Articles by Ella Kemp

04 Oct 2022

10 Must-See Films at BFI London Film Festival 2022

As the latest edition of the festival returns to the capital, Ella Kemp highlights some of this year's most essential features

11 Aug 2022

Nope review – Jordan Peele does it again with electrifying, original sci-fi

Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are on tremendous form in a bold grappling with art that sets a new precedent for the blockbuster

13 May 2022

Everything Everywhere All at Once review – a beautiful cacophony about the power of maximalist love

Filmmaking duo Daniels are back with another silly yet profoundly emotional tale of companionship and kindness above all else

02 Mar 2022

The Batman review – mostly compelling Robert Pattinson reboot plays it safe

Matt Reeves' very serious take on Gotham's iconic hero grips in the moment, but is neither fun or dark enough to fully define itself

21 Oct 2021

Dear Evan Hansen review – bad timing damages the power of a complex hit

Ben Platt’s age isn’t the only thing that stops a poignant but misguided Broadway adaptation from reaching its potential

31 Aug 2021

Annette review – a maddening and kaleidoscopic love affair

Leos Carax and Sparks' ambitious musical meditation on love and art is as beguiling as it is frustrating, as rich as it is empty

09 Aug 2021

Vivo review – derivative musical stirs Lin-Manuel Miranda fatigue

The prolific Hamilton star lends his voice and songwriting talent to a singing kinkajou in a well-intentioned but familiar animation

01 Jul 2021

Freaky review – deceptively astute body-swap horror

Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton give it their all in a wildly fun genre subversion that’s more social than physical

21 Jun 2021

Luca review – Pixar’s familiar story of acceptance still sparkles

Two Italian boys find themselves over a summer where anything is possible in a well-trodden but charming coming-of-ager

04 Jun 2021

20 Unmissable Films Still to Come in 2021, Ranked by How Excited You Should Be

Beatles! Broadway! Beautiful boys! With seven months of the year still to go, Ella Kemp weighs up the biggest UK cinema releases...

26 May 2021

Cruella review – wickedly entertaining Disney revamp

Emma Stone shines in director Craig Gillespie’s bold and flashy origin story of the infamous 101 Dalmatians villain

25 May 2021

A Quiet Place Part II review – stressful sequel looks good and sounds immense

John Krasinski's horror-thriller follow-up offers more of the same, but proves a tremendous showcase for actor Millicent Simmonds

17 May 2021

The Woman in the Window review – so bad it’s not even funny

Amy Adams gives a completely misguided lead performance in a tone deaf adaptation from Joe Wright that gets everything wrong

13 Apr 2021

Promising Young Woman review – an electric exploration of grief

Carey Mulligan is devastating in Emerald Fennell’s disorienting story of love, violence, and pain that refuses to give easy answers

31 Mar 2021

Every Walt Disney Animation Studios Film, Ranked

With Raya and the Last Dragon now on Disney+, Ella Kemp tackles the entire animated canon. To quote a very famous mouse: Oh, boy!

12 Mar 2021

Why I Changed My Mind About… Frances Ha

Kicking off a new series about the films our writers have reconsidered, Ella Kemp on going from Frances Na to Frances Ya

04 Mar 2021

Tina review – vibrant and moving portrait of a resilient artist

Tina Turner gets the final word in Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s elegant documentary revisiting the events of her tumultuous life

03 Mar 2021

Language Lessons review – tender comedy of platonic love and trauma

Natalie Morales impresses with a wise, devastating directorial debut about an unexpected digital friendship, co-starring Mark Duplass

19 Feb 2021

Every Wes Anderson Film, Ranked

To mark Bottle Rocket's 25th anniversary, Ella Kemp delves into the filmmaker's symmetrical canon and sorts the good from the grand

16 Feb 2021

Mass review – a powerful and harrowing study of grief

Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton are phenomenal in director Fran Kranz's debut drama about the aftermath of a school shooting

