Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : Ingrid ( Vicky Krieps ) attempts to explore the enigma of her new best friend Sofia ( Emma Mackey ) in a scene from ' Hot Milk ', a Spanish set drama adapted from Deborah Levy 's novel by writer-director Rebecca Lenkiewicz . Still courtesy of Mubi (UK) / IFC Films (US) What sort of mother creates an obligation for her adult daughter? This is a question suggested by Hot Milk , adapted from Deborah Levy’s novel by screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz, making her feature directorial debut. Casting Fiona Shaw as Rose as a sixty-one year old woman afflicted by an inability to walk after her Greek husband walked out on her and Emma Mackey as Sofia, the sullen ‘perpetual student’ daughter who ‘failed her driving test four times’ (perhaps as a form of protest), Lenkiewicz locates the film amongst stubborn Irish archetypes, although Catholicism is never mentioned, unsurprisingly really since it is a male-oriented religion. (Aren’t they all?) Accompanying her mother to the ...

  Pictured : Bawling in love again? Kika ( Manon Cleval , left) and Rasha ( Anaël Snoek , right) administer to the infantile fantasies of a wealthy man in a scene from Belgian director Alexe Poukine 's drama, ' Kika '. Still courtesy of Imagine Film Distribution (Belgium), Totem Films Contains spoilers Kika , director Alexe Poukine’s debut feature, is a drama about a woman in her thirties who becomes a sex worker. A sex worker, I should add, who does not want to be touched. Kika is a Belgian film. If cinema is to be believed, Belgium is a country filled with complicated, twisted families, with parents who don’t show enough love to their children or else go too far. This is evident in Fien Troch’s 2016 film, Home . Poukine’s film, which she co-wrote with Thomas Van Zuylen, deals with unexpected love. Kika (Manon Clavel), a social worker with a husband, Paul (Thomas Coumans) and young (school age) daughter, Louison (Suzanne Elbaz) falls for David (Makita Samba) after they...

  Pictured : Exiled by the state, a group of school age girls incarcerated on a former leper colony in the 1950s as featured in director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu 's film, ' We Were Dangerous ', written by Maddie Dai . Right: Matron ( Rima Te Wiata ). Still courtesy of Madman Entertainment (New Zealand) Cinema is filled with female authority figures of a certain age who are casually cruel but act with righteous purpose and a degree of enjoyment. Whether they are Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest , Miss Trunchbull in Matilda , Sister Bridget in The Magdalene Sisters or Mrs Danvers in Rebecca , these women live for their job, enforcing structure and discipline whilst suppressing empathy. Added to the list is the Matron (Rima Te Wiata), the dominant head of a reform school for girls featured in director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu’s debut feature, the ironically titled, We Were Dangerous , set in 1954 on a tiny island that is part of Aotearoa (that’s New Zealand ...

  Pictured : Agathe ( Camille Rutherford ) pictured in front of the famous Parisian bookshop, 'Shakespeare and Co'. Both are featured in the film, ' Jane Austen Wrecked My Life ', a French romantic comedy written and directed by Laura Piani . Still courtesy of Icon Film Distribution (UK), Sony Pictures Classics (US ) The title Jane Austen Wrecked My Life ( Jane Austen à gâché ma vie) holds so much promise that I was heartbroken to discover how conventional writer-director Laura Piani’s debut feature is. Where is my takedown of Austen romantic tropes, that the brooding, social awkward yet handsome man is the answer to many a young – or perhaps not so young – woman’s prayers? Piani casts in the Mark Darcy role Charlie Anson, a bi-lingual (at least) English actor whose only Austen connection is an appearance in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies , a thoroughly immemorable horror comedy. Anson is the sort of guy who’d more likely give you a quote on your insurance than exude...

  Pictured : Just wanting to be together: Leo ( Luke Howitt ), Molly ( Posy Sterling ) and Ava ( Tegan-Mia Stanley Rhoads ) in a scene from the London-set drama, 'Lollipop', written and directed by Daisy-May Hudson . Still courtesy of Met Film Distribution (UK) Daisy-May Hudson’s feature debut, Lollipop , is an example of the female gaze turned solely on women. Adult men exist only in the background, for example as security or coach drivers. The only characters who speak are women, either representing the system or running away from responsibility. In her predominantly-London-set drama, Hudson stages scenes naturalistically, often pointing her camera at her protagonist, Molly (Posy Sterling), a young mother fresh out of prison trying to get custody of her two children Ava (Tegan-Mia Stanley Rhoads) and Leo (Luke Howitt), while opposition voices are heard out of shot; Hudson uses shot-reverse-shot sparingly. The stylised-naturalistic combo results in abrasive story telling. Set ...

  Pictured : A 'goodie bag' for the 2025 film, ' Superman '. Courtesy of Warner Bros. ‘Look up’ say the posters. I looked up, down, left and right but could not find where to pick up my wristband for entry anywhere. Tall, gym-buffed men dressed as Superman, the DC comic book hero subject of a new Warner Bros movie, were no help. They wore their underwear outside their leggings but had otherwise not been briefed. Cast as atmosphere people, they were located on the north side of the grassy enclosure of Leicester Square. On the south side, a large screen had been erected so that Londoners could watch that other breed of superhero, tennis players, competing in this year’s Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Tournament, hopeful Emma Raducanu having just progressed to the Third Round. Nine days before its UK release, ‘ Superman ’ written and directed by James Gunn, who successfully brought Marvel’s ‘ Guardians of the Galaxy ’ to the big screen, was being launched at a ‘fan event’ held at t...