Scotland

KINDRED: Unsettling, But Uneven
KINDRED: Unsettling, But Uneven

Kindred features impressive performances from all actors, but the script lacks action.

Interview with the Cast and Director of GET DUKED!
Interview with the Cast and Director of GET DUKED!

Film Inquiry recently had the chance to talk with Scottish filmmaker Ninian Doff about his whacky, psychedelic teenage film, Get Duked!

A LIFE IN AUGUST: Intimate Melodrama Doesn't Quite Reach The Heights
A LIFE IN AUGUST: Intimate Melodrama Doesn’t Quite Reach The Heights

Writer, director, and star Haston McLaren focuses his film, A Life in August, on the quiet downfall of a relationship that has nowhere to go.

10 Great Horror Movies from Around the World Part 3
10 Great Horror Films from Around the World Part 4

In years past, I recommended great horror movies from around the world. Find part one…

LFF 2019: OUR LADIES: A Disappointing Scottish Schoolgirl Coming-Of-Age Tale
LFF 2019: OUR LADIES: A Disappointing Scottish Schoolgirl Coming-Of-Age Tale

A coming-of-age film which strives for irreverent authenticity, Our Ladies ends up clunky, a little cringey and uninspired.

ROBERT THE BRUCE: Braveheart Without Heart
ROBERT THE BRUCE: Braveheart Without The Heart

Lacking of personality and originality, Robert the Bruce is an unwatchable kitchen-sink clutter of fantasy, reality and propaganda.

BEATS: Captures The Spirit Of A Friendship & The State Of A Nation
BEATS: Captures The Spirit Of A Friendship & The State Of A Nation

While Beats isn’t perfect, the cast is engaging and Welsh’s visual style is lively without falling into nightclub-style movie shot cliches.

WILD ROSE: A Magnificent Lead Performance In An Underwhelming Underdog Story
WILD ROSE: A Magnificent Lead Performance In An Underwhelming Underdog Story

Jessie Buckley is a star, and the fact she makes Wild Rose almost worth watching is testament to her skill as an actress.

Beginner's Guide: Lynne Ramsay
Beginner’s Guide: Lynne Ramsay, Director

Across her four uncompromising features, Scottish director Lynne Ramsay has unsparingly invited us to the darkest recesses of the human condition.

OUTLAW KING: Unfocused, Repetitive, But Not Without Ambition
OUTLAW KING: Unfocused, Repetitive, But Not Without Ambition

Outlaw King is ambitious, striving for originality and historical accuracy, but overall fails to bring much to the table in terms of grounding its characters.

WHISKY GALORE!: From Ship To Bore
WHISKY GALORE!: From Ship To Bore

A remake of the Ealing classic, Whisky Galore! has its share of laughs, but its hard to tell just who or for what purpose the film serves.

T2 TRAINSPOTTING: Choose Nostalgia
T2 TRAINSPOTTING: Choose Nostalgia

T2 Trainspotting, though enjoyable in its own right, ultimately relies too heavily on nostalgia for the original to be a complete success.

Search For Authenticity: Scottish Music & The Monster Of Loch Ness In WHERE YOU'RE MEANT TO BE
Search For Authenticity: Scottish Music & The Monster Of Loch Ness In WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BE

In a time when facts, figures and certainties are thin on the ground, when reality itself appears to be fragmented into many non-congruent shards, it is perhaps not so surprising that some sense of perspective can be gained in the comforting darkness of the cinema theatre. Discombobulated by events both political and personal, I sought refuge from Manchester’s silvery anti-summer at a screening of Paul Fegan’s Where You’re Meant To Be, chronicling musician Aidan Moffat’s journey around Scotland in his quest to re-interpret some of the country’s folk standards in a more contemporary light. Throughout the film and the subsequent Q & A with Fegan and Moffat at Manchester’s Home, the theme of authenticity surfaced from the loch of uncertainty that clouds our ability to make sense of these times.

FILTH Is A Display of Cynicism and Insanity

Anyone who enjoys a complex character should see Filth. We discuss the movie’s representation of corruption and explanations for criminal behavior.