Month: December 2025

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Documentary Features Live Action Movies

Prime Minister

Directors – Michelle Walshe, Lindsay Utz – 2025 – US, New Zealand – Cert. 12a – 102m

*****

A portrait of Rt Hon Dame Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister – out in UK and Irish cinemas on Friday, December 5th

There has never been a documentary quite like this before, and perhaps there never will be again. For one thing, it turns out that Jacinda Ardern’s partner Clarke Gayford is an established TV producer who shot a wealth of home movie footage, albeit with professional equipment, throughout the period for which she served as New Zealand’s Prime Minister. For another, this home movie footage covers her pregnancy and the early years of her daughter Neve. For a third, as an MP she became involved with a project in which MPs would record their thoughts at various points during their tenure. When she agreed to this, no-one, including herself, had any idea that she would subsequently become Prime Minister. And that’s the fourth reason: this is a portrait of a PM in office who had no intention of being either a party leader or the Prime Minister of a country. And then who suddenly found herself the sole candidate for the post of leading New Zealand’s Labour Party weeks ahead of a General Election, in which she led the party to victory,

In this documentary, Jacinda (as I shall call her) describes being the leader of a country as “the worst job in politics”.… Read the rest

Categories
Features Live Action Movies

It Was Just an Accident
(Yek Tasadef Sadeh,
یک تصادف ساده)

Director – Jafar Panahi – 2025 – Iran, France, Luxembourg – Cert. 12a – 105m

*****

When a man hits an animal driving on country roads late at night, unforeseen consequences ensue – out in UK cinemas on Friday, December 5th

It’s late at night and the family are returning by car. Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi), who is driving, and his wife (Afssaneh Najmabadi) keep their small daughter (Delnaz Najafi) amused with raucous, Iranian dance music. Then there’s a bang as the car hits something. Dad stops, gets out and finds he’s hit an animal. “Animals just walk onto these roads,” he explains to his traumatised daughter. The mother tries to pacify the child, saying this happens all the time and is nothing to worry about. The little girl is upset; she was enjoying the loud music before, but now she isn’t. At her request, dad turns it off. A sombre mood settles over the car.

The vehicle isn’t right since the collision, so dad takes it to a garage for them to have a look at it. One of the mechanics Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) spots him, keeps out of sight, then borrows his boss’ van keys for a emergency to follow the departing vehicle.… Read the rest

Categories
Features Live Action Movies

That Burning House
(Shi Le Yuan,
火宅之犬)

That Burning House

Director – Tsai Yin-chuan – 2025 – Taiwan – 133m

****1/2

Teachers in a juvenile care home attempt to break the cycle of violence among their charges – premieres in the Critics’ Picks Competition of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

This is one of those films that takes place in several different times in the characters lives, including when they are children, teenagers and adults. That means that you need more than one actor to play each character at different times in their lives, and if you’re going to attempt that, you’d better get your casting right, so that when you see the second actor playing an older or younger version of the character, you instantly recognise that character.

I wanted to rate this compelling film as five stars, but it has severe problems in this area – it’s really hard working out which character is which in the various different times in which events take place. Studying the end credits helped somewhat in this regard, but that information really ought to be expressed more clearly within the film narrative itself. (To see an example of a film that tackles this multiple character casting brilliantly, see Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2018).… Read the rest