For Sama is an extraordinary documentary, consisting of footage taken by filmmaker Waad Al-Kateab while raising her infant daughter in Aleppo during the appalling violence and chaos of the Syrian Civil War. It delivers a unique perspective that is confronting, but also profoundly humane.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020
Hallucinogenic, claustrophobic and often surprisingly funny, The Lighthouse is a beautifully textured odd-couple film that mutates into psychological horror as two lighthouse keepers in the 1890s lose their minds; questioning what and who is or isn’t real. It’s intense and a lot of fun.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020
The warm and charming Australian coming-of-age film H Is for Happiness deftly balances humour and its protagonist’s hyper-cheery outlook on the world with much darker themes connected to loss and grief. It’s sweet, stylised and off-kilter while remaining grounded and sincere.
Released in Australian cinemas 6 February 2020
The new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is both faithful to the book and refreshingly cinematic, using suitable visual flourishes to enhance the novel’s biting social critique and intriguing characters. It’s funny and romantic for the most part, but with key moments of poignancy.
Released in Australian cinemas 13 February 2020
In Richard Jewell Clint Eastwood further explores the plight of everyday people thrust into the spotlight, in the story of the security guard who discovered the bomb at the 1996 Olympics to then become the main suspect. It’s compelling drama about the dangers of confirmation bias.
Released in Australian cinemas 13 February 2020
Based on childhood experiences with his abusive and negligent father, Honey Boy co-stars and is written by Shia LaBeouf. Director Alma Har’el delivers a beautifully dreamlike vision of the harrowing story, to convey the relationship between damaged adults and their traumatic pasts.
Released in Australian cinemas 27 February 2020
The new film incarnation of The Invisible Man takes the perspective of the woman being harassed and the science-fiction concept expresses all-too real acts of violence. The results work as a tense and chilling horror film, and as a commentary on the nature of psychological abuse
Released in Australian cinemas 27 February 2020
CINEMA AUTOPSY 