Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

Even if it ultimately leads nowhere of note, Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a mystery worth investigating for fans of conspiracy thrillers. Review

Janisse has assembled an impressive roster of talking heads here, and has wisely opted for knowledge over personality. A soundtrack of jangly folk music adds greatly to the mood. Review

Rarely has such an incendiary premise been executed in such polite fashion. Review

It's easy to see why its release was delayed so often, as the movie is as much of a trainwreck as the eponymous Bernadette. Review

It's all very well put together, with Kavanagh and cinematographer Piers McGrail drawing on '80s genre cinema with their neon-tinged colour scheme, and Matichak gets the chance to show her acting chops in a far meatier role than that afforded her as the forgettable heroine of the recent Halloween reboot. But it all feels too familiar. We've seen this sort of thing before, just not played out in such dour fashion. Review

It's a shame that the movie suffers from misfiring comedy and racial tone deafness, as it has the potential to be a genuinely involving thriller. Review

Most of the men of his generation will be dead soon, but Home Front suggests their experiences will leave a lasting impression on their communities. Review

It's a charming piece of superficial story-telling but the complete lack of obstacles to Joanna's progress borders on science fiction. Review

I've never been much of a plot guy, so it didn't bother me that Hancock's script felt so rusty in its various underwhelming twists and turns. Review

With so many issues, most of them oddly self-inflicted, Judas and the Black Messiah works neither as a historical biopic nor a thriller. It doesn’t have the character depth to function as the former, and it fails as the latter because the people involved don’t slot into conventional protagonist and antagonist roles. Review

What saves Love Affairs is the strength of its acting ensemble. Review

Our empathy towards Lena is greatly enhanced by a quietly attention-grabbing performance by Gromova, who really sells Lena's frustrations. Review

Monro has the good sense not to distract us with any overly flashy visuals, but if you're already familiar with Kubrick's work, Kubrick by Kubrick wouldn't lose much impact if you were to simply listen to its audio like a high-end podcast. Review

Chung's film portrays prejudice in daringly nuanced fashion, with a local boy subjecting David to offensive language before immediately befriending him. Review

There's no doubt a more nuanced version of this story to be told at some point in the future, but in the meantime Night Shift makes for a thoughtful and immaculately acted, if a tad conventional, thriller. Review

While her films often mine a vein of oily black humour, Reichardt doesn't exactly make giggle a minute comedies, and while the central concept forces a grin, laughs are all too scarce in First Cow's two hour plus running time. Review

While her storytelling skills may require honing over future features, Lim Jung-eun proves with her debut that she may eventually prove the successor to Hong Sang-soo. Like that Korean master, she appears to possess the ability to create characters so identifiably human that we sense they might continue to exist after the credits have rolled. Review

If evoking a past decade is enough to keep you happy, Vicious Fun will certainly check that box, but its ambitions sadly never rise to anything particularly original. Review

But for all its snark, Limbo is ultimately a hopeful film that refreshingly suggests that communities can live together in harmony once they get over any fears stoked by external forces. Review

If Black Bear is worthy of a watch it's solely for that great opening act, and particularly for the performance of Plaza, cast against type as a very millennial hipster breed of femme fatale. Review

As it stands however, Into the Darkness merely teases us with what feels like crumbs torn from a greater narrative loaf. Review

Aside from possibly introducing us to the next Jennifer Lawrence in May, Run Hide Fight has nothing to offer anyone on either side of this moral and political debate. Review

While her subject may be inflammatory, Lindon renders it as a sort of poetic mundanity, never seeking to shock us. It's a light-hearted movie, shot with a delicate grace, sketches in a schoolgirl's jotter brought to life. Review

What's so strange about American Badger is that for all its failings in terms of script and casting, on a technical level it's quite impressive for its budget. Review