Bring Her Back
Horror (English)
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret. (more…)
Saare Jahan Se Accha
Drama (Hindi)
A resilient Indian spy must defeat his counterpart across the border in a battle of wits and tradecraft to sabotage a nuclear program. (more…)
Night Always Comes
Thriller, Drama, Crime (English)
Facing eviction in a city her family can no longer afford, a woman plunges into a desperate and increasingly dangerous all-night search to raise $25,000. (more…)
Guild Reviews
Bring Her Back
Horror (English)
Following the death of their father, a brother and sister are introduced to their new sibling by their foster mother, only to learn that she has a terrifying secret.
Cast:
Billy Barratt, Sally Hawkins, Mischa Heywood, Jonah Wren Phillips, Stephen Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Sora Wong, Kathryn Adams, Brian Godfrey, Brendan Bacon
Director:
Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Writer:
Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman
A Rare Horror Film That Humanises Its Monster
Mon, August 25 2025
One of the incidental pleasures of recent indie-horror films from around the world is how they’ve doubled down on the power of gaslighting. It’s chilling to see the psychological warfare unleashed on a person, enough to make them question their critical faculties and/or sanity. Why fear the monster under the bed, when family members and ‘well-meaning’ acquaintances can make up for it? The power of perception can be vital – which most people are discovering in the age of social media. Imbuing human paranoia into a folk horror-tale is one of the best decisions made by director-duo Danny and Michael Philippou in Bring Her Back – their sophomore film, after their clutter-breaking debut in Talk To Me (2023). Having started as YouTubers in Adelaide, the Philippou brothers soon showcased their knowledge about horror tropes. And they also know the points when most horror films take a leap of faith – and how ludicrous it looks. So the duo mine it for laughs. It’s another miracle of recent that instead of being rigid, indie-spirited horror films operate without any fear of flirting with their own formlessness.
Good grief
Mon, August 25 2025
Following the releases of Weapons and Together earlier this month, the series of top notch horror/thriller films persists. It is safe to say that Bring Her Back stands out as the most terrifying of them all, due to its staging and unfolding – complemented by an exceptional performance from the ever-dependable Sally Hawkins. You will find yourself reluctant to visit her home, even if she extends an invitation
This Horror Pulls All The Right Stops But...
Sat, August 23 2025
2025 has seen a range of horror with sub-genres and plots that are far from the idea of a typical horror film from the 2000s. With drama, supernatural elements and psychological factors taking the forefront, a new kind of understanding for the genre has emerged. Bring Her Back is another such film; it focuses on body horror with gore and blood, which makes you look away. But the focus on these ends up overshadowing the real psychological horror of the film: a mother lost to grief, the broken foster system and the trauma all kids go through in the film.
Nobody 2
Action, Thriller (English)
Former assassin Hutch Mansell takes his family on a nostalgic vacation to a small-town theme park, only to be pulled back into violence when they clash with a corrupt operator, a crooked sheriff, and a ruthless crime boss.
Cast:
Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Sharon Stone, John Ortiz, Colin Hanks, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath, Colin Salmon
Director:
Timo Tjahjanto
Rinsed and Repeated
Mon, August 25 2025
Similar to numerous Hollywood films, Nobody 2 was produced due to the success of Nobody (2021), which performed well at the box office. The concept was interesting – an unremarkable office worker is actually a skilled assassin and capable of taking on a horde of thugs and defeating them decisively. It was a light-hearted film filled with action.
Bob Odenkirk's Action Sequel Stays In Its Lane And Is Still Fun
Sat, August 23 2025
Nobody 2 brings back the old man in an action film gimmick, but the makers stay true to the franchise’s tone, keeping it family-friendly and light. The action sequences are amusing and gory, similar to those in the first film, but they are witty enough not to feel repetitive. The novelty of watching a middle-aged man fighting does wear off, but the full-circle moment in the film makes up for it. Until the usual sequels, with just newer villains and bigger baddies, we do a refreshing take on making friends with call backs to the good moments in the original film.
