Articles by Tom Barnard

23 Jul 2023

Oppenheimer review – relentlessly gripping and gargantuan account about the weight of genius

Christopher Nolan's epic take on the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" is a compulsive culmination of the director's career so far

21 Jul 2023

My Name is Alfred Hitchcock review – mischievous grappling with a legendary filmography

Mark Cousins takes a stab at the most famous director in history... by bringing him back from the dead to explain his own work

10 Jul 2023

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One review – Tom Cruise delivers yet another exhilarating ode to tangible cinema

Christopher McQuarrie and his star do the impossible, delivering a seventh entry that reaffirms exactly what makes the franchise great

23 Jun 2023

The Wicker Man review – still the definitive experience in folk horror

Robin Hardy's iconic nightmare is back for its fiftieth anniversary, reaffirming its status as a singular entry in the horror canon

22 Jun 2023

No Hard Feelings review – something’s off with this “raunchy” sex comedy

Jennifer Lawrence returns to the Hollywood mainstream with a movie that both avoids its own premise and tries way too hard

30 May 2023

Killers of the Flower Moon review – Scorsese’s American epic compels but never quite blossoms

This hugely ambitious take on David Grann's non-fiction book is engaging and well-made, but it's lacking the director's usual spark

30 May 2023

The Old Oak review – Ken Loach’s last film is classic Ken Loach, for better or worse

The director's alleged "final" movie is another heavy-handed revolt against modern Britain, but its optimism eventually wins through

29 May 2023

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny review – serviceable sequel is digging in the wrong place

Though it has its moments, James Mangold's bid to recapture the franchise magic mostly feels like an act of imitation over inspiration

27 May 2023

Cobweb review – tangled meta-yarn quickly wears out its welcome

Genre-shifting director Kim Jee-woon comes to Cannes with a misfire about a filmmaker obsessed with reshooting his last movie

25 May 2023

Asteroid City review – style over substance, and drier than a desert

Wes Anderson's latest retro foray is visually inspired, but too many characters and a formal stiffness always keeps us at arm's length

24 May 2023

Club Zero review – weightless wellness satire frustrates and annoys

Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner returns with an undercooked story of a controversial teacher who shakes up a boarding school

22 May 2023

The Zone of Interest review – evil is made matter-of-fact in Jonathan Glazer’s chilling Holocaust drama

The fourth film by the British director is a deeply disturbing and suffocating look at complicity, loosely based on Martin Amis' novel

21 May 2023

The Delinquents review – slow heist flick is equally funny and frustrating

Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno's three-hour almost-thriller about a bank robbery delights and confounds in equal measure

18 May 2023

Jeanne du Barry review – surprisingly tame period drama is tasteful to a fault

Maïwenn directs and stars alongside Johnny Depp in a watchable but unremarkable film about Louis XV's favourite mistress

17 Apr 2023

The Integrity of Joseph Chambers review – troubling black comedy of misplaced masculinity

Director Robert Machoian returns to themes of male insecurity in a slight, intriguing film about a man on an ill-fated solo hunting trip

14 Apr 2023

Suzume review – breathless, operatic animation will shake you to the core

Japanese animator Makoto Shinkai's latest is an urgent, allegorical adventure about his nation's grappling with natural disaster

14 Apr 2023

One Fine Morning review – lovely, subtle drama about both sides of life

Mia Hansen-Løve changes lanes for a deceptively light romance about a woman, played by Léa Seydoux, dealing with love and loss

05 Apr 2023

The Super Mario Bros. Movie review – doesn’t leave mushroom for originality

The second attempt at bringing Nintendo's iconic gaming series to the big screen feels like a first draft with a fatal case of faithfulness

03 Mar 2023

Subject review – surface-level probing of documentary movie ethics

This film admirably explores documentary filmmaking as a form of exploitation, but it can't quite do justice to a fascinating premise

01 Mar 2023

Where God is Not review – eye-opening but difficult Iranian torture doc

Mehran Tamadon asks former political prisoners to restage the conditions of their incarceration in a strange, morally murky film

