Author: Peter Gray

Director Hariharasidhen Nagarajan and writer Anghus Houvouras couldn’t accept “the new normal” of shootings in the United States.  Such mass attacks as the Parkland High School shooting and the Pulse Nightclub incident were part of a grim reality that the two weren’t willing to become accustomed to. They thought of not only the victims whose…

Given that Stealing Pulp Fiction very much wears its Tarantino affection openly, you’d be forgiven for expecting director Danny Turkiewicz to have the same kind of flair as the very filmmaker he’s adoring.  No, Turkiewicz isn’t replicating that same QT magic, but it would be a heavy ask to expect so, and on its own…

TIFF is sharing the first five Special Presentation titles of its Official Selection set to have their World Premieres at the Festival’s 50th edition this September. Alejandro Amenábar’s The Captive, Steven Soderbergh’s The Christophers, Sung-hyun Byun’s Good News, Nia DaCosta’s Hedda, and Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks serve as the first round of announced titles. …

M3GAN 2.0 is hyping up its central battle of A.I. killbots as “This Bitch versus That Bitch.” But which bitch is which? The anticipated sequel brings back the the murderous doll who captivated pop culture in 2023, and this time around M3GAN has to contend with AMELIA, a military-grade weapon and the ultimate killer infiltration…

Whilst the original M3GAN was sold as a horror film, its camp sensibilities ultimately shone through, turning its titular killer “doll” from a slayer to an outright slay.  It had tense set-pieces and a terrifying mentality, but it found its personality sat more comfortably in the space of a meditation on A.I. and technology through…

Based on the story of the Mitford sisters, Outrageous follows six sisters who refuse to play by the rules and whose often-scandalous lives made headlines around the world. Set in the 1930s, it is a tale of betrayal, scandal, heartache and even imprisonment. Following the show’s release on BritBox in North America and UKTV’s U and…

In 2022, when cinemas were still largely recovering from the pandemic and blockbuster viewing wasn’t guaranteed, director Joseph Kosinski (and Tom Cruise) revitalized such a brand with Top Gun: Maverick.  It was undeniably thrilling popcorn entertainment that, with its heart, humour, action and dramatic stakes, checked all the boxes for each major demographic, ultimately resulting…

Following their chat earlier in the year when the M3GAN 2.0 trailer was released, Peter Gray and director Gerard Johnstone are speaking once again as the sequel to the acclaimed science fiction horror film M3GAN constructs itself for release. As the killer doll faces a new threat – a military robot called AMELIA (autonomous military…

The murderous doll who captivated pop culture in 2023 is back. And this time she’s not alone. The original creative team behind that phenomenon – led by horror titans James Wan for Atomic Monster, Jason Blum for Blumhouse and writer-director Gerard Johnstone – reboot an all-new wild chapter in A.I. mayhem with M3GAN 2.0. Two…

In The Edge, the dramatic feature film from debut filmmaker Jane Larkin (a former Australian representative sprinter), three young women (Larkin, Japanese paralympic swimmer Mei Ichinose and First Nations powerlifter Lily Riley) navigate life, love, education, and controversy while deeply embedded in the world of elite sport. The film is an honest and gritty portrayal…

As evident by its title, 28 years Later takes up such a time period from the virus that first unleashed itself across Danny Boyle‘s 2002 post-apocalyptic horror effort 28 Days Later.  That film centered around the days that followed the actions of a group of animal rights activists who infiltrated a laboratory in Cambridge, where…

A cohesive storyline or if it makes you cry? Sometimes the personal success of a Pixar movie doesn’t always rely on the former, with many taking the latter as enough of a justification for its existence.  In such a case, Elio may be enough of a charming win for family audiences who could find themselves…

Whilst there’s a certain unevenness to how writer/director Emily Abt presents her story in Thirsty, there’s no denying it manages to maintain a sense of interest as it navigates the world of politics, domesticity, and the woman trying to perfect both. That woman is Audrey (Jamie Neumann), a sharp, some may say ruthless, defense attorney…

In the immortal words of Jennifer Love Hewitt, “What are you waiting for?” Well, it’s not the latest trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer, as the Jennifer Kaytin Robinson-directed slasher legacy sequel dropped its brand new visuals ahead of the film’s release this July. Hewitt and fellow series subsister Freddie Prinze Jr….

