Author: Peter Gray

As evident in fellow AU critic Harris Dang’s TIFF review of Shadow in the Cloud, this film’s connection to disgraced screenwriter Max Landis is understandably a hot-button subject.  Whilst I won’t go into the necessary detail, I’m certainly not making light of the allegations brought towards him, but given the fact that co-writer/director Roseanne Liang…

With an often bright, candy coated aesthetic that masks a darker, more poisonous taste inside, Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell‘s bold debut, is the type of delicious indulgence that will ultimately make your stomach churn. Headlined by a career-best Carey Mulligan (her performance sure to be a consistent contender come award season), Promising Young Woman…

Joe Klocek may not be a household name yet, but after his starring role in The Dry it’s likely Australia’s latest star has been born.  In the lead up to the film’s anticipated release, our own Peter Gray zoomed with the rising actor to discuss his comfortable casting process, the collaborative mood on set, and…

As The Dry prepares for a new year’s release, our own Peter Gray was fortunate enough to chat with the film’s director, Robert Connolly.  Excited to finally have his film seen across Australian cinemas, Connolly discussed if he felt any pressure in adapting such an acclaimed novel, how instrumental he was in casting, and what…

Suitably gripping from the opening images of the bloody aftermath of a supposed murder-suicide – made all the more unsettling to the sounds of an infant crying – Robert Connolly‘s The Dry, an adaption of Jane Harper’s best-selling novel, is a tension-laced thriller that stays true to its source material. The murder-suicide that initially garners…

A far more meaningful film now given the climate of the world at hand, Soul is a deeply-felt, oft-hilarious, more experimental effort from Pixar that serves as a lovely ode to both life and death.  Whilst it absolutely deserves the cinema treatment it’s unfortunately being denied – the film will stream from December 25th on…

Given that it’s been 7 years since the first Croods movie was released, the original target audience are all likely scattered across primary and high school now.  But displaying the sense that it honestly doesn’t care about this statistic, The Croods: A New Age delights all the same, and very much presents itself as its…

And you thought the art of cinema was dead? Reading Cinemas Australia have announced it will open Australia’s most advanced cinema complex to date at the newly redeveloped DFO complex in Jindalee, Brisbane, just in time for Boxing Day. Reading’s new complex will be the company’s first in Queensland to feature full reclining seats in…

You’d be forgiven for assuming I’m Your Woman is going to be a ferocious, revenge-driven thriller going off the simple, yet striking poster art that accompanies.  Rachel Brosnahan, decked in a long trench coat, a baby on one arm, clutching a gun with the opposing hand.  It’s a hell of an image – provocative, even…

Biding her time between newly found talk-show host duties and headlining the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet (a show gone too soon) has kept Drew Barrymore busy enough that it’s been 5 years since we saw her in a feature film.  And though The Stand In gives the delightful star plenty of meat to chew…

Thanks to Roadshow we have ten double passes to give away to the upcoming release of the Australian thriller The Dry, starring Eric Bana, based on the best-selling novel by Jane Harper, in Australian cinemas from January 1st, New Year’s Day 2021. When Federal Agent Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken home town after an absence…

On the eve of the national release of the new Australian drama The Furnace, our own Peter Gray chatted with one of its stars, rising New Zealand actor Jay Ryan, about the trying filming conditions, learning new facts about Australian history, and how a horror movie changed his career. First off, congratulations on the film. …

A unique focal point weaved into a standard narrative, Roderick MacKay‘s The Furnace manages to compel thanks to a dedication to its historical and religious roots.  Tracing steps of Australian history that have seldom been explored before, MacKay tracks a tumultuous period with a somewhat modern sensibility. Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek leads the film as…

After his standout turn opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in 2014’s disturbing neo-noir thriller Nightcrawler, Riz Ahmed seemed destined for greatness on the big screen.  And thankfully, after years of slumming it in supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters that have all wavered in their quality (Jason Bourne, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Venom), he’s finally been…

Frank Marshall is one of the film industry’s most prolific producers.  Having founded Amblin Entertainment in 1981 with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, he has been at the forefront of blockbuster studio making for the past four decades; Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and The Bourne Identity just some of the franchises he’s contributed…

