France
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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein might be the earliest example of body horror, a subgenre of horror that focuses on mutation, destruction and transformation of the human form. These ideas were explored… Read More
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This week sees the cinema release of Ballerina, the first in a series of planned spin-off movies from the incredibly successful John Wick action franchise. Focusing on a new character,… Read More
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Gwei Lun-mei and Luke Evans fail to make sparks fly in this sluggish action effort from writer-producer Luc Besson. Read More
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One of my long-running goals for our YouTube channel is to get my co-host Steve to watch more horror movies. This year has been especially strong, but no film more… Read More
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Two women from different backgrounds meet in a large house on a remote island off the Brittany coast. One is soon to be married off, the other arrives to paint… Read More
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Back in 1990, Luc Besson’s stylish French thriller Nikita cast Anne Parillaud as a drug-addicted killer who is transformed into a sexy government assassin. In the decades since, the prolific… Read More
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On 12 August, 2000, an explosion on the Russian nuclear submarine K-141 Kursk caused it to sink in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 naval personnel on board. The disaster… Read More
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Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh has come to embody for many the quintessential tortured artist. Young, broke and unrecognised in his time, Van Gogh battled mental illness and poverty throughout… Read More
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A Mumbai street magician embarks on a European odyssey and gets a taste of the immigrant experience in Ken Scott’s ambitious adaptation of Romain Puertolas’ bestselling novel. The Extraordinary Journey… Read More
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It might read like lazy film criticism, but Gaspar Noe’s Climax is quite literally Fame on acid. Unfolding during a closed-door rehearsal at a dance school, the young nubile students showcase their individual styles… Read More
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Primarily known for her controversial documentary SOS Tehran (2002), Iranian filmmaker Sou Abadi’s first narrative feature is not the hard-hitting drama one might have expected. Instead, Some Like It Veiled… Read More
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Films that explore struggling authors and writers block have a tendency to unravel into violence and hysteria. This is certainly the case with Roman Polanski’s Based on a True Story.… Read More
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A horror writer revisits the site of a violent childhood experience in Incident in a Ghostland (known simply as Ghostland in some territories). Committed histrionics from the female leads only… Read More
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A transgressive, feminist reimagining of the rape-revenge thriller sees an ill-fated sex kitten transform into a butt-kicking angel of vengeance in Coralie Fargeat’s lurid, bloody, desert-set exploitation flick. (at 23:52) Read More
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In the early 90s, a young man joins the Act Up Paris activist group, takes on the government and the pharmaceutical giants and falls in love with a founding member… Read More
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A lyrical reimagining of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, Harry Cleven’s Angel explores the world of a young boy whom nobody can see, and how that impacts his ability to… Read More
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Jean-Luc Godard, the French New Wave architect regarded by many as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, is the subject of a new film by Oscar-winning director Michel… Read More
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Two years after it was shot, this military heist thriller from producer and co-writer Luc Besson’s troubled EuropaCorp company has finally seen the light of day. But save for some… Read More
The James Marsh film review archive 