Film Focus Online • 3rd September 2025

'The Conjuring: Last Rites' Review: A Worthy Send-Off For Ed and Lorraine - Film Focus Online

The Conjuring is one of the most successful, celebrated, and downright scary horror franchises of the 21st century. Billed as the ninth and final instalment in The Conjuring universe, The Conjuring: Last Rites was always going to conjure a unique buzz of its own. Remember, this is a franchise that has grossed a combined $2.2 billion from a budget of just $208 million! It may be nightmarish for audiences, but Warner Bros have regular sweet dreams about The Conjuring. The big question was: would i...

Film Focus Online • 28th August 2025

'The Roses' Review: Colman and Cumberbatch Are a Toxic Match Made in Heaven - Film Focus Online

Tony McNamara may have dropped ‘War’ from the title, but it certainly wasn’t dropped from the script. In a cinematic era of remakes and sequels, it would be easy to dismiss The Roses as yet another Hollywood cash grab, but Jay Roach injects enough charm, quintessential British repression, and downright insanity to fill a London bus. In the 2025 remake, based originally on the 1981 novel by Warren Adler, Michael Douglas is replaced by Cumberbatch, and Kathleen Turner passes the torch to Colman. H...

Film Focus Online • 7th August 2025

'Weapons' Review: Gut-wrenching and Side-Splitting in Equal Glorious Measure - Film Focus Online

Zach Cregger is fast becoming one of the most exciting horror writer-directors in Hollywood, as Weapons feasts on the credibility earned from Barbarian and rolls it in layers of mystery, witchcraft, and downright comedy. A star-studded cast of Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, and Alden Ehrenreich proves that horror is well and truly back, and combined with an electric Cregger script, Weapons is set to fast become a genre classic – with a twist.When Justine Gandy (Garner) arrives to teac...

Film Focus Online • 26th June 2025

'F1: The Movie' Review: Top Gun Meets Top Gear in Wonderfully Ludicrous Racing Drama - Film Focus Online

Formula One is loud and messy and dangerous. It is full-throttle, life-on-the-line, G-force-defying adrenaline at its purest. It is a circus parade that rolls into town 24 times a year, drawing fanatics, celebrities, and casuals like moths to a flaming exhaust. But the one thing that elevates F1 above every other sport in the world is its sheer exclusivity. Only the best 20 drivers on the planet can climb behind the wheels of the beast and compete for the ultimate glory. Being the 21st best foot...

Film Focus Online • 19th June 2025

'28 Years Later' Review: Best Horror Sequel of All-time - Film Focus Online

Eighteen years is a long time to wait between film two and film three, but when a horror opens with a shot of the Teletubbies, you know it’s going to be a classic. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland took a huge risk when they announced their intention to return to the 28 Days series. On the one hand, they had the chance to elevate the world they first created 23 years ago, using modern technology to tell stories in a brand-new way. On the other hand, they risked tarnishing the memory of one of the mos...

Film Focus Online • 5th June 2025

'Dangerous Animals' Review: Serial Killer Meets Shark - Film Focus Online

We’re taught from a young age never to get into a stranger’s car - but what happens when a stranger hits you over the head and sails you out into the middle of the ocean to serve as a surprise shark supper? That’s what poor Zephyr is about to find out in Dangerous Animals – a horror that attempts to combine all the fin-credible drama of Jaws with the survival slasher suspense of Hush, while reaching a thoroughly entertaining happy medium. Sean Byrne toes the line between gore and comedy while th...

Film Focus Online • 17th April 2025

'Another Simple Favour' Review: Another Scandalous Success - Film Focus Online

A Simple Favour was never a film that screamed ‘sequel’, especially seven years on from its initial release. However, a rise to Netflix fame during the COVID years has eventually led Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) back to our screens – and we are all the better for it. True crime dressed in scandalous twists and iconic pantsuits; A Simple Favour thrived in its seriously unserious take on the genre. Another Simple Favour is somehow even more electrifying than its predeces...

Film Focus Online • 12th March 2025

'Opus' Review: John Malkovich is Addictive in Nearly-hit Horror - Film Focus Online

When does Beatlemania blur the sinister lines of Manson Family ethos? At what point are celebrities too protected by the fans? Just how far could a renowned star go before the masses stopped following? Blink Twice meets Get Out as Mark Anthony Green makes his debut as writer, director, and co-producer in Opus, exploring the cult of celebrity in the most sinister of settings. Unfortunately, a delicious John Malkovich performance cannot paper over the cracks of what should have been an addictive b...

