Once upon a time, so my head canon goes, a drunk philosophy fresher told Christopher Nolan that time is a construct and Nolan has never looked back. The majority of his films are characterised by their focus on temporality, drawing on themes of trauma and subjectivity in order to deconstruct…

We have always seen glimpses of Pedro Almodóvar in his films. Most notably in Law of Desire (1987) and Bad Education (2004), he has used stories of filmmakers in a self-reflective way to construct deeply fractured, challenging, and eclectic experiences. …

In a conversation between Fran Kubelik and C.C. Baxter, the two very broken people at the centre of Billy Wilder’s classic comedy drama The Apartment , Fran (Shirley MacClaine) sums up the dichotomy of the world: “Some people take,” she explains to Jack Lemmon’s Baxter, “and some people get took…

Four African American veterans return to Vietnam to hunt for gold and the lost remains of their fallen leader, Stormin’ Norman. From the beginning it is clear that this is no return to glory, but a story of unfinished business. The film jumps through time creating a dichotomy between what…

Has there ever been a film that so greatly influenced and changed the course of a single genre as Psycho ? With one swish of a shower curtain and a chorus of shrieking violins, Alfred Hitchcock’s bold and bloody take on the horror genre sent shockwaves through the film industry…

Towards the end of Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank (2014), Jon ( Domhnall Gleeson) glances at Frank Sidebottom’s band one last time before turning his back for good. They represented his feverish dream of belonging to something extraordinary, but the truth, which had been constantly knocking on his shoulder, could no longer…

There is a common narrative surrounding Orson Welles that he was too ambitious for the studio system of his day; the final edits of his movies were rarely under his control after his first film, and his ability to secure budgets was notoriously insecure. Yet, amongst this chaos, the man…

It doesn’t take a psychologist to realise that now might not be the best time for everyone’s mental health. …

The Assistant It is still dark when Jane (Julia Garner) gets in a taxi outside her modest flat. She dozes when she can on the ride into New York and arrives at an unlit office. Before her colleagues arrive, the lights are switched on and printed schedules placed on desks. …