28 Feb 2023

Limbo review – snail-like outback noir lingers long in the mind

Simon Baker is excellent – and unrecognisable – as a cop assigned to a cold case in director Ivan Sen's stark study of racial trauma

28 Feb 2023

In Water review – Hong Sang-soo reaches a frustrating yet fascinating apex

The Korean director, known for his personal, lo-fi efforts, delivers arguably his most minimalist work to date with mixed results

27 Feb 2023

Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything review – gorgeous but far too simple storytelling

Emily Atef's sexually-charged adaptation of the 2011 novel is atmospheric and watchable, but feels too light and repetitive

24 Feb 2023

Infinity Pool review – killer concept with a flawed execution

Brandon Cronenberg's twisted third feature intrigues and disturbs but can't find anywhere interesting to take its best ideas

21 Feb 2023

Golda review – Helen Mirren chain-smokes her way through a drab biopic

The Oscar-winner dons prosthetics and latex in this hectic and rather bland look at controversial Israeli prime minister Golda Meir

20 Feb 2023

Reality review – Sydney Sweeney powers a paranoid sweatbox of a film

The 2017 interrogation of US whistleblower Reality Winner is rendered as a taut thriller with a revelatory performance at its core

18 Feb 2023

The Adults review – idiosyncratic comedy-drama about the cult of siblingness

Dustin Guy Defa's initially off-putting film eventually blossoms into a genuinely moving study of family in all its weirdness

18 Feb 2023

BlackBerry review – compulsive, funny chronicle of corporate chaos

The rise and fall of the BlackBerry makes for surprisingly gripping viewing in Matt Johnson's distinctly Canadian tragicomedy

17 Feb 2023

She Came to Me review – bizarrely watchable dramedy struggles to find the right note

Rebecca Miller's new film is a strangely engaging but tonally inconsistent ensemble piece about a washed-up New York composer

31 Jan 2023

She is Love review – she is not very interesting

Haley Bennett, Sam Riley and Marisa Abela star in an improvised three-hander that can't sustain our curiosity over its short runtime

13 Jan 2023

The Old Way review – falling off a horse would be more fun

Nicolas Cage gives one of his laziest performances yet in this crudely made and largely joyless western hodgepodge

09 Jan 2023

Empire of Light review – empty ode to the movies fails to project anything meaningful

Sam Mendes' first film as writer-director proves misguided, failing as both a love letter to cinema and as an exploration of societal ills

16 Dec 2022

Avatar: The Way of Water review – a mostly thrilling sequel that doesn’t quite make waves

James Cameron's belated follow-up to his 2009 smash hit excels in its action sequences but is as narratively soggy as the original

07 Nov 2022

Watcher review – slick and unsettling Rear Window redo

Maika Monroe excels as an actress in Bucharest who suspects she's being followed in a gripping but somewhat too familiar thriller

07 Nov 2022

Nil by Mouth review – Gary Oldman’s gritty drama is like Ken Loach on coke

The great actor's sole directorial credit, re-released for its 25th anniversary, offers a bleak, uncompromising vision of 90s Britain

05 Oct 2022

Matilda review – Emma Thompson is miraculous in a vibrant, inventive adaptation

This film version of the acclaimed Roald Dahl show successfully taps into what makes Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly's stage version sing

30 Sep 2022

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris review – Lesley Manville will charm your socks off

The British actor is irresistible as a chirpy housekeeper on a mission to buy a Dior dress, in a film that warms like a nice cup of tea

23 Sep 2022

Avatar review – spectacular visuals undone by a slight and sappy story

James Cameron's epic blockbuster, the highest-grossing movie ever, is back in theatres to drum up anticipation for the sequel

23 Sep 2022

Ticket to Paradise review – rom-com revival is an all-too familiar trip

George Clooney and Julia Roberts thrive as bickering divorcees, but they're let down by a script that can't match their chemistry

09 Sep 2022

The Banshees of Inisherin review – a very melancholy comedy from Martin McDonagh

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson reunite for a sad tale about two men whose soured friendship leads them towards terrible things

