willcrabbe

I'm quite enamoured with fiction regarding artificial intelligence at the minute, so I jumped at the opportunity to watch this film about a woman who is paired with a humanoid robot who has been programmed to be her ideal partner.

I thought it was a very astute film full of incisive commentary on intimate human relationships and the imperfect nature of love. There was plenty of clever wit throughout, and the performances of Dan Stevens and Maren Eggert were brilliant (Eggert took home the Best Acting award at the Berlin Film Festival). I thought the script by writer-director Maria Schrader was very well written. There's often the risk with films that tackle themes such as these to come across as pretentious, but it was handled well and came across down to earth while also thought-provoking. The minimalistic and isolated score from Tobias Wagner also served well to complement some of the themes of loneliness explored within.

Overall, I'm Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch) is a very refreshing and unique take on the romantic comedy genre with a lot of hidden depth and thoughtfulness. An excellent addition to Maria Schrader's screenwriting and directing career.

Stillwater is a slow but compelling drama aided by a great lead performance from Matt Damon. The first half was superior in my opinion with the second turning into a sort of lite version of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners. The cinematography was great at times, obviously aided by the beautiful scenery of the South France coast and I also liked the original score, although it faded a bit towards the end. Abigail Breslin's wonky performance was definitely one of the weak links of the film. At times she was good, but at others she was utterly unconvincing and definitely took me out of the film. One of the strongest aspects was the relationship between Damon's character and the young French girl Maya, who was played superbly by Lilou Siauvaud in her film debut.

While not great, Stillwater is still a very solid film that is definitely worth checking out. Just don't go in expecting a tense and high octane thriller rather than a more slow and methodical character study.

What an absolutely wonderful film this was, one of my favourites this year. It has a distinct Wes Anderson feeling to it with the use of static, symmetrical shots and quirky characters and dialogue. However, unlike with Anderson, it isn't overdone, and the more comical aspects are very well balanced with the more serious subject matter and themes. The lead performance from Amir El-Masry was revelatory, and there was excellent support from Vikash Bhai, Ole Arebiyi and Kwabena Ansah.

Witty, poignant, but ultimately hopeful, Limbo is a wonderful film that is essential viewing in the current climate.