“The film poses a key, existential question: whether these measures are proof of humanity’s indomitable spirit, or merely, as one Carolinian puts it, like treating a bullet wound with a band-aid?” We Have to Survive plays at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival journeyintocinema.com/we-have-to-s...

“The doc is shot on 16mm Kodak Vision3 film, and the stock looks so good, it makes me wonder why more documentaries don’t utilise this truly cinematic format.” Ukraine war doc Mariinka (Pieter-Jan De Pue) is a bona fide masterpiece. journeyintocinema.com/mariinka-rev...

“He is never challenged, never made to feel uncomfortable, never made to think about any of this. It’s a real betrayal of what a good documentary should do.” Sperm donor documentary Dad Genes has no spunk. journeyintocinema.com/dad-genes-re...

“This is not a problem that will go away.” Reviews of The Loneliest Man In Town, Josephine, Queen At Sea, Sad Girlz and Where To? characterise our last newsletter on the Berlinale! journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/berlin-blues

“Life does not dim its colours just because something violent has happened.” Sad Girlz is a nuanced — and powerful — depiction of friendship and sexual assault. Recent winner of Berlinale Generation 14plus! journeyintocinema.com/sad-girlz-re...

“On the whole, not a great year, but there’s still some gems among the muck.” Read our mega-article with all of our fresh Berlinale takes! journeyintocinema.com/journey-into...

“Only one man could make this — it’s a true pleasure to experience his vision.” Unidentified Nonflying Objects (UNO), the latest film by Russian animator Sasha Svirsky, plays in Berlinale Shorts. journeyintocinema.com/unidentified...

“Can we ever know what we really want to say? Or the perfect way to express our true selves?” The new film by Hong is minor, even by his low-key standards, but it offers small joys (and beers). journeyintocinema.com/the-day-she-...

“Jude and Cioflâncă’s latest creates a truly evocative sense of Romanian life in the tail-end of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime.” Dive into the world of Jewish Romanian life with Radu Jude’s Shot Reverse Shot, playing in Berlinale shorts! journeyintocinema.com/shot-reverse...

“This film offers a sensitive portrait of what it means to be cast adrift by a society bent on pointless war and destruction.” A Russian Winter plays in Berlin Panorama journeyintocinema.com/a-russian-wi...

“This narrow lens makes its broader take on pornography feel slightly reactionary and anti-porn: an understandable response, but ultimately limited.” Truly Naked plays in Perspectives. journeyintocinema.com/truly-naked-...

“Rarely has optimism felt so earned, and rarely does bondage seem so freeing. A little miracle of a movie.” Lust plays in Forum at Berlinale! journeyintocinema.com/lust-review/

“Four Minus Three captures how grief never works in a truly non-linear aspect, but is a constant companion that jerks you between eras.” A standout film from the Berlinale. journeyintocinema.com/four-minus-t...

"You can go after one Nazi, but it’s like whack-a-mole — they’ll keep popping up, no matter how many trials you drag them into." Legal drama Prosecution plays at Berlinale! journeyintocinema.com/prosecution-...

Berlinale 2026, #4: Seduction: A Cruel Woman! Prosecution! Decay! The worst film ever to play at Berlinale! substack.com/home/post/p-...

"History buffs will prefer the TV show, but for a more auteurist take on the material, Decay is a vital watch." The vital Chernobyl film Decay (1990) plays in the Berlinale Retrospective. journeyintocinema.com/decay-review/

“We are truly immersed in the world of these women, making for a metafictional experience that abounds in sly, wry pleasures.” Everything Else Is Noise plays in Berlinale Forum. journeyintocinema.com/everything-e...

“I was super impressed with what Charli XCX was doing here; between her and Dua Lipa’s book club, our British female pop stars are actually kinda awesome.” The Moment is a standout at the Berlinale! substack.com/home/post/p-...

"Now Berlinale has returned to its natural state: a sodden, sad, swamp, with rain slanting sideways." Takes on Mouse, Yellow Letters, A Prayer for the Dying — and more! substack.com/home/post/p-...

“There’s a playful looseness to it all, making for a consistently exciting and engaging film.” Viv Li’s Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest is an engaging exploration of being caught between two very different cultures. Live from Berlinale! journeyintocinema.com/two-mountain...

“The place has been totally remade for export so the rest of the world can have cheap tomatoes and peppers all year round.“ South Spanish drama Iván & Hadoum asks if love can survive under exploitation. journeyintocinema.com/two-mountain...

"Finally! A good opening movie. It does what any festival opener should do: raise the mood, stir the soul and get us excited about what is to come." No Good Men opens the Berlinale! substack.com/home/post/p-...

“It simply feels far too trivial to ever make any true impact, either as political or romantic cinema.” Fridge drama Complaint No. 713317 plays at Rotterdam! journeyintocinema.com/complaint-no...

“The film is brave enough to ask how much responsibility rests upon those who do migrate to make a proper effort to get involved in society, rather than assuming everything is going to be the same as back home.” Home plays at Rotterdam Film Festival! journeyintocinema.com/home-review/

“Where other films would frantically fill in the absences with platitudes or pat resolutions, this deeply intimate portrait is happy to embrace the unknowable — and is all the richer for it.” White Lies plays at IFFR! journeyintocinema.com/white-lies-r...

“The lack of contextual understanding, at first disorienting and liberating, curdles into more and more reasons not to get involved.” Why Do I See You In Everything? plays at IFFR! journeyintocinema.com/why-do-i-see...

"The level of honesty on display is striking; it’s hard to think of another documentary about the gay adult film world where a performer opens himself up this fully." Fascinating porn documentary Mickey & Richard plays at IFFR! journeyintocinema.com/mickey-and-r...