The Thursday Murder Club
Mystery, Comedy (English)
Four septuagenarian friends living in a retirement community form the Thursday Murder Club to solve cold cases for fun. But when a shady property developer is found dead, the four find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
Cast:
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Richard E. Grant
Director:
Chris Columbus
Writer:
Suzanne Heathcote
Operates on familiar beats, but its cast keeps the film’s whodunit heart beating
Sun, August 24 2025
Picture this: A cup of steaming hot chocolate in hand, you snuggle up in your warm quilt on your favourite couch by the window and watch the rains hit the greens outside making it even more verdant. That same fuzzy feeling of familiarity and comfort is what you experience when you watch The Thursday Murder Club. Based on the best-selling 2020 whodunit by Richard Osman (who has gone on to write a few more in the series), The Thursday Murder Club takes you into the world of old-school sleuthing. One which relies on both smarts and intellect to fit together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to solve more than one murder, without having to rely on Gen-Z-coded cinema loaded with high-octane car chases and gravity-defying action sequences. If one were to quote a journalistic analogy, The Thursday Murder Club is the equivalent of good ol’ shoe leather reporting.
Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan Bring Star Power To Enjoyable British Mystery Adaptation
Sat, August 23 2025
After Harry Potter, filmmaker Chris Columbus spearheads another popular franchise. The Netflix film, The Thursday Murder Club, is the first of five books about four retired senior citizens who solve murders. Richard Osman’s mysteries are bestsellers worldwide and this first film casts Oscar winners and popular British stars in the main roles. The result is a cheeky and delightful romp across the countryside as the retirees try to save their retirement home and figure out who is willing to kill for the land it’s built on.
Indra
Thriller (Tamil)
INDRA is a serial killer investigation film about an ex-cop who lost his eyesight and sets out to find the killer terrorizing the town. What follows is a gripping chase full of twists and turns — but what if the hunter ends up becoming the hunted?
Cast:
Vasanth Ravi, Mehreen Pirzada, Sunil Varma, Anikha Surendran, Kalyan Kumar
Director:
Sabarish Nanda
Writer:
Sabarish Nanda
Vasanth Ravi's thriller is too basic to be the thriller it promised
Sat, August 23 2025
A police officer on suspension. A serial killer is on the loose. A murder that hits home. A personal tragedy that blinds the police. All these plot points could set the foundation of a gripping crime thriller, if done well. Director Sabarish Nanda’s ‘Indra’ has all of it, yet the film only reaches for the low-hanging fruit, so much so that the makers seem content with the bare minimum. Indra (Vasanth Ravi) struggles with alcoholism. His addiction and rage get him suspended, and he even leads to the loss of his eyesight. He and his wife Kayal (Mehreen Pirzada) are facing marital troubles. However, the loss of eyesight brings them closer as they wait for a transplant. During this time, Kayal is murdered at home while Indra sleeps in another room. The pattern of the killing points to a serial killer.
Paradha
Drama (Telugu)
A veiled village woman's life changes when city visitors challenge her traditions. As she questions customs and investigates a curse, rumors of Sati emerge, leading her to confront societal norms.
Cast:
Anupama Parameswaran, Darshana Rajendran, Sangeetha Krish, Rag Mayur
Director:
Praveen Kandregula
Writer:
Prahaas Boppudi, Poojitha Sreekanti
An honest, non-preachy film that lays bare everyday patriarchy
Sat, August 23 2025
Women-led films don’t always have to be about a woman being belittled by everyone around her, only to later rise as someone who rides bikes in the Himalayas. A women-led film can also be about learning and unlearning - discovering that the world beyond their cocoon presents opportunities. How to make use of this vast world of opportunities is up to each individual. But the important underlying message is that they have a choice. A choice that lets them spread their wings and fly, or simply feel the freedom of having options. That is what director Praveen Kandregula’s ‘Paradha’ is all about. Subbu (Anupama Parameswaran) belongs to the fictional village named Padathi, where women, who have hit puberty, have to wear a veil till they die. This superstitious belief is told to the villagers as the story and curse of the deity, Jwalamma. If the paradha (veil) is taken off, wilfully or unintentionally, the woman has to face death. Hold on! A ritual followed by death.
Three sparkling women and a film that celebrates female friendships
Sat, August 23 2025
Paradha is a refreshing breather in a largely machismo-driven Telugu cinema. Imagine three women, hailing from different backgrounds, on a road trip to find a solution to a crisis that one of them is caught up in. Director Praveen Kandregula’s film starring Anupama Parameswaran, Darshana Rajendran and Sangitha Krish, brims with warmth, joy, laughter, and tears. The journey gives these women a much-needed getaway from their daily grind. As they soak in the vastness of the landscapes, they question their own understanding of the world and gender equations. Despite the heavy folklore that acts as a fulcrum to the narrative, considerable portions are handled with a lightness that makes it enjoyable.
