Lewis-Parry is just as impressive, and DaCosta’s humanisation of what was a no-good zombie lands this film a real emotional heft.

When the two storylines eventually collide, it results in a giddily exciting third act climax of immense proportion. There’s a particularly memorable sequence with Ralph Fiennes that I shan’t spoil and of course, there’s an exciting tease for what’s to come in the closing chapter.

But The Bone Temple isn’t a perfect film. The most significant flaw is the sidelining of Spike, who doesn’t get much of a character arc other than bearing witness to the cult’s horrific atrocities, and DaCosta could have explored the trauma of his character. On the flipside though, spending more time focussing on Spike might have disrupted the film’s breakneck pacing.

Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is the very opposite of 28 Years Later‘s frenzied Young Fathers music, but it’s yet another brilliant work by the Oscar-winning composer. There are so many memorable themes here, especially in the opening and many of the scenes set in the Bone Temple, with brilliant needledrops too. And like the score, Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography isn’t as kinetic as Anthony Dod Mantle’s, but there are some stunning shots here, particularly of the Bone Temple and the star-filled night sky.

Other than Spike’s sidelining, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a masterclass of a middle chapter, that doesn’t sag under the weight of its own bones with its coherent and self-contained storyline. It’s wickedly nasty with some juicy performances, backed by a brilliant Hildur Guðnadóttir score and striking visuals. I think 28 Years Later is the slightly stronger film overall though – although ramshackle, it really soars in its strongest moments and there’s something to be said for Danny Boyle’s direction and Anthony Dod Mantle’s gonzo cinematography. I can’t wait to see how this trilogy concludes.

Hamnet (Review)

Review
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Director: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 126 mins

Hamnet is the new film by Chloé Zhao, best known for her Best Picture and Best Director Oscar-winning film Nomadland. I’ve been rather mixed on her filmography – I thought Nomadland was fine but not Best Picture material, I really wasn’t a fan of The Rider and I liked Eternals, her divisive Marvel Cinematic Universe effort which I admired exactly because it upset the apple cart. Still, there’s no denying she has a distinctive style, with her Terrence Malick-like documentary aesthetics combined with themes of self-discovery and marginalised communities.

An adaptation of the 2020 novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet dramatises the life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) from their courtship to how they cope with the tragic death of their 11-year-old son. The film has received quite the critical acclaim.

But I found Hamnet to be a very disappointing experience – an overlong, emotionally manipulative film that continuously and aggressively tries to get its audience to weep. Zhao’s film has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Rather than getting invested in the depressing events it depicts and really feeling for the characters, I found myself rolling my eyes on multiple occasions and on the border of sniggering during what’s supposed to be a traumatic childbirth sequence because the film grossly overeggs it.

What’s more, I don’t understand the praise Jessie Buckley is receiving for her performance – I thought she was terrible. I’ve had mixed feelings on her past performances – she fares well in films such as I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, Men and Wicked Little Letters but she was woeful in Women Talking and The Lost Daughter. To this day, I can’t believe she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for the latter with her wandering attempt at a British accent. In Hamnet, the problem is she’s simply miscast and her natural smirk does her no favours with the character’s emotional baggage. It’s unfortunate Buckley is also saddled with some rather trite dialogue.

Paul Mescal fares better, even if his Shakespeare is underdeveloped, but at least it’s a quiet performance where we’re invited to ponder how he might be feeling through his silences, emotionally distant expressions. This is a hurting character and the only way he can process the various tragedies he has experienced is by leaving his family behind and taking to developing his stage plays.

Max Richter can always be trusted to turn in a reliable score – and that’s true to an extent here. His moody music is sparsely used in the first half, but becomes more prevalent in the latter half and there’s a few excellent and memorable cues. But unfortunately, the film makes a choice to use what is perhaps his most notable work ‘On The Nature of Daylight’ in the closing scenes – and this is another factor that really hurts Hamnet. There’s no denying it’s a powerful piece, used to striking effect in works such as Shutter Island and The Last of Us – although it didn’t quite work for me in Arrival.

Richter reportedly was set to use original score for Hamnet’s ending, but apparently the inclusion of this prolific piece was suggested by Jessie Buckley. After already becoming withered and grey for the best part of an exasperating two hours in a film that’s tried and failed to get me to cry, ‘On The Nature of Daylight’s inclusion was the cherry on top of my frustrations and again, I snickered and rolled my eyes at the overcooked finale.

Elsewhere, Łukasz Żal’s (of Ida and The Zone of Interest fame) cinematography is occasionally beautiful, the highlight being how he captures the Globe Theatre, but I thought much of the film was unnecessarily dim, failing to convey the mood it’s trying to achieve.

Hamnet is ultimately a big disappointment. Its biggest problem is tone – Zhao tries to force-feed the emotion of the tragic events rather than being delicate. This is odd because the director’s style is one of delicacy and minimalism. In fact, Hamnet doesn’t really feel like a Chloé Zhao film because it’s lacking that meditative and thoughtful energy – none of her films have been emotionally manipulative or (I hate to say it) felt like Oscar bait. One of my issues with Nomadland was that it never quite managed to stick the emotional wallop it needed, but it’s the opposite problem here.

The core problems of Hamnet‘s script and tone not working then feed into the performances, and Jessie Buckley doesn’t have the chops to save it. Throw in the egregious use of ‘On The Nature of Daylight’ and scenes that evoke laughter rather than tears and it’s a recipe for disaster. At least Paul Mescal gets away with his reputation relatively unscathed. It’s saddening that Hamnet is dissatisfying on so many levels and I’m frightened at what Oscars it might get nominated for and win – it’s properly pants!

