Director: Felipe Gálvez Haberle
Starring: Camilo Arancibia, Mark Stanley, Benjamin Westfall, Alfredo Castro, Marcelo Alonso, Sam Spruell, Mishell Guaña, Adriana Stuven
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 97 mins

The Settlers (or Los Colonos in its native Chilean) caused quite the storm when it debuted at Cannes last year and is Felipe Gálvez Haberle’s directorial debut. It’s a revisionist Western that takes place at the turn of the 20th Century as settlers from multiple European nations arrive in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, grabbing as much land as they can. 

Scotsman soldier Alexander MacLennan (Mark Stanley) leads an army under a reign of terror with his unpredictable nature and general drunkeness. He’s under the employment of Jose Menéndez (Alfredo Castro), who tasks him with leading an expedition to the coast to pave a way for his herd of grazing sheep. MacLennan cherrypicks the quiet Segundo (Camilo Arancibia), a mixed-race Chilean to join him and Menéndez also gives him a Texan mercenary called Bill (Benjamin Westfall). The three get on poorly together, with Bill’s disloyal and racist personality a clash with MacLennan’s unpredictability. They effectively set off into the Patagonian landscape where they rape, pillage and blunder the native tribes. 

Contrary to the near-unanimous praise, I didn’t find The Settlers to be particularly engaging, nor does it have much to say which hasn’t already been covered by stronger Westerns. It lacks a character to root for and I just didn’t care for any of the trio. The dialogue is on-the-nose and it never really explores the marginalised tribes. Haberle tries to go for a retro feel with grainy cinematography from Simone D’Arcangelo but it simply appeared grainy to me, rather than the arresting quality they had no doubt intended. Harry Allouche’s playful Spaghetti western inspired score is completely at odds with the grim events being portrayed on-screen.

While it still tells an obvious message, the last act of the film where it shifts to seven years after MacLennan’s expedition is where the film is at its most engaging. The newly formed Chilean government sends a government agent called Vicuña (Marcelo Alonso) to investigate the genocide and the film asks some interesting, if not fully developed questions on MacLennan’s barbarity. While The Settlers is effectively fierce and primitive, it lacks the thrills or playfulness of its Western contemporaries to be truly effective. 

⭐⭐ (Poor)

Director: Cord Jefferson
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 117 mins

American Fiction is the directorial debut of Cord Jefferson, a satirical comedy-drama adapted from Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure. It’s up for five Academy Awards in the Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score categories.

Theolonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is an intelligent, middle-aged humanities professor in Los Angeles, whose novels receive academic praise but commercially perform poorly. He’s fed up of being pigeonholed as a black writer and his fury is only bolstered when he sees another African-American author, Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), being praised for her new bestselling novel We’s Lives In Da Ghetto, which panders to black stereotypes. Thrown into the mix are some family issues, primarily Monk’s mother Agnes (Leslie Uggam) showing early signs of Alzheimer’s, forcing him to spend more time with her and his wider family. In response to his pent-up anger, Monk ghost-writes a book called My Pafology, a satirical novel mocking literary cliches expected from black writers, only for him to be offered a $750,000 advance after he submits the piece to publishers out of contempt. 

American Fiction is a highly entertaining literary comedy with a blisteringly sharp script that in some ways, feels like a film a more muted Spike Lee would make. This is a tough genre to crack and there have been far more failures than hits but I genuinely laughed quite a few times at this. There’s also more than a few kernels of truth about the publishing industry and what it means to be a writer, exploring the highs and lows of both the creative process and critical reception. But Jefferson deftly balances his commentary on the media with a heartfelt treatment of the themes of loneliness and family. The family drama element of the film is equally riveting, with the treatment of Alzheimers touching and the mundane but necessary tasks of trying to get someone into a home. 

There’s some terrific performances here too, especially Jeffrey Wright who’s always been a reliable screen presence but doesn’t often take the lead role. Wright nails the prickly, depressing nature of his character as he struggles to fit in and open up to people but with an almost lovable quality. Leslie Uggams is terrific as the dementia-ridden mother and Sterling K. Brown turns in an atypical Oscar-nominated performance as Monk’s plastic surgeon brother who has recently come out the closet. 

