Category Archives: Science Fiction/Fantasy

The Greatest Hits review — Ned Benson’s sweet return

April 26, 2024 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Ned Benson | 94 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Disney+ I was unreasonably excited to check out this movie. It's from Ned Benson, who directed a wildly ambitious but criminally underseen drama from about 10 years ago called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby starring Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis and James McAvoy. It's…Read More

Skin Deep review — Body swap concept prompts thoughtful allegory

April 21, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Alex Schaad | Written by Alex Schaad and Dimitrij Schaad | 103 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | VOD and Digital The high concept of this sci-fi drama is this: a couple, Leyla and Tristan (Mala Emde and Jonas Dassler), goes to an eco resort, an island where they can switch bodies with other people.…Read More

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire review — Maybe call someone else this time

March 26, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Gil Kenan | Written by Kenan and Jason Reitman | 115 min | ▲▲△△△ | In Cinemas It's been awhile since I've seen a blockbuster franchise extension as calculated as this new Ghostbusters movie, and yet it has moments that provide a genuine twang of nostalgia for the 1984 movie that everyone loves,…Read More

Dune: Part Two review — The rise of Muad’dib

February 26, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Denis Villeneuve | Written by Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, based on the novel by Frank Herbert | 168 min | ▲▲▲▲△ | In Cinemas After a painful delay for this much anticipated blockbuster sequel — just as the first one was delayed — it's here. In many respects it delivers on the promise…Read More

The End We Start From review — Jodie Comer survives watery apocalypse

February 14, 2024 flawintheiris

A capsule version of this review appeared on FITI during my coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023. Directed by Mahalia Belo | Written by Alice Birch from the Megan Hunter novel | 102 min | ▲▲▲△△ | VOD and Digital Platforms Alice Birch is the writer of the series, Normal People,…Read More

The Kitchen (2023) review — Creative world-building but turgid drama

February 3, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares | Written by Kaluuya, Joe Murtagh, and Amy Baty | 107 min | ▲▲△△△ | Netflix Acting powerhouse Daniel Kaluuya steps behind the camera to co-direct this moody, well-shot picture boasting a set of solid performances and an impressive construction of a plausible future dystopia. What it isn't,…Read More

All Of Us Strangers review — Love, death, and dreams

January 27, 2024 flawintheiris

Directed by Andrew Haigh | Written by Haigh, adapting a novel by Taichi Yamada | 105 min | ▲▲▲▲△ This is a story about loneliness and people haunted by the tragedies of the past, and seeing it within 24 hours of watching Memory it delivers a genuine wallop. It probably would anyway since it's one…Read More

Poor Things review — Delightfully prurient and entirely bonkers

December 29, 2023 flawintheiris

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos | Written by Tony McNamara, based on the novel by Alasdair Gray | 141 min | ▲▲▲▲△ The team of Lanthimos and McNamara, responsible for the wonderful The Favourite, have paired up again for this adaptation of the 1992 book by Scot writer Gray. It's about a Frankenstein-like creation, where a…Read More

Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory reviews

December 18, 2023 flawintheiris

I wasn't raised with Roald Dahl, so I come to the adaptations of his work — Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, The Witches, to name but three — without any preconceived notions or, to put it bluntly, any baked in excitement. As a kid I even missed the first adaptation of Dahl's 1964 book, Charlie…Read More

Godzilla Minus One review — One radioactive lizard to rule them all

December 10, 2023 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Takashi Yamazaki | 124 min | ▲▲▲▲△ We've had plenty of Godzilla to enjoy in recent years, mostly in the ever expanding Monarch monster-verse, the Hollywood-licensed take on the legendary Japanese beastie. The American Godzilla showed up with some success here, and then in an abysmal sequel, and most recently and…Read More