Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

While The Sparrow lacks the depth of recent Irish dramas that have interrogated the soul of their nation (The Quiet Girl; Lakelands; That They May Face the Rising Sun), it's a worthwhile addition to this growing canon of films that attempt to get to the concealed heart of Ireland. Review

What makes The Conversation so gripping is how it readily pauses its thriller plot to allow us to spend time with Harry outside of his work. Review

For all its flaws, Kinds of Kindness is a reminder of why so many actors want to work with Lanthimos, as he offers the chance to inhabit the sort of bizarre roles that just aren't common in English language cinema today. Review

A Quiet Place: Day One benefits greatly from a pair of interesting and relatable protagonists, played engagingly by two fine actors, but it's let down by its lacklustre set-pieces. Review

What makes Rose so compelling is its ability to mine humour from the most fraught situations. Inger is very funny, but the movie is always laughing with her rather than at her. Review

This is a movie for old souls, for those of us who like nothing more than to plonk down on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon and watch what your dad would have referred to as "a good cowboy movie."... Review

As window dressing goes however, it's always visually appealing, as Nichols does a fine job of capturing the era without ever resorting to shortcut signifiers like news reports of Nam or race riots on background TVs. Review

For a significant portion of the film we're left watching a couple of characters bob up and down in the water as we wait for the shark to reappear, and it drags considerably in parts. Review

Gilford's photography background is evident in the gorgeous shots of fabulous people set against an even more fabulous SouthWest landscape, but you might come away wishing he had opted for a documentary exploration of this unique world. Review

There are moments of pathos that genuinely pay respectful tribute to the Blitz spirit. But to get to such moments you have to endure a lot of bad comedy and a whole lot of footage of buildings being hosed down. Review

Birthistle raises questions about how society deals with people like Kathleen, but she's wise enough to understand any answers can't be provided by a filmmaker alone. Review

It's difficult to describe the distinctively weird vibe created by the mixing of a capable if workmanlike cast and crew with a director whose bizarre vision they simply can't translate. Review

Of all the tributes filmmaking children have crafted for their parents, this is one of the more unusual, but the questions it raises regarding Miller's motivations in bringing this story to the screen only make it all the more fascinating. Review

With Sisterhood we're watching two films trip over one another. One is a drama about an Arab kid being told they're French while never feeling like that's really the case; the other an examination of how class, religion and culture shapes how young girls view their place in society. Both have so much potential that it's a shame El Hourch can't make them work in tandem. Review

The journey to that no doubt divisive ending is always engaging, if often unbearable in its unflinching look at how narcissism can make even the most good looking people seem ugly. Review

If Arcadian were a TV pilot it would be a perfectly serviceable set-up for a world to explore over several episodes. But as a movie it just doesn't get into the meat of its story quickly enough. Review

While Afsim ensures we like these people, he doesn't sugarcoat how they react to their victimisation. Review

For anyone who has had to bite their tongue or clench their fist for the sake of keeping a job they can't afford to lose, Ana is a protagonist to get behind. Not all heroes wear capes; some wear aprons. Review

That Hart manages to meld elements of social realism, black comedy and psychological thriller into such a satisfying concoction is a remarkable feat for such a first-timer. His script is cleverly constructed and filled with so many satisfying pay-offs that it could be taught in screenwriting classes as an example of low budget storytelling. Review

The film's strengths come from Bechir's performance, which ranges from avuncular and cuddly to disturbed and threatening, and the moody setting of its misty, wind beaten island. The latter gives Beacon a visual edge over most movies that employ this premise as it allows the drama to open up to the outdoor elements. Review

It's very slickly made and has the polished urgency of a prestige TV show. It may rely on a series of melodramatic contrivances, but Andersen displays a command of this sort of tabloid filmmaking, keeping things moving at a pace that prevents us from thinking too much in the moment about the cheap manipulation of it all. Review

It's a horror movie about the day you wake up to your first grey hair, when you realise that occasional pain in your lower back isn't going away with time after all. It's a body-horror in the truest sense of the term. Review

Writer/director Sonja Prosenc has fashioned a social satire that is superficially effective in getting its not so novel ideas across, but Family Therapy is ironically as soulless as the elitists at its centre. Review

Lena and Ilya are easy to get behind, unless your're a fascist that is, but the film is only interested in what they represent rather than who they are. Review