To say the ending of the film puts a foot wrong would be unfair as it’s fitting for the themes that Jefferson explores, but I thought it was a little rough around the edges and I’d like to rewatch the film to see how it reframes what comes before it. Finally, while Laura Karpman’s score is often rousing, I didn’t think it was Oscar material.

I went into American Fiction with low expectations based on the genre but found it to be a thought-provoking film with plenty of heart and fat to chew on. Cord Jefferson walks a fine line between not being preachy but being effective and he manages it. This is a really strong piece of work and I can’t wait to see where he goes next. 

Director: Sean Durkin 
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 132 mins

The Iron Claw is the new film by Sean Durkin, who’s career so far has been very promising. His debut feature Martha Marcy May Marlene was a fantastically prickly psychological thriller-drama, with a terrific performance by Elizabeth Olsen (also making her debut). The Nest was even better, a riveting character study of greed and perceived societal status, with powerhouse performances from both Jude Law and Carrie Coon. The Iron Claw is based on the life of Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron) and the wider Von Erich family, who were beset by premature tragedies. 

The film opens on a younger Jack ‘Fritz’ Von Erich (Holt McCallany) performing his signature iron claw submission hold in a wrestling match. After what Fritz considers to be a failed career, the film moves moves to 1979, where he strictly raises his four sons, Kevin, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simons). Kevin tries to confide in his distant mother, Doris (Maura Tierney) that Fritz is far too tough on his youngest brother Mike, who would rather pursue a career in music than wrestling. But Fritz is having none of it and like his finishing wrestling move, effectively holds his family in an identical submission hold. 

The Iron Claw is far more conventional fare in its execution compared to Durkin’s previous works but it tells a largely gripping and often grim recount of the Von Erich’s. The film’s bolstered by some terrific performances, with Efron reliably brilliant as Kevin, who has noble and instinctual family values but struggles to carve a life with his own ambitions. Efron has had a fascinating career after his High School Musical breakthrough, and like with his chilling portrayal of Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, proves he is a versatile actor with buckets of range. 

Holt McCallany, who is often lumped with supporting roles in action films such as Wrath of Man, gives a career-best performance as the patriarch. He channels Marlon Brando in his butch, but tired and weary turn as Fritz, a stubborn man who cannot let get of his past and will go to brutal lengths to make a name for his family in wrestling, even if it eats at the quality of his relationship with his sons. Maura Tierney is also quietly brilliant as the quiet and sullen matriarch, who’s clearly faced her own despair. 

The performances of Kevin’s three brothers (technically, there are four but the film omits the youngest Chris) are also admirable. Jeremy Allen White is brilliant as Kerry, who is initially sidelined from wrestling before given a short-lived opportunity. While Harris Dickinson’s performance as David didn’t wow me, I hadn’t recognised The King’s Man and the Where The Crawdads Sing actor until his name appeared in the credits. 

While the film does a solid job of creating a gripping family portrait, the way it does is it is mostly conventional, except for a near-surreal ending sequence that won me over. The first half of the film is pretty standard wrestling fare, chock-full with the sub-genre’s generic constructs, until the darker elements are introduced at the half-way mark. Durkin’s trying to portray both the wrestling history of the family and deep-dive into a familial character study but he falls short on both accounts. Although the film is very entertaining, I kept thinking throughout how it could have done things differently and I think Durkin should have decided to fully explore one of these elements rather than short-change the audience with two.  

While Arcade Fire Richard Reed Parry’s original score is stirring, especially in the film’s gripping opening sequence, The Iron Claw’s music is somewhat squandered by the use of generic pop and rock songs that have simply been overused in too many films before. On the plus side, the film’s handsomely shot by Hungarian cinematographer Mátyás Erdély, who lenses the film with a smoky, grey quality. 

While The Iron Claw is another exciting entry in Sean Durkin’s burgeoning career and represents a decidedly bigger budget effort, the film falls into the trap of sticking too closely with the biopic and wrestling film tropes. Had Durkin decided to focus deeper into analysing the Von Erich familial dynamic or simply just go for their wrestling career, The Iron Claw would be a sharper and punchier piece. Still, what we have is an always entertaining and grim, if rather conventional biographical sports drama bolstered by some terrific performances and handsome visuals. 

