Movie Review

How to Train Your Dragon is all-fired-up family fun

The latest live-action remake of a family favourite is among the genre's best.

Dangerous Animals is a rager of an Oz survival horror

You're going to need a bigger bucket of popcorn.

The Ballad of Wallis Island is a big hug of a movie

If there's a more uplifting cinema experience between now and Christmas, 2025 will be one for the books.

Fountain of Youth is a family adventure for a rainy day

John Krasinski and Natalie Portman play adventurer Luke and art historian Charlotte, estranged siblings who reunite to find "the most important archaeological discovery in history".

Tom Cruise hunts the Mission pieces in Final Reckoning

Picking up where 2023's Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One left off, the on-the-pulse plot sees agent-errant Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team trying to stop "parasitic AI" The Entity as it seeks to end the world as we know it.

Chloë Sevigny's Magic Farm is vivid but underbaked

Magic Farm, Argentine-Spanish filmmaker Amalia Ulman's second feature after 2021's El Planeta, is a vivid, wacky, convincingly performed but slightly underbaked culture-clash comedy.

Ego Under the Sun. Nicolas Cage is swell as The Surfer

In Irish director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium), screen legend Nicolas Cage has found another filmmaker who brings out the best in him.

The Wedding Banquet: Old, borrowed, yet still new

Driven by director Andrew Ahn's desire to honour and modernise Ang Lee's acclaimed 1993 classic, this remake may borrow its premise, but make no mistake, this is far more than a vow renewal.

Dublin gets a western showdown in Amongst the Wolves

Made for €16,000 and filmed in 15 days, Amongst the Wolves is a good mix of established talents and up-and-comers.

Thunderbolts* is a fun return to form for Marvel

Florence Pugh leads the charge in the 36th Marvel movie as a bunch of antiheroes band together to - what else? - save themselves and the world.

Singer-songwriter John Murry makes big screen his own

John Murry proves to be as beguiling on camera as he is on both vinyl and stage.

Comfort movie The Friend is a must for dog lovers

One of the finest double acts of the year has received little fanfare, and, with all due respect, the pairing of Naomi Watts and a Great Dane wasn't top of anyone's dream combo wish list. But here we are with a smart, grown-up movie.

The Penguin Lessons is a real p-p-p-pick-me-up

The Penguin Lessons is a heartwarming tale set against a quite horrific background. Steve Coogan may head the cast, but the penguin his character befriends is the real star of the film.

Warfare is one of the standout films of the year

Two must-sees in 12 months - it's been a remarkable 2024-25 for writer-director Alex Garland. First came a warning from the near future in the searing road movie Civil War, and now we have a harrowing depiction of America's recent past in Warfare.

John and Yoko are reimagined in new documentary

A new documentary catches the world's most famous dropouts at work and play and provides new revelations about The Beatles afterlife of John Lennon. It also does a very good job of rehabilitating the unfairly maligned Yoko Ono

Fran the Man needed more LOL for everyone who loves LOI

Drop: first date from hell ratchets up the tension

Filmed in Dublin and Wicklow, this neat little thriller will keep you guessing

Jack Black and Jason Momoa delight in A Minecraft Movie

A Minecraft Movie, director Jared Hess's live-action adaptation of the hugely popular video game, is a laugh-a-minute riot that is sure to appeal to young and old fans of the game.

Mammy vise: Carer comedy Four Mothers an Irish charmer

The new film from A Date for Mad Mary director Darren Thornton, co-written with his brother Colin, is sweet, salty, and sure to resonate with anyone who has ended up doing a role they never envisioned for themselves.

Neighbour-from-hell terror hits home in Restless

The petri dish of second-guessing and sublimated rage is dusted off for this gritty little thriller from first-timer Jed Hart, a writer-director who knows his way around a crawlspace.

Movie Review: Rachel Zegler dazzles as Snow White

This family-friendly musical is a mostly decent and entertaining reimagining of the classic story that brings it up to date for a modern audience.

Black Bag is a sleek and stylish spy thriller

Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh's slick, stylish and endlessly entertaining new film, is equal parts spy thriller and marriage drama distilled into a taut 90-minuter.

Danny Dyer is at the end of the line in Marching Powder

If you loved Dyer having it large(r) in 2004's The Football Factory, then Marching Powder will be right up your before-and-after-the-game backstreet.

Pamela Anderson makes a comeback in The Last Showgirl

A 57-year-old Las Vegas showgirl clings to her past in this charming comeback vehicle for 90s icon, Pamela Anderson