Cinema in the 2020s has been defined by disruption: streaming upended theatrical habits, the pandemic forced a rethink of what a film release even means, and audiences have increasingly embraced subtitled films like How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies alongside big animation and documentary work. Macca's reviews from the decade reflect that breadth. Browse what he's made of it below.
Country United Kingdom
I will be honest that I came to Masc with more than a critic's interest. My own son is autistic, and a film that genuinely inhabits the perspective of an autistic man, rather than observing him from the outside, is a rare and precious thing. Bertil Nilsson'
Rating: 4.0★
Nomadland arrived in late 2020 carrying the particular weight that certain films do when they feel tuned to the precise frequency of their moment. Released during a period when questions about economic precarity, community and what it means to belong somewhere had a fresh, uncomfortable urgency, Chloé Zhao's
Country United Kingdom
If you have ever wished a film would drop you headfirst into the chaos and simply not let up, Bad Day at the Office is built for you. Chee Keong Cheung's first-person action thriller is a lean, frantic, adrenalised ride that wears its influences loudly, and while
Rating: 3.0★
Licorice Pizza arrives with the kind of creative pedigree that tends to generate genuine anticipation rather than mere industry buzz. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it is a loose, sun-drenched coming-of-age story set in the San Fernando Valley during 1973, a film built less around
Country Canada
I will be upfront about this one: Concrete Turned to Sand is a film built on an aesthetic I simply do not connect with, and no amount of good intentions could win me round. It is a slow, austere, deliberately anti-narrative piece of observational cinema, and while I can
Country Romania
Between Revolutions is a genuinely powerful and intelligent piece of work, and one I admired more than I was always able to lose myself in. Vlad Petri's documentary is a quietly ambitious thing: a history of two uprisings, the Iranian revolution against the Shah and the Romanian revolution
Country Luxembourg
Every so often a short film comes along that is so complete, so beautifully judged and so quietly devastating that it puts most features to shame, and I Will Be Alright is one of them. Cyrus Neshvad, Oscar nominated for his short The Red Suitcase, has made something close to
Country United Kingdom
A Tail has a premise so bold and so promising that I spent most of its twelve minutes rooting for it to stick the landing, and I came away admiring a great deal while wishing it had been braver with its ending. Rosie Gaunt-Mathieson's modern mermaid comedy
Country Iran
A Bit of Light is Iranian cinema in its most recognisable register: sombre, calm, atmospheric, and quietly political. Ali Asgari's drama is a restrained, well-acted piece about a man at the end of his tether, and while I admired its control and its performances, its studied emotional
Country France
Here is a short that understands the oldest rule in horror: what you do not see is almost always scarier than what you do. The Last Snow, Rodolphe Bouquet's tense little French creature feature, is really impressive for its length, a lean, dread-soaked chiller that had me
Country Uruguay
There is a wickedly good premise at the heart of Federico Borgia's Prince, and a pedigree cast to carry it, but this Uruguayan dark comedy never quite sinks its teeth in. It is a perfectly pleasant watch, handsomely made and nicely performed, yet for a film built on
Country United Kingdom
There is a particular kind of childhood lie that spirals so far beyond your control that you end up trapped inside it, and I Was Kidnapped captures that sinking, guilty feeling just about perfectly. Dhananjay Barangule's animated short is a warm, funny and nicely crafted piece of autobiography,
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