Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

Even if it's hard to root for Hank due to all the chaos he incites, Butler's aww shucks affability keeps us invested in his plight. The cat's pretty cute too. Review

The Courageous dares to present us with a protagonist whose situation creates empathy but who is so abrasively misguided that we struggle to approve of how she (mis)handles her predicament. Review

In very different roles that require two disparate styles of acting, Potts and Ganly make for an initially uncomfortable but always compelling duo. Review

Once you grow tired of basking in its idyllic backdrop, this Bonjour Tristesse will have you wishing to bid adieu well before it reaches its pat conclusion. Review

Fans of '50s b-movies, their '80s descendants, or bad 2000s pop-punk will be mildly amused by the nostalgic nods, but it's Routh's performance that makes the greatest impression, and hopefully this will give his career the boost he deserves. Review

Djukić's direction is largely low-key, allowing her talented young stars to take centre stage, but occasionally takes expressionist detours into montages of blossoming flowers as though to contrast how easily nature transitions from innocence to maturity with the messiness of being a teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood. Review

Despite proving supremely watchable in even her worst movies, the big league roles continue to elude Weaving, forcing her to settle for dross like Eenie Meanie. Review

Because Davidson can't help but flirt with every woman who stands in his eyeline, there's a surprising but welcome sexual tension between Max and Norma that almost fools us into thinking we're in for a modern day Harold and Maude. No such luck. Review

Brute 1976's biggest crime is that it's unfeasibly tedious. Much of the film is spent in the company of annoying characters as they crack unfunny jokes while wandering around the film's dusty setting. Review

Or Something won't be spoken about in the same breath as Before Sunrise or The Clock or Dogfight, but it's an intriguing insight into why young people find it so difficult to pair off today, and it ends with a knockout twist of supreme cynicism. Review

Victor is so engaging as Agnes, and her stupor so convincingly real that such quibbles don't overly affect a drama that is as riveting as it is ruminative. Review

Aster constructs his film's first half as though he were writing the pilot of a TV series and thought he had another 10 hours of programming at his disposal. When it does turn into a movie, it's a pretty good one, Aster displaying a surprising affinity for staging action. Review

Movies with this limited setup rely heavily on the quality of acting, and Pike and Rhys certainly deliver here. Review

The Life of Chuck wants to encourage us to live our lives to the full so we don't find ourselves asking "Is that it?" when our own end credits start rolling before our eyes. But it does so in the most uninspiring way, and no matter how many times Offerman implores us to cry, we're rarely moved, merely manipulated. Review

With an actress as captivating as Kirby in practically every frame, it's always engaging to some degree. It's just a shame that Night Always Comes goes through the motions of its rote plot instead of coming up with more novel ways to enliven this potentially thrilling scenario. Review

With the punchline having been delivered halfway through the first film, Nobody 2 is like watching a stand-up comic forced to perform an encore when they've already used up their best material. Review

Together occasionally relies on old tropes and visceral body trauma, but Shanks has created a unique piece of horror storytelling that gets its point across through the use of striking images rather than half-formed lectures. Review

Its obtuse narrative and lack of exposition may frustrate mainstream viewers, but fans of continental horror recognise the tradition Denis is both working in and advancing with this film. Review

It's refreshing to see an American movie take such an honest approach to depicting the cynicism of modern romance, but in its final act Materialists reverts to type as it embraces the clichés of the rom-com. Review

Cregger skilfully delivers punchlines with well-timed cuts, with a reveal of whose house we're suddenly in a comic highlight. Ehrenreich, Abrams and Wong are hilarious as three men who find themselves out of their depth once the true horror begins to be revealed. But there's little of the mastery of suspense and tension that Cregger displayed with his accomplished debut. Review

The Kingdom suffers from pacing issues in points, and when it's not focussed on its father/daughter dynamic its mob movie shtick is a little too familiar. But Colonna and especially Benedetti and Santucci all announce themselves as exciting new talents, if a little raw around the edges. Review

For all its impressive gore, it's the four central performances that hold Bring Her Back together. In their two films the Philippous have proven themselves gifted when it comes to directing young performers, but the quality of the acting here only makes it more frustrating that the characters and ideas are so thinly conceived. Review

Volpe resists the temptation to manufacture any over-the-top drama. Instead we have a series of small crises that all pile on top of one another, so many that we find ourselves losing track of some of the many patients Floria is left to look after. Review

The journey will likely be enough to mildly satisfy horror fans, and Clarke gives a striking performance as a woman who begins the movie as a confident city slicker, only to regress to a scared little girl left all alone in the woods. Review