Best Films of 2025 (10-1)

Rankings, Year In Film

This is the second of two posts detailing my top 20 films of 2025. I previously ran you through my best films of 2025 (20-11) and now it’s time to unveil the top ten.

10) Hard Truths

After a couple of historical dramas (the excellent Mr Turner and the underwhelming Peterloo), director Mike Leigh returned to the kitchen sink improvised drama he’s most notable for. Leigh reunites with Secrets and Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who plays Pansy Deacon, a woman with a short temper who criticises anything and everything. She lives with her quiet plumber husband, Curtley (David Webber) and overweight and jobless but kind-hearted adult son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett). It quickly becomes apparent, though, that Pansy is a deeply troubled woman battling severe anxiety and depression and her sister Chantelle (Michele Austin) tries to ease her out of it.

Hard Truths is another excellent addition in Leigh’s filmography – often very funny but simultaneously devastating. An early scene in a supermarket is particularly rib-tickling as Pansy comes to blows with fellow customers. That devastation slowly invades the humour, though, as the film progresses, and the result is one of Leigh’s most crushing works. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is phenomenal as Pansy, but her performance is matched by both Webber and Barrett as her husband and son and the dynamic between the three of them is perfectly judged. I really felt for all of them and could understand their perspectives on the simmering situation. My only criticism is at 94 minutes, it’s a rather brief film and I wanted to spend more time with these fascinating characters.

9) The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Still from 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig'

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an enthralling Iranian political drama about a family who are torn apart by politics. The film opens as the patriarch Iman (Missagh Zareh) gets a promotion when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. This is amidst nationwide political protests against the authoritarian government, and Iman quickly learns that he’s not been hired to carefully gather the facts before casting judgement – instead, he’s expected to simply approve judgements without assessing the evidence, which includes death sentences. His wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) lives at home with two daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), and all of their relationships become strained once a friend of Rezvan’s is shot in the face during a demonstration and Najmeh and her daughters provide first aid in their apartment without telling Iman.

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, an individual who has been arrested several times by the Iranian government for the nature of his films, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is utterly transfixing and the 167 minutes fly by. The characters are brilliantly developed and there’s a real tension in how the family situation continues to escalate before reaching its wild third act. Although this got an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the ceremony celebrating 2024, it’s a much stronger film in my view than It Was Just An Accident (which is still very good), which has received rapturous acclaim ahead of the upcoming Awards season – don’t overlook this film.

8) Marty Supreme

Still from 'Marty Supreme'

Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first film as a solo director since 2008, after his many collaborations with his brother Benny. This sports drama is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman, and stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring and ambitious table tennis champion. It’s a film Safdie has been wanting to make for a while, with Chalamet cast all the way back in 2018, the actor practicing the sport ever since.

This is a brilliant sports drama with a terrific Timothée Chalamet central performance and a tension-filled atmosphere. It reminded me heavily of Uncut Gems, the last film the Safdies directed together, in how it sustains a palpable tension throughout with Marty continually digging himself into more desperate situations. That Josh Safdie has been able to make such a gripping film out of what may seem like a low-stakes sport is a commendable achievement. The film is stunningly shot by Darius Khondji, with a seedy aesthetic that faithfully recreates a 1950s feel and there’s a pulsating score by Daniel Lopatin that dominates over the entire film. This is a wild thrill ride from start to finish that never lets you take a breather and it’s impressive how Safdie gets you to root for a host of unlikeable characters.

7) Caught Stealing

Still from Caught Stealing

It might seem strange that Darren Aronofsky chose to direct what appears to be a straight-up crime thriller, an adaptation of the 2004 Charlie Huston novel – after all, he’s known for his psychological dramas that explore broken and conflicted individuals. However, don’t worry because there’s plenty of Aronofsky to be found in this darkly original film. Caught Stealing is a wildly unpredictable ride from start to finish that holds no punches in its brutal approach. Aronofsky is on top form here, and the film is directed with real flair, with plenty of his trademark grimness. This is a film that’s often wince-inducing and blackly comic, often at the same time. It has a real kineticism, and there’s some excellent set pieces, especially a third act car chase. But there’s also heart and I really brought the electic mix of characters trying to survive in a grimily realised New York City.

Austin Butler is terrific as Hank, a deeply troubled individual who’s struggling to get himself out of a vicious cycle. Aronofsky gives the character plenty of meat to the bone. Matt Smith is having fun as the drug dealer neighbour with an outrageous mohawk, and Regina King’s excellent as a deliciously slippery police detective. Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio are also brilliant as Lipa and Smully Drucker, Hasidic brothers who you really don’t want to mess with. The film’s vividly shot by Aronofsky’s regular cinematographer Matthew Libatique and there’s a fun post-punk score by British band Idles that’s been written by Rob Simonsen, who scored The Whale. I was surprised just how much I liked Caught Stealing, expecting it to be a minor work by Aronofsky after his last couple of films have explored some heavy subject matter, but this is up there with some of his best work.

6) Warfare

Still from Warfare (2025) film

A war film directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, Warfare is based on Mendoza’s experiences during the Iraq War as a US Navy SEAL. The script and story is taken from the testimonies of the platoon members and presented in real time on one horrible day in November 2006 as the squad takes control of an Iraqi house under the cover of darkness. What follows is a bloody, pointless siege as the platoon comes under enemy attack. Mendoza previously acted as the military supervisor for Alex Garland’s excellent previous film, Civil War. For Warfare, Mendoza and Garland wrote the script together and although both filmmakers receive a director credit, Garland says he had more of a supporting role to Mendoza. All in, this film certainly has an original and intriguing concept.

