Award Winning Independent Cinema

Helen Tope reviews Vox Lux, showing in our cinema until Thursday 27 June.  In cinema, we are used to seeing stories where our hero triumphs over the odds. Adversity is put in its place – our star takes to the stage, plays their song and the world listens. At 13 years old, Celeste Morgan survives a school shooting. An event that leaves her with permanent spine damage, Celeste finds recovery in music. She writes songs with her older sister Eleanor from her hospital bed. Attending a memorial for her classmates, Young Celeste (played by Raffey Cassidy) cannot verbalise ... Continue Reading

Helen Tope reviews Eighth Grade, showing in our cinema until Wednesday 5 June. Steeling herself to stare down the camera lens, teenager Kayla Day is introduced to us, not in person, but on screen. The picture is imperfect, dropping in and out of focus. Kayla is talking not to us, but to another world. Making a self-help tutorial, Kayla uploads videos with advice on socialising and working through shyness. But no-one is watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnesHAtSHzs Kayla’s online self – a composite of videos and vloggers she has seen elsewhere on YouTube – is a fabrication. Sinking into the background of ... Continue Reading

Helen Tope reviews Girl, showing in our cinema until Thursday 16 May. Based on the true story of ballerina Nora Monsecour, Girl, by Lukas Dhont, is a fascinating retelling of Monsecour’s struggle. In this fictionalised account, we meet 15-year-old Lara. A ballet dancer in training, Belgian-born Lara has moved with her family to the big city to join a prestigious dance academy. The pressures of joining a new school are compounded by the fact that Lara is transgender, and about to start gender reassignment. Supported by her dad, Mathias, and younger brother, Milo, Lara has been given the ... Continue Reading

Wild Rose, reviewed here by Helen Tope, is showing in our cinema until Saturday 11 May. Rough, tough and just out of prison, Rose-Lynn Harlan dreams of becoming Country music’s next superstar. Raised and living in Glasgow, Rose’s ambition – to travel to Nashville and make it big – seems as far removed from reality as it’s possible to get. Newly-tagged and on parole, Rose lands a cleaning job with a wealthy family, fronted by naive mum Susannah (Sophie Okonedo). Rose is overheard singing by Susannah’s children, and Susannah uses her connections to get Rose a meeting ... Continue Reading

Helen Tope reviews At Eternity’s Gate, showing in our cinema until Thursday, including a Bringing in Baby screening on Wednesday. Drawing on the final years of Vincent Van Gogh’s life, artist and director Julian Schnabel returns to the screen with this stylish and thoughtful drama. We meet Vincent as he’s buddying up with Paul Gauguin, following an exhibition in Paris. Van Gogh yearns for the countryside: to quite literally work in a different light. Gauguin and Van Gogh pool their resources and move to Arles, hiring a large yellow house. The idea is ... Continue Reading

Helen Tope reviews The Kindergarten Teacher, showing in our cinema until Thursday, including a special Reclaim the Frame screening with intro, Q&A and poetry workshop on Tuesday. Set in a New York school, The Kindergarten Teacher takes us into a gentle world of routine. The children practise their letters, guided by their teacher Lisa Spinelli (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal). The classroom is a safe space; the children’s curriculum joyfully punctured by Lisa’s enthusiasm for creative play. One afternoon, whilst waiting to be collected from school, Lisa’s student Jimmy Roy (Parker Sevak) begins to recite a poem ... Continue Reading

Helen Tope reviews RBG, showing in our cinema until Thursday 21 March. In a career spanning 60 years, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg – tough, gutsy and unapologetically liberal – has become an icon. In a new documentary, RBG explores the motivation of an 86-year-old woman, still working at the top of the legal profession. At the centre of a movement to enshrine gender equality into law, Bader Ginsburg was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1993. RBG charts her progress, which was by no means assured. Graduating from Columbia in 1959, Bader Ginsburg could not find work ... Continue Reading