15 Feb 2021

On the Count of Three review – ludicrous, high stakes buddy comedy

Christopher Abbott gives a career-best turn in a fearless caper about two friends who agree to kill each other after one wild last day

12 Feb 2021

CODA review – joyous love letter to the Deaf community

A teenage girl dreams of being a singer while maintaining close ties with her Deaf parents in this wondrous coming-of-ager

09 Feb 2021

Passing review – elegant portrait of yearning femininity

Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are friends torn between two worlds in Rebecca Hall's directorial debut, set in 1920s Harlem

05 Feb 2021

Together Together review – smart and earnest ode to platonic love

Ed Helms and Patti Harrison are a perfect non-couple in writer-director Nikole Beckwith’s sweet comedy-drama about a surrogacy

29 Jan 2021

Seven Days of Streaming: The Piercing Empathy of Carey Mulligan

With The Dig now available on Netflix, here's how to curate your own Carey Mulligan season at home in seven key films

22 Jan 2021

Malcolm & Marie review – suffocating, obnoxious relationship drama

Despite the presence of Zendaya and John David Washington, director Sam Levinson can't make this couple's dispute ring true

30 Dec 2020

Soul review – Pixar’s latest is sophisticated, stirring and a little bumpy

The acclaimed animation studio reach for the stars with a jazz-inspired existentialist adventure, but don’t quite stick the landing

21 Dec 2020

Every Pixar Film, Ranked

With their latest, Luca, now on Disney+, Ella Kemp braves the entire Pixar canon and sorts the misfires from the masterpieces...

15 Dec 2020

Wonder Woman 1984 review – a soaring epic that celebrates love above all else

Patty Jenkins stakes her claim as the most ambitious and earnest of blockbuster filmmakers with this hopeful, retro-inclined sequel

10 Dec 2020

Cocoon review – stylish and thoughtful German coming-of-ager

Filmmaker Leonie Krippendorff helms this sun-kissed portrait of a teenage girl's sexual awakening with a refreshingly light touch

09 Dec 2020

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom review – a firecracker swansong for Chadwick Boseman

This Netflix adaptation casts Viola Davis as a bonafide jazz legend, but the spotlight shines brightest on the late Black Panther star

02 Dec 2020

County Lines review – dour but vital glimpse at teen drug trafficking

Henry Blake’s directorial debut is a relentlessly bleak affair, though it offers a powerful lead performance from newcomer Conrad Khan

02 Dec 2020

Host review – Zoom-based horror is surprisingly sharp and scary

Rob Savage capitalises on the nightmare of lockdown for a yarn that’s timely but never tacky - and refreshingly lean at 57 minutes

30 Nov 2020

Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions – Taylor Swift concert doc is an existential balm

The singer-songwriter makes another step towards reclaiming her full image with an intimate performance of album folklore

17 Nov 2020

Spree review – derivative but compelling Joe Keery star vehicle

Eugene Kotlyarenko’s timely, cautionary tale about social media's lethal potential is highly watchable but treads familiar ground

13 Nov 2020

My Favourite Cinema in London: The Prince Charles Cinema

With a second lockdown underway, our writers pay tribute to their favourite independent cinemas in the capital. This time: Ella Kemp on Leicester Square's beloved, two-screen institution

11 Nov 2020

Mank review – beautiful and damning relic of Hollywood’s greedy ambition

David Fincher’s portrait of disputed Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz is a probing look beyond all that glitters

23 Oct 2020

Pixie review – silly but joyous Irish spaghetti western

Olivia Cooke shines as the enigmatic title character in this bonkers genre subversion, co-starring Alec Baldwin as a drug-dealing priest

19 Oct 2020

Ammonite review – chilly and robust study of emotional labour

Writer-director Francis Lee reinvents the period romance with a cautious two-hander that emphasises struggle over sensuality

16 Oct 2020

Blackpink: Light Up the Sky review – K-pop doc is spirited but safe

K-pop megastars Blackpink - arguably the biggest girlband in the world - share a look at their meteoric rise in this empathetic profile

