Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

It doesn't help that Confessional feels like a product of the '90s, with plot revelations that simply don't carry the same sort of social weight they might have a couple of decades ago. Review

Tedeschi's scenes with Tereszkiewicz, who is surely a star in the making on the strength of her turn here, give the film its heart and cement its theme of the trouble we can find ourselves in when we refuse to remain true to our real identities. Review

The Final Wish is more successful if viewed not as a horror movie but as one of those dramas about a struggling protagonist who reluctantly returns to his hometown upon a parent's death. Review

Bird's direction is similarly subtle, but he employs some beautiful little moments of editing... Review

It's staggeringly impressive what Hernandez and Joly-Gonfard and their crew have managed to pull off on a relatively miniscule budget. Review

Thank the stars for the independent sector, which is giving us women protagonists that we can relate with regardless of our gender or shared cultures. Review

It almost feels like the movie's first and second halves were written by completely different authors, such is the noticeable absence of thrills and spills in its back end. Review

Blood Quantum simply doesn't do enough to stand out in a genre that refuses to stay dead. Review

Z keeps us gripped with just the right mix of slowburn menace, occasional and effective jump scares, and an earnest performance by Tracy. Review

The dynamic between Paul and Mickey makes for a fascinating watch, but as Get In nears its explosive climax, it begins to switch tone into something closer to a horror movie, and it all gets a bit silly. Review

Hagazussa is merely a more highbrow variation of torture porn, asking us to passively observe a woman's emotional, psychological and ultimately physical destruction. Review

Those of us who can appreciate the thrill of watching a bad girl using her body and brains to pull off a deliciously destructive plan, Ema is a delight. Review

Writer/director Kitty Green and Garner's insular performance leave Jane's motivations for contacting HR ambiguous. Review

It's a shame that Cristofer's house of cards collapses so spectacularly with his pathetic attempt at a twist, as despite the blandness of his direction and the inconsistencies of his plot, I was still somewhat on board, thanks largely to Sheridan and de Armas' awkward but endearing chemistry. Review

Director Sun-dong struggles to establish any atmosphere, and the various stalking/kill sequences are rendered with little to no visual flair or imagination. There's literally nothing here that you haven't seen in countless low budget teen horrors. Review

A shame that the movie never quite makes the most of what should be a unique and fascinating antagonist. Review

Hen Sigurdsson is allowed take centre stage, and particularly in Ingimundur's sweet interactions with his precocious granddaughter, A White, White Day is a well observed, intimate human drama. But too often Pálmason takes us away from this duo, instead playing out wide shots for what can seem an interminable amount of time. Review

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan feels an awful lot like a doomed screen treatment of some acclaimed yet unfilmable novel. Review

Dreamland is just trying too damn hard, constantly poking us in the ribs and begging us to find it all so crazy. Review

The Sharks has its moments of humour too, often arising from the idea that Rosina is clearly functioning on an intellectual level unmatched by her family and friends. Review

The Room boasts the sort of intriguing hook that will lure in horror fans, but in this case you might want to be careful what you wish for. Review

There's just about enough here to engage b-movie fans, and it's certainly a level above its recent big budget Hollywood rival, the Kristen Stewart vehicle Underwater, but there's just not enough monster in its mash. Review

Its eventual audience will likely be small enough to fit in its protagonist's cramped apartment, but give yourself over to its grimy aesthetic and absurdist humour and you'll find it a charming piece of punk filmmaking. You might even find some of its lo-fi images quite beautiful, and if nothing else, its recreation of the Carrie prom scene with a bewildered tiara-clad tabby is worth the rental price alone. Review

Dogs Don't Wear Pants isn't in the same league as Johannes Nyholm's Koko-Di Koko-Da or Isabella Eklöf's Holiday, but it would slot in nicely to a double bill with either of those films, the ideal cinematic sub to their doms. Review