>
Tara Judah
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Mambar Pierrette (2023) |
A smartly spun tapestry of everyday life in the city of Douala in Cameroon. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 21, 2023
|
|
|
|
Inshallah a Boy (2023) |
Inspired by the real-life experiences of a close relative of director Amjad Al Rasheed, Inshallah A Boy delivers a social realist critique of Jordan’s structural oppression of women and girls. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 18, 2023
|
|
|
|
Knit's Island (2023) |
Far from the violence the game is predicated upon, Knit’s Island is a gentle enquiry into the reality of the video game world which yields fascinating results. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 02, 2023
|
|
|
|
Nightwatchers (2023) |
Hushed tones and high stakes create tension in this confident debut that deftly captures the quietly calm yet ultimately urgent events at twilight. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 01, 2023
|
|
|
|
Our Body (2023) |
There is a raging undercurrent that cuts through the complacency of how women’s bodies have been treated, onscreen as in life. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Apr 21, 2023
|
|
|
|
Woman on the Roof (2022) |
Pomykala’s embodiment of a depressive state is unwavering, and she is able to carry both the weight of the character and the wider narrative with admirable stoicism. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Jun 12, 2022
|
|
|
|
Lynch/Oz (2022) |
With its impressive array of hundreds of film clips, frenetic editing and whip-smart narrators, Lynch/Oz offers an exciting prism through which to view Lynch’s oeuvre. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Jun 10, 2022
|
|
|
|
Thar (2022) |
Toying with a range of conventions, Chaudhary twists the classic dynamic of cops and robbers into a tense mystery, where anyone could be the good, the bad or the ugly. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 06, 2022
|
|
|
|
Girl Who Dreams About Time (2022) |
A slow-moving, aching account of a young woman trapped in generational and cultural mythology, Girl Who Dreams About Time is a pared back – occasionally bleak – contemplation of what it means to be true to who you are. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 03, 2022
|
|
|
|
Tales from the Occult (2022) |
Tales From The Occult is spooky rather than scary and even occasionally funny as each of the filmmakers use well-oiled horror tropes in a nod to the spectre of the territory’s past whilst also providing 111 minutes of quality genre entertainment. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 03, 2022
|
|
|
|
Table for Six (2022) |
Chan plays every narrative beat for laughs. While this approach makes the film easy to digest, it also means it misses out on the emotional payoff that comes with slightly higher – or at least somewhat consequential – stakes. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 03, 2022
|
|
|
|
Rabid (2021) |
Gooey and gory, and enjoyable to the end, Rabid is hungry for a lighter take on stark social realities. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 03, 2022
|
|
|
|
City After Dark (1980) |
Manila By Night belongs to the world of underground and counter-cinema, a meandering and rich tableau of love, lust and Marxist social critique. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted May 02, 2022
|
|
|
|
Dogwatch (2022) |
Both masculinity and the function of mercenaries come under fire in Gregoris Rentis’ highly entertaining debut documentary, Dogwatch. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Apr 12, 2022
|
|
|
|
RRR (2022) |
When it comes to spectacle, S.S. Rajamouli delivers. And then some. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Apr 08, 2022
|
|
|
|
In from the Side (2022) |
It is an ambitious debut and though a more rigorous edit may have evened out its overall tone, it is clear that Carter’s heart and head were certainly in the game. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 28, 2022
|
|
|
|
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story (2021) |
In Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, director Jeffrey Schwarz uncovers an intriguing true-life tale of passion to match Desmond’s fictional story. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 25, 2022
|
|
|
|
Jimmy in Saigon (2022) |
McDowell turns his debut feature documentary into an overdue act of mourning and the sentimental mystery at its centre becomes a journey of personal healing. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 22, 2022
|
|
|
|
This Is Not Me (2022) |
An act of solidarity and support for transgender people, Gholipour’s documentary is a form of personal testimony, giving voice and visibility to the individuals fighting for their rights. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 19, 2022
|
|
|
|
Master of Light (2022) |
More than just another personal story of adversity overcome, Boesten’s film paints a rich, complex portrait of Black American life. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 18, 2022
|
|
|
|
Millie Lies Low (2021) |
From goofy grins to anxiety-ridden wide eyes, Scotney’s range and talent is clear: her comic timing and commitment to Millie’s mania are exemplary. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 14, 2022
|
|
|
|
To Leslie (2022) |
Andrea Riseborough gives a guttural and reliably first-rate performance as the titular Leslie in Michael Morris’ painfully earnest feature debut about the limits of control. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 13, 2022
|
|
|
|
Alis (2022) |
Alis is a sensitive and generous act, which puts the safeguarding of its subjects ahead of its own desires to tell a compelling story – which, incidentally, it also does with aplomb. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Mar 03, 2022
|
|
|
|
Kind Hearts (2022) |
Exploring the ups and downs of young love with a surprising level of frankness, Kind Hearts is a sweet, reflective picture of two adolescents learning to yield as they yearn. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Feb 25, 2022
|
|
|
|
