Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

If evoking a past decade is enough to keep you happy, Vicious Fun will certainly check that box, but its ambitions sadly never rise to anything particularly original. Review

But for all its snark, Limbo is ultimately a hopeful film that refreshingly suggests that communities can live together in harmony once they get over any fears stoked by external forces. Review

If Black Bear is worthy of a watch it's solely for that great opening act, and particularly for the performance of Plaza, cast against type as a very millennial hipster breed of femme fatale. Review

As it stands however, Into the Darkness merely teases us with what feels like crumbs torn from a greater narrative loaf. Review

Aside from possibly introducing us to the next Jennifer Lawrence in May, Run Hide Fight has nothing to offer anyone on either side of this moral and political debate. Review

While her subject may be inflammatory, Lindon renders it as a sort of poetic mundanity, never seeking to shock us. It's a light-hearted movie, shot with a delicate grace, sketches in a schoolgirl's jotter brought to life. Review

What's so strange about American Badger is that for all its failings in terms of script and casting, on a technical level it's quite impressive for its budget. Review

Alender and Gabriel try to freshen things up by adding a dash of identity politics as the very Americanised Cristina initially dismisses her captors as primitive yokels, only to gradually embrace the "old ways" she left behind as a child. But ironically, their film just reinforces tired stereotypes about Latin America. Review

There's a potentially cracking thriller in this premise, but it would require a filmmaker with more visual invention than Bruchon offers here, and it would probably need to take place in a pre-cellphone era. Review

But like so many films that draw on Spielberg, Gagarine too often does so on a superficial level. It captures Youri's sense of wonder through its fetishised visuals, but it's a film that feels a little too glossy and polished for its subject matter. Review

Wildland falls just short of being a top-tier thriller by resolving its conflict at a point where a lot more suspense could have been drained out of the scenario. Review

While ultimately something of a misfire, Preparations... does introduce us to a fearsome new talent in Stork and a potentially great filmmaker in Horvát, though on the evidence here, the latter may be better suited to focusing on directing scripts by other writers. Review

Dreams on Fire will likely hold niche appeal for dance enthusiasts, but if it's worth seeking out for anyone else it's down to the performance of Naka. Aside from her moves, she delivers a striking debut performance. Review

With no rules established, Bertino's film feels like it's making up its mythology on the fly, and so it's difficult to get invested in a movie where anything can seemingly happen at any given time without rhyme or reason. Review

Jumbo looks great, is superbly performed and certainly means well. Review

Nikou was formerly the assistant director to Yorgos Lanthimos, and on the surface at least, Apples slots neatly into the movement known as the Greek Weird Wave. It's heavy on the absurdism we associate with the movement, but where it stands apart is in its lack of cynicism. Review

The true tragedy of Poppy Field is that men like this would rather not face such questions. Review

The main problem with I Care a Lot is that it gives us a protagonist whose actions are so unforgivably callous that it presents a real challenge to a filmmaker to get us on their side. Review

Imagine A Nightmare on Elm Street if Freddy Krueger never actually materialised but was rather alluded to and occasionally glimpsed through a digital haze on a bank of monitors. Review

Thanks to unconvincing plotting and characters we couldn't care less about, the movie loses our interest long before its climax. Review

Jack and Scarlet are two Millennials attempting to make a living through means that would have been unthinkable a generation earlier, and Hozie presents them without judgement. Review

Breeder has no story to tell and nothing to say; it simply attempts to provoke a reaction, as though it's the product of a neglected child. Review

The World to Come tells a familiar tale but it does so with a quartet of impressive actors against a visually stunning backdrop. Why anyone would think to drown out all the good work with such inane narration is baffling. Review

Even if the execution renders much of Willy's Wonderland a missed opportunity on the action front, you certainly get what you pay for here, and the filmmakers should thank their lucky stars they managed to get Cage onboard, as I can't think of another living actor who could make this work. Review