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 105 mins

The Zone of Interest is director Jonathan Glazer’s new film, an uncomfortably long eleven year wait after Under The Skin. Loosely adapted by a 2014 Marin Amis novel of the same name, Glazer became intrigued by the book prior to being published. The novel tells the story of Rudolf Höss, the longest-serving commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he lived with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) in what they perceived as their idyllic home. Small catch – the garden wall with barbed wire atop it is shared with Auschwitz. 

Through extensive research into the Hösses, Glazer pieced together what their life looked like during the time they lived outside the camp through examining testimonies provided by survivors and individuals who had been employed in the household. It’s certainly commendable that Glazer has poured so much passion into a project and given how Sexy Beast, Birth and Under The Skin all occupy completely different genres, can he inject his magic into this dark point of history? 

The Zone of Interest is a fiercely original work from Glazer that’s uncomfortable viewing and really gets under your skin. The film possibly represents the most important use of sound I can think of in quite some time – the sound of the droning concentration camp with its whirring machinery is ever-present during mundane conversation and day-to-day life. Glazer never shows us the atrocities inside the camp and what we hear beyond the frame is another film in itself. I loved the surreal elements too, particularly a storyline shot with thermal cameras. 

The film is initially quite light on story but we start to learn more about and then follow Höss’ career as it progresses. Christian Friedel is sensational as the despicable SS officer – a cold, calculated yet frank and career-driven individual. His whole life becomes an obsession into how fast he can kill and there’s an everyday quality to the terrible schemes he is complicit in, which makes the film all the more chilling.  A scene where gas chamber designs are discussed akin to the design for a car is particularly effective. 

Sandra Hüller, so brilliant in Anatomy of a Fall (another Academy Award for Best Picture contender this year), is arguably even more despicable than her husband. She is deeply attached to their home and doesn’t think her life can be bettered. It doesn’t take a lot for her to lose her temper, with chilling threats of violence or death to the rotating roster of Jewish housemaids. 

The film is masterfully shot by Loving Vincent and Cold War cinematographer Łukasz Żal, an incredible shot of a chimney through a window that’s reflected on the glass will forever be ingrained in my memory. Mica Levi’s score, although sparse, is also deeply effective. Save for two doom-laden tracks at the beginning and end, the rest of the film uses more of a soundscape except for a recurring motif during the surreal sequences.  

The Zone of Interest is a fascinating work in Glazer’s career, despite its cold and intentionally bad taste that will leave you thinking long after the credits have rolled. The performances, cinematography and sound are all top-drawer and the innovative use of sound alone is reason to experience this film on the big screen. I’d quite like to see it again as I suspect it will improve on a rewatch. 

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Sofia Boutella, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson  
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 139 mins

Argylle is a spy action comedy by Matthew Vaughn, a director whose works often subvert their respective genres. Kick-Ass rejected the-then comic-book codes and conventions with its gleeful tone and Kingsman: The Secret Service was a raunchy and gory ultraviolet spy film. Even his less overtly subversive films have proven successful, with X-Men: First Class rejuvenating the X-Men series with its smart script. Like his Kingsman films, Vaughn takes another stab at the espionage thriller with Argylle. 

The film follows reclusive spy novelist, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) who has found wild success with her Argylle book series. While she’s journeying to her mother, Ruth (Catherine O’Hara), she is saved from an attempted ambush by Aidan (Sam Rockwell), an actual spy who explains that she is being targeted by an organisation known as the Division, because her novels seemingly predict the future. 

While Argylle’s fresh concept in how it explores how a writer might see their creation come to fruition is to be commended, Vaughn’s latest isn’t his best work. It lacks the kinetic energy of his other films and the numerous twists don’t always work – the last act really ties itself in knots. Jason Fuchs’ script is on the wooden side and isn’t particularly funny. The score by Lorne Bale isn’t particularly memorable either and while there’s the trademark colourful pop to George Richmond’s cinematography, the film’s aesthetic has an artificial quality. 

None of the action sequences stand out either, arguably what should be the most thrilling element of a spy film. Vaughn’s last film, The King’s Man (a prequel to the mainline films) was also more a more inert effort but it at least had one memorable fight half-way through, which the rest of the film failed to top. 