Warfare is a powerful and gripping war film – a haunting meditation of the human experience without a forced story arc or political stance. Mendoza and Garland ratchet up the tension throughout, crafting an unnerving atmosphere that the platoon are going to be annihilated by the enemy, even though long stretches of the film are of the monotony of waiting around. There’s almost a documentary feel to cinematographer David J. Thompson’s cameras, which makes the experience all the more lifelike. The sound design, in particular stands out – this is a must-see in the cinema for the sound alone. I particularly admired how the film experiments with sound from the character’s perspective, for example a high-frequency, unearthly pitch after a bomb explodes. Save for an ending sequence, the film’s also devoid of music which really works – there are no artificial devices here to emotionally manipulate. Warfare is an incredibly immersive and visceral piece with a lean and mean quality to its pacing. I’m sure some who will criticise the film for not taking a political stance, like Garland was criticised for not doing with Civil War but that’s missing the point –Warfare is instead about the pointless destruction of war.

5) I’m Still Here

I’m Still Here is a political biographical drama about a husband’s forced disappearance during the military dictatorship in Brazil and Walter Salles’ first film since 2012’s On The Road. It’s based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s 2015 memoir of the same name, Marcelo being the son of Rubens Paiva, who was the victim in question. Fernanda Torres places Eunice Paiva, Rubens’ wife and activist, with the film largely told from her perspective and how she struggles to cope emotionally and financially, while trying to raise her five children. 

I found I’m Still Here to be a deeply affecting and gripping piece of work, masterfully directed by Walter Salles who skilfully contrasts the quiet family domesticity with the simmering and oppressive political horror. Although the film tells a story that happens in the past, I’m Still Here feels very contemporary with its mirroring of current dystopian events. The first hour is quite fast-paced, whereas the second is much slower but this is where the film really wraps its enchanting spell – it reminded me of Roma in many ways in terms of how it finds beauty in the mundane. The film’s complimented by a wonderful Warren Ellis score, which is very subdued in the first half but becomes more melodic later on. Although the majority of the film is set in 1970, the last half an hour jumps forward to 1996 and 2014. Although these somewhat disturb the film’s rhythm, they’re crucial in how they magnify the cruel Brazilian regime of 1970 and how the father’s disappearance continues to have a lasting effect on Eunice and the rest of her family’s lives, lending the film an epic quality. Fernanda Torres is just sensational as Eunice and fully deserving of the Best Actress Oscar nomination she received. She deftly balances her intelligence and frantic search for the truth while being as motherly as she can to her children. This is Walter Salles at the top of his game supported by terrific performances and an important, timely story.

4) The Brutalist

The Brutalist is an epic period drama directed by Brady Corbet, who last made the excellent Vox Lux. Undeniably more ambitious in scope, Corbet’s latest spans over thirty years and a three and a half hour run time. Adrien Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and Bauhaus-trained architect who immigrates to America and tries to integrate into their culture. Corbet directs the film with real bravura – although it’s about Tóth’s architectural career on the surface, there are plenty of parallels with the idea of how someone suffers for their art and how they are the person remembered rather than the entity throwing money at a project. Of course, that means there’s themes of compromise and interference and although its last 30 minutes may seem to take a different, seemingly incomprehensible tone, I found it very thought-provoking.

Adrien Brody turns in a career-best performance as the suffering artist, nailing the Slavic accent and mannerisms. Guy Pearce is also a standout as a slimy financier in a very multi-faceted performance. Pearce is no stranger to playing villains – his deliciously evil turn in Lawless is evidence of that – but this is a complex individual with all the qualities of someone who has too much money. I was less taken with Felicity Jones’ turn as Erszébet, who doesn’t feel as authentic as Brody or Pearce. But I don’t think all of the blame should be placed on Jones because her relationship with László is underdeveloped and in my opinion, that’s the film’s main flaw. Daniel Blumberg’s prickly score is wonderful, lending the film a simmering intensity and he crafts many memorable themes that develop throughout the film. The Brutalist is also beautifully shot by Lol Crawley, resurrecting the VistaVision process to authentically portray the period. It’s staggering how good the film looks, considering its modest $9.6 million budget and bearing in mind its epic run time. While not perfect, I loved The Brutalist, teeming with brilliant performances, a sharp script and endlessly striking visuals. Granted, some elements are underdeveloped but this is a film that earns its lengthy runtime and I was engrossed from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Brady Corbet does next.

3) Zootopia 2

Still from Zootopia 2

It’s very rare that a long-awaited sequel can better an outstanding original film. But Zootopia 2 did just that – a real treat of a film that takes everything there is to love about the original and develops it in a very satisfying way. The gags come quick and fast and there are so many small, clever details to find in repeat viewings, but this is balanced with plenty of heart and emotion too. Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush perfectly balance familiar elements that were the highlights of the original film, with new characters, gags and locations. There’s some fantastic set pieces, ranging from a kinetic opening car chase to a powerfully emotional sequence in a power plant. The film’s also intelligently relevant to current events, such as its depiction of a puppet-like mayor (a stallion hilariously voiced by Patrick Warburton) and the unjust persecution of minority races.

The chemistry between Nick and Judy is brilliant once again, from lots of laughs to be had in them being forced into a therapy session to their relationship being tested time and time again through events with real stakes. There’s some excellent additions to the cast, with Ke Huy Quan a highlight as Gary De’Snake, Patrick Warburton as the aforementioned Mayor and Danny Trejo as a basilisk. It’s all held together by an excellent score by Michael Giacchino, who introduces some memorable new themes. I can’t wait to see where the world and characters are taken next, and not only is it one of the best films of the year, Zootopia 2 is one of the best animated films of the decade, along with Soul and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

2) One Battle After Another

Still from 'One Battle After Another'

One Battle After Another is a Paul Thomas Anderson triumph – it’s a giddily exciting action epic with plenty of thrilling surprises up its sleeve. It’s fiersomely original, Anderson constantly subverts expectations in a refreshing way with some outrageous set-pieces too. There’s two heart-racing car chases, with the one in the final act particularly memorable for how simple it is – cinematographer Michael Bauman (who also lensed Licorice Pizza) intercuts between three drivers and a stunning desert vista. A 20-minute extended sequence mid-way through the film where DiCaprio’s character needs to evade the authorities is another wildly entertaining highlight. But under the surface of this riveting story, Anderson has plenty to ruminate on the current state of American affairs but in a playful way with plenty of intelligent humour.

Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic in the lead, dabbling his hand at comedy once again after his last turn in the underrated Don’t Look Up. Once a sharp and intelligent explosives expert, Anderson gets a lot of mileage out of the character who fries his brain with drugs after 16 years and DiCaprio nails it. Is this one of his best roles? It’s hard to say because the actor is so good in almost everything he’s in. Sean Penn puts in career-best work as the bigoted Colonel Lockjaw, an utterly ridiculous and tragicomic racist military officer with a particularly memorable walk. Benicio Del Toro is another standout too as a chilled-as-a-cucumber karate teacher – “I’ve had a few small beers” has already entered the lexicon. The film is beautifully shot on VistaVision by Michael Bauman and Jonny Greenwood turns in a thoroughly unconventional but sensational score. One Battle After Another is a near-masterpiece from Paul Thomas Anderson and it’s certainly his best film since There Will Be Blood.

So the best film of the year is…

1) Weapons

Still from 'Weapons'

The best film of the year is Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his excellent debut film, Barbarian. Like that film, Weapons is a high-concept horror-thriller that packs plenty of satisfying surprises up its sleeve. The film opens with a child narrator explaining that one Wednesday, in the town of Maybrook, Pennsylvania, seventeen children from schoolteacher Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class ran away from their homes at 2:17am and disappeared. Only one student, Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher) did not disappear and Gandy is immediately ostracised by the community who suspect her of being involved. To say anymore would be to veer into spoiler territory, but what follows is presented in a non-linear narrative told by certain character’s perspectives. Cregger has said the film is inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia in structure, whereby there’s overlap between certain stories.

Weapons is a brilliant film and cements Zach Cregger as one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents. This is an assured, skilfully crafted film with some sensational set-pieces and clearly influenced by Magnolia and Prisoners in tone. amazing. Like Barbarian, Weapons hides some outrageous twists up its sleeve and is thematically rich, with lots of the symbolism and plot points up to interpretation. The way in which the film is split into chapters told by different character’s perspectives is an excellent way to tell the story, and it’s interesting to see how certain characters are likeable when portrayed from one perspective, but abhorrent from another. I was totally gripped from the moment Weapons opened to its finish with its enthralling story and pulse-raising setpieces. This is fiersomely original filmmaking and it’s expertly paced. Some might not like that the film has a reasonably neat explanation but I really brought the third act and found it particularly chilling and exciting. Weapons has proven even better on subsequent rewatches, where you start to notice the smaller details in how the different stories overlap and the film remains just as breakneck in its pacing.

What are your favourite films of 2024? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Best Films of 2025 (20-11)

Rankings, Year In Film

2025 has reached its end and that means it’s time to look back on the year just gone and unveil my top film picks. It was an overall very strong year, but strange in how lots of the heavy hitters came in waves. After a decent Awards season (some of the Best Picture-nominated films that released in the UK this year feature in this list), it was a veritable desert from March through to August bar a few exceptions. I’ve never seen such a quiet summer for tentpole releases – once Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Fantastic Four: First Steps had done their business, there was precious little.

But there was then a flurry of top-drawer films in the second half of August, with new works from Zach Cregger, Mike Flanagan, Darren Aronofsky and Ari Aster, before a second wave at the end of October into November. It was a tough job cramming in so many films in one go, which proved a real contrast to the frustrating dry spells in between.

Fortunately, there was more than enough good to mute out the bad and curating a top 20 list proved a significantly more difficult task than usual. In this first of two articles, I’ll list numbers 20 to 11. Stay tuned for part two, where I’ll unveil my top ten films of the year.

But first, a few honourable mentions that didn’t quite make the list – A Complete Unknown, Ballerina: From The World of John Wick, Hallow Road, Roofman, The Penguin Lessons and Tornado.

20) I Swear

Still from 'I Swear'

Beginning proceedings is I Swear, a biographical drama that’s based on the true story of John Davidson, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome when the disorder wasn’t widely recognised. Davidson lived in Galashiels in Scotland in a working class family and the film follows his unconventional childhood at school through to how he navigates adult life. It’s directed by Kirk Jones, best known for making Waking Ned and Nanny McPhee. Like Jones’s previous films, I Swear has the same feel-good and infectiously upbeat spirit about it – it may tread familiar biopic territory but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t riveted from start to finish. Jones’s script is full of energy and there’s plenty of laughs to be had – but they are crucially always with the characters rather than at them. The director also doesn’t neglect to include some wince-inducing moments of some of the difficult situations Davidson faces to keep his story grounded – this film really gets you in the feels with its three-dimensional characters.

Although some may say the film sticks to a somewhat conventional biopic formula, I loved I Swear. It gets the tone just right – compassionate, but never pandering – and the performances are across the board. This is a film that reminds you that people can be good and I guarantee you’ll be leaving the cinema with a smile plastered on your face.