Delighting in the type of self-centred behaviour that more of us are guilty of than not, the character at the core of The Travel Companion, Alex Mallis and Travis Wood’s debut feature, sprouts lyrical to anyone who’ll listen (or tolerate) about his forthcoming directorial feature – an experimental, hybrid docu-fiction-travelogue about the cultural bridges and…

The age-old question around if a tree falling in the forest makes a sound is asked in quite a compelling, pressure-cooker type of way in A Tree Fell in the Woods, Nora Kirkpatrick‘s debut dramedy about the implosion of relationships between two couples across a New Year’s Eve getaway in the snowy forests of Utah….

“Are you here for the boat or the tooth?” And with that sentence, writer/director Olivia Accardo welcomes us into the bizarre reality of Baby Tooth, a wild five minute short film screening as part of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival; it’s set to play before the feature The Trainer, as well as being included in…

Whilst Everything’s Going to Be Great starts out a bit more eccentric and comedically minded than how it ends, the performances at the core of Jon S. Baird‘s dramedy, and the sense that it celebrates art and those that have always felt a little different in doing so, keeps it continually moving at an enjoyable…

One of the great things about documentaries such as The Rose: Come Back to Me is that it both provides further insight into a rock outfit for the legions of fans, as well as introducing uninitiated viewers into a world that proves endlessly fascinating.  I am personally of the latter, as going into this film,…

Intentionally testing audience patience across its increasingly bizarre, tension-laced 100 minutes, Lorcan Finnegan‘s Australian thriller The Surfer is more about breaking points than Point Break as it mashes surfing culture localism and toxic masculinity. Thomas Martin‘s script doesn’t give specific names to the majority of its players, instead referring to the film’s protagonist as simply…

If hearing the title I Was Born This Way immediately brings to mind the Lady Gaga song “Born This Way”, the coincidence is intentional.  Gaga, one of the few interviewees featured in Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard‘s beautiful, insightful documentary, talks about how Carl Bean‘s legacy influenced her songwriting, as he did for the likes…

The female matchmaker.  The handsome singleton.  And her familiar ex-boyfriend. The set-up feels ripe for the most standard of romantic comedy practices, and perhaps in the hands of a more traditionally-minded writer/director that’s what we would have received.  But under Celine Song (Past Lives), Materialists defies genre expectation with a meditation on love and its…

Set in the heart of the San Gabriel Valley and based on a harrowing true story, Rosemead is a gripping, emotionally charged portrait of a mother’s love pushed to its limits. Lucy Liu delivers a transformative performance as a terminally ill Chinese immigrant who uncovers her teenage son’s disturbing fixation with mass shootings. As her health deteriorates, she takes…

A self-awareness regarding certain specifications in getting his film made along with a universality in conjunction with its narrative, writer/director Alireza Khatami goes beyond genre conventions with The Things You Kill, a twisted thriller that breaks apart what it is to transform. At one point in the film, the language professor at the centre of…

This interview contains SPOILERS. As a Brisbane boy in the early stages of his career, Liam Greinke is all too aware how lucky he is to be able to share the screen with Jai Courtney in the serial killer-cum-shark attack thriller Dangerous Animals – even if he doesn’t make it to the final frame! Talking…

It’s been a whole decade since Australian genre director Sean Byrne graced the screens with his unique brand of horror with The Devil’s Candy.  But proving the wait has been worth it, he has unleashed a series of Dangerous Animals into theatres with his latest outing – a relentless, edge-of-your-seat survival horror starring Hassie Harrison,…

It feels inevitable that something like Together will earn comparisons to last year’s The Substance, purely off the fact that the horror it indulges in – that would be the body variety – escalates considerably leading into its wild climax.  Sure, The Substance being a great example of body horror is all well and good,…

The feeling that your childhood ride-or-die will remain so is something that many of us – if not all – have experienced.  But whether it’s through distance or altering priorities, it’s a common practice that adulthood (and everything that comes with growing up) can wedge itself between even the strongest of connections, and it’s that…

Whilst it’s predominantly the House of Mouse that have been transforming their animated back catalogue into live-action features that have all varied in their quality output, DreamWorks have entered the chat with one of their most ambitious updates in How to Train Your Dragon.  Hoping they can avoid a lot of the soulless critiques that…

A film that embraces a more eclectic hobby over ridiculing its eccentricities, Horsegirls is a sweet natured drama that speaks to the importance of independence and inclusivity. Written and directed by Lauren Meyering, Horsegirls embraces the defiance of its lead character, Margarita (so beautifully embodied by Lillian Carrier), and how her perceived fragility gives way…