08 Oct 2020

Saint Maud review – sensual horror from a terrifying new talent

First-time writer-director Rose Glass comes in blazing with her debut feature, a staggering supernatural thriller with a poetic core

08 Oct 2020

Shirley review – a bewildering biopic written in blood

Josephine Decker turns her talents to the biopic for this thrillingly psychosexual portrait of horror writer Shirley Jackson

06 Oct 2020

Kajillionaire review – Miranda July finds lightning in the everyday

Part heist movie, part comedy, part love story, the writer-director's latest is a magical, unpredictable family drama like nothing else

06 Oct 2020

Every Sofia Coppola Film, Ranked

The Bling Ring or The Beguiled? With On the Rocks now in cinemas, Ella Kemp sorts through the filmmaker's sumptuous canon so far...

29 Sep 2020

Billy Elliot at 20: Still Feels Like Electricity

Stephen Daldry's low-budget drama was an unexpected box office smash, earning Oscar nominations and even spawning a musical. Two decades later, Ella Kemp looks back on the British classic

28 Sep 2020

Time review – two decades of love intercut by an unjust America

This deeply moving documentary maps the failings of the prison-industrial complex through one woman’s journey to reunite with her husband

25 Sep 2020

Lovers Rock review – this is what pleasure feels like

Steve McQueen captures the pure euphoria of the house party with this haptic, sensual portrait of one night in 80s Ladbroke Grove

23 Sep 2020

Shadow in the Cloud review – downright revolutionary feminist actioner

This thrilling and empowering debut from Roseanne Liang finally understands how women can - and should - lead the action genre

21 Sep 2020

Tesla review – playful but puzzling biopic

Ethan Hawke stars as the eccentric scientist in a biopic that refuses to play by the rules but sometimes gets lost in its own design

18 Sep 2020

Summer of 85 review – a poor man’s Call Me by Your Name

This oddly arranged film from French auteur François Ozon feels like a missed opportunity, failing to find either romance or thrills

17 Sep 2020

Shiva Baby review – an instant teen comedy-horror classic

Emma Seligman’s debut relishes the embarrassment and neuroses of a Jewish funeral in this glorious pressure-cooker comedy

16 Sep 2020

Pieces of a Woman review – a devastating, all-encompassing melodrama

Vanessa Kirby delivers a career-best performance in Kornél Mundruczó's portrait of a woman processing the loss of her baby

12 Sep 2020

Cuties review – provocative and fiery coming-of-ager is a revelation

Maïmouna Doucouré’s dazzling debut has come under attack for its challenging content – but that’s what makes it such a triumph

04 Sep 2020

In Five Films: Charlie Kaufman

With I'm Thinking of Ending Things now on Netflix, Ella Kemp looks back at the films that have come to define the writer-director's extraordinary body of work

03 Sep 2020

I’m Thinking of Ending Things review – Charlie Kaufman crafts his most devastating puzzle yet

With his latest, endlessly rewatchable effort, the Eternal Sunshine scribe has designed a film perfectly suited to the Netflix format

28 Aug 2020

Every Christopher Nolan Film, Ranked

With Tenet finally in cinemas, Ella Kemp considers its place within the filmmaker's epic canon and sorts the misfires from the masterpieces...

03 Aug 2020

Seven Days of Streaming: The Dangerous Paradoxes of Kristen Stewart

From the awkward adolescence of Adventureland to the psychic strange of Personal Shopper, here's how to curate your own Kristen Stewart season at home in seven key films

28 Jul 2020

Summerland review – Gemma Arterton shines in a pleasant but airy period piece

Gemma Arterton is brilliant as a writer wrestling with her own past in an otherwise underwhelming and all too familiar WWII drama

24 Jul 2020

Saint Frances review – unflinching and wildly charming portrait of womanhood

Writer and star Kelly O’Sullivan demystifies the salient experiences of modern femininity at all ages in one of the year's best indies

24 Jul 2020

Parasite: Black-and-White Version review – a sophisticated twist on a modern masterpiece

Bong Joon-ho’s Best Picture winner might already be perfect, but a new monochrome version only serves to make it all the more striking

09 Jul 2020

Spaceship Earth review – a beguiling experiment is curiously dramatised

The true story of science project Biosphere 2 is brought to life in a doc that listens to its subjects but keeps a frustrating distance

26 Jun 2020

Every Song in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Ranked From Worst to Best

Netflix's new comedy boasts a number of original songs inspired by a world of music. Ella Kemp sorts the bad from the bangers...

