SSR

An excellent film with a cleverly written story told in two halves and from two different perspectives. Great performances and an unnerving and unusual soundtrack help sell it. I don't think the final twist was actually needed, the story was already good enough.

At its core The Becomers is a blackly comic story of an alien that has had to abandon its own planet and come to Earth, and then takes over the bodies of various humans while trying to find its partner. I enjoyed the quirky and charming story.

Despite the critical plaudits for this, I didn't think it was anything more than an average supernatural story.

If there's such a genre as "tension movie" then this would fall into it. It is one of those films where a single incident is used to ratchet up the tension while the story plays out in (sort of) real-time. And it must have been hard work doing the bulk of this underwater. The good: the two central actors are OK, the story is mostly good, and the photography is excellent. The bad: I felt more characterisation was needed so we cared more (some backstory was alluded to but never fully realised), and the pacing was a bit too varied.

Pixar have done it again. Such a lovely story of tolerance and love. Fab soundtrack from Thomas Newman.

Vesper falls into the somewhat low budget lo-fi sci-fi genre, but it does great things with the budget and weaves a really interesting world. It is paired with a good and interesting story, great performances, and a good soundtrack. Definitely worth a watch if you like the more interesting sci-fi.

I thought Umma was pretty good. Solid horror, plenty of ratcheted up tension, a reasonable story, and some good performances.

The Show has great performances, direction, and cinematography. What it boils down to is whether you'll get on with its Twin Peaks-like mystery story, which for me was so-so. Great to see Alan Moore in the film.

I thought this was a solid horror. Well written and good acting (particularly from Luke David Blumm). It holds the tension right up to the end.

Pixar do it again, taking a really deep topic, handling it with care and intelligence, and making a superb film that appeals to both kids and adults.

30-45 minutes of this should have been left on the editing room floor. It's slow and ponderous with characters that you don't care enough about, a twist you can see a mile off, and a story that just doesn't have enough oomph.

A fun little science fiction horror that will seem a little familiar, but is original enough to be interesting. I would have liked more story and a stronger third act, but at least they didn't got for a conventional ending.

I thought this was a fantastic story, that for once actually did a decent job of trying to portray what leads up to a mental health issue. Great performance by the cast, particularly Haley Bennett. Fab soundtrack also.

Bacurau's definitely an unusual film, but for me it wasn't a good one. Ultimately it came down to the story, which although initially interesting then takes a bizarre turn that ultimately just felt daft.

I've seen the original Cats musical a handful of times, and the last time I watched it I did wonder why they hadn't created a film (other than the old filmed version of the musical). For the most part the film hits the spot. It has most of the songs from the original musical. The new song, Beautiful Ghosts, isn't a great fit but neither is it terrible. It's great to see some a variety of actors in the roles, which are pretty much a good fit. I don't have an issue with the CG, other than from a technical standpoint the fur seems to shift ever so slightly at times in relation to the actor. The story from the original musical is an odd one, and I suspect most people didn't understand it or pay attention, watching the dancing and listening to the songs instead. The film explains a lot more about what's going on, and it's either something you engage with or think is daft. Overall I enjoyed it, but clear it's proving divisive.

+ves Some great performances and a gentle build that **** me in at least. -ves Overly long, and a finale that just doesn't quite warrant the long build up.

Can't agree with average critical opinion on this. Couldn't have cared less about the characters. Story was a mess, or more so a mess of editing. Exposition so heavily laboured I was eye rolling (yes Brad, we know your dad is difficult!). Too long, or at least a lack of content. And I'm not put off by slow films; I like Solaris (both versions), Stalker, Blade Runner etc. Production was great, and a couple of nice set pieces, that's the best I can say.

A handful of horror Twilight Zone-eseque stories that start average-ly and go downhill.

Great production and performances, but a rambling story and disjointed ending. You've also got to question whether the ending is offensive to those killed in the Manson Family murders, although patently it's all supposed to be a Hollywood fairy tale.

I liked the first film, which was an average action revenge flick. Wasn't so taken with the second film, which starts to disappear up its own mythology. The third film is worse in that respect, saved only for me by some great action sequences. Best described in a review I read as suffering from "franchise bloat".

I thought this was a charming family film with a great story (based on the novella by Colin Thiele). Just to warn that it's sad in places, so potentially not for younger kids.

Although the performances were great, I found the story rather dull and I didn't care for the characters.

Despite the critics reviews, I rather liked this. It has a rather old-school 70s feel to it, but with relatively good production values for what can't have been a high budget film. The story is slow, but I found it atmospheric. If you can cope with all this, you might enjoy it.

The fundamental problem with Andover is the atrocious story, which just feels like a half-hearted attempt at something in the clone-my-spouse genre (OK, it's a niche genre). Couple that with odd choppy editing. The performances at least aren't awful.

The premise is interesting, but numerous plot holes you can drive a lorry through, Keanu's usual odd wooden acting, and a cast that also weren't great. It was just about watchable to see where the chaos was going to end up.

Not as good as Unbreakable, and a notch lower than Split, and although it still has some interesting moments and some great performances they are letdown by an overwrought story.

I was expecting good things with The Guilty based on the reviews so far, but was disappointed. It feels very much like a straight-to-TV film, with all that goes with i.e. average acting and an average story. Although not strictly a single character film, I've seen others that are far better e.g. Locke, and Buried.

This is classic low-budget B-movie science fiction. Cage is Cage, with a very average supporting cast. Story is primarily the issue here, as it meanders with little interest. Fans of cheesy B-movie science fiction will know if it's their bag.

Anyone expecting a clearly explained alien film is going to be disappointed by this. It's more of a mood piece, with a great performance from the two leads. It reminded me a little of Donnie Darko with its rather vague plot that's outshadowed by the performances, although not as good.

A mesmerising story that feels incredibly real, with a standout performance by Gemma Arterton. The film is also beautifully shot, and the score fits perfectly. Recommended for fans of gritty philosophical drama.

Although slow and not entirely original, the film eventually builds to a great story. For fans of whimsical supernatural horror, not heavy on the guts and gore.

ALIEN INVASION: S.U.M.1 is a low budget science fiction film with a somewhat slow story. It relies on a good performance from Iwan Rheon, who is often the solo performer in the story. Sadly a promising start and middle that build the story reasonably well are letdown by a poor third chapter and end.

Ever since seeing the (excellent) trailer for Automata I was intrigued. But against a background of lacklustre reviews I was expecting to be disappointed. Thankfully, I wasn't. Whether intentional or not there are a number of cues from other fiction, including the inevitable Asimov books in loose terms, and films such as Blade Runner and Until the End of the World. I was reminded a lot of the latter, as it felt like the film was very much a labour of love on a low budget, although it doesn't show too much. On this basis it might seem like an unoriginal property, but it manages to take all this and still do something original and interesting with it. I found the story, albeit not always fast paced, to be laced with atmosphere. This was helped by fantastic locations and sets, that conveyed a grimy future world, rather than a white shiny one. Antonio Banderas is excellent in the lead role - it's good to see him playing a tough genuine role - and surrounded by a wonderful and eclectic international cast. The special effects are also great, for the budget, and inevitably in your face a lot of the time in the form of the excellent robots. Clearly the robots are a mix of puppetry and CG, but it's hard to spot the join, and they work brilliantly as what are often key characters. There is a classic orchestral soundtrack that blends well with the rest of the film. So I'm somewhat bewildered as to why this film has, overall, got such poor reviews to-date. It's very much the smaller science fiction film, relying on story and characters, rather than set pieces and explosions. If you like that then definitely give it a try.