Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Bonny ( Ida Fischer , left) and Lea ( Frida Hornemann , right) perform on the eve of a recording of a television talent contest. A scene from German writer-director Eva Trobisch 's third feature, ' Home Stories ' (' Etwas ganz Besonderes '). Still courtesy of  Pandora Film Verleih (Germany). For her third feature, Etwas ganz Besonderes (English title: Home Stories ) German writer-director Eva Trobisch focuses on a fractured family gathered to support sixteen-year-old Lea (Frida Hornemann) who has been selected to progress in an ‘X Factor’ style television music talent contest. The English title refers to the segment of the show that illustrates the contestant’s background, intended to make them relatable. These shows aren’t just about the voice. They intend to hook the audience with the competitor’s journey. But Trobisch doesn’t remake Little Miss Sunshine for the German market. Her film is emphatically not a comedy. Rather it explores unspoken tens...

  Pictured : Three young women ( Mona Berard ,  Yowa-Angélys Tshikaya and  Shirel Nataf ) attend a medical consultation accompanying their new flatmate, Héloïse ( Héloïse Volle , bottom left) in a scene from the Belgian film, ' Les Filles du Ciel ' (' Girls from Above ') written and directed by  Bérangère McNeese . Still courtesy of Memento Films (Belgium) For her feature debut, Les Filles du Ciel ( Girls From Above ) actress turned writer-director Bérangère McNeese has produced the archetypal Belgian film: social-realist, concerned with people on the margins who, having been dealt low blows, nevertheless find ways to get by. These ways are not always safe or legal, but we are invited to sympathise and in the process we learn (or re-learn) that there is good in everyone. In perpetuating a national cinema that only concerns itself with those in desperate need, McNeese and other directors working in Belgian cinema don’t offer role models for their audienc...

  Pictured : Sisters Agnes ( Judy Davis ), Luke ( Miriam Margolyes ) and Mary Clare ( Jacki Weaver ) take a road trip with young Brian ( Elijah Tamati ) in order to recover the deeds to their convent in writer-director Nat Boltt 's New Zealand-set family-friendly comedy drama, ' Holy Days ', adapted from the 2013 novel by children's author, Joy Cowley . Still courtesy of Lightbulb Film Distribution (UK) Holy Days , the directorial debut of South African-born Nat Boltt, is the kind of road movie we’ve seen a bajillion times before. You take a group of characters with no aptitude for travel, much less with each other, put them in a car on a mission with a deadline and see what happens. Boltt is better known by her full first name, Nathalie, credited as such in seven seasons of Riverdale . Her film, set in New Zealand in 1974, is based on a 2013 novel by children’s author Joy Cowley, whose work Boltt had adapted before (the 2012 short film, The Silk , which she co-directe...

  Pictured : Paul ( Viggo Ferreira-Redler , centre) shows his unhappiness towards his mother, Clémence ( Vicky Krieps , left) in a scene from writer-director Anna Cazenave Cambet 's film, ' Love Me Tender ', based on Constance  Debré 's 2020 novel. Still courtesy of Tandem (France) / Peccadillo Pictures (UK) After two viewings, I still don’t know what to make of Love Me Tender , writer-director Anna Cazenave Cambet’s adaptation of Constance Debré’s 2020 semi-autobiographical novel, featuring Vicky Krieps in the lead role as Clémence, a lawyer turned novelist who reveals her lesbian identity to her ex-husband, Laurent (Antoine Reinartz) and finds herself separated from her eight-year-old son, Paul (Viggo Ferreira-Redler) as a result. It is a film that respects Debré’s first person narration; there is no attempt to understand or justify Laurent’s response, psychologically or socially. This is a film that explores Clémence’s victimhood and how it impacts her relationship...

  Pictured : Angela ( Olivia Wilde , centre) and Joe ( Seth Rogen , standing) listen to their guests with interest in a scene from the marital comedy, ' The Invite ', adapted from the 2020 Spanish film, ' Sentimental ' by screenwriters Rashida Jones and Will McCormack and directed by Olivia Wilde . Still courtesy of A24 (US) / Black Bear (UK) The Invite , adapted by screenwriters Rashida Jones and Will McCormack from Cesc Gay’s 2020 Spanish film, Sentimental (English title ‘The People Upstairs’), feels like a personal project for actress-turned-director Olivia Wilde. Wilde was publicly humiliated by or on behalf of her estranged husband Jason Sudeikis in the run-up to the release of her 2022 psychological thriller, Don’t Worry Darling , whose request for child custody was served to her while she was on stage at Comic Con. Wilde knows something of the pain of a relationship that has run its course. She channels this into her filmmaking. The bulk of The Invite is set ...

Pictured : Bookshop owner Sandra ( Valeria Bruni Tedeschi ) joins six-year-old Alex ( César Botti ) under the table in a scene from the French drama ' L'Attachement ' adapted from Alice Ferney 's novel, ' L’Intimité'  by screenwriters  Raphaële Moussafir , Agnès Feuvre and director Carine Tardieu , working with scenario consultant Agnès de Sacy . Still courtesy of Diaphana Distribution (France). French director Carine Tardieu’s film, L’Attachement (clunky English title The Ties That Bind Us ) is exceptional. In it, the characters spend two years of their time, and 106 minutes of ours, doing the right thing whilst processing or responding to considerable emotional pain. Adapted from Alice Ferney’s 2020 novel, L’Intimité , by Tardieu working with co-writers Raphaële Moussafir, Agnès Feuvre and scenario consultant Agnès de Sacy, it stars Valeria Bruni Tedeschi – always a good reason to watch a movie – as Sandra, an unmarried woman in her fifties who runs a femin...