Author: Peter Gray

Whether we like them (or follow them) or not, influencers – sorry, “content creators” – are a cultural mainstay in our society that often extends beyond the environment of social media.  In Australian horror effort Sissy, co-writers/directors Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes seem all too aware of the faux importance influencers place upon themselves, a…

The rich eat, but then suffer mercilessly in Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness, a wicked, at-times horrifically and humorously gross, satire that takes aim at the wealthy in a manner that is deliciously void of any subtlety. Divided into three chapters – all linked by a young, glamorous couple – the film promises one observation…

Whilst Resurrection never deviates from its grim examination of motherhood, Andrew Semans‘ gripping, ultimately bonkers thriller refuses to stay on the course you expect it to. Portraying very much the type of Rebecca Hall-encapsulated character that Rebecca Hall effortlessly portrays, the actress here, strong-willed and properly presented, is Margaret, a pharmaceutical company representative who offsets…

The type of filmmaker who’s able to create stories so bombastically silly that they are somewhat brilliant, Quentin Dupieux once again expresses straight-faced frivolity in Incredible But True, a tightly-paced (a lean 74 minutes) twilight-zoned comedy that, somehow, is one of his more level-headed features in spite of its ludicrous plot. Said ludicrous plot revolves around Alain (Alain…

An agonising drama if ever there was one, Mass details the type of conversation that instantly makes you feel sickeningly uncomfortable.  And then to watch it unfold in a suffocating location for 110 minutes is a test of endurance that audiences may be unprepared for. The tragedy at the centre of the conversation is one…

Turning the lens on himself to explore his own childhood in both a nostalgic and informative manner to almost act as a type of assessment on how he came to be where he is today, James Gray‘s Armageddon Time is a reflective, personal drama that immediately announces its almost hostile personality through its title alone….

Following their debut show earlier this year, award winning Meanjin performance collective T!TS AKIMBO are back with a brand new beast – SEX FEST 2022. This one day festival is happening across eight hours, in seven different rooms, with fifty femme and non-binary artists and experts giving you the sex talk you wish you had. Presented as…

After wowing audiences at South By Southwest earlier in the year, before spreading some serious joy in her homeland, writer/actress Krew Boylan got all dolled up for her, appropriately enough, Dolly Parton-inspired comedy Seriously Red, a film about taking chances, following your dreams, and channelling your inner Dolly. As Krew and her co-star Daniel Webber…

Though he certainly didn’t lose any of his sense of comfort by travelling across the Atlantic for his last film – 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – there’s a sense of grandeur in writer/director Martin McDonagh returning to his homeland for The Banshees of Inisherin, an impossibly funny and, at times, heartbreakingly bleak dramedy…

As The Woman King continues to dazzle Australian audiences, Peter Gray spoke with director Gina Prince-Bythewood and cast members Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atin and John Boyega  ahead of its premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. Following on from his chat with Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu, Peter discussed working together on location, the importance…

The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, the film follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Viola Davis) as she…

Black is beautiful, and never has it felt more apt a saying than when viewing Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s stunning historical actioner The Woman King. Inspired by true events, The Woman King centres itself around an all-female unit of warriors known as Agojie, who protected the African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries; the…

Going into a film like Terrifier 2, audiences can’t help but be versed in the news surrounding the film that has largely focused on just how spectacularly gory this thing is and the fact that such splatter has caused American cinemagoers, who have pushed the micro-budgeted horror film to rope in over 5 times its…

An “exercise in kindness and couture”, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (read our review here) is the cinematic warm embrace we need in this age of blockbusters.  The enchanting tale of a seemingly ordinary British housekeeper whose dream to own a couture Christian Dior gown takes her on an extraordinary adventure to Paris, the film…

It doesn’t seem to matter what time of year it is, there’s always room for a movie like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris to warm our hearts and prove simple, undemanding counter programming to the usual loud blockbusters, or, in 2022’s case, creepy horror films, that are often occupying the multiplexes. An exercise in kindness…

