Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

While I may disagree with Sims-Fewer and Mancinelli's thesis, I applaud their presentation of it and their willingness to add to the debate. Review

The Translators gets a little too bogged down in unspooling its complicated plot through entire scenes that serve as exposition dumps. Review

Russell clearly wants to deliver a film that's part Goodfellas, part The Social Network, but it lacks the edgy energy of the former and the Sorkinese patter of the latter. Review

While it may not reinvent the wheel, it certainly keeps it rolling thanks to Riseborough's turn and efficient if rote storytelling. But for the rest of us, it all feels too familiar. We've been here before a few too many times. Review

Just like Alexis, Noyer has clearly put a lot of thought into the inventiveness of dispatching victims through audio related means, and his film's set-pieces are certainly original and memorable. It's a shame then that they're delivered in a movie that just can't seem to realise how silly its entire premise really is and stubbornly refuses to play this story for the laughs it should be inducing. Review

There's much to admire on an aesthetic level here, but in storytelling terms, Gaia ultimately gets lost in the woods. Review

Even if it ultimately leads nowhere of note, Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a mystery worth investigating for fans of conspiracy thrillers. Review

Janisse has assembled an impressive roster of talking heads here, and has wisely opted for knowledge over personality. A soundtrack of jangly folk music adds greatly to the mood. Review

Rarely has such an incendiary premise been executed in such polite fashion. Review

It's easy to see why its release was delayed so often, as the movie is as much of a trainwreck as the eponymous Bernadette. Review

It's all very well put together, with Kavanagh and cinematographer Piers McGrail drawing on '80s genre cinema with their neon-tinged colour scheme, and Matichak gets the chance to show her acting chops in a far meatier role than that afforded her as the forgettable heroine of the recent Halloween reboot. But it all feels too familiar. We've seen this sort of thing before, just not played out in such dour fashion. Review

It's a shame that the movie suffers from misfiring comedy and racial tone deafness, as it has the potential to be a genuinely involving thriller. Review

Most of the men of his generation will be dead soon, but Home Front suggests their experiences will leave a lasting impression on their communities. Review

It's a charming piece of superficial story-telling but the complete lack of obstacles to Joanna's progress borders on science fiction. Review

I've never been much of a plot guy, so it didn't bother me that Hancock's script felt so rusty in its various underwhelming twists and turns. Review

With so many issues, most of them oddly self-inflicted, Judas and the Black Messiah works neither as a historical biopic nor a thriller. It doesn’t have the character depth to function as the former, and it fails as the latter because the people involved don’t slot into conventional protagonist and antagonist roles. Review

What saves Love Affairs is the strength of its acting ensemble. Review

Our empathy towards Lena is greatly enhanced by a quietly attention-grabbing performance by Gromova, who really sells Lena's frustrations. Review

Monro has the good sense not to distract us with any overly flashy visuals, but if you're already familiar with Kubrick's work, Kubrick by Kubrick wouldn't lose much impact if you were to simply listen to its audio like a high-end podcast. Review

Chung's film portrays prejudice in daringly nuanced fashion, with a local boy subjecting David to offensive language before immediately befriending him. Review

There's no doubt a more nuanced version of this story to be told at some point in the future, but in the meantime Night Shift makes for a thoughtful and immaculately acted, if a tad conventional, thriller. Review

While her films often mine a vein of oily black humour, Reichardt doesn't exactly make giggle a minute comedies, and while the central concept forces a grin, laughs are all too scarce in First Cow's two hour plus running time. Review

While her storytelling skills may require honing over future features, Lim Jung-eun proves with her debut that she may eventually prove the successor to Hong Sang-soo. Like that Korean master, she appears to possess the ability to create characters so identifiably human that we sense they might continue to exist after the credits have rolled. Review

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