Carrie review: women who hate women
I’m struck by the perversity of a story four decades old about religious misogyny and basic feminism and the perniciousness of bullying that still feels fresh and relevant…
horror
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire review: reluctant heroine
A devastating indictment of pop culture as propaganda — about its power and the limits of its powers — and an upending of the typical teen-girl romance movie.
Sx_Tape review (London Film Festival) (world premiere)
There’s no reason or logic in this found-footage yawner, and nothing rises to the level of even adolescent notions of sexy-scary.
The Congress movie review (London Film Festival)
A hugely ambitious film reminiscent of The Matrix and the works of Terry Gilliam while also carving out its own apocalyptic sci-fi space.
The Fear (La Por) review (London Film Festival)
Brutally blunt in its depiction of domestic violence. I almost wish I hadn’t seen this film, it’s that almost completely unbearable…
All Cheerleaders Die review (London Film Festival)
Twists the high-school revenge story into feminist black magic.
Citadel review
A familiar story of sinister creature frights and psychological horror gets a little boost from a gloomy mood of urban decay and isolation.
Dark Touch review: Carrie on and on
Elegantly atmospheric indie horror drama plumbs typically unseen depths of children’s coping mechanisms in the face of terrible real-life experience.
The Colony review
A small-scale science-fiction horror story full of big, troubling ideas about what a new Dark Ages might look like.
Insidious: Chapter 2 review: ghost of a chance
The simple elegance of the first film has been lost in a jumbled mess that sometimes hits on fresh angles on ghost stories but most often is shoddy, sloppy, and lazy.