Tehran
Action, Thriller (Hindi)
On 13th February 2012, a magnetic bomb exploded, destroying an Israeli embassy vehicle in Delhi. ACP Rajiv Kumar, leading the investigation, suspects more than what meets the eye. Amid political pressure and suspicions of an Iranian connection, he embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth, facing formidable adversaries.
Cast:
John Abraham, Manushi Chhillar, Neeru Bajwa, Madhurima Tuli, Elnaaz Norouzi, Alyy Khan, Dinker Sharma, Hadi Khanjanpour
Director:
Arun Gopalan
Writer:
Ritesh Shah, Ashish Prakash Verma, Bindni Karia
John Abraham’s geopolitical thriller isn’t smarter than a fifth grader, no matter how many newspapers it reads
Sat, August 23 2025
There is a scam in Punjab that Rajkumar Hirani would’ve heard about while researching Dunki. Shady travel agents are charging crores from desperate (and mostly uneducated) Indians with the promise of arranging safe passage to the American state of Georgia. The scam? These poor men are being sent to the country of Georgia instead. In most cases, they’ve sold off family land, quit their jobs, and exhausted their entire life savings; some of them even have wives and children with them. All to be sent to the land of khachapuri. To put it simply, there are a bunch of people from Bathinda knocking about in the Caucasus right now. Anyway, the folks who made the new John Abraham film Tehran are no smarter. The movie opens with a voiceover in which we are told about an operation carried out by Iran in 2012, where Israeli diplomats were targeted in Thailand, India, and Georgia. They meant the country. But the map that the movie shows instead is that of the US state.
The Long Take: A Spotify Review
Fri, August 22 2025
Tehran—the new John Abraham political action thriller—literally cannot identify the country of Georgia on the map. The movie also goes out of its way to make its protagonist an apolitical man who somehow annoys the governments of three nations, including his own. We discuss the film’s muddled messaging, its bizarre third act, and the arrogance with which it thinks it can get away with claiming Scotland is Iran.
(Writing for OTT Play)
Tehran Is An Impressive Espionage Thriller With Muddy Politics
Mon, August 18 2025
TEHRAN is the latest John Abraham film, where the actor is out to avenge. For a while, it was the country (Parmanu, Satyameva Jayate); then it became more pointed (in both Vedaa and The Diplomat, he saves a girl). A less obvious, but more definite, shift has been his heroism, which has shapeshifted from a combative force to inner resilience. It has become less showy and more nuanced, more cerebral and less extraneous, much like the nationalism in his filmography. In that sense, Tehran is an able extension of this humanity that props up the ideas of protection without losing sight of the cost. In Delhi, 2012, an Israeli diplomat’s car was bombed. Similar blasts occurred in Georgia and Thailand. But the one which we see in the capital (designed in a sleek shot; Evgeniy Gubrenko and Andre Menezes are the cinematographers) results in an unwitting casualty. A young girl on the street, not much older than the daughter of ACP Rajeev Kumar (Abraham), suffers injury. This pulls him into the case even when he was hesitant initially.
Saare Jahan Se Accha
Drama (Hindi)
A resilient Indian spy must defeat his counterpart across the border in a battle of wits and tradecraft to sabotage a nuclear program.
Cast:
Pratik Gandhi, Tillotama Shome, Sunny Hinduja, Suhail Nayyar, Kritika Kamra, Rajat Kapoor, Anup Soni
Writer:
Shivam Shankar
Netflix sabotages Suhail Nayyar’s performance, humiliates Tillotama Shome by editing her scenes out
Sat, August 23 2025
The new Netflix series Saare Jahan Se Accha begins with Pratik Gandhi’s character being posted to the R&AW’s Islamabad station, and it ends with him foiling a major nuclear operation and blowing things up real good. All of this happens in six episodes of roughly 45 minutes each. In these six episodes, we are introduced to several characters — field agents, a journalist, the chief of the ISI; even Indira Gandhi drops by. Most of these characters, including the protagonist’s wife, is introduced with enough fanfare to suggest that they are going to be important to the plot. Some of them are, most aren’t. But you can never shake the feeling that Saare Jahan Se Accha was stripped to the bone after somebody interfered with either the scripts or the first assembly. Nearly everybody in the cast suffers, not to mention the show itself. But nobody is done quite so dirty as Tillotama Shome.
