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Shadows on the Wall

quote unquote You can’t be telling lies,
but a little lore can be
enticing sometimes.

— ELLE FANNING

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28 Years Later:
The Bone Temple

Nia DaCosta's gruesome, involving and strikingly well-made horror sequel


A Private Life


Bustling French mystery thriller with Jodie Foster & Daniel Auteuil


Sound of Falling


Staggeringly skilful German drama traces multiple generations of women


The Rip


Deliberately gritty cop thriller with Matt Damon & Ben Affleck


Dead Man’s Wire


Gus Van Sant's true-life thriller with Dacre Montgomery & Bill Skarsgard


The Voice of Hind Rajab


Harrowing thriller from Palestine uses real-life voice recordings

film news
Shadows SweepstakesAwards Mania!
==========
SHADOWS SWEEPSTAKES
Who should be winning this year's prizes.

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GOLDEN GLOBESLONDON CRITICS
ONLINE CRITICSDORIAN AWARDS

Michelle on Pandora
18.JAN
: Yeoh will star in the next two Avatar movies, which Cameron plans to shoot back to back.
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Powell leads the cast of Esmail's 1970s-style sci-fi thriller Tesseract
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Williams joins Chazelle's action
Cage & Long have BEST PANCAKES
Dunaway & Sorvino join PRIMA
Bader is Hamm in THE 99ERS biopic
Underwood & Davis are LISTENERS
Helms, Giddens, Sayles for ODE
Fearn leads O'Connor's RUNNING
Riley adapts dark comedy MR BURNS
MORE >>

Emma gets mean
14.JAN
: Mackey is joining White and Gordon in 10-year class reunion comedy Peaked
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Rourke, Baldwin, Reid, Cannon to National Lampoon's Hollywood Hustle
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Cotillard leads ROMA ELASTICA
Edgar Jones & Starkey in STAN
Locke, Flynn, Dolan join ELSINORE
Dujardin takes a ROLLERCOASTER
Bode boards romantic thriller SNARE
DePalma has SWEET REVENGE
MORE >>

Gal chases treasure
11.JAN
: Gadot will produce and star in The Recovery Agent, based on adventure thriller book series
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Arnett replaces Harbour alongside Pascal in cello drama Behemoth!
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Hahn is TANGLED's Mother Gothel
Krieps & Lutz for EMMA DOUCET
Thornton, Greenblatt in SOMEDAYS
Richards & Howell lead ARTICHOKE
Dekker & Gorske are CLASHING
Knoxville & co back for JACKASS 5
MORE >>

box office

coming soon

23 Jan:
H IS FOR HAWK
THE HISTORY OF SOUND
HEAVYWEIGHT
NO OTHER CHOICE
===================
30 Jan:
IS THIS THING ON?
ISLANDS
HAMLET
PRIMATE
WORLDBREAKER
NOUVELLE VAGUE
THE LOVE THAT REMAINS
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6 Feb:
PILLION
TWINLESS
THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER
JIMPA
SCARLET
MY FATHER'S SHADOW
ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU
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13 Feb:
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
STITCH HEAD
THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP
LITTLE AMELIE
BROKEN BIRD
PALESTINE 36
THE PRESIDENT'S CAKE
MORE >>


Recently published reviews:
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE
THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER
PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION
A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY
DEMON SLAYER: INFINITY CASTLE
M3GAN 2.0
NONNAS
ORWELL: 2+2=5
SOUND OF FALLING
REBUILDING
THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR

stage & more

Rich’s Best & Worst of 2025

THE 45th SHADOWS AWARDS
More lists than you can count...


Tale as old as time

STAGE
Charing Cross Theatre's adult panto Beauty and the Beast until 11 Jan...


Let it all hang out

STAGE
Cheeky song and dance in Boys in the Buff, Golden Goose until 10th Jan...


November TV Roundup

SCREEN Boots, Only Murders 5, Chad Powers, Peacemaker 2, MobLand, Morning Show 4, Alien: Earth, more...


The boss’ new groove

DANCE
ZooNation's dazzling hip-hop Ebony Scrooge, Sadler's East until 4 Jan...


A Victorian night out

STAGE
The Great Christmas Feast, an immersive dinner & show until 4 Jan...


Make the yuletide gay

STAGE
The Fit Prince is hilarious holiday anarchy, at King's Head until 3 Jan...


Step back in time

STAGE
RVT panto Growled is a riotous spin on Beauty and the Beast, until 3rd Jan...


