Articles by Phil Hoad

Troll 2 review – mythical Scandi-kaiju runs amok in mayhem-filled mockbuster

An enraged behemoth breaks free from a government black site bent on revenge, but there is not much here aside from some monster action

2 hours ago

Entertainment

Tatsuya Nakadai obituary

One of the greatest actors of Japanese cinema best known for Ran, the 1985 film adaptation of King Lear

6 days ago

Entertainment

Game review – Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson poaches a role in sceptical take on 90s rave culture

Williamson stars in a debut feature that feels more like an elongated music video than a fully realised drama, but it’s redeemed by some hilarious moments and strident imagery

Nov 17, 2025

Entertainment

Tony Foster: Painting at the Edge review – going deep in the quest for extreme landscape painting

At 79, the British artist is still skirting real peril, questing across the planet to depict the unspoiled vastnesses shown to grand effect here

Nov 10, 2025

World

The Lost Boys of Mercury review – heartbreaking film on the enduring wounds of church-school abuse

Clémence Davigo’s uncompromising film gives voice to three survivors of a French correctional school, and the difficult path towards healing

Nov 4, 2025

World

3 Cold Dishes review – Burna Boy produces deftly directed revenge tales with echoes of Kill Bill

Asurf Oluseyi’s thriller threads a trio of stories together with Tarantinoesque swagger but choppy storytelling

Nov 3, 2025

World

Winter in Sokcho review – atmospheric slow-burner about family and intimacy in South Korean border city

Koya Kamura’s debut film is about shared identities at the centre of quiet, chilly drama as an enigmatic French writer visits the eponymous town

Nov 3, 2025

Blue Has No Borders review – hunt for British identity in British seaside town maps the national psyche

Director Jessi Gutch shadows seven Folkestonians from a Syrian refugee, to a drag artist and a Brexiter

Oct 27, 2025

The Last Sacrifice review – how a gruesome rural murder embedded folk-horror in the British psyche

Rupert Russell’s fascinating documentary is a sophisticated analysis of how real life and fiction merged in post-empire Britain in the 1960s and 70s

Oct 23, 2025

Diablo review – Scott Adkins enters Cormac McCarthy territory in over-the-border revenge thriller

Its deranged antagonist might be an Anton Chigurh rip-off, but some fantastically flailing fight scenes almost lift this otherwise humdrum action romp

Oct 21, 2025

Sunlight review – monkey-suited woman goes on road trip in Nina Conti’s super-quirky directing debut

There are plenty of laughs and a fair bit of trauma to process when a depressed man takes a monkey woman across country

Oct 14, 2025

Souleymane’s Story review – superb performance ballasts drama of man clinging on in the margins in Paris

Abou Sangaré is magnificent in a story that shines light on the enforced invisibility of economic migrants

Oct 13, 2025

London Calling review – Tarantino-esque caper in which a hitman takes a kid on work experience

A washed-up killer-for-hire is charged with making callow gamer Jeremy Ray Taylor into a killer like his dad, but much of the humour fails to land

Oct 6, 2025

Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird review – Mars Volta bromance looks for time out

Exhaustive documentary tracking the sweet fraternity between Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala goes a little sour

Oct 6, 2025