F1 : Tuesday 1st July 2025

I saw the M Rated 'F1' this week, and this American sports drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Joseph Kosinski whose prior feature film efforts take in 'Tron : Legacy' in 2010, 'Oblivion' in 2013, 'Only the Brave' in 2017, 'Top Gun : Maverick' in 2022 and 'Spiderhead' also in 2022. This film features the Formula One World Championship, created in collaboration with the FIA, its governing body, and is Co-Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt. The film was released internationally last week, cost somewhere between US$200 and 300M to produce, has so far grossed US$167M and has generated positive critical reviews.

The film opens with American racing driver and former Formula One (F1) prodigy, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), living nomadically in a camper van and earning a crust as a racer-for-hire in any car and in any discipline. He raced for Lotus in the 1990's, and was destined to become the next big thing, until severe injuries from a crash at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1993 brought his F1 career to an abrupt halt. As a result, he became a gambling addict that cost him three marriages, disappeared from racing for ten years and even did a stint as a New York taxi driver. We see him win the 24 Hours of Daytona - the sports car endurance race for the Chip Hart Racing Team, with team owner Chip Hart (Shea Whigham) urging Sonny to stay on with the team after winning, but Sonny isn't interested and almost immediately exits the circuit in his camper van.

At a diner later that evening his former Lotus teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) tracks him down. Ruben is now the owner of the APXGP F1 Team, and offers him a test drive to fill their spare seat. Ruben states that his investors will sell the team unless APXGP, last in the World Constructors' Championship with no points and last in the Drivers Championship also with zero points, wins one of the nine remaining Grand Prix that year. Sonny reluctantly agrees after Ruben tells him victory will make him 'the best in the world', and places a first class airline ticket on the table to their UK HQ.

At the Silverstone test, Sonny meets team principal Kaspar Smolinski (Kim Bodnia), technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), and ambitious British rookie driver Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who states that seven drivers turned down the opportunity to drive for Apex. Joshua quietly worries the potential sale will result in his replacement, believing he must beat at all costs his teammates to impress the investors. During his test, Sonny struggles with the set up of a modern F1 car, but very quickly after just one lap of the circuit identifies the car's weaknesses. Despite crashing out in his maiden test drive around the circuit, Kaspar recognises his talent behind the wheel and agrees to him being signed up.

Sonny returns at the British Grand Prix, where slow and fumbled pit stops lead the APXGP drivers to last position after a fairly promising start. Sonny ignores team orders to let Joshua by and they collide, both spinning out of control into the sand traps. 

In Hungary, Sonny mends his relationship with Joshua by exploiting F1 rules by colliding with other drivers to force safety cars onto the track on three separate occasions. He helps Joshua catch the midfield and score APXGP's maiden points finish with a ninth placing. Joshua adopts Sonny's old-school training practices, and Sonny emulates his simulator work, and later persuades Kate to redesign the car for 'combat'. 

During the rain-soaked Italian Grand Prix, Sonny encourages Joshua to remain on slick tires, which risks aquaplaning but vaults Joshua up to second place. Joshua ignores Sonny's advice to wait for a straight before attempting to overtake Max Verstappen. He hits a curb and his car becomes airborne flying over a barrier and immediately explodes in a ball of flame upon landing. Sonny pulls him from the fire and Joshua misses three races with his hands badly burnt. Sonny meanwhile claims consistent points over the next few races, and grows in popularity with the fans. Joshua becomes more determined than ever to defeat him upon his return.

In his comeback race at the Belgian Grand Prix, Joshua's aggressive driving results in a collision with Sonny, forcing him out of the race and angering him. Kate arranges a poker game between her, Sonny and Joshua in the bar of their hotel in Las Vegas where the winner gets favourable treatment at the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix. Joshua wins with a pair of fives but, after he leaves, Sonny reveals he intentionally folded with a winning hand of a pair of Kings. 

Impressed, Kate courts Sonny and they spend the night together. Ruben interrupts them early the next morning to reveal that an anonymous tip claimed Kate manufactured the 'combat' upgrades illegally. Kate denies any wrongdoing, but the FIA (the governing body of many international motorsport championships and disciplines, including Formula One) demand the upgrades be removed, or they cannot race. During the race, Sonny gets road rage and crashes out. As Sonny recovers in a hospital bed, Ruben learns his 1993 injuries permanently impaired him, and fires him for his own safety, and to protect the integrity of his team. 

As he is about to leave the circuit and his team behind, he is approached by APXGP Board member Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies) who reveals to Sonny that he orchestrated his signing and the complaint to the FIA so he could fire Ruben and sell APXGP, offering to promote him to team principal if the sale goes through, making him rich beyond his wildest dreams. His gives Sonny three days to consider his offer. 