Sunny Hinduja and Suhail Nayyar steal the show, which peters off towards the end
Fri, August 15 2025
It’s not the fault of this series that it comes exactly a week after the one which had the same theme. Well, almost. Salaakar is about scotching Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions with the help of canny footwork by Indian spies : this week’s new show on Netflix, Saare Jahaan Se Accha, created by Gaurav Shukla and directed by Sumit Purohit, is exactly about the same thing. The intent may be the same but the treatment, thankfully, is vastly different: the beyond-terrible Salakaar, with Naveen Kasturia leading the charge, reminds you of a comic-book with none of the fun of the genre; this Pratik Gandhi starrer, on the other hand, takes things seriously, and that’s a good thing, more or less.
Despite the potential for a tense thriller with grand stakes, the series rarely brings tension and feels more like a uneven forgettable feature film
Thu, August 14 2025
The Map That Leads to You
Romance, Drama (English)
Heather is a young woman traveling Europe with friends before starting her perfectly planned life. A chance meeting with Jack sparks an unexpected romance that leads to deep emotional discovery. As secrets and life choices test their bond, her path changes forever.
Cast:
Madelyn Cline, K.J. Apa, Sofia Wylie, Madison Thompson, Orlando Norman, Josh Lucas, Karl-El Santos, Diego Ross, Giuseppe Schillaci, JR Esposito
Director:
Lasse Hallström
KJ Apa And Madelyn Cline’s Film Doesn't Live Up To The Bookish Romance
Sat, August 23 2025
The Map That Leads To You is sort of a coming-of-age story for new adults with romance at the center of the plot. Based on a book of the same name by J.P. Monninger, it follows a young woman on an adventure across Europe with her best friends when she crosses paths with Jack, who stirs up her entire idea of an organised and planned life. Meanwhile, Jack, older than her, is off on his own adventure following his grandfather’s post-war journal across Europe.
Madelyn Cline, KJ Apa Starrer Is My Oxford Year Take 2
Wed, August 20 2025
The newest streaming romance, The Map That Leads to You, is based on JP Monninger’s novel and feels like deja vu arriving on the heels of Netflix’s The Oxford Year. It uses the same kind of tropes - American young woman, a European excursion and a summer fling with a stranger who becomes the important part of your life. The biggest difference between the two is the direction by Oscar nominee Lasse Hallström and the treatment of the feature, which feels a bit more lived in. The film’s narrative is much more optimistic and thankfully, this one has a more relatable female lead. Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline plays Heather, who, like Anna (Sofia Carson) from My Oxford Year, has a job waiting for her back in New York. Heather goes on a girls’ trip across Europe with her college besties Connie (Sofia Wylie) and Amy (Madison Thompson), when she meets a stranger named Jack (KJ Apa) from New Zealand on a train to Spain. It’s very DDLJ-esque. He becomes a part of their friends group and the usually rigid Heather finds herself following the oft-beaten path along with Jack. She finds herself opening more and more. But the summer must come to an end, and Jack is hiding a very big secret. Will their romance be able to stand the distance?
Hostage
Drama, Crime (English)
When the British prime minister's husband is kidnapped and the French president starts receiving threats, both leaders must face an impossible choice.
Cast:
Suranne Jones, Julie Delpy, Corey Mylchreest, Lucian Msamati, Ashley Thomas, James Cosmo, Jehnny Beth
Hostage to a potboiler served cold
Sat, August 23 2025
It is touted as a political thriller but unfolds like a potboiler. The very first scene and the dialogue, “I trust you will make the right choice”, is a precursor and portender that impossible choices will soon beset this happy family. The scene shifts to UK’s Parliament. Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones) is the British Prime Minister facing a volley of barbs from the Opposition leader. As she prepares to meet her French counterpart, President Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy), again an indomitable woman of substance, something sinister is brewing alongside. Abigail’s husband Alex Anderson (Ashley Thomas), a doctor, is abducted along with other medical professionals. The ransom demand is no less than her resignation.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
Drama, Comedy (English)
Amanda Knox arrives in Italy for her study abroad only to be wrongfully imprisoned for murder weeks later. Follow Knox's relentless fight to prove her innocence and reclaim her freedom and examines why authorities and the world stood so firmly in judgment.