Film Focus Online • 20th February 2025

'The Monkey' Review: Bloody Bananas From Osgood Perkins - Film Focus Online

Osgood Perkins is having a bit of a horror moment, following his spine-chilling Longlegs success with a worthy follow-up in The Monkey. The early previews for his second 2025 release – Keeper – also look nightmarish. Developed from Stephen King’s 1980 short story of the same name, The Monkey deviates from the macabre we associate with Perkins and offers something more – well, perky. Taking advantage of cartoonish gore, outlandish deaths, and a rag-tag cast of household names, this is sure to hav...

Film Focus Online • 13th February 2025

'Captain America: Brave New World' Review: Steve Rogers’ Shadow Looms Large - Film Focus Online

With a CV like Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson was always going to struggle to follow in the footsteps of his super serum buddy. Ironically, that weight hangs heavier on the Captain American franchise as a whole. Let us remember – Captain America: Brave New World is the 35th instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sequel to 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk, a continuation of the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and in some ways a follow on from The Eternals. And breathe! That’s a whole...

Film Focus Online • 29th January 2025

'September 5' Review: A Thrilling True Story, Told Expertly - Film Focus Online

In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, 11 members of the Israeli team were taken hostage by terrorists. Black September – the group behind the attack – had one demand, the release of 236 Palestinian prisoners. Failure to comply would result in the death of one hostage per hour. With no news team on the ground in Munich, ABC’s sports journalists took centre stage in one of the defining media moments of the 20th century. September 5 is a retelling of those events, told from the perspective of the crew b...

Film Focus Online • 21st January 2025

'Presence' Review: A Dream For Low-Budget Horror Fans - Film Focus Online

The haunted house genre is among the most congested within the wide world of horror. We all know the trope – family moves into an old Victorian house, a demon takes hold, death and destruction ensues, yadda yadda yadda. Fortunately, Steven Soderbergh has finally shaken things up with his renowned Swiss army knife talents by bringing us a supernatural thriller shot entirely from the point of view of the ‘presence.’ To make matters even more mouth-watering, he teamed up with his old screenwriter p...

Film Focus Online • 17th January 2025

'Wolf Man' Review: Werewolf Horror That Lacks the Bite - Film Focus Online

Reboots are so often worse than the originals that inspire them, and unfortunately, Wolf Man will not be added to the collection of exceptions that prove the rule. Leigh Whannell remains one of the horror-writing greats with the likes of Saw, Insidious, and The Invisible Man on his resume. Saw shocked the horror world, Insidious had us hiding behind sofas, and The Invisible Man was a master in hidden tension – unfortunately, Wolf Man does not compete for either crown. What we are left with is a...

Film Focus Online • 8th January 2025

'A Real Pain' Review: Jesse Eisenberg Genius, Kieran Culkin Masterful - Film Focus Online

Every so often, an actor comes along who was simply born to play a role. Kieran Culkin as Benji is just about as seamless as an actor can hope to slip into the uncomfortable shoes of a complex character – and Jesse Eisenberg deserves the credit for picking him out from the crowd, quite literally. Culkin revealed in the press tour for A Real Pain that Eisenberg not only cast him without an audition, but without having seen him in anything…ever. The writer-director apparently offered Culkin the ro...

Film Focus Online • 28th December 2024

'Better Man' Review: Robbie Williams Biopic is the Surprise of 2024 - Film Focus Online

Let’s be honest, we’re all getting musical biopic fatigue, aren’t we? There have been some fantastic and nostalgic dips down memory lane in the last five years, from the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody to the downright bonkers Weird Al film. But at what point do we say, ‘enough is enough’? I would have put good money on it being the CGI monkey-led Robbie Williams biopic, but Better Man may just be the surprise of 2024. Take That!Better Man opens with a typical Robbie-style narration in which the...

Film Focus Online • 17th December 2024

'Mufasa: The Lion King' Review: A Prequel Worthy of Pride Rock - Film Focus Online

Five years after we rather pointlessly revisited the Pride Lands in a photorealistic remake of The Lion King, we are back in Tanzania – but this time the savanna runs rich with personality. Mufasa: The Lion King features roaring character development and an origin story worthy of one of the most beloved worlds in cinema history. Shocking, gut-wrenching, and emotional – but with the sweetest centre. Mufasa is far from a jolly song and dance, it's a raw coming-of-age story played to a catchy beat...

