All articles by John Bleasdale

Spencer is a portrait of a royal on the verge of a nervous breakdown

Locarno round-up: the best of the 2021 festival

The Legionnaire examines racial tensions amongst Roman riot police

Mad God writhes through an underworld drenched in bodily fluids

Titane is a full-throttle masterpiece of road-rage, violence and queerness

Three Floors is a Roman apartment block story not worth writing home about

Compartment No. 6 forces a chalk-and-cheese couple into a cramped train carriage

Benedetta is transfigured by ecstacy both religious and sexual

Sound of Metal follows Riz Ahmed away from the noise

Ted K visits the Unabomber’s neck of the woods

Ninjababy pits a reluctant mother-to-be against her sweary unborn offspring

Riders of Justice shows Mads Mikkelsen wreaking paternal vengeange

“We did a real séance on Zoom”: Rob Savage on video call horror Host

Never Gonna Snow Again follows a magical mystery masseur in the land of the bourgeoisie

Pinocchio review: Matteo Garrone carves a classic tale into something new

Waiting for the Barbarians review: a vital portrait of an empire in decline

The Perfect Candidate review: a political fable fuelled by optimism

Echo review: a mosaic of an Icelandic Christmas

The Traitor first look: Marco Bellocchio’s murky tale of a mafia informant

Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo first look: a downer on the dance floor

Red 11 first look: Robert Rodriguez goes lo with a tongue-in-cheek instructional horror

What should have won the 2019 Cannes Palme d’Or?

The Orphanage first look: Quodrat comes of age in late Soviet-era Afghanistan

The Unknown Saint first look: a lean, timeless desert caper

Peterloo first look: Mike Leigh’s cudgel for a massacre

First Man first look: an elegant, intimate epic about the Moon landing

Yara first look: a celebration of innocence and young love

Suburban Birds first look: Qiu Sheng’s debut feature forges magical links between generations