In Review
Welcome to In Review! Check out the latest reviews across film, TV, theatre and so much more…
Film Review - Tall Tales
Tall Tales might not be as grandiose as its title would suggest, but the real scale lies in its ambition.
Fantastic Film Fest 2025 Review - Sword of Silence
Sword of Silence believes in the strength of [its] ‘unique’ visual style to carry the film’s shortcomings, which unfortunately still manage to detract from the feature’s overall potential.
Fantastic Film Fest 2025 Review - Salt Along the Tongue
Aside from the fact that you may struggle to eat tomatoes for a short period of time, Parish Malfitano’s sophomore film is nothing short of spectacular.
Film Review - My Melbourne
My Melbourne is the people we all know: our friends, our family, our neighbours, our coworkers, our bosses, our classmates, the people on our tram rides in the morning, and the people we talk to on a night out.
Film Review - Inside
Inside is a well-directed debut feature that is unforgiving, and filled with stand out moments from the whole cast.
Film Review - Under Streetlights
Under Streetlights is an appealing feel-good film from Australia’s outback core, and a triumph of independent Aussie filmmaking.
Film Review - Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story
Unbreakable is a celebration of Dokic as both a player and a person, cementing herself as one of the greatest names in tennis and a true role model.
Film Review - Runt
If you’re into Aussie battlers, beautiful Australian scenery, cute speedy dogs, and blatantly crying your heart out in public then Runt is the film for you.
MIFF 2024 Film Review - Us and the Night
I don’t know if I will ever get to watch Us and the Night again given its unique formatting and distribution, but it’s quite radically put my love of film into perspective.
MIFF 2024 Film Review - The Cars That Ate Paris (4K Restoration)
Peter Weir’s second feature The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) has an underlying power, and it’s both due to how raw it is as a cultural and industrial satire, and how much Peter Weir’s delicate emotional trademarks manage to bleed themselves into the expression of this bizarre premise.
MIFF 2024 Film Review - Memoir of a Snail
Memoir of a Snail is an absolute triumph, cementing Elliot as a visionary and one of the best in his field.
Film Review - The Convert
The Convert wasn’t perfect but its visuals and depiction of the way of life for people in Aotearoa at the time will continue to leave its mark on me.
Film Review - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Not so much applying brakes to the franchise as it is shifting gears, Furiosa is a triumphantly Aussie blockbuster.
Fantastic Film Fest 2024 Review - Metal Skin (2K Restoration)
While Metal Skin may be uncomfortable or even unenjoyable viewing, it is a compelling, edge of your seat story of Australia’s male-dominated, rev-head culture, where burnt rubber and women who love fast cars are drivers of the male fantasy.
Film Review - The Rooster
Just two bros sitting around a campfire. Five feet apart. Because they can’t face reality.
Film Review - Force of Nature: The Dry 2
Force of Nature is an engrossing modern murder mystery regardless of whether you grew up in Victoria or not, and it does too many difficult things well to be dismissed
MIFF 2023 Film Review - Australia’s Open
Insightful, hilarious yet emotional, director Ili Baré leads the audience through a surprising journey behind one of the world’s most viewed sports competitions, The Australian Open.
MIFF 2023 Film Review - You’ll Never Find Me
Though it shoots well above its budget in terms of its production value, and features potentially star-making turns from its central actors, You'll Never Find Me winds up feeling more like a sheep in wolf's clothing, fizzling out before it can attempt to wow you with its hypnotic but overlong conclusion.
MIFF 2023 Film Review - Late Night With the Devil
Late Night with the Devil is destined to be a halloween cult classic.