Features and reviews
Discover the latest from the BFI, the UK’s lead organisation for film, television and the moving image.
Encounter takes unexpected turns on an apocalyptic sci-fi road trip
Michael Pearce’s cerebral sci-fi thriller doesn’t always deliver, but its undercurrents of paranoia, conspiracy theories and governmental subterfuge are fully embodied in a compelling lead performance from Riz Ahmed.
By Carmen Gray
Hellbound challenges ideas about faith and free will in six harrowing episodes
By Trevor Johnston
House of Gucci is a tragi-comic triumph of operatic proportions
By Rebecca Harrison
Anne at 13,000 ft follows a troubled protagonist in free fall
By Elena Lazic
Pirates is a debut feature from Reggie Yates that revels in 90s nostalgia
By Alex Ramon
Natural Light is a film begrimed with the collective guilt of moral cowardice
By Pamela Hutchinson
tick, tick… BOOM! proves a moving tribute to composer Jonathan Larson
By Leila Latif
The Power of the Dog draws out the instability of the American West’s handed-down myths
By Nicolas Rapold
Cry Macho shows an ambivalence towards traditional masculinity
By Jonathan Rosenbaum
No Sudden Move is a sharp, gritty crime thriller from Steven Soderbergh
By Leigh Singer
Eternals is the strangest Marvel film to date
By Guy Lodge
The Card Counter is a triumph for Oscar Isaac
By Jonathan Romney
Bantú Mama looks at the African diaspora through a contemporary lens
By Chrystel Oloukoï
Last Night in Soho explores the toxic side of nostalgia
By John Bleasdale
Cryptozoo tells a simple tale of good versus evil through an animated world of mythical creatures
By Thomas Flew
Munich: The Edge of War is a taut adaptation of Robert Harris’s espionage page-turner
By Euan Harris
Dune succeeds by avoiding excessive fidelity to the original novel
By Philip Kemp
Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle reboots Beauty and the Beast for the internet age
By Callie Petch
The Crossing uses striking animation techniques but its story struggles to pick up momentum
By Alex Dudok de Wit
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon puts a new spin on the terrifying girl-with-the-long-black-hair type
By Alexandria Slater
Venom: Let There Be Carnage serves up a strangely affecting superhero sequel
By Kim Newman
Flee is an astonishing animated portrait of a young refugee
By Alex Davidson
Il Buco takes viewers on a meditative dive through the caves of Calabria
By Ben Nicholson
Curse of The Chippendales explores the gender dynamics of stripping in the 1980s
By Rebecca Harrison
Our Men: a refined and quietly impressive military drama
By Nicole Davis
Boiling Point captures a chef’s night from hell filmed in one continuous shot
By Philip Concannon
Succession returns for a third season with another spectacular Roy family feud
By Caspar Salmon
The Harder They Fall: a brilliantly over the top revenge tale
By Leila Latif
Squid Game is a winning addition to the burgeoning dystopia subgenre
By Anne Billson