Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured: Agnes Shakespeare ( Jessie Buckley , centre) is expectant at a production of her husband's play, 'Hamlet' in a scene from the film, ' Hamnet ', directed by Asian-American auteur,  Chloë  Zhao . Still courtesy of Focus Features . Between Friday 21 February 2025 and Sunday 8 February 2026, I have watched and reflected on a further fifty-two feature films directed by women. The challenge just to watch the films – not to review them – was set by Melissa Silverstein, founder and publisher of ‘Women in Hollywood’, in 2015. I consciously select feature films and not documentaries and only those intended for cinema, that is, commercial release. My rationale is these films are made to compete in a global marketplace. By demonstrating their artistic worth and commercial appeal, these films advocate for more films from women directors to be greenlit, addressing prejudice. Many of these films I watch at festivals. In the case of this volume, at Berlin, Brussels, ...

Pictured :  Dr Esthétique ( Adam Lundgren ) goes to work on Elvira ( Lea Myren ), a young woman who dreams of marrying a prince, in a scene from the 2025 Norwegian horror film,  Den Stygge Stesøsteren ( The Ugly Stepsister ), written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt . Still courtesy of Mer Film / Vertigo Releasing (UK) Scaring easily, I am not an enthusiast for horror films. Fortunately, most modern horror films use digital rather than practical effects and don’t frighten me as much. However, the Norwegian film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren ( The Ugly Stepsister ) is old school, with two sequences that made me cover my eyes.   Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt , the film is as much a homage to 1970s horror flicks – synthesizer soundtrack, misty exteriors, raw landscapes, camp performances – as a reaction to them. It describes the futility of believing that beauty is the route to happiness. To reverse the cliché, 80% of desirable men want 20% of available women but...