19) The Smashing Machine

Still from 'The Smashing Machine'

The Smashing Machine is Benny Safdie’s first time behind the camera without his brother Josh – the duo received acclaim for their collaborations with films such as Good Time and Uncut Gems. Dwayne Johnson stars as former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr, with the film taking place between 1997 and 2000, and Johnson turns in what is easily a career best performance as the wrestler who is often incredibly sweet and polite on the outside, but you know there’s a screw loose that could snap at any moment. This is a fascinating sports biopic and hats off to Safdie for deviating from the conventional biopic formula. The film has a cinéma vérité quality to it (not dissimilar from Darren Aronofsky‘s The Wrestler or Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher) and Safdie isn’t afraid to really dive deep into the complicated psyche of the heavyweight star – I was gripped throughout. The fight sequences are authentically brutal and there’s an interesting jazz-infused score by Nala Sinephro.

It’s interesting how The Smashing Machine has largely been shrugged as a film and I suspect it will be remembered only for Dwayne Johnson’s performance. But that’s a real shame because there’s a lot more going for it and Safdie really succeeds with diving into the inner psyche of the troubled fighter. Some have labelled the story as unremarkable, but that’s exactly the point – this is a film that’s about a fall from greatness and how a complicated individual such as Kerr navigates relationships and mental obstacles. This film really succeeds by looking past the sport’s shimmery gleam and how to accept and make the most of a mundane routine. I wouldn’t be surprised if this film gets a reappraisal in years to come.

18) Eddington

Still from 'Eddington'

Ari Aster is one of the most exciting filmmakers currently working and after impressing many cinephiles with his first two horror films, Hereditary and Midsommar, his surrealist tragicomedy Beau Is Afraid really split opinion. I loved it and when it was revealed that Aster was working on a neo-Western thriller set in the coronavirus pandemic, it was evident the director wasn’t out to make a crowdpleaser. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Sheriff Joe Cross, who faces off against Pedro Pascal’s Mayor Ted Garcia who is up for re-election. While I admired the film on a first viewing, I had some issues with it – but I really grew to appreciate it on a rewatch, having the knowledge of where the story was heading. This is a fearsomely original work from Aster with a brilliant Joaquin Phoenix performance that poses lots of interesting questions. It’s beautifully shot by Darius Khondji and the film particularly soars in its first and third acts. There’s one major flaw – I think the Emma Stone and Austin Butler story arc is unnecessary and stunts the film’s pacing. But even if it’s not perfect, you have to admire the ambition and I’m positive I’ll be revisiting Eddington in years to come.

17) The Long Walk

Still from 'The Long Walk'

The first of two Stephen King adaptations in this list (and the other two that aren’t here were also pretty good), The Long Walk is set in a future United States under a totalitarian military regime where fifty men compete in an annually televised competition, meant to inspire viewers. There’s a man representing each state and they must walk at a speed of at least three miles per hour – if they fall below and receive three warnings, they’re shot on the spot, with the winner being the final survivor. Francis Lawrence directs – and you couldn’t ask for a more fitting name at the helm, given he’s directed all of The Hunger Games films (bar the first), where people must also fight to the death.

This excellent adaptation deftly sustains a chilling and grim tone, but balanced with a humanity in the well-developed characters. Lawrence really makes the most of its simple premise and there’s a sustained sense of dread throughout – if a character wants to tie a shoelace or stop to relieve themselves, they’re naturally going to be doing that at less than three miles an hour. As you’d expect, the characters move through emotional states as the walk progresses and it’s exciting to see what were adversaries become friends, and vice versa. The film does a great job in forcing you to think that any relationships formed are doomed, given the inevitable’s going to happen. It’s also testament to how strong a story this is when most of the film is just a tracking shot of some characters walking along a road – Lawrence doesn’t use many flashbacks.

Unlike The Hunger Games films where the commentary behind the games is just as compelling as the contest, Lawrence trims the fat from The Long Walk and makes it lean and mean instead. The film doesn’t waste any time in getting started and never wanders into eye-rolling schmaltz, which is an easy trap for a film like this to run into. What’s more, there’s an excellent score by Jeremiah Fraites, who crafts several memorable themes and the film’s well shot by Lawrence’s regular cinematographer Jo Willems, who conveys the expanse and monotonous of the never-ending roads the characters must travel on.

16) 28 Years Later

Still from 28 Years Later

28 Years Later is the long-awaited third instalment in the 28 Days Later series, director Danny Boyle’s 2002 post-apocalyptic horror that was novel for introducing the fast-moving zombie (even if Boyle famously doesn’t consider it to be a zombie film). The film arrives 18 years after 28 Weeks Later, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and is the first of a planned new trilogy with Alex Garland on writing duties. This is a very exciting and ambitious sequel that was worth the long wait and it often really soars. It’s a Danny Boyle film through-and-through, so expect the grainy feel of the original (this time, lots of the film is shot on iPhones), coupled with seriously kinetic cinematography from Boyle’s regular collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle. This is a film that’s full of ideas, and one that refuses to take obvious choices and like some of Garland’s recent filmography, there are plenty of influences from the UK’s recent political turmoils as the duo paint a picture of a national identity crisis. Although there’s a slight slump in the seond act, when the film peaks, 28 Years Later is transcendent. I’m very excited to see where the story heads next and although many have expressed dissatisfaction at the intentionally befuddling final scene, fear not because I’m confident we’re in safe hands.

15) Dangerous Animals

Still from Dangerous Animals

For about 70 minutes of its 93 minute run time, Dangerous Animals is a near-perfect genre mash-up of a shark film and serial killer mystery that’s deliciously nasty – a blending of Jaws meets Peeping Tom, but turned up to eleven. Jai Courtney plays Tucker, an eccentric ship captain who runs a shark cage tourist attraction business. But as we very quickly learn, he’s also a serial killer with a seriously twisted mind, with his latest victims Heather (Ella Newton), an Englishwoman on a gap year and a feisty American drifter, Zephyr (Hassie Harrison). He likes to harness women up and slowly dunk them into shark-infested waters, and film the results. Nick Lenard’s script is sharp and deftly develops the characters, so it’s easy to care for them later into proceedings. The film’s also gorgeously shot by cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe, with some stunning ocean vistas and blending the turquoise waters with blood red. Until that 70 minute mark or so, I’d go as far as to call Dangerous Animals the definitive shark film. It’s such a shame that in the last 20 minutes, the film really jumps the shark (pun fully intended) – neither director Sean Byrne or Lenard have the strength to act on their sadistic convictions and you really have to suspend disbelief. But despite its disappointing ending, Dangerous Animals still earns a high spot on my list because that first 70 minutes really is something special, and I hope this film revamps Jai Courtney’s career because it’s proof that he can be brilliant when he’s given the right material.