“If you ever wanted to see a Pink Panther movie (1963-2009) with double the Clouseaus and an arthouse, relaxed approach to world-building, then Conrad & Crab really is the lowkey gem for you.” Conrad & Crab plays at IFFR! journeyintocinema.com/conrad-and-c...

“While I cringed at most of their actions, I saw a lot of myself, and the common human struggle, in their incomplete yearning for enlightenment — through each other, and through art.” Excellent Polish drama Tell Me What You Feel plays at Rotterdam! journeyintocinema.com/tell-me-what...

“The experience is like being at a party where you don’t like anyone, but then everyone sits in a circle and starts making out with each other. A waste of time for everyone involved.” Butterfly, playing at Rotterdam, is terrible! journeyintocinema.com/butterfly-re...

"Obsessed with the transformative power of the image, she wanted to use the camera to turn the tables on the male gaze, imagining women loving women without their participation." Sundance film Barbara Forever explores Lesbian Icon Barbara Hammer journeyintocinema.com/barbara-fore...

Rotterdam is coming in just a couple of weeks, and with it, the shimmering allure of the new, but in the meantime, here are four excellent crime movies definitely worth watching instead of The Rip (Joe Carnahan, 2026) — which is terrible. journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/nms-4-new-...

"Stretching from London to Tallinn to Austria, our favourite festivals in 2024 celebrate the magic of in-person gatherings in a world atomised by algorithmic streaming platforms and an increasingly degrading online media ecosystem." Read our picks! journeyintocinema.com/film-festiva...

"Every year, I try to write down what I like, with the full knowledge that every list is, by its very nature, an incomplete failure." Journey Into Cinema's Top 10 films of the year includes a few familiar faces (OBAA, Sirāt) and some leftfield choices. journeyintocinema.com/10-best-film...

"I leave Belgrade not fully convinced that the modern film festival is the best place to engage in our political future. But I can see the sprouts continue to shoot up through the broken concrete of modern film." @redrightman covers FAF in Belgrade. journeyintocinema.com/festival-of-...

From @patrickfey.bsky.social's long takes to @wellvisky.bsky.social to @josephowen.bsky.social at the Black Nights to Jared Abbott on Queer Cinema to @nkouhi.bsky.socialon NYFF, here is the best writing of the year at Journey Into Cinema! journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/our-best-f...

"If shitposting about prestige TV existed in 1991, this is exactly what it would’ve looked like." Twin Peaks-parody Twin Cheeks finally re-emerges from its camcorder swamp: it is a truly singular work of queer outsider art. Jared Abbott reviews: journeyintocinema.com/twin-cheeks-...

"I arrived in the Estonian capital as nightfall had accumulated like a thick blanket, exerting a downward pressure that smothered me in sullenness." Joseph Owen reports from his first ever Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival! journeyintocinema.com/tallinn-blac...

"As the smoke thickens, their arguments start to sound ridiculous. The house they’re bickering over might burn down before anyone signs anything." Sly Tallinn competition entry 18 Holes to Paradise skewers the foibles — and hubris — of the rich. journeyintocinema.com/18-holes-to-...

"Hudson is a revelation, using her charm to elevate this tale into something truly heartfelt and sweet." Kate Hudson shines opposite Hugh Jackman as part of a Neil Diamond tribute act in Craig Brewer's surprisingly powerful Song Sung Blue. journeyintocinema.com/song-sung-bl...

"Groomers don’t just lurk in shadows or hide in vans — they sit at your kitchen table, smiling, eating homemade apple pie, convinced no one will ever suspect them." Devastating Dutch drama The Pupil plays at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival! journeyintocinema.com/the-pupil-re...

"Surveillance becomes a grotesque empathy — omniscience at the price of connection. Distance is enforced; morality isn’t part of the equation." Jared Abbott reviews Interior, playing at Black Nights Film Festival! journeyintocinema.com/interior-rev...

"With no one to like — or root for — Keeper becomes a curiously impersonal thing: boring, inert, meaningless. Keep away." Osgood Perkins' latest movie is a non-starter. journeyintocinema.com/keeper-review/

"With its zoophilic storyline, he symbolises how the Spanish people tried to cope with or find solace in the unpleasant reality of living under a military dictatorship." @chidinmaokezie_ looks at the classic 1977 Spanish film La criatura! journeyintocinema.com/la-criatura-...

"I was in New York last week and, yes, the rumours are true: it really is just like in the movies." New York and the movies inspire our latest edition of No More Slop, looking at a misguided, forgotten Central Park romance, and some in-flight propaganda. open.substack.com/pub/journeyi...

A new newsletter from Journey Into Cinema. Unsung films from the bowels of cinema history; a much-needed antidote to the current era of forgettable streaming slop. Subscribe today! journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/no-more-sl...

I love getting the chance to write about my favorite strand in NYFF for @journeyintocinema.bsky.social. Here are my thoughts on just a few of the showcased titles in this year's Currents.

"If this medium is going to survive the automisation and co-optation of artistic labour, it must prove malleable in responding to the myriad ongoing global crises." Nick Kouhi surveys new films by Radu Jude, James Benning and Tsai Ming-liang at NYFF! journeyintocinema.com/currents-nyf...

"If this medium is going to survive the automisation and co-optation of artistic labour, it must prove malleable in responding to the myriad ongoing global crises." @nkouhi.bsky.social takes on the always entertaining and provocative Currents section at NYFF! substack.com/@journeyinto...

Exclusive Journey Content available when you subscribe to paid! journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/dont-pay-f...