The more family-friendly 12A rating really tames proceedings and what really propelled both Kick-Ass and Kingsman was its rejection of having to pander to a wide audience. While both Stardust and X-Men: First Class prove Vaughn is more than capable of crafting works with brain, as well as brawn, when toning his sensibilities down, Argylle just doesn’t quite succeed. 

There’s still some fun to be had though. Bryce Dallas Howard is excellent as the introverted author, who just wants the easy life and her home comforts. Samuel L. Jackson is also reliably brilliant and delivers most of the film’s limited laughs, particularly as he’s waiting to receive a file. It’s nice to see Catherine O’Hara, who is more selective in the roles she accepts these days and Bryan Cranston is also clearly having fun. While Sam Rockwell’s reliably charismatic and likeable, the role seemed like a slight waste of his talents and could have been played by someone else. Other than sporting a striking flat-top haircut, Henry Cavill fails to make much of an impression as the titular Argylle. 

Ultimately, while there’s fun to be had in the film’s first two thirds, Argylle fails to make the most of its unique concept. It’s lacking in energy in its forgettable action sequences and the film falls apart in its third act. Argylle would have been a stronger work if it had further dived into the fantastical nature of how a writer might imagine their world and if it wasn’t constrained by its more accessible age-rating. A frustrating post-credits scene promises we are going to see more of this world and I hope Vaughn returns to the drawing board and re-evaluates this film’s shortcomings. 

Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 133 mins

The Holdovers is the new Alexander Payne film and his first since 2017’s Downsizing. While Downsizing received a mixed reception, I found a lot to like in it, especially its ambitious first half.  I certainly vastly preferred it over Nebraska, which was nominated for six Oscar’s in 2014 and never understood the love for it. 

The Holdovers reunites Payne with his Sideways lead Paul Giamatti who stars as Paul Hunham, a strict classics teacher at Barton Academy, a New England boarding school that he attended back in his youth. Hunham is a curmudgeon and is despised by the students and most of his fellow teacher. In one of the film’s first scenes, we hear him happily humming when he dishes out some bad grades to his students. After Hunham gives an important donor’s son a failing grade, as punishment, he is forced to supervise the ‘holdover’ students left on campus over the holidays. One such student includes Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), whose mother has abruptly cancelled a family holiday to go on a honeymoon with her new husband. Hunham and Tully are both at each other’s necks but soon learn to tolerate each other – it’s a familiar comedy set-up. 

The Holdovers is Payne at his best and is a tender delight from start to finish, but it deftly balances its warmth with a bittersweet tone. The performances are terrific all around, especially Giamatti, and the film perfectly evokes classic 1970’s cinema with its intentionally rustic aesthetic – it looks and feels like a work made at the time. It’s beautifully shot by In Bruges cinematographer Eigil Bryld, especially the wintry landscapes during the opening credits and some disorienting frames that feature late into the film. The Holdovers marks the second film of Payne’s career that he doesn’t write, with David Hemingson taking the reins in his feature length debut. And what a strong impression Hemingson makes with the sharp, peppery script, with Hunham’s eloquent insults especially rib-tickling. 

Paul Giamatti turns in what I’d probably consider a career-best performance as Hunham. Hunham is both lovable and loathsome and an easy character to relate to with the hardships he’s faced in life. In fact, there are many similarities between Hunham and Miles Raymond, the character Giamatti plays in Sideways, both characters that have been hard done-by in life. Giamatti rarely takes leading roles and he showcases just what an underrated screen talent he is, from his line delivery to his mannerisms and lazy eye. He fully deserves all the Awards praise he is receiving and possibly even the win. 

Dominic Sessa is also electrifying in his debut performance as Tully, who’s also faced a difficult upbringing and is able to begin to relate to Hunham as the film progresses. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is another highlight as Mary Lamb, the school’s head cook who also stays over the holidays to mourn her recently deceased son. Watching Hunham, Tully and Mary interact and come to grips with their situation as the film progresses is incredibly satisfying and it’s hard to not to watch the film with a grin on your face but Payne balances this with the story’s darker undertones. 