14) Black Bag

Black Bag is a stripped-down espionage thriller by Steven Soderbergh, one of two films he directed in 2025 (with another one coming up shortly…). Michael Fassbender plays British Intelligence officer George Woodhouse and as the film opens, he is given one week by his superior to investigate who has leaked a top-secret software program. One of the suspects is his fellow intelligence officer and wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). He invites the other four suspects to dinner and drugs the chana masala (which he tells his wife to avoid) to get them to loosen up and in his words “watch the ripples”. 

This is another excellent film from Soderbergh and it’s impressive how lean Black Bag is – there isn’t an ounce of fat in this fast-paced 94 minute thriller. David Koepp’s flirtatious script is very sharply written and the film feels very much indebted to the works of John le Carré, albeit with Soderbergh’s influence. It’s very satisfying constantly seeing this ensemble play each other wih the film’s dry wit and there’s a surprising number of laughs here too, especially a serious Fassbender cooking up a storm in the kitchen with steamed-up glasses. The film’s lusciously shot by Soderbergh (under his usual Peter Andrews pseudonym) and David Holmes’ playful score is very fitting. 

13) Presence

I’m going to give the slight edge to Soderbergh’s first 2025 release, an innovative horror film that’s presented in a series of long takes rom the poltergeist’s point of view – an interesting creative decision. Written by David Koepp, who previously wrote Soderbergh’s Kimi, Presence follows a family of four who move into a house inhabited by a poltergeist. The family includes mother Rebecca (Lucy Liu), father Chris (Chris Sullivan), bratty elder brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) and troubled younger sister Chloe (Callina Liang). They’re all suffering from various problems – Rebecca clearly prefers her son and has been committing financial fraud, Chris suffers from depression and is considering separation from Rebecca and Chloe is grieving the death of her best friend, Nadia, who recently died in her sleep. Almost immediately after moving in, Chloe starts to complain of a supernatural presence.  

Presence does a really good job of slowly building a sense of unease with a tinge of sadness and there’s some excellent character development among the family. You can really see the cracks start to grow, particularly as the strained marriage falls apart. Chris Sullivan stands out as the father in a very understated performance who generates a lot of empathy. Calling Liang also impresses as the developing but vulnerable daughter who hasn’t quite worked out her purpose yet. Lucy Liu’s mother isn’t particularly likeable, but that’s the point and her performance satisfies the brief. The first person point of view also works here, even if it occasionally falters under scrutiny.  It compliments the narrative and the dream-like images of the wide lens (Soderbergh is on cinematographer duties, too), forcing us to question what the spirit’s intentions are and if it’s malicious by the way the camera studies its subjects. There’s a melodically moody score too from Zack Ryan and at 85 minutes, the film is lean and doesn’t outstay its welcome. If anything, I wish it were a bit more substantial.  

12) The Monkey

After reaching new career heights with the excellent Longlegs in 2024, director Osgood Perkins’ follow-up sees him adapt Stephen King’s 1980 short story of a cursed monkey that brings death and destruction. Adding further excitement behind the camera is horror maestro James Wan, who produces the film. This is a hugely enjoyable film with some brilliant set-pieces and striking imagery. Perkins is the perfect pick to direct this project, having himself lost his parents in headline-making ways. He decides to intentionally avoid subtlety and use the film’s sadistic gore to joke about the absurdity, pointlessness and randomness of death. That’s a genius approach and really distinguishes The Monkey from more serious horror films about possessed toys, of which there have been many. The film’s brilliantly edited and it packs a real wallop in its breakneck pacing as it hurtles through its sub-100 minute run time. The humour really works – especially how a man reacts to their neighbour getting gruesomely slain in a lawnmower incident, and the film is brimming with Perkins’ signature style in terms of the mise-en-scène. The monkey itself of a wonderfully creepy design – James Wan is no stranger to the genre after all being behind the similarly evil creations of Jigsaw in the Saw films and Annabelle in The Conjuring Universe. The Monkey is another winner from Perkins and it’s a very coherent film with clear influences from King and Wan that really elevate it. The decision to lean into the absurdity of death is a particularly strong choice and it’s a real blood-drenched thrill ride from start to finish. This is an intriguing film that builds to a memorable conclusion, which stays with you long after the credits roll.

11) Bugonia

Still from 'Bugonia'

Just missing out on a top ten spot is Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, which stars Emma Stone as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, who is abducted by conspiracy theorist Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) and his disabled brother Don (Aidan Delbis). Bugonia is yet another thought-provoking work from Lanthimos, packing plenty of surprises and thrills up its sleeve. This is a film that keeps you second-guessing throughout with its complex characters and striking visuals, and like lots of his work, it’ll take multiple watches to fully unpack. I’ve always found Lanthimos is at his best when he’s on scriptwriting duties with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou (they co-wrote Dogtooth, Alps, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Kinds of Kindness together) with their arch dialogue. It’s why The Favourite didn’t fully work for me. And although Will Tracy’s script isn’t quite as arch as what Lanthimos and Filippou would conjure, I didn’t notice the writing as much as I did in The Favourite.