Before the last race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Joshua commits to being more responsible and disciplined, admitting to his mother Bernadette (Sarah Niles) that his crash in Italy was not Sonny's fault, but his own. Sonny persuades Ruben into letting him race and declines Peter's offer via text message with a simple emoji flipping him the bird. The FIA exonerates Kate, allowing APXGP to restore her upgrades. During the race, Joshua takes the lead by remaining on worn tyres, but is overtaken by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. 

A very welcome red flag is shown after a struggling Sonny, in fourth, collides with George Russell, causing all drivers to pit for ten minutes and for Sonny's car to be repaired and for both APXGP drivers to restart on a set of fresh tyres - a luxury the other drivers did not have because all the other teams used up their tyre allocations in practice and qualifying. After the ten minute pause and with just three laps remaining, Sonny passing Charles Leclerc, sacrifices his chance at victory by forcing Lewis to block his overtake instead of Joshua's. However, Lewis and Joshua collide on the final lap, clearing the way for Sonny's and APXGP's maiden victory, therefore preventing the sale of the team and cementing Ruben's position for another three years. 

Sonny and Ruben rejoice on the podium, exclaiming 'we are the best in the world'. Toto Wolff, team principal and co-owner of Mercedes offers Joshua a seat with his team at anytime, but Joshua gratefully declines. Sonny and Kate confirm their relationship, with the pair committing to see each other again 'down the road'. Joshua congratulates Sonny, who returns to his nomadic lifestyle, competing in the Baja 1000 - the annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. 

As with 'Top Gun : Maverick' here Director and Co-Producer Joseph Kosinski and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer have spared no expense and fine tuned every last detail to put the audience right slap bang in the middle of the action, and where the roar of the engines, the thrill of the race and the emotion of winning and losing is concerned, where else would you want to be? Together with Brad Pitt and seven time World Champion F1 driver Lewis Hamilton who also serve as Co-Producers, this team have crafted an authentic race movie as you'll ever likely to see. The race sequences are thrilling and exhilarating, and the principle cast led by Pitt, Idris, Bardem and Condon all add a sense of realism and believability to the proceedings, ably aided and abetted by numerous cameo appearances from the complete line up of F1 drivers from the 2023 and 2024 seasons plus a number of team principals and owners that serve to cement the authenticity. Whilst the plot is fairly thin on the ground and at the same time predictable, the spectacle of being in the drivers seat with Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pearce and seeing the race track flash past and in front at 200+ MPH is what this film is all about, and on that level it doesn't disappoint, and at a running time of 155 minutes it doesn't leave you wanting either.

'F1' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 3rd July 2025

The 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) takes place this year from Friday 4th July through until Saturday 12th July in the Czech Republic city of Karlovy Vary, situated about sixty-six miles west of Prague. It is the largest film festival in the Czech Republic and the most prestigious such festival in Central and Eastern Europe, and is one of the oldest A-list film festivals, a category it shares with the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, San Sebastian, Montreal, Shanghai, and Tokyo. 

Each year, the KVIFF presents some two hundred films from all around the world. Many of the films are exclusively shown at the festival, while others make it into Czech or foreign distribution, onto television, or into other festivals thanks in part to their screening in Karlovy Vary. The greatest focus is on the traditional programme sections – the Crystal Globe Competition, which is reserved for feature-length films shot during the previous season that have not been shown at any other festival in international competition, and the Proxima section, an international competition which aims to complement the Crystal Globe Competition by celebrating contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries shown exclusively as World or International Premieres - so reads the official website.

Eleven of the twelve titles in the Crystal Globe Competition have been announced. The remaining film, from Iran, will be revealed closer to the end of the festival to ensure the safety of its creators. Those films are as given below, in brief :-

* 'Better Go Mad in the Wild' - from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and Written for the screen, Co-Produced, Co-Photographed and Directed by Miro Remo. World Premiere.

* 'Broken Voices' - from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and Written and Directed by Ondrej Provaznik. World Premiere.

* 'Cinema Jazireh' - from Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria and Romania and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Gozde Kural. World Premiere.

* 'Divia' - from Poland, Ukraine, Netherlands and the USA and Written, Co-Photographed, Directed and Co-Edited by Dmytro Hreshko. World Premiere.

* 'Don't Call Me Mama' - from Norway and Co-Written and Directed by Nina Knag. World Premiere.

* 'Jimmy Jaguar' - from Hungary and Written, Directed, scored and sound designed by Bence Fliegauf. World Premiere.