Film Focus Online • 6th December 2024

'Rumours' Review: Cate Blanchett Stars in Political-apocalyptical Comedy - Film Focus Online

Rumours is undoubtedly the strangest film of 2024 – make of that what you will. The political-apocalyptical-comedy boasts a star-studded cast, including Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, and Nikki Amuka-Bird, but all are engulfed by the sheer absurdity of the story itself. Rumours thrives at times for that very reason, but ultimately leaves us with laughs left untapped in our belly.From the minds of Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, Rumours is the story of a fictional G7 summit that beco...

Film Focus Online • 25th November 2024

'Conclave' Review: Deserved Oscar Buzz for Ralph Fiennes - Film Focus Online

A conclave – by definition – is a private meeting, shut off from the outside world. Yet, Edward Berger’s adaptation of the hit Robert Harris novel deserves to be viewed en masse. Just like the 2016 page-turner, Conclave grips you from the opening scene to the rolling of the credits, and the route from A to B undoubtedly uses the road-less-travelled. A mystery thriller with a salacious bow tied on top, Conclave is not afraid to make a real statement or two along the way. It comes as no surprise t...

Film Focus Online • 24th October 2024

'Heretic' Review: Hugh Grant Swaps Charms For Chills in a Devastatingly Wicked Horror Role - Film Focus Online

2024 has already been a hit year for horror fans, with big-screen success stories like Longlegs, The Substance, and Late Night With the Devil. While Heretic doesn’t quite climb to the lofty heights of Osgood Perkins and Coralie Fargeat, Hugh Grant certainly puts himself amongst the Cages and Dastmalchians of the genre. Heretic focuses more on the funeral than four weddings, but it might just be yet another 2024 horror to Love, Actually.When Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chlo...

Film Focus Online • 19th September 2024

'The Substance' Review: Moore and Qualley Are Sensational - Film Focus Online

A younger, more beautiful, more perfect version of yourself. That’s what the organisation behind The Substance offers. ‘It changed my life’ – The promise that comes with the mysterious elixir is certainly accurate, for better or worse. And while The Substance will not change your life as a movie-goer, it certainly leaves a unique impression on your mind, via hydraulic press. Strap yourself in for a flesh-tearing, blood-splattering, spine-splitting ride that can certainly be described as… memorab...

Film Focus Online • 11th September 2024

'Lee' Review: Kate Winslet Give Powerful Portrayal of Lee Miller - Film Focus Online

The story of Lee Miller is simply one that must be told, known, and revered. In fact, the main question that arises from the 2023 biographical drama 'Lee' is, why has it taken so long to get this made? Kate Winslet provides a powerhouse portrayal of the titular character that is dwarfed only by the force of nature that drives the film - Lee Miller herself. For those who are unfamiliar with Miller’s work, 'Lee' is a much-needed education packaged as a very watchable big-screen biopic. But the sto...

Film Focus Online • 21st August 2024

'Blink Twice' Review: 'Get Out' Meets 'Ready or Not' in All the Best Ways - Film Focus Online

Famed for her modelling and acting work, Zoe Kravitz has now jumped behind the camera and delivered a directorial debut to die for with Blink Twice. A babbling brook of suspense that ever-threatens to cascade into something far more violent, Kravitz manages to flow with the psychological thriller current without crashing on the rocks of cliché. With the sinister style of Get Out and the wicked humour of Ready or Not, Blink Twice has seamlessly slipped into the realm of unmissable 2024 cinema. Bl...

Film Focus Online • 8th August 2024

'Borderlands' Review: Sucks the Life Out of a Vibrant and Colourful In-Game World - Film Focus Online

After the immense success of The Witcher, The Last of Us, and most recently Fallout – here comes the latest in a conveyor belt of video game adaptations with rich and popular source material – Borderlands. Only, this particular section of the conveyor belt appears to have been cobbled together using scraps from the planet Pandora itself. Borderlands manages to systematically suck all the guts, gore, and oddball barbarism from the much-loved video game series, leaving behind a broken metal husk t...

Film Focus Online • 8th July 2024

'Longlegs' Review: Nicolas Cage is Skin-Crawling - Film Focus Online

Skin-crawling. Unsettling. Nightmarish. Words used to describe literally dozens of horror films every single year – but all three should have been reserved exclusively for Longlegs. From the mind of Osgood Perkins and the nightmares of all who dare watch, Longlegs has quickly become the unmissable yet unwatchable horror event of 2024. Get your cold sweats at the ready for Nicolas Cage as you’ve never seen him before… and will never want to see him again.Set in the 1990s, Longlegs follows FBI age...