On Free Fire

This real time action comedy takes one location and several very talented actors and has a great time. It’s fun, incredibly well planned and, if at times a little repetitive, a smart script that makes sure the characters feel like only slightly exaggerated people and not just tropes to be knocked off one by one.

On Manchester by the Sea

In this study of loss and life, humanity is found in the detail and explored intricately through Lonergan’s direction and script. The former is steady when it needs to be and beautiful when the story allows. The shots on the sea are simple but framed wonderfully. The script is expert at finding the relatable in a story of family devastation. This is a film that rings far larger than its small story and echoes long after it finishes.

On The Death of Stalin

2009's In the Loop was a hilarious dissection of UK US relations that felt like a small British film because it was. Iannucci's big screen follow up is much bigger in scale and budget and topic. It is equally as fast paced and an audience have to be on their toes to get the most of it, however, it never quite reaches the hilarity levels of In the Loop.

On Blade Runner 2049

A pinocchio story for a digital age, Blade Runner 2049 moves in directions that are unexpected, takes it times and reaches a point of uncomfortable intensity, before ending with subtle beauty. It explores so much about our relationships with each other and with technology, as well as, and like the first film, about fathers and sons. Yes, there are questions to be asked about its treatment of women, but the feelings K has for his Joi are hard to brush aside as being purely pleasurable. This is also surely the best photographed film of the year.

On Call me by your Name

This is a beautiful film, of such depth that it will likely reach all who see it, on some level. The performances are subtle, intense and utterly captivating. In fact there is so much to admire about this film, but a closing scene between father and son is heartbreaking. Call me by your Name is a film to get lost in.

On Mudbound

It has not taken long for cinema to react to the campaign trail and subsequent presidency of Trump and the rise of white supremacy. Issues of race in America date back to the founding of America and it should be hoped that film continues to explore every inch of this shameful and complicated history. Mudbound takes the early 20th century leading up to the Second World War and focuses on two families, one white, one black, farming the same land. Characters at times disappear for too long, with more focus on those that become less significant in the final acts, but ultimately the message is one that needs to be seen and one that hopefully resonates.

On Thor: Ragnarok

Funny, colourful, escapist, but ultimately subject to the laws of Marvel and their predictable three act structure.