Better known for her role as psychopathic vampire Drusilla in the popular fantasy series Buffy Vampire Slayer, writer-director Juliet Landau delivers a rather disappointing first feature in A Place Among The Dead. The film is part factual, part fiction and purports to be an exploration of the modern cultural obsession with vampires.  Landau – daughter of Hollywood legend Martin Landau (Mission: Impossible) and actress Barbara Bain – plays a fictional version of herself as a director making a documentary about vampires. Her story more specifically focuses on Darcel, a supposedly undead ser ..read more

In The Climb, director Michael Angelo Covino presents a downbeat and deliciously off-kilter comedy which spans years in the life of Mike (Covino) and Kyle (co writer Kyle Marvin), two bickering best friends who fall out over a woman.  We first meet Mike and Kyle on the eve of Kyle’s wedding to fiancée Eva (a brief yet memorable turn courtesy of French actor Judith Godrèche). Whilst discussing their enduring friendship, Mike admits to having slept with Eva some years earlier. Kyle immediately calls off his wedding and tells Mike that he no longer wants them to be friends. Years later, havi ..read more

After three decades as an actor Regina King’s directorial debut One Night in Miami is a vibrant look at the conflicts and battles that defined the civil rights movement. Adapted from Kemp Powers’ stage play of the same name, the film mostly takes place in an unassuming hotel where four iconic figures meet and discuss how their fame and power can be used to progress the black cause. Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), American footballer Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) meet the then Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) to celebrate his surprise 1964 title win. Instead of partying, they ..read more

Waves begins with a dazzling 360-degree spin inside Tyler’s (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) car as he drives with one leg dangling out of the window while singing along to the radio with girlfriend Alexis (Alexa Demie). It’s a beautifully choreographed moment that captures the sparkling chemistry between these young lovers. It’s immediately clear we are in the hands of a filmmaker brimming with ideas and stylistic verve. Trey Edward Shults’ overwhelmingly moving and sumptuously filmed third feature cements him as one of the most thrilling directors working today. Waves charts the highs and lows of a sub ..read more

Chadian director, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun offers us a necessary and political insight into asylum, Europe and family ties. From Bangui to Paris, brothers Abbas (Eriq Ebouaney) and Etienne (Bibi Tanga) escape their country where they both worked as teachers to a new life in a country where they must take jobs as grocers and security guards. Abbas struggles to let go of his old life, speaking to the ghosts of his past but with his son (Ibrahim Burama Darboe) and daughter (Alayna Lys) in tow, he must make ends meet. We drop in on the family after 19 months of living in France. Abbas has fallen in l ..read more

An insular tale of life in space, High Life gives Claire Denis’ dark, explorative filmmaking the zero gravity treatment. Abandoned and shunned by society, a group of death row inmates are sent to space, their goal to capture and record a black hole’s rotating energy, essentially, a suicide mission. We’re introduced to Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter, Willow (Scarlett Lindsey) as he navigates fatherhood in complete isolation. Set across dual timelines, the film follows the convicts during the first few years on board parallel to Monte’s present situation on the vessel, peppered ..read more

A group of friends, a cabin in the middle of nowhere and shit phone reception can only mean one thing; this film is unlikely to end well. Caitlin Kroller’s debut feature sees a group of estranged college friends return to their old stomping ground to commemorate the death of their friend, Max. It’s not long before the tell-tale signs of a classic “cabin in the woods” horror start to appear as the group hear that a recent participant in one of Max’s science experiments has recently disappeared shortly before Max’s unexplained suicide. The title 30 Miles from Nowhere sets us up from the start an ..read more

Post-Fleabag withdrawal will have Andrew Scott admirers chomping at the bit for another heavenly performance, cue Simon Fellows’ new thriller Steel Country set in Pennsylvania’s backwaters, adorned with Trump propaganda, American flags and water towers. There’s no mistaking what country we’re in as sanitation worker Donald Devlin (Scott) begins an obsessive investigation following the death of a local boy. A father himself, Donald struggles to accept that the boy’s death was accidental and embarks on a hunt for the person responsible. Donald’s unnerving, amateur detective work begins to rouse ..read more

When Asraf Marwan fell to his death from a balcony in London in 2007 his secrets died with him too. Hailed as the best spy of the 20th Century, Egypt-born Marwan who after marrying Mona Nasser, daughter of President Nasser eventually moved to London to pursue his Masters in Chemistry. Marwan is considered as a hero and one of the world’s greatest modern spies by both Egypt and Israel, but questions still remain as to whether his loyalties lay solely with Egypt or if he was also aiding Israel. Director, Thomas Meadmore’s documentary, based on the book of the same name by Ahron Bregman, unravel ..read more