08 Sep 2022

Blonde review – Andrew Dominik imagines Marilyn Monroe’s life as a gauntlet of misery

Ana de Armas is well-cast as the Hollywood icon in the Australian director's beautifully made but repetitive and exhausting film

06 Sep 2022

Dead for a Dollar review – Walter Hill’s empty homage to Sergio Leone

Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe co-star in a mostly shoddy western pastiche that lacks craft and compelling characters

06 Sep 2022

The Eternal Daughter review – Tilda Swinton doubles up in an eerie, masterful meta-meditation

Joanna Hogg's self-reflective study of the known and the unknown perfectly blends her sensibility with that of a haunting ghost story

06 Sep 2022

The Whale review – Brendan Fraser elevates Aronofsky’s tender black comedy

The actor does fine work in this adaptation, bringing humanity and humour to the story of an obese man in the throes of grief

06 Sep 2022

Don’t Worry Darling review – Olivia Wilde’s retro mystery is something to fret over

The director's second film, thinly-drawn and repetitive, stars Florence Pugh as a woman trapped in an idyllic 1950s community

02 Sep 2022

A Couple review – portrait of a lady is dire

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman's first foray into non-fiction is a lethargic monologue that outstays its welcome at just 63 minutes

01 Sep 2022

White Noise review – Noah Baumbach’s satire is smart and unsatisfying

The director's adaptation of Don DeLillo's 1985 novel, starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, proves to be a bit of a mixed bag

26 Aug 2022

Beast review – Idris Elba fights a lion to surprisingly thrilling effect

A schlocky premise - what if there was a lion? - makes for unpretentious fun thanks to impressive directing and slick pacing

22 Jul 2022

She Will review – feminist folk horror digs up the traumas of the past

Alice Krige gives a committed performance as an ageing film star bent on revenge in Charlotte Colbert's atmospheric thriller

17 Jul 2022

Persuasion review – awkward Austen adaptation is more pitiful than passionate

Dakota Johnson's ironic quips only help to doom a cringe-inducing retelling of the classic novel, whose biggest crime is that it's boring

23 Jun 2022

Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest review – endearing portrait of video game obsession

This Danish documentary from Mads Hedegaard owes a debt to King of Kong but thrives as an exploration of loveable outsiders

20 Jun 2022

Lightyear review – middling Toy Story spin-off gets lost in space and time

Chris Evans takes over as the iconic Space Ranger in a repetitive Pixar spin-off that can't help but feel like a step backwards

10 Jun 2022

Jurassic World Dominion review – time to let this monstrous franchise go extinct

The sixth and depressingly uninspired entry in the long-running dino series feels like it was directed by a sentient movie studio

10 Jun 2022

Every Jurassic Park Film, Ranked

With the final Jurassic Park movie now in theatres, we look back on the thirty year franchise to crown the king of the dinosaurs...

31 May 2022

Decision to Leave review – a lethargic disappointment from a Korean master

Park Chan-wook spins a frustrating, borderline incomprehensible Hitchcock-like noir about a detective and a mysterious widow

31 May 2022

Elvis review – exhausting and inspired biopic is Baz Luhrmann to the max

Austin Butler and Tom Hanks star in an overwhelming and energetic reimagining of the life of a defining musical legend

29 May 2022

Cannes 2022: Triangle of Sadness Wins the Palme d’Or

Director Ruben Östlund, who already claimed the award in 2017 for The Square, has won the top prize for another outrageous satire

29 May 2022

Between Two Worlds review – watchable but questionable gig economy drama

Juliette Binoche leads a well-acted social realist drama in the Ken Loach vein, but it's hard to get away from its ethical implications

28 May 2022

Close review – adolescent drama feels like a calculated exercise in misery porn

Lukas Dhont's well-acted but overly manipulative second feature opts for empty tragedy over any real exploration of its characters

