‘The Stranger’ review: Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris face off in this taut, unnerving Australian detective drama [B+] | LFF
Thomas Wright’s Australian detective drama stars Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris, and it’s a gripping film that is unconventionally delicate. This delicacy in the storytelling... Read More
Ben Rolph
Ben is a film and television journalist, who is based out of London, United Kingdom. As the Senior film critic at DiscussingFilm, Ben regularly writes reviews, features, interviews and attends film festivals. Also, Ben runs the DiscussingFilm Critic Awards that have been running since 2019 and is a Tomatometer-approved critic.
‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical’ review: A joyous, magical, fun-filled adventure [B+] | LFF
The opening frame of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical is startling, absurd, as animation-like rays beam off of newly born children as their parents sing... Read More
‘The Midnight Club’ review: Mike Flanagan scores again with YA horror full of kills and thrills [A]
Mike Flanagan, creator of The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor and Midnight Mass, continues his winning streak with Netflix as his latest delivers the startling scares, atmosphere and... Read More
‘On the Fringe’ review: Juan Diego Botto’s directorial debut with Penélope Cruz is an ambitious but fractured effort [C] | Zurich
Juan Diego Botto’s directorial debut pulls no swings when it comes to social realism, it is a restless drama that follows a set of people... Read More
‘The Swimmers’ review: Sally El Hosaini’s drama is a harrowing true tale of survival and dreams [B+] | Zurich
As long as cinema has existed, there have been “based on true events” films. George Méliès’ Joan of Arc (Jean D’Arc), released in 1900, is... Read More
Cannes Review: Lukas Dhont’s ‘Close’ is a delicate coming of age tale with a miraculous debut performance from Eden Dambrine [Grade: A]
Lukas Dhont’s sophomore feature, Close, is a remarkably well-directed film about childhood grief in a time maybe of its greatest need. It’s a great next... Read More
Cannes Review: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s ‘Broker’ is a tender story of chosen families led by a beguiling performance from Lee Ji-eun [Grade: A+]
Cannes favourite Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the 2018 Palme d’Or for Shoplifters, has returned to the Cote d’Azur-set film festival with another winner, titled Broker.... Read More
Cannes Review: Mark Jenkin’s Cornish thriller ‘Enys Men’ is an unnerving, off-beat experimental horror unlike any other [Grade: B+]
Born and raised in Cornwall, England, writer-director Mark Jenkin continues to draw on his local, beloved surroundings with his sophomore film, Enys Men, which premiered... Read More
Cannes Review: Park Chan-wook’s ‘Decision to Leave’ subverts and embraces its Hitchcockian nature with Tang Wei’s pitch-perfect femme fatale [Grade: A]
Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave plays like Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, albeit with a twist. It isn’t self-referential or reflexive at all to Hitchcock’s influence unlike... Read More
Cannes Review: Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Tchaikovsky’s Wife’ portrays a woman of quiet anonymity and obsession [Grade: B]
Many films have been made about famed 19th century composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, but little has been documented and told about his wife, Antonina Miliukova.... Read More
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