* 'The Luminous Life' - from Portugal and France and Written and Directed by Joao Rosas. International Premiere.

* 'Out of Love' - from France and Written and Directed by Nathan Ambrosioni. World Premiere.

* 'Rebuilding' - from the USA and Written and Directed by Max Walker-Silverman, and starring Josh O'Connor, Lily LaTorre, Meghann Fahy and Amy Madigan. International Premiere.

* 'The Visitor' - from Lithuania, Norway and Sweden and Co-Written, Photographed and Directed by Vytautas Katkus. World Premiere.

* 'When a River Becomes a Sea' - from Spain and Co-Written, Directed and Co-Edited by Pere Vila Barcelo. World Premiere.

For the full details of the above named feature films, plus all the other film strands being showcased including the Proxima Competition, Special Screenings, Horizons, Imagina and Afterhours, and a whole lot of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.kviff.com/en/homepage

Turning the attention then back to this weeks five new movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, we kick off with this seventh offering in this 'monster' franchise that sees an expedition having to brave it out in isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a groundbreaking medical breakthrough. Then we turn to a story of a creative entrepreneur who lost his spouse, and develops a machine designed to communicate with deceased individuals. This is followed by a film about a Mongolian family who must leave their nomadic desert life after a devastating storm. Next up is an Aussie film about a man in his 30's with Down Syndrome, whose mother is dying of lung cancer, and embarks on a journey to find his father - a rock band singer; before closing out the week with a Taiwanese film that explores first love, teenage confusion and mental health though the lens of high school life.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'JURASSIC WORLD : REBIRTH' (Rated M) - is an American science fiction action film Directed by Gareth Edwards whose previous feature film credits take in his Directorial debut in 2010 with 'Monsters' which he would follow up with 'Godzilla' in 2014, 'Rogue One : A Star Wars Story' in 2016, and 'The Creator' in 2023. This film is a standalone sequel to 2022's 'Jurassic World Dominion' the fourth 'Jurassic World' film and the seventh instalment overall in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise. The first six films in the series so far have grossed at the worldwide Box Office a total of US$6,076B against combined production budgets of US$1,143B - so long live the dinosaurs! The film is released in the US this week too, and cost US$180M to produce. 

Set five years after the events of 'Jurassic World : Dominion', the planet's ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs. Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. Zora Bennett (Scarlett Johansson) leads a top secret expedition with a team of skilled operatives to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park. Their mission is to secure DNA from the three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere that hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind. Also starring Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Ed Skrein. 

'THE SHROUDS' (Rated MA15+) - this Canadian and French Co-Produced body horror drama film is Written and Directed by David Cronenberg whose feature film debut came along in 1969 with 'Stereo' and who subsequently went on to helm the likes of 'Shivers' in 1975, 'The Brood' in 1979, 'Scanners' in 1981, 'Videodrome' in 1983, 'The Fly' in 1986, 'Naked Lunch' in 1991, 'Crash' in 1996, 'A History of Violence' in 2005, 'Eastern Promises' in 2007, 'Maps to the Stars' in 2014 and 'Crimes of the Future' most recently in 2022. Here, four years after his wife Becca's (Diane Kruger) death from cancer, businessman Karsh (Vincent Cassel) has invented 'GraveTech', a tombstone that broadcasts a live, interactive 3D image of a deceased's decomposing corpse. The image of the dead person is created by a modified burial shroud. What could possibly go wrong?? Also starring Guy Pearce and Sandrine Holt. The film was screened in Main Competition section at the Cannes Film Festival on mid-May 2024, and was released in Canada, France and the US at the back end of April this year having garnered generally favourable critical reviews and grossing so far US$1.3M at the Box Office.

'THE WOLVES ALWAYS COME AT NIGHT' (Rated PG) - is a Co-Production between Australia, Germany and Mongolia that blends both documentary with fictional elements, and is Co-Written and Directed by the Australian filmmaker Gabrielle Brady in only her second feature film outing. The film follows Davaasuren 'Davaa' Dagvasuren and Otgonzaya 'Zaya' Dashzeveg (who also Co-Wrote the film with the Director), a young nomadic couple in the vast Bayanhongor region of Mongolia who are in the throes of animal birthing season when they are forced to abandon their familiar lives as shepherds and move to Ulaanbaatar after their livelihood is disrupted by climate change. The film Premiered in the Platform Prize programme at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, and was subsequently screened in competition at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival.