26 May 2022

The Stars at Noon review – a sweltering love story spoiled by zero chemistry

Revered French filmmaker Claire Denis delivers a baffling and unerotic adaptation starring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn

26 May 2022

Crimes of the Future review – David Cronenberg dissects a future of sex and surgery

The director returns to the realms of body horror with this strange and oddly sexy vision of a world defined by bodily transformation

24 May 2022

Men review – Alex Garland’s folk horror is an anti-masculine misfire

Jessie Buckley stars as a tortured woman plagued by multiple Rory Kinnears in a film that's just too allegorical for its own good

22 May 2022

Triangle of Sadness review – often uproarious but heavy-handed satire

Ruben Östlund's outrageous follow-up to The Square is undeniably entertaining, but its ideas about wealth feel shallow and obvious

22 May 2022

God’s Creatures review – murky Irish drama with apocalyptic undertones

Emily Watson and Paul Mescal are mother and son in this strange, almost-thriller about a lie with terrible consequences

19 May 2022

Top Gun: Maverick review – bravado sequel blows the original out of the sky

This follow-up to the 1986 classic surpasses all expectations, a slickly drawn adrenaline hit that reaffirms Tom Cruise's star status

19 May 2022

Final Cut review – a pointless but entertaining remake of a cult classic

Judged on its own merits, Michel Hazanavicius’ One Cut of the Dead redo is charming and fun – but you're better off with the original

06 May 2022

Every Spider-Man Film, Ranked

With Sam Raimi's original game-changing blockbuster turning 20 this week, we take stock of the web-slinger's filmic ventures so far...

05 May 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review – Sam Raimi helms the weirdest MCU entry yet

This sequel thrives when it lets its director's personality shine through, but excess fan service and low stakes throw it off balance

22 Apr 2022

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent review – fun Nic Cage meta-movie should have been weirder

The divisive actor gives a committed turn as himself, though this film eventually settles for generic action over thoughtful dissection

22 Apr 2022

Ennio review – definitive portrait of a true musical genius

Giuseppe Tornatore helms a loving, exhaustive look at his former collaborator Ennio Morricone, arguably cinema's greatest composer

20 Apr 2022

Playground review – an impressive debut that’s too bleak for its own good

A remarkable lead turn make this bullying drama worth seeing, even as it gets caught awkwardly between social realism and allegory

10 Apr 2022

All the Old Knives review – generic spy thriller bolstered by great chemistry

Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton elevate a by-the-numbers film about two spies who comb through the past over a fateful dinner

31 Mar 2022

Morbius review – 2005 called and it wants its superhero movie back

Jared Leto stars in the least inspired comic book movie in years, a numbingly boring corporate product that is beyond lifeless

25 Mar 2022

Every 2022 Best Picture Nominee, Ranked

Ahead of the 94th Academy Awards, we look back at the Best Picture nominees and ask: which one deserves to take home the big prize?

19 Mar 2022

Windfall review – uneven but entertaining class war ménage à trois

Jesse Plemmons and Lily Collins are held hostage by Jason Segel's hapless thief in this watchable but underwritten comedy-thriller

18 Mar 2022

Europa review – harrowing and immersive look at a refugee on the run

Italian-Iraqi filmmaker Haider Rashid helms a slight but powerful chase thriller that takes its cues from Son of Saul and The Revenant

10 Mar 2022

Zeros and Ones review – Abel Ferrara’s head-scratching lockdown thriller

Ethan Hawke plays a US mercenary on an incomprehensible mission in a murky conspiracy thriller that seems designed to baffle viewers

05 Mar 2022

Every Batman Film, Ranked

To coincide with the release of The Batman, we look back at cinema's decades-long grappling with the Caped Crusader...

