british films – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WASTEMAN – Review by Nadine Whitney

April 21, 2026April 23, 2026 Nadine Whitney Alex Hassell, british films, Cal McMau, Cole Martin, David Jonsson, Tom Blyth, Wasteman

Cal McMau’s debut feature Wasteman feels like the oxygen is being sucked out of your lungs as it presses the claustrophobic hell of an English prison on to the audience via the beaten down protagonist Taylor (David Jonsson). Incarcerated for thirteen years, Taylor has stayed out of trouble by shrinking himself. His hunched shoulders and heavy-lidded eyes communicate that he wants to be ignored in the overcrowded prison by both other inmates and the screws. Stepping out of line has violent consequences as the opening scene viscerally demonstrates. Shot on someone’s cell phone is an assault where the section’s drug dealers mercilessly beat a prisoner who stole from him. Paul (Alex Hassell) picks up a television and smashes it on the thief’s head. No one tries to stop what is happening, and from the response of the guards, no one really can.

Reviews

BIRD – Review by Diane Carson

November 30, 2024December 4, 2024 Diane Carson andrea arnold, Barry Keoghan, Bird, British, british films, Franz Rogowski, Gravesend, Nykiya Adams, robbie ryan

British writer/director Andrea Arnold has focused her best films on impoverished, hard-scrabble lives in England’s county Kent where she grew up. In her latest film Bird, set in Gravesend, Northeastern Kent, she leavens the struggles of twelve-year-old Bailey with a welcome infusion of fanciful, magical realism in the figure of title character Bird.

Festivals Reviews

TIMESTALKER (Melbourne IFF 2024) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

August 20, 2024August 19, 2024 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Alice Lowe, Aneurin Barnard, british films, Jacob Anderson, Melbourne IFF 2024, Nick Frost, Tanya Reynolds, Timestalker

Returning with her highly anticipated follow-up to 2016’s Prevenge, Alice Lowe’s sophomore effort Timestalker proves to be well worth the wait. Consolidating her position as surely one of the most original and hardworking British indie filmmakers of her generation, what Lowe lacks in hype she makes up in pure fucking moxie. And while the pregnancy horror of Prevenge provided a rich space for her as both actor, writer and director to learn ropes of genre filmmaking, the scifi/fantasy anti-romcom terrain of Timestalker sees her veritably flourish in all three capacities.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 16, 2023: PRETTY RED DRESS

June 11, 2023June 11, 2023 Jennifer Merin Alexandra Burke, betsy bozdech, british films, Cate Marquis, Dionne Edwards, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, Natey Jones, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, pretty red dress, sandie angulo chen, Temilola Olatunbosun

Yes, a beautiful, sexy red sequined dress is at the heart of writer-director Dionne Edwards’ South London-set feature debut. But Pretty Red Dress is about much more than an item of clothing, no matter how fabulous it is. It’s the story of a man learning to embrace himself for who he truly is, a woman learning what “unconditional love” really means, and a family learning how to support each other in positive ways.

Reviews

PRETTY RED DRESS – Review by Loren King

June 7, 2023June 11, 2023 Loren King Alexandra Burke, british films, Dionne Edwards, motw, Movie of the Week, pretty red dress, Temilola Olatunbosun

This original, perceptive debut feature from writer-director Dionne Edwards is about many things: music, sexuality, gender presentation, Dads and daughters and, yes, the titular garment. Natey Jones, in a stunner of a performance, is Travis, a young man freshly released from jail for what seems a minor offense and reunited in working-class London with wife Candice (Alexandra Burke) and their tween daughter Kenisha (Temilola Olatunbosun). Travis is secretly a cross-dresser, and to the credit of the film and to Jones, this is treated neither as a joke nor as a heavy-handed lesson.

Interviews

Sadie Frost on QUANT and Culture – Nadine Whitney interviews

May 17, 2023May 19, 2023 Nadine Whitney Alexander Plunkett-Greene, british films, documentaries, fast fashion, Mary Quant, Sadie Frost

Sadie Frost is a renaissance woman. From her early years working as a model and actor to running her own fashion house and production companies, there are few hats Frost hasn’t worn. Sadie Frost started her career as a child actor and model. Her notable cinema roles as an actor have been as Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and a role in Paul W. S. Anderson’s debut feature Shopping. In the 90s she established the first of two production companies she would run. One was responsible for the release of David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ, amongst other features. With Quant, Sadie emerges as a director with a distinct visual voice using her knowledge of fashion and youth culture to investigate the impact of swinging sixties icon Mary Quant. Nadine Whitney spoke with Sadie about what inspired her to move to the other side of the camera.

Reviews

QUANT – Review by Nadine Whitney

May 17, 2023May 17, 2023 Nadine Whitney Alexander Plunkett-Greene, british films, documentaries, fast fashion, Mary Quant, Sadie Frost

Sadie Frost, actor, producer, fashion designer, and now director is the perfect person to handle Mary Quant’s story. By the time she was filming Quant, Mary was in her nineties and unavailable for interviews. To tell Mary’s fascinating story she relies on archival footage, artistic reinterpretations (starring Camilla Rutherford as Quant), and a fascinating selection of interviewees that include musician Dave Davies (The Kinks), legendary fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, and people who worked with and knew Quant personally.

Festivals Reviews

RYE LANE (Sundance FF 2023) – Review by Leslie Combemale

February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 Leslie Combemale british films, David Jonsson, Peckham, Raine Allen-Miller, rom com, Rye Lane, Searchlight Pictures, Sundance FF 2023, Vivian Oparah

Searchlight Pictures is missing a great opportunity by waiting until March to release Brit rom-com Rye Lane. This film is perfect viewing for Valentine’s Day, and sadly those in search of a charming romance to watch on the 14th will not even know what they’re missing. First-time feature director Raine Allen-Miller centers Black love in this color-drenched, Peckham-centric charmer that makes the South London neighborhood as much a lead character as the two who fall for each other on its streets. There’s so much fun and joy to be had in Rye Lane, it makes me grateful not EVERYONE has kicked the rom-com genre to the curb.

Reviews

HURT BY PARADISE – Review by April Neale

March 26, 2021March 28, 2021 April Neale british films, Greta Bellamacina, hurt by paradise, Isabella Bruno, Sadie Brown

Star, writer and director Greta Bellamacina has made a lengthy, pretty film, Hurt By Paradise, that accomplishes two things. It will make the well traveled viewer miss London terribly, especially the glorious spring and summer months. It also reminds the viewer how important it is to have a close female friend at the ready, one who is always there for you.

Reviews

ETERNAL BEAUTY – Review by Sarah Ward

October 10, 2020October 11, 2020 Sarah Ward 0 Comments british films, craig roberts, david thewlis, eternal beauty, sally hawkins

Sally Hawkins is one of the finest and most compelling talents currently gracing our screens. And, as demonstrated in Maudie and now Eternal Beauty as well, she’s one of the most quietly, touchingly expressive performers that audiences presently have the pleasure of watching — especially when it comes to characters who aren’t being afforded a voice, a path or their own sense of agency by the world around them.

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