The Second World War has been a rich subject for filmmakers for decades, appearing in documentaries, sprawling epics and intimate dramas. Yet despite the abundance of war films, certain aspects—especially cinematic treatments of the Holocaust—were long underrepresented in mainstream Hollywood. The difficulty of portraying such horrors with the necessary respect and emotional clarity, combined with … Read more

She Said (2022) Director: Maria Schrader Screenwriter: Rebecca Lenkiewicz Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Samantha Morton, Jennifer Ehle, Angela Yeoh, Maren Heary, Tom Pelphrey, Adam Shapiro, Mike Houston Adapted from the 2019 book of the same name, Maria Schrader’s film She Said follows the investigative work of two New York Times … Read more

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) Director: Edward Berger Screenwriters: Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell Starring: Felix Krammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, Devid Streisow, Andreas Döhler, Sebastian Hülk Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel Im Westen nichts Neues—widely known in English as All Quiet on the … Read more

What L.A. Confidential Taught Me About Men I was ten the first time I realised I had never seen a man step in to protect a woman. The moment landed in the opening scene of Curtis Hanson’s 1997 neo-noir L.A. Confidential. Gruff cop Bud White, played by Russell Crowe, radios in a parole violation as … Read more

Beetlejuice (1988) Director: Tim Burton Screenwriters: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, Warren Skaaren Starring: Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder Beetlejuice is a singular film that blends horror, comedy and sharp social observation into a wildly imaginative cinematic experience. Released in 1988 and directed by Tim Burton, the movie remains … Read more

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) Director: Don Siegel Screenwriters: Daniel Mainwaring Starring: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones, Jean Willes, Ralph Dumke In the 1950s, American science fiction horror films began reflecting two dominant cultural anxieties. One was the fear of nuclear catastrophe, which produced the era’s giant-monster spectacles such … Read more

A film approaching its seventieth anniversary, Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter remains unsettlingly relevant. The picture depicts a chilling scenario familiar in many forms: a self-proclaimed man of God who uses religious authority to exploit and destroy the vulnerable. Laughton’s adaptation preserves the raw terror of that premise while creating a striking, visually … Read more

Rosaline (2022) Director: Karen Maine Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Kyle Allen, Sean Teale, Christopher McDonald, Minnie Driver, Bradley Whitford Transforming Shakespeare into teen comedy is a familiar cinematic move. Films like She’s the Man and 10 Things I Hate About You demonstrated early on how the Bard’s themes … Read more

When John Carpenter released Halloween in 1978, the teen slasher genre truly arrived. Although earlier films like Black Christmas (1974) explored similar territory, Halloween opened the floodgates for imitators and long-running franchises: sequels focused on Michael Myers, Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street series from 1984, and the many entries in Friday the 13th. Friday … Read more

Train to Busan (2016) Director: Yeon Sang-ho Screenwriter: Yeon Sang-ho, Park Joo-suk Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Choi Woo-shik, An So-hee, Kim Su-an, Kim Eui-sung, Ye Soo-jung, Park Myung-shin, Shim Eun-kyung, Jang Hyuk-jin Train to Busan stands as a near-perfect example of what a contemporary zombie thriller can achieve: it is tense, emotional … Read more