Adelaide Film Festival Review: Anora
Ani (Mikey Madison) works at The Headquarters in Manhattan, a large adult club with exotic dancers, private rooms, and huge bar tabs. Sean Baker follows Ani around what appears to be an average night…
Nadine Whitney
Saturday Night is Poignant Pandemonium and an Exhilarating Jump Back in Time
“What kind of show is it?” Copper Hoffman’s NBC weekend producer asks Gabriel LaBelle’s Lorne Michaels of the television show that’s supposed to go live at 11.30pm on Saturday night, Oct 11, 1975. Lor…
Conclave Showcases Ralph Fiennes’ Decades Long Mastery of His Craft
Edward Berger’s adaptation of Robert Harris’ Holy See mystery/thriller Conclave is a mature film functioning as a character study of its accidental investigator and the character of the contemporary C…
A Different Man is an Absurdist Masterpiece
Aaron Schimberg’s debut feature Chained for Life is a film about a questionable ‘European Auteur’ making what is clearly a low budget exploitation movie flirting with ideas of eugenics, monstrosity, a…
Ghostlight is a Brave, Tender, Exquisite, and Unforgettable Experience
A ghostlight in theatre tradition is the single light kept burning in the theatre after all others have been extinguished. It is one of the many rituals adopted by theatre folk such as never saying “G…
Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson on Finding Catharsis in Grief in Ghostlight
Kelly O’Sullivan and partner Alex Thompson have worked together before Ghostlight their magnificent meditation on grief, empathy, and the power of the theatre. Kelly wrote and starred in 2019’s Saint…
Dolly De Leon Imagines the ‘What Ifs’ in Ghostlight
Filipina actor Dolly De Leon relates closely to her frustrated community theatre actor character, Rita in Ghostlight Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s tale of grief and healing. If not for Triangle…
Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice Shows How an American Nightmare Can Be Someone's American Dream
Ali Abbasi opens The Apprentice with a moment that historically shook the faith of the American people in the integrity of the highest political office in the land, the downfall of Richard Nixon. Neve…
Pascal Plante's Red Rooms Imprints Itself on the Viewer like a Maddening Nightmare
“My thoughts are with the victims.” Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy) like her internet nom de plume and computer desktop wallpaper The Lady of Shallot lives in a tower overlooking Montreal. She is seen…
My Old Ass in an Enriching Gift of a Coming-of-Age Tale
“I’ll show you what you're worth (that's what I'm gonna do) If you let me inside your world.” - Canadian folk poet Justin Bieber Elliott (Maisy Stella) is about to turn eighteen and in tw…
Daaaaaalí is a Glorious Oddity from Quentin Dupieux
Quentin Dupieux understands there is no such thing as Salvador Dalí. Once the mad Catalan decided he was going to become a walking paradox making grandiose statements about himself in the third person…
Michael Angarano's Sacramento is a Rough Gem of a Road Trip Dramatic Comedy
Sacramento screens at the Sydney Underground Film Festival on 14 & 15 September. Tickets are available here. “I don’t know if I listened to everything you said, but I heard free childcare and I’m…