Category Archives: Thriller

Is God Is review — A fiery, rage-fuelled revenge picture

July 23, 2026 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Aleshea Harris, based on her play | 99 min | ▲▲▲▲ | On VOD Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) live together, work together, and are literally telepathic. They're both burn survivors living with a tapestry of scars. One day they get a letter from their mother, Ruby…Read More

The Wizard of the Kremlin review — The dark road to Putin

June 25, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by Oliver Assayas | Written by Assayas and Emmanuel Carrère, based on the novel by Giuliano Da Empoli | 137 min | ▲▲▲ | On VOD An earlier version of this review appeared on FITI during the coverage of #TIFF2025 I’m a fan of Assayas, especially his pictures with Kristen Stewart (The Clouds of…Read More

Two Prosecutors review — Sick of fascist bureaucracy? Watch this.

June 24, 2026 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Sergei Loznitsa | 117 min | ▲▲▲▲ | The Criterion Channel This is a painterly and deliberate satire/procedural on authoritarian bureaucracy, set in Stalinist Russia in 1937. As a deep dive into the way bureaucracy crushes freedom at a time of fascism, this is the most clear-eyed cinematic example I've seen…Read More

Sirat review — Desert drama gets stuck in the sand

May 19, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by Oliver Laxe | Written by Laxe and Santiago Fillol | 115 min | ▲▲ | VOD I try not to make a habit of quoting other film critics, but there's something Mark Kermode, who has a podcast called Kermode and Mayo's Take in the UK, said when describing Sirat, especially the last act,…Read More

Fuze review — Explosive, London-based thriller with a fatal flaw

April 23, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by David Mackenzie | Written by Ben Hopkins | 98 min | ▲▲▲ for genre fans, ▲▲ for everyone else An earlier version of this review appeared on FITI during the coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival 2025 Scots filmmaker David MacKenzie has carved out one of the most impressive thriller and action…Read More

Islands review — Seductive, peculiar desert moods

March 22, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by Jan-Ole Gerster | Written by Gerster, with Blaž Kutin and Lawrie Doran | ▲▲▲ | VOD Cinephiles will recognize where they are in the opening minute of Islands. This is a daytime noir consisting of deserts and water, both the stuff you drink and the stuff that fills swimming pools, swaddled in a…Read More

In Cold Light review — Gritty Alberta thriller delivered by performances

February 28, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by Maxime Giroux | Written by Patrick Whistler | 96 min | ▲▲1/2 I'm not the first to say it, but Maika Monroe should be a bigger star. She brings a rarely felt authenticity to every role she chooses, from The Guest and It Follows to Longlegs — that's certainly the case here where…Read More

How To Make A Killing review — Dial meh for murder

February 21, 2026 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by John Patton Ford | 105 min | ▲▲ This filmmaker wowed audiences his last time out with a cracking, pertinent thriller, Emily The Criminal. More's the shame he's bungled the follow-up, a picture that arrives with a promising satiric premise but never achieves anything close to that promise. If you've seen…Read More

Crime 101 review — An exceptional, slickly made thriller

February 16, 2026 flawintheiris

Written and Directed by Bart Layton, based on the novella by Don Winslow | 139 min | ▲▲▲▲ What a pleasure to watch a masterfully crafted thriller, one that feels like the product of another era when these kinds of movies appeared regularly at the multiplex. Critics before me have compared it to Heat, which is…Read More

A Private Life review — Jodie Foster shines in Parisienne mystery

January 28, 2026 flawintheiris

Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski | Written by Zlotowski, Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé | 103 min | ▲▲▲1/2 | Crave An earlier version of this review ran on the blog during the Toronto International Film Festival 2025 The main draw here — though the film has a number of supplementary pleasures — is Jodie Foster…Read More