Filmrecensies van Eric Hillis

The great thing about a good folk tale is that you can extract a message of contemporary relevance from it while also finding it a ripping good yarn. The Kid Who Would Be King is all yawn and no yarn. Recensie

Does Labaki genuinely care about the plight of the poor or is she simply exploiting their predicament? One has to assume the former, but her film's central hook of questioning whether poor people should be allowed to raise children positions Capernaum uncomfortably close to the realm of classist, fascist propaganda. Recensie

Too simplistic for seasoned sci-fi fans and too grim for kids, I'm not sure who Cameron and Rodriguez think this film is for. Recensie

Gilroy lazily gives us a crop of cheaply rendered art-meets-commerce stereotypes and pins his hopes on us finding entertainment value in their bloody demises, but with nobody we actually care for to carry this narrative forward, we're left yawning as a series of cardboard characters are offed in unremarkable ways. Recensie

Viewers primarily seeking a unique premise may find The Hole in the Ground disappointingly derivative, but for horror fans weary of movies that favour heavy plotting over the sort of brooding atmosphere and chills on offer here, Cronin's debut suggests he's a filmmaker who understands what truly makes this genre tick. Recensie

We meet Sacha first as a timid, vacuous airhead, but by the end of this striking film, we realise we've just witnessed the origin story of a super-villainess. Recensie

Unlike the letters that made Israel initially rich and ultimately a wanted criminal, Heller's film is the real deal. Recensie

Both in theme and aesthetic, Destroyer plays like a mash-up of Bigelow's cop thrillers Point Break and Blue Steel, but it only momentarily captures the surface thrills of either. Recensie

After a few recent duds, Eastwood has returned with both his most entertaining and most well observed movie since 2004's Million Dollar Baby. Recensie

Ultimately, watching Escape Room isn't a whole lot different from watching a Saturday teatime game show. Recensie

The Miseducation of Cameron Post was by no means the definitive take on this topic, but it wisely recognised the absurdity within the practice and played its drama as a black comedy. Not so Boy Erased, which is serious with a capital S and devoid of humanity save for a warm performance by Nicole Kidman... Recensie

Though largely listless and at times positively coma-inducing, if you can keep yourself awake there are a few worthwhile moments in All is True. Recensie

McKay clearly made this movie for a liberal audience, but unless you spent the past two decades living in a cave, you're not going to learn anything new about Cheney and the Bush administration. Shouldn't this movie have come out a decade ago? Oh wait, it did. It was directed by Oliver Stone and called W. Recensie

What little plot there is builds inevitably to yet another of Shyamalan's trademark twists, but this one is underwhelming and makes little sense, contradicting evidence the film has previously presented. Recensie

Josie draws us in, but its ludicrous climax has the effect of a turning a few mellow beers on a balmy porch into an overbearing keg party attended by uninvited frat boys. Recensie

Bird Box is essentially a monster movie, but it continuously gives the impression that it's embarrassed by such a label. Recensie

Hogancamp's retreat from reality into a misogynistic fantasy world is simply impossible to get behind... Recensie

CAM isn't the definitive take on the horrors that lurk in the shadows of the online world, but it may have you checking the strength of your email password. Recensie

Yet while it's a fun ride, Bumblebee is by no means a classic of its genre. Once again we have a Transformers movie that fails to do anything interesting with its robots' ability to transform and blend in with earth, and the plot, while commendably economic, is essentially a knockoff of every boy/girl meets robot/alien movie spewed out by Hollywood in the wake of E.T's box office success. Recensie

It's refreshingly lacking in the brooding, emo atmosphere of its YA contemporaries, but it's also devoid of humour, and its cast are forced go through the motions and deliver stiff performances, spouting functional dialogue. Recensie

Yet even though The House That Jack Built is essentially a 2.5 hour lecture on a subject that's been handled far more efficiently by subtler filmmakers in the past, it's rarely dull. Recensie

If you're a fan of the movies Lowery is evoking here, his film's '70s aesthetic and Redford's unique charm will have you smiling throughout, but you may find yourself hungering for a more substantial take on Tucker's life when the credits have rolled. Recensie

If Beale Street Could Talk is about people stuck in a horrific situation, but never feeling sorry for themselves, carrying hope in their hearts and finding beauty wherever they can. That's the essence of Jazz. It's dark now, but brightness is never far away. Recensie

The Favourite certainly isn't a case of Lanthimos becoming a director for hire, but it's lacking his indefinable presence to a noticeable degree. Recensie