'WHAT ABOUT SAL?' (Rated M) - is a 2023 Australian comedy drama film Written, Produced and Directed by John Jarratt, the Australian Actor and film maker whose other two Directing credits are 'StalkHer' in 2015 and the doco 'Wake in Film' currently in post-production. Sal (Gerard O'Dwyer) is in his 30's and with Down Syndrome. He lives with his mum Sophie (Kaarin Fairfax) who has an aggressive form of lung cancer. She has only weeks to live, and with no living family members left, Sal could become a ward of the state, or homeless. He refuses to become neither. When Sal becomes aware that he was a product of a one night stand and that his mum doesn't remember his name, he plays detective and embarks on a journey to find his unnamed father - a rock band singer thirty years ago. Also starring Justin Banks, Chad R. Bennett and John Jarratt. The film was originally released here in Australia in early March last year, and it looks as though its getting a re-run from this week in select cinema's. 

'LOVESICK' (Rated PG) - this Taiwanese romantic comedy drama film is Directed by Fu-Hsiang Hsu and here sees Zijie (Huai-yun Zhan), a rebellious teenager, stumbles upon the unexpected perks of being mistaken for being terminally ill. Intrigued by the attention and freedom, he chooses to play along, embracing a carefree 'lying flat' lifestyle. His act soon draws the concern of Yezi (Chi Chiang), a straight-A classmate with a mysterious warmth. As Zijie's deception deepens, the lies spiral out of control. Just when he's on the verge of being exposed, a twist turns everything upside down - Yezi is the one truly battling a terminal illness. Bound by secrets and a ticking clock, the faker and the genuinely ill set off on a heartfelt mission - to check off each other’s bucket lists before time runs out. The film was released in its native Taiwan in late April and has so far grossed US$2M. 

With five new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

28 YEARS LATER : Tuesday 24th June 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated '28 YEARS LATER' at my local independent movie theatre this week, and this post-apocalyptic horror film is Co-Produced and Directed by Danny Boyle, and Written and Co-Produced by Alex Garland. It is the third in the '28 Days Later' film series, following 2002's '28 Days Later' and 2007's '28 Weeks Later', and is reportedly the first instalment in a new trilogy of films, of which the second film was shot back-to-back and titled '28 Years Later : The Bone Temple' which was Directed by Nia DaCosta, Written by Garland, and Produced by Boyle and Garland, and is due for release in mid-January 2026. The first two films in the franchise grossed a total Box Office haul of US$172M from combined production budgets of US$23M. The film went on release here in Australia, in the US and the UK last week, has so far grossed US$69M from a production budget of US$60M and has generated largely favourable critical reviews.

The films open in 2002, during the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus, where a group of young children are sat around a small TV screen watching an episode of the 'Teletubbies' in a remote house somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. A young lad named Jimmy (Rocco Haynes) flees from the house after being attacked by his infected family, in which all the other children are killed. He runs for shelter to the nearby church, where he finds his father (Sandy Batchelor), the local vicar, praying. Believing the outbreak to be the Day of Judgment, the vicar interprets the virus as an indicator of the end of times. He gives Jimmy a crucifix necklace and urges him to flee before allowing himself to be overwhelmed by a horde of the infected, so giving Jimmy the opportunity to hide and ultimately escape.

We then fast forward 28 years and although the Rage Virus has been eradicated from mainland Europe, the British Isles remains in indefinite quarantine, patrolled by offshore ships from across the continent. A survivor community lives on the tidal island of Lindisfarne, off the northeast coast of England, connected by a fortified causeway that is only passable at low tide. Among them are Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a scavenger; his wife Isla (Jodie Comer), who has an unknown illness that keeps her virtually bedridden; and their twelve-year-old son Spike (Alfie Williams). Jamie takes Spike to the mainland for a coming-of-age ritual. Village leadership reminds Spike of the dangers of leaving the island and while he is free to go beyond and return at will, search and rescue missions will not be launched for those who do not return.

On the mainland, after Spike has made his first kill of an infected, they make their way to an abandoned and dilapidated cottage where they find an infected, hanging upside down from the rafters by his feet and with a plastic bag over his head and with the name 'Jimmy' carved into his torso. A short time later they  encounter a pack of infected led by an Alpha, a mutated variant of the infected who are stronger and more intelligent. Returning to the cottage chased by the infected, Jamie is able to kill most of them with his bow and arrows as they escape into the attic. 

As the evening closes in they observe boats patrolling the sea and a fire burning up the coast in the distance. A stampeding deer herd triggers the partial collapse of the cottage, and Jamie and Spike are able to get out just in time. They return to Lindisfarne as the tide rises above the causeway to knee height, pursued by the Alpha who almost catches up to the pair, until sentries located in a look out tower use a large homemade crossbow loaded with a burning arrow to kill it. 

