‘Have you ever used anal beads while playing chess?’ This ridiculous question was asked by Piers Morgan to chess wonder kid Hans Niemann who found himself caught up in a cheating scandal. So begins the fascinating documentary ‘Chess Mates’ out now on Netflix. For many, chess was seen as a game reserved for intellectuals and…
When I first heard that there was a Michael Jackson film coming out, I was sceptical. A lot of that came down to the fact it was being produced by the Michael Jackson Estate, and that his nephew, Jaafar Jackson, was going to play him. It felt like it might be a bit too controlled, and not…
When you think of films about people switching bodies, your mind probably goes straight to Freaky Friday or 13 Going on 30. It’s a concept we’ve seen many times before but Swapped manages to make it feel fresh in its own way. Swapped is brilliant in its own right, marking Michael B. Jordan’s first animated feature since his Oscar win. Directed by Nathan…
What would you do if your fiancée revealed, in front of your friends during wedding preparations, the worst thing they had ever done? In The Drama, this shocking confession becomes the catalyst for the film’s central conflict, as Emma admits that, at 15, she once planned a school shooting but ultimately did not go through with…
From 2013 to 2022, Peaky Blinders, created by Steven Knight, dominated TV’s crime drama landscape with its distinctive style and unforgettable characters. At the heart of it all was Birmingham’s Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), a war-scarred anti-hero who rose from the trauma of the First World War trenches to lead his family’s Romani-traveller crime empire. Despite his…
After watching the BAFTAs, it’s hard to ignore how nuanced and complicated this situation really is. There was a strong and justified condemnation of the slur itself but when Alan Cumming read a quickly prepared statement it all felt a bit rushed and thoughtless. He said at the end, “we apologised if you were offended,” it…
I normally love a Louis Theroux documentary. His interview style is usually brilliant: he asks a quiet question, gives someone just enough rope, and then waits while they slowly tie themselves in knots on camera. It’s awkward, patient, and oddly polite and more often than not it works. Part of the frustration with Louis Theroux: Inside…
Filmmaking often looks glamorous from the outside the finished frames, the festival screenings, the cinematic escape. But as director and actor Josh Shea reminds us, the reality is far more grounded. It’s early mornings before sunrise, coffee in hand, and a quiet moment of disbelief where you ask yourself, what are we actually doing? In this…
Netflix has built a formidable reputation for true-crime documentaries that linger in the public consciousness long after the credits roll, and its output continues to outshine much of the competition. Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, arriving at the start of 2026, is another unsettling but ultimately inspiring addition to that catalogue. The documentary revisits the horrific events of…
“Just because a man is an ally doesn’t mean that he is on your side.” I didn’t know much about the Nuremberg Trials that began in 1945, so this film turned out to be a genuinely insightful watch. I’ve always enjoyed war films, especially in recent years. Darkest Hour and 1917 were both brilliant and I’d comfortably add…
