Movie reviews of Simon Storey

The Biggest Little Farm is the agriculture doco at its most accessible and visually stunning. It’s a wholesome way to start the cinematic year. Review

As a perfectly crafted piece of family drama this is everything film buffs hope for. Great to watch, even better to ponder. Review

Performances are what you’d expect in a Loach film, painfully real and deeply human. In a cast of little known actors, Hitchen and Honeywood prove their talent but Ross Brewster, a Newcastle Policeman by trade who has never acted before, almost steals the show. Review

Writing as a massive fan who grew up a hopeless Star Wars addict, the sadness isn’t in the film itself – all things considered it’s an enjoyable if unexciting ride – it’s the brand as a whole. At this stage Star Wars is just another beloved series that got rebooted to cash in nostalgia dollars and has been stretched too thin. Review

Mrs Lowry & Son boasts excellent performances from two of Britain’s great actors and almost nothing else. Review

By the Grace of God might be Ozon’s finest film. For a topic that brings out so much anger and passion the restraint he brings is not only admirable, it’s the key to the film working as well as it does. Review

Steven Soberbergh produced this excellent political thriller, which does for Daniel Jones and the CIA what Spotlight did for the Boston Globe and the Catholic Church. Review

Just like its main character the film pinballs from one emotional extreme to another, but in the end the lovable qualities shine through. Review

Dark Fate isn’t the worst of the Terminator films but it’s by far the most depressing. Review

While it’s all quite predictable, the way that people use music to find themselves is an honest foundation to build a film like this on. A perfectly alright film with a great soundtrack, it will resonate especially with Springsteen fans and the South Asian community . Review

It takes a little while to find its feet but Locusts grows into a perfectly tuned piece of local crime drama. Review

Offering a rare and intimate peak into one of the most interesting men of our age, Patricia Marcia’s The Rise of Jordan Peterson is a behind the scenes look at his sudden and meteoritic rise. Review

Anyone who loves classical music, particularly the local scene, will love The Eulogy. Australia’s artistic world is always worth exploring and someone as talented as Geoffrey Tozer deserves to be added to its canon. Review

A compassionate look at two men who are objectively helping sick people through their darkest days and being condemned for it in the process, Green Light should be a rallying call for anyone passionate about changing Australian society for the better. Review

While the occasional dips into pretentiousness might turn some viewers away, and at two hours Hogg’s languid style of filmmaking does begin to test patience, for those who are happy to embrace this ambitious film the rewards are rich indeed. Review

Through glorious widescreen photography from David Gallego that shows off the diverse Columbian landscape, and some incredibly detailed sound design, the power of this story leaps off the screen. Birds of Passage is one of the year’s most unique and powerful films. Review

This is a supremely creepy film that builds towards an unforgettable finale. A top notch thriller that shouldn’t be missed. Review

Dragged Across Concrete is the kind of hard boiled pulp fiction that combines interesting writing with unique filmmaking. Review

The best way to see this would be with a room full of friends or at a midnight screening at Monsterfest. Get some beers, sit back and have some fun. Maniac Farmer isn’t a great film by any stretch but it’s for sure a fun one. You’ll simultaneously be laughing with it and at it. Review

Smyth and Grady have done a wonderful job of bringing these stories to life in this quietly powerful film. These are stories worth sharing not because of what these people have gone through, but by showing how they managed to keep going. Review

With a cast of greats and some big things it wants to say, The Public is a well intentioned but awkward misfire. It’s a decent ethics lesson but not a compelling film, there’s very little reason to seek this out. Review

Apollo 11 is an extraordinary chance to see moon landings in a documentary that is both intimate and awe-inspiring. Review

Ridiculous ending aside, Claire Darling is a perfectly nice journey of reflection. At the very least watching the mother-daughter act between the larger than life Deneuve and Mastroianni is a touching relationship between two well drawn characters. Review

From Music into Silence is a sombre but beautiful exploration of this thoroughly decent man. Review