I absolutely loved The Holdovers and was completely swept up by the film throughout, with its intelligent script and committed performances. It’s Payne’s best film since Sideways and I predict it will become a Christmas classic, with its perfectly judged bittersweet tone. They certainly don’t make films like this anymore.    

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Jerrod Carmichael
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 142 mins

Poor Things is a science fiction romantic comedy by Yorgos Lanthimos, who’s had an impressive career so far. Dogtooth was my first introduction to the fiercely original director and he went on to hone his craft with The Lobster, which was terrific and the even-better The Killing of a Sacred Deer. I wasn’t so hot on The Favourite, which garnered ten Oscar nominations, with Olivia Colman picking up the Best Actress gong. Whilst there’s no doubt it was also bawdily original, it was the first film to not be written by Lanthimos and it showed, lacking his signature arch dialogue. 

Poor Things is an adaptation of the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel, a Frankensteinian tale of a woman, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), whose brain has been replaced by that of her unborn baby, giving her a child-like mind, by the eccentric surgeon Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Like a child, Bella’s brain rapidly develops and becomes more physically and mentally agile. One of Godwin’s students Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) quickly falls in love with her and Bella accepts his hand in marriage but then soon runs off with debauched lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) on a grand journey around Europe. 

Poor Things is Lanthimos back on track with a brilliantly twisted, uncomfortable yet multi-layered triumph. There’s so much going on here, both from a thematic and visual standpoint and it’ll take multiple rewatches to fully understand its message but it’s a film that gets better on each viewing. Lanthimos recaptures his bizarre yet oddly moving tone, which is what made his earlier efforts really shine, combined with lavish yet evocative production design. Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is a career-best, with every frame a painting worth pausing to analyse, which is interesting considering some of his work can be quite vanilla. The film boldly experiments with colour and perspectives are often shot through a fish-eye lens and it’s supported by the lavish production design. I also loved the retrofuturistic vision, with the Victorian London setting contrasting with succeeding elements.

The script by Tony McNamara is witty and sharp, with many laugh-out-loud and quotable moments, although it does somewhat lack the arch nature of Lanthimos’ writing. There will always be a part of me that wonders what could have been if Lanthimos had contributed. 

Emma Stone turns in a career-best performance as the Frankenstein-like Bella Baxter, who opens the film as an inquisitive and brash child and ends as a self-made woman. I’ve sometimes struggled with her performances in the past and couldn’t believe she won the Best Actress Oscar for La La Land but not so here. Willem Dafoe is also reliably brilliant as the eccentric surgeon, who has to belch bubbles at the dinner table due to a health condition. Mark Ruffalo provides much of the comic relief as Wedderburn, who becomes increasingly child-like as the film progresses, although his British accent is rather wandery.

Jerskin Fendrix’s score is terrific and deeply effective, in keeping with the film’s bizarre tone yet crescendoing at key moments. It’s one of the most original works I’ve heard in a while and is fully deserving of its Awards praise. 

Poor Things is an absolute riot and packed full of details to analyse on further viewings. It’s Lanthimos on top form and stuns with its distinctive performances, script, visuals and score. The Killing of a Sacred Deer remains his best work, in my opinion, but Poor Things is fully deserving of its praise and is a sensational experience to begin the year. 

Director: J. A. Bayona
Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Augustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustín Berruti, Andy Pruss, Simón Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustín Della Corte, Tomas Wolf
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 144 mins

Society of the Snow is a survival thriller centered around the 1972 Uruguayan Andes plane crash where a commercial plane crashed in the mountains and 16 of the 45 passengers managed to survive over nearly three months by resorting to cannibalism. It’s directed by Spanish filmmakerJ. A. Bayona, behind films such as The Orphanage, The Impossible and A Monster Calls, all of which received heaps of praise. While there’s elements to be admired in all, I do think he’s vastly overrated. In fact, controversially I’ve probably enjoyed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom the most out of his work, even though the film received mixed reviews, perhaps because I went in with very low expectations and I appreciated the original horror elements.

Bayona’s got experience with the disaster film genre with The Impossible, a film which was set during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Although The Impossible has many tonal issues, Bayona adeptly recaptured the visuals of the tsunami. Surely Society of the Snow is a surefire hit, considering he’s working with particularly riveting material? 