Cast:
Grace Van Patten, Sharon Horgan, Giuseppe De Domenico, John Hoogenakker, Roberta Mattei, Francesco Acquaroli
Flawed but horrific story well told
Sat, August 23 2025
Does the truth even exist if no one believes it?’ This line — loaded with, well, the truth of life in general and particularly with what transpires in this claustrophobic retelling of a horrific real-life story, sums up The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. Streaming on JioHotstar — the first two episodes of the eight-episode Hulu series are now available, with subsequent weekly drops — this is the dramatisation of what is undoubtedly one of the most keenly followed murder trials of the millennium. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, in its telling, feels sensationalist, and even stagey in parts, but the case itself is compelling enough to want you to stay with it.
Cast:
Akashdeep Arora, Anushka Kaushik
Director:
Dheeraj Jindal
Writer:
Palak shah
A Sweet and Direct Seance About Grief
Fri, August 22 2025
Momo Deal opens with the voice of a dead girl at her funeral. Except it’s quirky. This young woman, Mahima (Anushka Kaushik), is reading out her own wishlist for the funeral — the way any manic-pixie hall of famer like Jab We Met’s Geet might (we learn that her favourite song is “Tumse hi”) to lighten the mood. One zoom-out of the camera reveals that none of Mahima’s wishes have been followed, especially the one that demands her best friend Naman (Akashdeep Arora) to weep loudly at the front. Naman is instead numb. His deadpan face suggests he’s an action hero who can’t act, but he’s something more common: an Indian man who can’t — or won’t — express himself. He refuses to cry. Dheeraj Jindal’s 13-minute short then features a late-night conversation between Naman and the ghost of his newly-deceased bestie. They walk the streets of their hometown, Jaipur, and exchange difficult emotions.
Night Always Comes
Thriller, Drama, Crime (English)
Facing eviction in a city her family can no longer afford, a woman plunges into a desperate and increasingly dangerous all-night search to raise $25,000.
Cast:
Vanessa Kirby, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zack Gottsagen, Stephan James, Julia Fox, Eli Roth, Randall Park, Michael Kelly, J. Claude Deering, Dana Millican
Director:
Benjamin Caron
Vanessa Kirby wouldn’t look like a mess even if she tried, and this hurts her Netflix thriller
Wed, August 20 2025
It’s perhaps no coincidence that Julia Fox has a cameo in Night Always Comes, the new thriller on Netflix starring Vanessa Kirby. Modelled on the movies of the Safdie brothers, Night Always Comes stares more than just a structure with Uncut Gems, in which Fox played a memorable cameo. That ticking timebomb thriller followed a desperate New York jeweller weaponising his gambling addiction in a breakneck attempt to gather cash. It was a movie that a third-act basketball match into a life-and-death scenario. In Night Always Comes, Kirby plays a working class woman staring at sure-shot eviction if she isn’t able to come up with a $25,000 deposit in one night.
Just about delivers on its promise of mid-level entertainment
Sat, August 16 2025
Similar in spirit to the Dardenne Brothers 2014 drama Two Days, One Night and, more recently, the far inferior Straw, front lined by Taraji P. Henson and directed by Tyler Perry, is Night Always Comes. This is a film with a grammatically questionable title, familiar characters and generic treatment but held together by a stirring and steely act by Vanessa Kirby. In the film, that is now streaming on Netflix, Kirby plays Lynette, a woman who has to fight against all odds to ensure that her family — comprising her mom Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and brother Kenny (Zack Gottsagen, in fine form), who has developmental disabilities — continue to have a roof over their heads.
Vanessa Kirby Turns In Raw, Powerful Performance In Gritty Yet Unrealistic Thriller
Fri, August 15 2025
The Crown and Fantastic Four: First Steps actress Vanessa Kirby delivers yet another terrific performance that is the cornerstone of this uneven thriller. Her character is pushed to several lengths as she moves mountains to protect her family. Based on Willy Vlautin’s 2021 novel The Night Always Comes, the Netflix film is set in moody Portland, Oregon, where the forecast is already grim. However, despite the strong performances by its excellent cast, director Benjamin Caron and screenwriter Sarah Conradt aren’t able to elevate the narrative to be believable. The crime thriller takes place over a ragged 24 hours in which it is established that Lynette (Kirby) is deeply in debt. She needs a down payment of $25,000 to sign a loan with her mother, Doreen (Jennifer Jason Leigh), to save their family home and her older brother, Kenny (Zack Gottsagen), who has Down’s syndrome. If the house is in his name, he won’t be sent away to a special facility. But of course, nothing goes her way. Her mother buys a new car instead and a desperate Lynette runs around Portland, calling in every favour she knows and meeting unsavory characters to gather the money.