Based on an incredible true story centred in the world of hospitals and health care, about how one woman’s growing suspicion of her co-worker led to America’s most prolific serial killer being brought to justice after 16 years of quietly killing patients across the US, The Good Nurse is a chilling true crime story that…

There’s something incredibly refreshing about The Good Nurse in that its true-crime temperament isn’t marred by overt manipulation – as so many of such adapted tales can be. Jessica Chastain (as typically great and committed as expected) is Amy, the titular good nurse, a single mother who is hiding her own ailment as she dedicates…

Presenting a jam-packed program of over 50 of the best new Jewish-themed films from all across the world, the 2022 Jewish International Film Festival presents a blockbuster line-up of must-see headliners, literary deep-dives, extraordinary true stories and laugh-out-loud comedies.  And, to celebrate, we have 4 digital* double passes (Admit 2) and 2 physical passes to…

Taking his confronting, wise-cracking comedy from the street to the screen, Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street) is shattering the glass ceiling on queer comedy with the first major studio production to champion an all LGBTQ cast in Bros. As the romantic comedy sets its local release (Universal Pictures will release the film on October…

The first major studio production to feature an all LGBTQIA+ cast, Bros is a smart, swoony and heartfelt comedy about how hard it is to find another tolerable human being to go through life with.  A collaboration between the ferocious comic mind of writer/star Billy Eichner and director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Bad…

Despite being directed and produced by straight men – Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids), respectively – Bros still very much has a queer beating heart, thanks to lead actor and writer Billy Eichner‘s distinctive voice and perspective being laced over the film’s personality; It’s 2022 and the queer stereotype needs to…

Who would’ve thought that organ playing could be so sexually intoxicating? Such is the allure of the instrument or, more correctly, the repairing of, that runs through the veins of Gabriele Fabbro‘s debut feature, The Grand Bolero, a relationship drama that shifts its power dynamic from one of status to sexual in nature over the…

Thanks to Arcadia we have 10 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the new Australian horror that takes a killer stab at the influencer generation – Sissy, in Australian cinemas from November 3rd, 2022. Cecilia (Sissy) and Emma were tween-age BFFs who were going to grow old together and never let anything come between…

It’s the horror movie so gory that audiences in the US have reportedly fainted and vomited at countless sessions.  Now, it’s Australia’s turn! A surprise box office success and sequel to 2016’s breakthrough cult horror hit Terrifier, Terrifer 2 continues the demented reign of Art the Clown, here resurrected by a sinister entity and returning…

Thanks to Universal Pictures we have 5 double in-season passes (Admit 2) to see the new bromantic comedy Bros, the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy. From the ferocious comic mind of Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street,) and the…

Given his imposing stature, it makes sense that all the 196 centimetres of chiselled muscle that make up Dwayne Johnson would be put to good use within the superhero genre.  But just why has it taken so long for the artist formerly billed as The Rock to don a skin-tight suit and get to saving…

Having breathed new life into the legendary Rocky franchise as the son of Sylvester Stallone’s long-time rival, Adonis Creed, Michael B. Jordan drove the Creed films to critical and commercial acclaim. Now, five years on from 2018’s $200 million success Creed II, Jordan is both stepping back in and out of the ring, putting on…

“Power born from rage” may be the tagline selling Black Adam, but the film’s vision was born from the creative and collaborative minds of producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia. Long-time partners with Black Adam himself, Dwayne Johnson, Flynn and Garcia spoke at the global press conference for the anticipated action film – which our…

The world needed a hero… It got Black Adam! A passion project for Dwayne Johnson over a decade in the making, Black Adam is the first-ever feature film to explore the DC Universe anti-hero – an ancient God freed from his tomb of 5,000 years ready to unleash his power on an unsuspecting modern world….

When looking at the treatment of indigenous populations the world over, it would be safe to say that any “crime” they have committed is simply existing.  Largely white populations, who have so often taken away the rights and lands that they inhabited originally, hope that apologies and acknowledgements are enough to reconcile their behaviour, but…