Sadly not. While Society of the Snow has a nail-biting first half-an-hour leading up to the crash, the rest of the film is a misguided mess. The film is strangely overlong and inert of energy for a film about trying to stay alive and Bayona fails to convey the literally chilling atmosphere of the snow-covered mountain. The victim’s clearly aren’t wearing very many layers but at no point in the film do they look desperately cold and by the time we reach the film’s end, they don’t look overly malnourished considering they’ve lived off human flesh for the best part of three months.  Bayona’s depiction of cannibalism fares better though, and it was enough to put me off the thought of eating meat for a couple of days after viewing, even if the human meat looks distinctly like prosciutto ham. 

After retrospectively researching the details of the disaster, how lazy is it that Bayona omits the fact the plane first landed in Mendoza for a stopover due to a storm. The crew decided to wait for meteorological conditions to improve and apparently made a difficult decision to delay the flight initially until gone 14:00. Bayona’s deliberate act to omit the decision between flying or not is very odd, considering it’s the reason why the event unfolded the way it did. 

The cast is composed of Uruguayan and Argentine actors, most of whom are newcomers. While there’s some good performances, such as Enzo Vogrincic as the ill-fated Numa Turcatti,  unfortunately Bayona fails to develop any of them meaningfully. Although there are too many characters to fully visit all of them throughout the 144 minute run time, Bayona would have fared better picking two or three as the audience’s segue into the disaster. 

Bayona reteams with his Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom composer Michael Giacchino, and this is the music maestro’s first foreign language feature. At his best with films such as Up, Inside Out and War for the Planet of the Apes, Giacchino is a very exciting composer but he also has the tendency to phone some of his work in, examples including Jurassic World, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Spider-Man: Homecoming. 

Unfortunately, despite a stirring main theme, Giacchino fails to make much of an impression here with an emotionally manipulative score that like the film, is all over the place. Strangely, Giacchino says Society of the Snow is the most emotional film he’s worked on since Up (has the composer seemingly forgotten that he scored Coco?) but the score just doesn’t really convey the desperation or the desolate atmosphere the passengers find themselves in. 

Despite a near unanimously positive critical and audience reception, Society of the Snow is another disappointing film from J. A. Bayona. The result is an overlong mess that fails to meaningfully develop any of its characters or convey the frosty, cutthroat nature of the increasingly desperate situation and it omits key historical details. Still, there are some bright spots such as a tense and visually arresting first 30 minutes and the cannibalism element of the narrative is ickily executed. But it’s a real shame Society of the Snow isn’t the slam-dunk it could have been, especially given the fascinating details of the real-life event. 

Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Domińczyk
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 114 mins

Priscilla is the new Sofia Coppola film, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, who also gets an executive producer credit. It follows the life of Priscilla and her complicated relationship with Elvis Presley, from 1959 when she’s 14 years old to 1973. The film opens on Priscila living on a West German military base with her mother and army father. She’s invited to a party where Elvis will be playing, having been drafted into the military and the two begin casually dating as soon as they meet, despite the significant age difference. 

Although inert in places, Priscilla is a somewhat interesting biopic with Coppola’s typically understated touch. Priscilla and Elvis’ relationship has an uncomfortable air about it throughout the film, particularly how Elvis takes a shine to her. It’s very much a Gothic melodrama and akin to a twisted fairy tale. Coppola interestingly keeps Elvis’ public persona largely off-screen and largely refrains from Elvis music in the soundtrack.

The main positives of the film are the performances. Cailee Spaeny is brilliant as Priscilla, effortlessly conveying her naivety in her younger years and her growing wisdom about her effective entrapment as she matures. Jacob Elordi is also strong as Elvis Presley, a completely different performance compared to his impressionable turn in Saltburn. He’s an individual desperately in need of control, with flashes of darkness and quite literally towers over Priscilla.

Although it suffers from sluggish pacing at times, Priscilla is an alternative take on the King of Rock and Roll. It mainly works because of its committed performances and Coppola’ cold, analytical approach to Elvis and Priscilla’s spiky relationship. It’s certainly a more rewarding experience than Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, which I really struggled to engage with despite its critical acclaim.