03 Mar 2022

The Weekend Away review – trashy Netflix thriller just about gets the job done

Leighton Meester elevates a ridiculous but watchable potboiler about a woman whose friend disappears on a Croatian holiday

18 Feb 2022

Texas Chainsaw Massacre review – stupid but surprisingly fun horror update

There's no reason for this legacy horror to exist, but it's a quick, gory experience that undoubtably entertains in the moment

18 Feb 2022

Froth review – beautiful but scattershot portrait of an alien world

Ilya Povolotsky's atmospheric look at the inhabitants of Russia's Kola peninsula is gorgeously shot but somewhat opaque

13 Feb 2022

Uncharted review – video game adaptation swerves the joy of the series

Ruben Fleischer's take on the beloved game franchise delivers some serviceable action, but it can't get over the miscasting of its leads

12 Feb 2022

Flee review – animated documentary tells a miraculous story of survival

Jonas Poher Rasmussen's Oscar-nominated film tells the life-affirming tale of an Afghan man's long struggle to find a home

20 Jan 2022

Memory Box review – visually inventive nostalgia trip lacks real drama

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige helm an intriguing but featherlight film about a teenager who delves into her mother's past

15 Jan 2022

Scream review – surprisingly smart riff on Hollywood’s reboot addiction

The fifth entry in the long-running meta-horror series takes aim at the "legacy sequel" with this satisfying slasher subversion

07 Jan 2022

The 400 Blows review – François Truffaut’s sad and spirited ode to childhood

The autobiographical 1959 French New Wave classic about a young boy with nowhere to turn has lost none of its poignant charm

06 Jan 2022

Boiling Point review – one-take kitchen drama is a recipe for success

Stephen Graham plays a head chef whose entire life is about to explode across 92 sweat-inducing minutes

24 Dec 2021

The Matrix Resurrections review – an ambitious meditation on the nature of sequels

Lana Wachowski returns with a deliriously self-aware fourth entry in the groundbreaking series that both fascinates and frustrates

15 Dec 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home review – messy multiverse caper is hard to resist

Tom Holland's third solo outing as the web-slinger lacks real narrative purpose but its nostalgic charm just wins through

29 Nov 2021

The Beatles: Get Back review – meandering masterpiece sets the record straight

Peter Jackson's eight-hour documentary about the making of Let It Be is a treasure trove that's all the better for its exhaustive nature

25 Nov 2021

Encanto review – lively Disney animation can’t escape a muddled story

The House of Mouse's 60th animated feature is gorgeous to look at, but it's let down by a confusing narrative and forgettable songs

12 Nov 2021

Naked review – David Thewlis is a tour-de-force in Mike Leigh’s dark classic

The British director's grim and controversial 1993 film follows a monstrous Northerner on a journey through decaying London

07 Nov 2021

Finch review – algorithmic end of the world thriller is hard to resist

Tom Hanks's natural charisma carries this familiar but rather likeable apocalyptic road movie about a man, his dog, and a robot

18 Oct 2021

Venom: Let There Be Carnage review – sloppy sequel just isn’t any fun

Tom Hardy returns as the symbiotic superhero in a disposable follow-up that can't capture the weird appeal of the original

15 Oct 2021

Never Gonna Snow Again review – hypnotic social satire will put a spell on you

Polish director duo Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert helm a supernatural tale about a gifted masseur visiting the rich

08 Oct 2021

Romantic Road review – posh couple adventure makes for a likeable curio

An elderly English couple set out on a 5000-mile-long trip through India and Bangladesh in this watchable little documentary

08 Oct 2021

Azor review – exquisitely controlled thriller of money and moral decay

Andreas Fontana's unsettling, ambiguous drama charts a Swiss banker's journey as he tries to locate his partner in 1980s Argentina

08 Oct 2021

The Storms of Jeremy Thomas review – love letter to a legendary producer

Mark Cousins' affable tribute to the Oscar-winning producer of The Last Emperor is a perfect introduction but lacks deeper insight

03 Oct 2021

Freshman Year review – almost subversive college days rom-com

Cooper Raiff proves he's a filmmaker to watch with this neat debut, but a strange ending undoes so much of what makes it interesting

01 Oct 2021

Every Daniel Craig Bond Film, Ranked

With No Time to Die finally in UK cinemas, we cast an eye back at the entire fifteen-year run of Daniel Craig 007 adventures