Convenience Store (2022) |
Brilliant but brutal... - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Feb 18, 2022
|
|
|
|
Brother in Every Inch (2022) |
Pushing the limits of filmmaking to literally dizzying heights, Brother In Every Inch is exceptionally well crafted although its emotional saga never properly takes flight. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Feb 15, 2022
|
|
|
|
Rookies (2022) |
With a varied central cast of shy, sassy and stoic teenagers, this moving but at times fractured group portrait from dance documentarians Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai has more than just the mechanics of movement on its mind. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Feb 10, 2022
|
|
|
|
The Territory (2022) |
Pritz foregrounds the Indigenous community who represent the beating heart of the Amazon in his smart, concise feature debut. - Screen International
Read More
| Posted Jan 27, 2022
|
|
|
|
The Wind (2018) |
The Wind is a western, but it's not about a man. It's also a folkloric, supernatural horror but it's not exactly about monsters, either. The Wind is a film about a woman, and the domestic space she tends and defends. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Mar 06, 2019
|
|
|
|
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) |
Amirpour's debut is a truly arresting work of art. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Mar 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
Under the Wire (2018) |
Martin relies too heavily on direct to camera interviews for information and, though the truly enigmatic Paul Conroy is the subject of these interviews, the formal set up and emotive score mean contrivance outweighs his earnestness. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Mar 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
Distant Constellation (2017) |
The juxtaposition of the old and the new, told through breath, laughter and sighs of exhaustion, is as grounded and otherworldly as cinema can ever hope to be. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Mar 04, 2019
|
|
|
|
Stories We Tell (2012) |
Sarah Polley's funny and engaging documentary is also intelligent - academically and emotionally. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Loneliest Planet (2011) |
A far cry from the limitlessness of experimenta and the deliberately jarring and abrasive aesthetic of the avant-garde, Loktev's visual style fits with an atypical narrative mode. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
Stranger by the Lake (2013) |
In many ways, adhering as it does to semiotic storytelling and other visual tropes, this is a typical genre film. It's also daring and extremely good. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
Beyond the Hills (2012) |
The film's greatest strength is its constant insistence on ambiguity. Almost nothing is explicit and as a result, everything the viewer thinks, feels and judges is based on inference, allusion and their own prejudices and convictions. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
Something in the Air (2012) |
I love that Assayas keeps me on my toes and I look forward to his next hot potato. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Past (2013) |
The film questions responsibility and shows how sometimes people do the wrong thing. It is begs the question: what exactly is the right thing, and how can we recognise it? - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Selfish Giant (2013) |
A social-realist contemporary re-working of Oscar Wilde's children's tale of the same name, this film is unapologetically miserable, gritty, British cinema. And it's brilliant. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
A Touch of Sin (2013) |
A Touch of Sin puts together a picture of social unrest, class injustices and violent response bubbling just beneath the surface. Each story is loosely connected but the real link is a brewing anger levelled at an unfair social system. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
Lovelace (2013) |
Lovelace is structurally sound, telling the popular Hollywood version of events before re-tracing some of its steps and revealing a glimpse of the violence that went on behind the scenes. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
Salinger (2013) |
Beyond its disturbing aspersions cast on mental illness, the film tells a story that is inherently flawed by the absence of its own key player. - Overland
Read More
| Posted Jan 30, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Forbidden Room (2015) |
Searching for that now giant key needed to unlock the door to return to reality, Maddin must take hostages. We join him, in cinephilia, in its celebration, in keeping it alive. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
Taxi (2015) |
Panahi's taxi-cam is a sort of consciousness, unable to stop searching, capturing and presenting the truth. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
A Quiet Passion (2016) |
One or two not entirely convincing performances of Dickinson's fits notwithstanding, A Quiet Passion is a fine, reverent film. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
Lily Lane (2016) |
Lily Lane is a dark, haunting journey over well-trodden, grim ground. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
Eldorado XXI (2016) |
The intensity of its duration offers a glimpse into the cycles of poverty; pain, hope, disappointment, loss, endurance, persistence. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
Panamerican Machinery (2016) |
The result is a bawdy satire about the problems of industry and democracy. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (Mogura no uta: sennyû sôsakan Reiji 2) (2017) |
Takashi doesn't like to stand squarely on either side of the problematic and deeply disturbing fence he has spent his career building. Instead, he likes to make everyone who is watching feel like they are the seedy yellow colour palette... - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|
|
|
|
Manifesto (2015) |
Rosefeldt explores cerebral engagement by going for the gut. - Desist Film
Read More
| Posted Jan 24, 2019
|