The Birth of a Nation, 2016. Directed by Nate Parker. Starring Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Penelope Ann Miller and Jackie Earle Haley. SYNOPSIS: Set against the antebellum South, The Birth of a Nation follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Creepy (2016)
Creepy, 2016. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa Starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yuko Takeuchi, Masahiro Higaside and Teruyuki Kagawa. SYNOPSIS: Retired detective turned university professor Takakura is called upon by a former colleague to help in the investigation of a family that vanished six years prior, with the daughter of the family being the sole remaining member and […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Their Finest (2016)
Their Finest, 2016. Directed by Lone Scherfig. Starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Richard E Grant, Eddie Marsan, Jake Lacy and Helen McCrory. SYNOPSIS: In the days after The Blitz in World War II, The Ministry Of Information recruits copywriter Catrin (Gemma Arterton) to work on scripts and give their propaganda films […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016)
I Am Not A Serial Killer, 2016. Directed by Billy O’Brien. Starring Max Records, Christopher Lloyd and Laura Fraser. SYNOPSIS: Sixteen-year-old John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records, Where the Wild Things Are) is not a serial killer—but he has all the makings of one. Keeping his homicidal tendencies and morbid obsessions with death and murder in […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Bleed for This (2016)
Bleed for This, 2016. Directed by Ben Younger. Starring: Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Ciaran Hinds, Katey Sagal and Ted Levine. SYNOPSIS: Vinny Pazienza (Miles Teller) has achieved enormous success as a lightweight boxer but his career is threatened when he fails in the Junior Welterweight title fight against Floyd Mayweather. When a devastating car accident […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Elle (2016)
Elle, 2016. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Laffite, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Christian Berkel and Jonas Bloquet. SYNOPSIS: Michèle seems indestructible. Head of a successful video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. However her life takes a dramatic turn when she is raped in […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Personal Shopper (2016)
Personal Shopper, 2016. Directed by Olivier Assayas. Starring Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz, Anders Danielsen Lie and Ty Olwin. SYNOPSIS: Maureen serves as a personal shopper for the rich and famous. Residing in Paris, she also practices as a medium with the hope of contacting her recently deceased twin brother. Channelling two greatly conflicting lifestyles, soon […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – Moonlight (2016)
Moonlight, 2016. Directed by Barry Jenkins. Starring Trevante Rhodes, Andre Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali. SYNOPSIS: A timeless story of human connection and self-discovery, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing […]
60th BFI London Film Festival Review – American Honey (2016)
American Honey, 2016 Directed by Andrea Arnold Starring Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough. SYNOPSIS: Disaffected, blue-collar American teen Star (Sasha Lane), a self-described ‘American Honey’, leaves her unhappy home life behind to hit the road with a gang of misfit stragglers who travel across the USA scamming people out of their money. On the way […]
60th BFI London Film Festival 2016 Review – The Handmaiden (2016)
The Handmaiden, 2016 Directed by Park Chan-wook Starring Min-hee Kim, Kim Tae-ri, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-woong Jo SYNOPSIS: During the Japanese occupation of Korea, young con-woman Sook-Hee is hired to be a wealthy heiress’s handmaiden at an isolated countryside estate. Joining forces with a fellow thief, she plans to swindle the heiress out of her fortune, […]
