Of all the Oscars categories, Best Animated Feature must be the most infuriating for cinephiles. A section of the show in which independent film has been historically ignored in favour of big budget family exercises – and one where members have admitted to simply voting for their child’s favourite without watching… - it’s long felt as though the category was behind the cinematic times. Thankfully, this year’s winner Flow demonstrates the power of animation beyond Disney, while the category’s other indie entry…

So, the 2025 awards season is over, ending with one of the best Oscars ceremonies in recent years. Sean Baker’s Anora took a clean sweep of most major awards, including Best Actress for Mikey Madison’s unshrinkable performance as the title character. Regardless of how you feel about this controversial frontrunner (I loved it), it’s remarkable to see independent cinema celebrated on a global stage, with the film being made on a $6 million budget – a theme echoed by Flow’s success in the…

Often paired with Ken Loach as a master of social realism – though perhaps with a more optimistic outlook – Mike Leigh has been a fixture of British film since his breakthrough in the 1980s. Tackling everyday problems and serious social issues with a simultaneous respect and humour, Leigh has continued to make quality cinema throughout his career. Although his last two films, Mr Turner and Peterloo, turned to the past for inspiration, he retained his empathetic interest in the lives of ordinary people…

Plenty of actors turn to directing in their lifetime. Perhaps desiring a greater degree of artistic control, or simply wanting to shift gears in their career, some have even become better known for the latter than the former; Sofia Coppola, John Cassavetes, and Greta Gerwig, amongst others, are likely better known now for their work behind the camera than in front of it. The transition from one to the next is always a fascinating period in an artist’s filmography, and…

The cinema screen tends to be marketed as a site for the spectacular and fantastical, but the mundane can be equally, if not more, affecting, particularly when it comes to capturing the nuances of family dynamics. It’s been done in every genre and in each era of cinema, from The Kid to Meet the Fockers, but intergenerational conflict and the complex relationships of genetically tethered characters is always ripe for exploration onscreen.

Film genres may grow and evolve, impacted by factors ranging from technological advancement to everchanging political climates, but one truth holds universally: there’s always room for a classic weepie. Since the days of the nickelodeon, audiences have masochistically queued up in droves to watch tearjerkers, whether that means the ill-fated love affair of Casablanca, the maternal misery of Steel Magnolias, or the doomed childhoods of Grave of the Fireflies.

As mentioned in my review of last year’s hot blooded sports drama Challengers that some of you may have read, it’s easy to see that Luca Guadagnino has become one of Hollywood’s most exciting voices of the 21st century so far. But beyond the acclaim, how does one characterise his filmmaking oeuvre with such a diverse filmography? For many, including Guadagnino, the common denominator of his work is his implicit, or often explicit, approach to queer sexuality, explored in films as wide ranging…

Unless you’re a die-hard Tolkien fan – which, to be fair, many of us are – you’re likely to associate the epic novel The Lord of the Rings with Peter Jackson’s record-breaking live action trilogy released in the early 2000s. But these weren’t the first versions of these texts put to the screen – in fact, the first to do so weren’t live action at all. The adaptation that arguably started it all was Ralph Bakshi’s film version that took…

With the end of the year upon us we’ve asked our staff what their favourite film of 2024 has been.