We need a little Christmas

STAGE
Brick Lane Music Hall's dinner-theatre The Magic of Christmas until 19 Dec...


Deep under the skin

DANCE
Ballet Black's darkly invlving double bill Shadows at Sadler's Wells...


Connection is the answer

DANCE
NDT & Complicite's staggering Figures in Extinction at Sadler's Wells...


Reminder from mother earth

DANCE
Akram Khan and Manal AlDowayan's elemental Thikra at Sadler's Wells...


That’s the way I like it

STAGE
KC & Sunshine Band musical rocks Charing Cross Theatre until 15 Nov...

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SEP TV: Chief of War, Wednesday...
STAGE: Ghost Stories at Peacock
Shadows @ London Film Fest
DANCE: Theatre of Dreams, Sadler's
DANCE: Bogota at Sadler's East
DANCE: Quadrophenia, Sadler's Wells
MORE >>

now showing

People We Meet on Vacation


Silly romantic comedy has a surprisingly engaging depth to it


The Chronology of Water


Kristen Stewart's directing debut is a darkly swirling memoir


Primate


Unhinged but not very scary rabid chimp slasher horror mayhem


The Housemaid


Twisty, insinuating thriller with Sydney Sweeney & Amanda Seyfried


The Plague


A menacing vibe permeates this tale of peer pressure at water polo camp


SpongeBob: Search for
SquarePants

Another riotously ridiculous adventure for the animated pals


Avatar: Fire and Ash


The third epic episode is seriously impressive but feels repetitive


Ella McCay


Smart, uneven comedy-drama with Emma Mackey & Jamie Lee Curtis


Preparation for the Next
Life

Timely, observant NYC drama with Fred Hechinger & Sebiye Behtiyar


Eleanor the Great


Witty, sharply observant drama starring the great June Squibb


A Few Feet Away


Bold and introspective Argentine drama with rising star Max Suen


Oh. What. Fun.


Michelle Pfeiffer leads this silly but charming Christmas comedy


Magazine Dreams


Darkly moving bodybuilding drama starring a muscly Jonathan Majors


Little Trouble Girls


Slovenian coming-of-age drama explores some provocative issues

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SANDBAG DAM
ZOOTOPIA 2
CHRISTY
BLUE MOON
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE
THE CARPENTER'S SON
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE
THE ICE TOWER
SAUNA
THE RUNNING MAN
NUREMBERG
PARK AVENUE
BULL RUN
VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH
GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE
EDEN & CHARLIE
RELAY
SHELBY OAKS
MORE >>

recommended

Hamnet


Viscerally charged romantic drama with Jesse Buckley & Paul Mescal


Song Sung Blue


Engaging, emotional true story with Hugh Jackman & Kate Hudson


Marty Supreme


Timothee Chalamet is excellent in a busy, fast epic ping-pong biopic


Peter Hujar’s Day


Ben Whishaw & Rebecca Hall are excellent as chatty 1970s artists


Sentimental Value


Gorgeous Norwegian father-daughter drama has a clever filmmaking kick


The Choral


Alan Bennet's script makes British period drama rousing and engaging


Father Mother Sister
Brother

Venice-winning sibling drama triptych with a powerhouse ensemble cast


The Testament of Ann Lee


Fiercely original Shakers-founder biopic with Amanda Seyfried


Is This Thing On?


Strikingly original true-life romcom with Will Arnett & Laura Dern


Goodbye June


Engaging British comedy-drama with Andrea Riseborough & Kate Winslet


Cover-Up


Fascinating documentary about legendary journalist Seymour Hersh


Lurker


Archie Madekwe & Theodore Pellerin are excellent in this chilling drama


The President’s Cake


A young girl's adventure in Iraq is fascinating and warmly involving

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SCARLET
BABY
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
LA GRAZIA
ETERNITY
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
A PRIVATE LIFE
FOLKTALES
WAKE UP DEAD MAN
HAMNET
PILLION
THE SECRET AGENT
RENTAL FAMILY
THE THING WITH FEATHERS
CACTUS PEARS
MORE >>

R E V I E W S   |   N E W S   |   F E S T I V A L   |   A W A R D S   |   Q & A   |   A B O U T   |   T A L K B A C K

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF,
COOK & BOTTLE-WASHER
Rich Cline

MEMBER / VOTER
London Critics' Circle
Golden Globes
Galeca
Fipresci
Online Film Critics Society

FIND US AT
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--------------------

Rich Cline also covers film for
BBC Radio, Movies1 and others
. . . and he's available for work.



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