25 Jun 2020

Athlete A review – devastating sports doc serves as an urgent warning

Netflix's straightforward but vital film explores the decades-long abuse of young women by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar

25 Jun 2020

The Girl with a Bracelet review – sharp, slightly frustrating courtroom drama

Stéphane Demoustier’s compelling whydunnit showcases a knockout central performance but lacks a jaw-dropping payoff

24 Jun 2020

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga review – note-perfect ode to the uncool

An Icelandic pop duo get a shot at musical glory in the year's most unexpectedly joyful film - a return to form for star Will Ferrell

19 Jun 2020

Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen review – enlightening and essential doc

Sam Feder's eye-opening film explores Hollywood's humiliating and reductive representation of trans people since the early days of cinema

09 Jun 2020

The King of Staten Island review – Judd Apatow strikes gold with an unlikely subject

A Pete Davidson biopic might not be the most obvious choice, but this portrait of arrested development is complex and rich with detail

08 Jun 2020

Days of the Bagnold Summer review – sweet, simple story of mismatched family

Earl Cave impresses as a Metallica-loving teen stuck with his librarian mum for a long summer in Simon Bird’s directorial debut

02 Jun 2020

20 Short Films for Short Attention Spans

With concentration proving difficult and motivation waning, Ella Kemp suggests some short films to break those lockdown blues

19 May 2020

Stream Holidays: Eight Great Films About Trips to Greece

From the infectious hedonism of Zorba the Greek to the liberating frolics of Shirley Valentine, here's our guide for the armchair traveller

29 Apr 2020

Stream Holidays: Six Great Films About Trips to France

From the salty shenanigans of Monsieur Hulot's Holiday to the ambling romance of Before Sunset, here's our guide for the armchair traveller

22 Apr 2020

Seven Days of Streaming: The Beguiling Versatility of Elle Fanning

From the hazy melancholy of Somewhere to the bright colours of Teen Spirit, here's how to curate your own Elle Fanning season at home in seven key films

09 Apr 2020

Who You Think I Am review – digital romance is radical and relevant

This sensitive thriller stars Juliette Binoche as a 50-something woman who reboots her love life by posing as a 24-year-old online

09 Apr 2020

Seven Days of Streaming: The Polite Charm of George MacKay

From the nostalgic Peter Pan to the subversive Ophelia, here’s how to curate your own George MacKay season at home in seven key films...

05 Apr 2020

Elephant review – Meghan Markle narrates sugary-sweet Disney doc

The Duchess of Sussex provides the voiceover for this educational Disney+ feature about an elephant trek in the Kalahari Desert

01 Apr 2020

My Favourite Film Ending: Little Women

In the first of a new series, our writers sing the praises of their favourite film endings. This week, Ella Kemp celebrates the subversive climax of Greta Gerwig's Little Women

27 Mar 2020

Lady and the Tramp review – charming and harmless update of a classic

Charlie Bean’s live-action remake might not be revolutionary, but there’s enough music and romance to make it shine

26 Mar 2020

System Crasher review – firecracker portrait of unstable youth

Child actor Helena Zengel is a revelation in Nora Fingscheidt's spiky debut drama about one girl lost in Germany's foster care system

25 Mar 2020

Vivarium review – promising but incomplete domestic dystopia

A couple’s happy house hunting turns into a nightmarish trap in Lorcan Finnegan’s pristine distortion of the housing crisis