The musician documentary is one that can easily be an exhausting experience.  Any form of relative success and cultural impact often results in a film being made about whichever artist, and the ones worthy of the subject’s talent are few and far between.  This is what makes The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a…

Originally scheduled for release in 2017 (what a simpler time that was), The War with Grandpa is finally seeing the light of day – in the middle of a global pandemic, no less.  Whether it be a case of Tenet-like confidence, knowing self-sabotage, or a strategic move to claim its monetary underperformance is solely on…

Fresh from its triumphant world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Roderick MacKay‘s acclaimed debut feature The Furnace will have its Australian premiere during the Lotterywest film season in the lead up to the Perth Festival (5th – 28th February, 2021). Starring Australian screen legend David Wenham, rising star Jay Ryan (It: Chapter Two), and…

To coincide with the US release of the hotly anticipated sequel The Croods: A New Age (set for a North American date of November 25th), our own Peter Gray caught up with the film’s director, Joel Crawford, to discuss the coup of reuniting the original cast and furthering the emotional aspect of the original story….

Despite Kevin Costner and Diane Lane perfecting the kindly rural American in Man of Steel, in no way should they be confused with the kindly rural Americans they embody in Let Him Go.  Superman’s parents they are not in Thomas Bezucha‘s slow-burn thriller, a 1960’s set, western-slanted revenge piece that takes a little longer than…

With the landscape of cinema seemingly forever changed, thanks to a certain pandemic, streaming services have become the new go-to for major studios to offload certain staple titles in a parallel act opposing the alternative of simply delaying the release. The latest title to find a new home outside of the theatre is Coming 2…

Likely to appeal to the Nicholas Sparks crowd, All My Life is a particularly sweet (almost too much so for its own good) true story-inspired tearjerker that, in many ways, gets away with being so cookie cutter because – as we are informed in the opening monologue – we only remember the most beautiful and tragic…

Most films that play with infinite time loops as their narrative hook inevitably find themselves compared to 1993’s much-loved Groundhog Day.  And though such films since then have broken the mould as much as they can regarding the premise on hand – the Tom Cruise actioner Edge of Tomorrow and the horror/comedy Happy Death Day…

Coming off of such aggressive roles in features as Dragged Across Concrete and Brawl In Cell Block 99, the thought of Vince Vaughn flailing his arms and strutting with the poise of a flustered teenage girl is one that’s all the more appealing when you view it in its actuality.  And it’s the hulking 6’5…

Christopher Landon‘s self-described “batshit crazy” body-swap horror movie Freaky is getting ready to be unleashed in Australian cinemas this week, and to coincide with its impending release The AU Review’s Peter Gray was fortunate enough to chat with the film’s lead actress, Kathryn Newton.  After the Big Little Lies alum noted that making scary movies…

Australian playwright Andrew Bovell‘s award-winning theatre production Things I Know To Be True has been acquired by Amazon Studios and Nicole Kidman‘s production banner Blossom Films. Set to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video across 240 countries and territories worldwide, Kidman will topline the series set around the the resilience of an enduring marriage and…

Written and directed by an openly gay man and fronted by a quartet of women – one of whom a woman of colour – 1996’s supernatural teen horror film The Craft was, in retrospect, ahead of its time.  2 years before witchcraft would become weekly viewing on the television series Charmed, and over a decade…

On the eve of the release of The Craft: Legacy, writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones spoke to Peter Gray regarding the distinct feminine energy brought to the narrative, how inclusivity was an important factor, and the authenticity adhered to in her portrayal of witchcraft. When I first heard about The Craft: Legacy I assumed it was a…

Despite being a reimagined take on the 2015 Icelandic drama of the same name, Rams feels distinctly Australian.  The brotherly rivalry between its lead characters – symbolised by their opposing sheep flocks – offset by the wonderfully captured Western Australian backdrop gives Jeremy Sims‘ occasionally amusing drama a homegrown identity, despite the fact that it’s…

With the imminent release of Rams set for Australian audiences, director Jeremy Sims has been discussing the film and what brought him to reinterpret the original Icelandic drama.  Our own Peter Gray chatted with Sims, learning of his approach to directing, how he has found the film’s reception so far, and why he had to…