While Emma Stone is reliably excellent as Michelle, it’s Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis that really stand out as the abductors. Plemons is scarily convincing as the unkempt Teddy, who constantly takes advantage of his cousin with his conspiracy theories and has a very short fuse – I hope he’s recognised come Awards season. Delbis is equally brilliant in his debut role, brilliantly balancing the vulnerability of his disability with a clear sense of right and wrong. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is outstanding, shooting the film in VistaVision with a vivid colour palette. Jerskin Fendrix, who seems to also becoming Lanthimos’ new composer of choice given this is his third collaboration, turns in a career-best score. The monumental score beautifully compliments the events on-screen, upping the intensity with memorable themes. Bugonia is yet another excellent Lanthimos film that kept me gripped throughout with its fascinating story, memorable performances and stunning visuals. 

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments or tweet @TheFilmMeister

Sentimental Value (Review)

Review
Still from 'Sentimental Value'
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 133 mins

Sentimental Value is the new film by Joachim Trier and has received quite the acclaim, especially for Stellan Skarsgård’s performance. Trier reunites with Renate Reinsve, who gave the actress her breakout role in The Worst Person In The World. Reinsve plays Nora, a theatrical actress who often suffers from stage fright. Her sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) is a historian and married with a son. Stellan Skarsgård plays their father, film director Gustav Borg, who divorced their mother Sissel and left Norway for Sweden to focus on his film career during their childhood. As such, the relationship between Gustav and his daughters is strained.

When Sissel dies, Gustav returns to reclaim the house. His career has been on the decline and he hasn’t made a film in 15 years. He wants to film his latest movie to be shot in the family home and for Nora to play the lead, a character inspired by her grandmother, but she refuses to read the script. So Gustav replaces her with American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) and her stardom convinces Netflix to finance the project. What follows is a difficult production that brings the family closer together.

Sentimental Value is an excellent drama that maturely melds history, stardom and generational trauma with brilliant performances across the board. Trier skilfully builds the relationship between Gustav and his daughters to the point where we know what the characters think just by their facial expressions and body language, rather than by what isn’t said. This is a film about what it means to be an artist and how one can express themselves and find meaning with the parallels in their lives, while also untangling the building trauma the characters have experienced in their past. I also loved the smart smatterings of film industry criticism, such as how Netflix tends to limit theatrical releases and how Gustav looks to reunite with his preferred cinematographer.

Skarsgård is excellent and deserving of the critical acclaim he’s received as the director getting back in the saddle. He sensitively conveys his need of another hit but I also fully bought him as someone who wants to fix the familial cracks in the process, even if he clearly lacks the emotional intelligence.

But it’s Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas who are Sentimental Value‘s standouts and some of the best acting I’ve seen this year. Their characters are particularly authentic as close siblings, with both deftly portraying the cracks and ripples their tainted childhood has had on them. But the sisters are both very different from each other – Reinsve’s Nora is impulsive and vulnerable, whereas Lilleaas’s Agnes is more maternal and level-headed.

Elle Fanning is also excellent as the American actress, a figure who takes their body of work very seriously and I found her respectful process of how to really get under a character’s skin fascinating. In some ways, Fanning’s performance is the very antithesis of Natalie Portman’s brilliant turn in May December, another film about an actress who studies her subject.

The film’s technically brilliant too, lusciously shot by Riders of Justice cinematographer Kasper Tuxen who balances the almost documentary-like feel of some of the everyday life and filming scenes with several surreal and dream-like sequences. He knows when to hold onto a shot for maximum effect and there’s an interesting colour palette throughout. The film’s also complemented by a thoughtful score by Hania Rani, which never feels emotionally manipulative.

For the most part, I loved Sentimental Value – this is a very mature piece, especially from a director who is still in his prime. Like the subject matter it explores, it feels like a film a director would make at the end of their career and I can’t wait to see what Trier does next. The performances are some of the best I’ve seen all year and the film has plenty of staying power with its thoughtful themes – if anything, there might be a bit too much in this respect because certain ideas and strands aren’t as developed as others – but even still, this is a very impressive piece of work.

Anaconda (Review)

Review
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Director: Tom Gormican
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniela Melchior, Selton Mello
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 99 mins

Anaconda is an action comedy meta reboot of the 1997 film starring Paul Rudd and Jack Black as Ronald and Doug, two childhood filmmaker friends who try to remake the original monster horror. The duo have fallen on hard times in recent years, with Ronald an extra who craves a leading role and Doug a wedding videographer who kids himself as having a “B, maybe B+” career. When Ronald claims to have secured the rights to remake Anaconda, he convinces Doug and friends Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) to travel to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil to realise their dreams. The film’s directed by Tom Gormican, who made the similarly self-aware The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent starring Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself, which I found very muddled.

While this meta reboot of Anaconda has an excellent concept that could have freshly reinvigorated the series, it’s sadly a big disappointment. It’s not terrible – I laughed twice and snickered three or four times, but it’s nowhere near as good as it should be considering the talent involved. The script by Gormican and Kevin Etten is terrible, and while Rudd and Black (particularly the latter) deliver energetic performances, there’s no getting past the poor writing.

The film struggles to settle on a tone and isn’t funny, playful or scary enough. There’s no getting away from the fact the original Anaconda is an incredibly cheesy film, but the idea of having a self-aware meta-sequel is interesting because it could have playfully mocked it while offering thematic depth and terrifying thrills. Instead, what we’ve got is a film with long stretches between laughs, and it fails on the horror front too. The watered-down 12A rating is a mistake – the film would have really benefited catering to a more adult audience where you’d get some gruesome kills and raunchier jokes. The dreadful visual effects also really hinder the film’s verisimilitude and are frankly unforgivable in 2025.

