Movie reviews of Garry Arnot

A peculiar sequel that’s main triumph comes from the fractured relationship with its own past, Joker: Folie à Deux is a flawed and yet fascinating follow-up. Review

There’s an assured sensitivity to its handling of dark themes by director Kelsey Taylor, and this intense modern retelling has a powerful bite of grim reality beneath its fairy tale veil. Review

A paint-by-numbers biopic, Lee doesn’t blaze as many trails as its subject did in her efforts but it shines an important light on one of America’s great modern artists. Review

Beautifully observed, she concentrates her lens on the ordinary within the extraordinary, a marginalised milieu explored with an affection tainted by melancholy – a slice of life picture elevated by its triptych of quietly moving central performances. Review

The wiry star outshines an actor that feels a little out of place in this delicate fable of redemption, but Guan Hu’s handsomely crafted tale is worth seeing for Gao Weizhe’s striking cinematography alone. Review

The insightful writing will have viewers in the palm of the film’s hand all the way to a stunning final act where darkness and snow finally clears to reveal scorched grass but no easy answers in Samet’s ambiguous story. Review

As the plot thickens and takes a turn towards the supernatural, the storytelling suffers as a result with some of the early promise squandered in a somewhat weak final act. Review

Up to his old tricks but playing in a sandbox that feels much less inventive or interesting, this feels like a project too much for Lanthimos in his impressively prolific period. Review

Endlessly imaginative and like nothing else you’ll see on screen this year, it’s a feat in itself that such a niche film can be made in this climate, let alone make it into cinemas. Review

Director Jeff Nichols has defined his career with cinematic studies of Americana, and his latest feature The Bikeriders is a stylish and entertaining picture of a trio of souls trapped by their own grease-stained vision of the ‘land of the free’. Review

Carefully crafted and aesthetically pleasing, this sophomore directorial effort from Viggo Mortensen showcases his skills in front of and behind the camera. Review

Admirably daring but far too disjointed, writer and director Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast definitely colours outside the lines of convention. With strong turns from its leading pair and some beautifully captured scenes, there’s potential in the parts but the sum of which is a confusing miscalculation. Review

Ultimately giving more of the same but without the innovative spectacle or wow factor of what has come before, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga manages to be wholly entertaining and yet a little underwhelming at the same time. Review

Harrowing and often hard-hitting but not without its own black sense of humour, writer and director Ally Pankiw tackles the tough topics within I Used to be Funny with an admirably deft touch. Review

A compelling rally of lust, love, and lobs, director Luca Guadagnino finds a cinematic sweetspot with Challengers and with a central trio of performers that more than rise to the occasion, he serves up a deafening, definitive ace. Review

In this complex central role, Asghar Farhadi is equally as exceptional; nuanced and emotional, he does so much with his subtle expressions and doesn’t require a lot of dialogue to communicate his deep inner conflict. Review

Minimal in dialogue but maximalist in its hypnotically striking style, the impact of Giacomo Abbruzzese’s challenging thriller Disco Boy hinges on the expressive central performance from Franz Rogowski. Review

Delivered with far too much convention, Michael Mohan’s neo-nunsploitation picture Immaculate will sit quite uncomfortably in the mid-tier pew of the religious horror sub-genre, salvaged only by a second-to-nun turn from Sydney Sweeney. Review

A kitchen-sink indie drama that spins a lot of thematic plates, director Sacha Polak cements leading actor Vicky Knight as her muse, shining a cinematic light on her harrowing but hopeful true story with Silver Haze as she navigates a path through extreme hardship. Review

With its scaled-back structure and taut script, not a second is spared from the tension in Will Gilbey’s Jericho Ridge, a lean and mean feature debut that feels like a slick throwback to the grainy genre flicks of the 1970s. Review

A striking illustration of indie sci-fi, Restore Point is a slick and stylish feature debut from director Robert Hloz. With a gripping thriller plot and a strong central performance from Mohylová at its core, this is a visual engaging spectacle and a masterclass in making a low-budget go a long way. Review

Though its depiction of drug addiction is quite filtered, director Emma Westenberg has an eye for stunning compositions and Bleeding Love is a promising debut, presenting glimpses of movie magic in the genuinely tender moments between Ewan and Clara McGregor. Review

With a pulsing synth score and its deft application of violence, Karl R. Hearne’s callous revenge flick The G turns the tables on ageism and illustrates why we shouldn’t disrespect or underestimate our elders. Review

Endlessly inventive and darkly funny, Tummy Monster is a little film with big ideas. Review