While Jack Black is undoubtedly the highlight, Paul Rudd struggles with a poorly written character despite putting his all in. Thandiwe Newton’s Claire has zero substance and Steve Zahn has to resort to drug or toilet humour, which is a shame considering how talented an actor he is. The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior is completely wasted as Ana, a woman who claims to be going after illegal gold miners in a needless subplot and while it’s nice to see Selton Mello after his outstanding turn in I’m Still Here, he too is wasted as a poorly written snake handler.

It’s a real shame Anaconda isn’t the slam-dunk it could have been, considering the excellent concept and star-studded cast. While the result isn’t offensively bad, it’s nowhere near the standard it should be and the chief culprit is the shonky script that misjudges what the film’s tone should be. Anaconda could have been excellent if it had first-rate jokes while embracing the horror of such a deadly creature, but what we’ve got is a watered down, underpar and overly cynical, corporate-feeling film that’s designed for a mass audience.

Marty Supreme (Review)

Review
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Director: Josh Safdie
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, Fran Drescher
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 150 mins

Marty Supreme is Josh Safdie’s first film as a solo director since 2008, after his many collaborations with his brother Benny. This sports drama is loosely inspired by the life and career of American table tennis player Marty Reisman, and stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Mauser, an aspiring and ambitious table tennis champion. It’s a film Safdie has been wanting to make for a while, with Chalamet cast all the way back in 2018, the actor practicing the sport ever since. It’s also interesting that like his brother, Josh Safdie has also made a sports drama since the duo announced they would be pursuing solo careers. Benny Safdie recently directed The Smashing Machine, which received a fairly muted reception but I really liked it for its exceptional Dwayne Johnson performance, fascinating character development and focus on defying typical biopic conventions.

Marty Supreme is a brilliant sports drama with a terrific Timothée Chalamet central performance and tension-filled atmosphere. It reminded me heavily of Uncut Gems, the last film the Safdies directed together, in how it sustains a palpable tension throughout with Marty continually digging himself into more desperate situations. That Josh Safdie has been able to make such a gripping film out of what may seem like a low-stakes sport is a commendable achievement.

Timothée Chalamet is endlessly charismatic as the ambitious table tennis star and it’s impressive how much we care for someone who is a fairly unlikeable individual. He’s fiercely sharp and crass, doing anything to attract attention and make a name for himself to carve out a career. This is very much Chalamet’s film, with the rest of the cast in fairly small roles, and he’s fully deserving of what I suspect will be a lot of upcoming Awards attention. The film’s paced brilliantly and the 150 minutes fly by, although it takes 20 minutes or so for the film to really grip you under its spell.

Odessa A’zion is another highlight as Rachel Mizler, an equally scuzzy character who Marty has an affair with and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary is brilliant as the slimy Milton Rockwell, an influential figure who takes a financial interest in table tennis through Marty. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Rockwell’s retired actress wife, Kay, and while she’s perfectly serviceable, her performance is quite muted. There’s also strong turns from Tyler, the Creator (yes, really!) as a taxi driver and filmmaker Abel Ferrara as a criminal Marty dangerously crosses paths with.

The film is stunningly shot by Darius Khondji, with a seedy aesthetic that faithfully recreates a 1950s feel and there’s a pulsating score by Daniel Lopatin that dominates over the entire film – Khondji and Lopatin both previously worked on Uncut Gems too. I expect both will receive Oscar nominations for their work here, and both would be very deserving.

I had an absolute blast with Marty Supreme, which gripped me throughout and this firmly cements Josh Safdie as a top-tier solo director. It’s a wild thrill ride from start to finish that never lets you take a breather and it’s wince-inducing how characters dig themselves into more desperate situations, but impressive in how you root for a host of unlikeable characters. I can’t wait to rewatch it and this is a film that’s begging to be seen on as big and loud a screen as possible.

It Was Just An Accident (Review)

Review
Still from 'It Was Just An Accident'
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Oscar Huckle

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr, Deelnam Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 104 mins

It Was Just An Accident is the 2025 Palme d’Or winner by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who made the film without official permission from the Iranian authorities after repeatedly criticising their regime in his works and imprisoned several times. The film opens as a man with a prosthetic leg drives his car at night with his wife and daughter. After he accidentally hits and kills a dog, he visits a garage where the mechanic Vahid recognises him from the squeaky sound his prosthetic leg makes as he walks. Vahid kidnaps him, but has final hour doubts when he prepares to bury him alive because he isn’t 100% sure he has the right man. So, Vahid sets about rounding up a group of former Iranian political prisoners to confirm his identity, and there’s fierce debate among them whether it’s right they should take their revenge on the man.

This is a gripping thriller with a bluntly political edge that asks the question – is it morally right to take your revenge on your torturer not just for your own satisfaction but for the greater good of the many others who suffered? For the first half-an-hour where we spend time with the suspected jailer as he tries to get his car fixed, you’re not really sure where the film is going – and there’s a real thrill when Vahid kidnaps him because it comes out of the blue. All of the characters are brilliantly developed and although a totally different setting and story, this film reminded me of Anora in how Vahid is constantly pushed from pillar to post. There’s something almost comical in the lengths the characters need to go to make progress in their revenge quest, even if the reason why they were original imprisoned and tortured is unspeakably bad. Some of the highlights include paying for a bribe via a contactless card reader or having to buy a box of pastries to accompany some cash. Panahi’s script is razor sharp too, with unpredictable hothead Hamid (Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr) getting some brilliant lines and offering multiple perspectives on the situation.

But although Panahi’s film reaches a satisfying conclusion, it’s the last act of the film that doesn’t quite sustain the pace of the first two – I found the film far more profound in its earlier sections. Still, It Was Just An Accident is a thought-provoking and thrilling piece by the courageous filmmaker and is well worth checking out.