During a raucous celebration in which Jamie calls his son a Giant Killer and over exaggerates the number of infected Spike slayed, the boy witnesses his father kissing Rosey (Amy Cameron) and runs off in shock. He returns home to his grandfather who is looking after Spike's mother and learns that the fire was more than likely lit by Dr. Ian Kelson, a reclusive survivor on the mainland whom the villagers fear. According to rumours, dating back fifteen years, Kelson had been seen burning bodies in what seemed to be a ritualistic fashion. Disillusioned with his father, Spike secretly returns to the mainland with his mother, hoping to locate Kelson so that he can provide the necessary treatment for her. While resting for the night in a church, Isla kills an infected who had crept up on Spike, in her disconnected condition not recalling the next morning how it happened.

Swedish NATO soldier Erik Sundqvist (Edvin Ryding) and his unit are forced ashore after their patrol boat sinks off the coast of Scotland. Erik is the only survivor after an Alpha and a pack of infected attacked his unit. He comes across Spike and Isla in a run down Happy Eater roadside restaurant, rescuing them from another pack as the restaurant explodes in a ball of flame as a result of leaking benzene inside that had built up over many years. Erik joins their search for Kelson. The group comes across a derailed passenger train and Isla finds a pregnant infected woman inside one of the carriages temporarily exhibiting semi-docile behaviour, whom she helps give birth to an uninfected infant girl. 

Believing the baby is infected, Erik kills the mother in a hail of bullets and prepares to kill the child, but another dominant Alpha hearing the commotion intervenes and rips his head off. The Alpha chases Spike and Isla through the carriages and out across the surrounding fields, until Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) appears and subdues it with a morphine-laced blowdart. 

Taking the head of Erik, Kelson leads Spike, Isla, and the infant to his sanctuary, which is a temple built from sterilised bones of the countless number of bodies that have perished over the years from the virus, which he describes as his 'memento mori', which he explains to Spike means 'remember to die'. He later hands the skull of Erik to Spike to place on his temple.

After examining Isla, and using the limited resources he has available Kelson deduces that she has terminal cancer that has metastasized. Spike pleads with Kelson to cure her, but he explains that he is unable to do anything for his mother. At her request, he incapacitates Spike and euthanises her with a morphine dart. He later brings her sterilised skull to Spike, who climbs to the top of the temple and places it there as a memorial as the sun comes up. After another confrontation with the Alpha, Spike and Kelson escape, and Kelson encourages Spike to go home. Spike returns to Lindisfarne alone, leaving Isla (the uninfected baby whom he named after his mother) at the gate to the village with a note for Jamie explaining her origins and saying he will return when ready. Jamie, realising Spike is alone now on the mainland, tries to chase after him, but is prevented from doing so by the rising tide covering the causeway.

28 days later, Spike is seen on the mainland by the side of the road cooking a fish on an open camp fire when not far away he sees an infected, and waits until the infected is nearly upon him before killing it with his bow and arrow. When another appears Spike starts to run but when he rounds a corner his way his blocked by a steep rock fall. While trying to evade the infected, Spike is rescued by a gang of 'Jimmies' styled after Jimmy Savile, led by an adult Jimmy (Jack O'Connell) all dressed in garish track suits, with long blond hair and gold chains around their necks and gold rings on their fingers. After the Jimmies have dispensed with all the infected, Jimmy, with the inverted crucifix his father gave him around his neck, offers his hand to Spike in a sign of friendship and respect. 

With '28 Years Later' Director Danny Boyle and scribe Alex Garland have expanded on the world first seen in their two earlier films in the series, and delivered us with a zombie flick that morphs into a coming of age story with raw unbridled emotion at its heart, delivered by top notch performances from Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and newcomer Alfie Williams. When the violence comes its pretty graphic, as is to be expected from a world inhabited by the infected, but don't rely on jump scares or the intensity of its predecessors if that's what you're looking for. This character driven story is entertaining enough but its not great, and with that said, it's hard to judge this film because we're only seeing part of the story with two further instalments still to come. And as for the last five minutes - where did the inspiration for the 'Jimmies' come from I wonder? We'll just have to wait for 'The Bone Temple' I guess to find out.

'28 Years Later' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new at Odeon's this week : Thursday 26th June 2025

The 42nd Munich International Film Festival this year is held from Friday 27th June through until Sunday 6th July in the German city of Munich. It is the largest summer film festival in Germany and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late June or early July, and presents feature films and feature-length documentaries. With the exception of retrospectives, tributes and homages, all of the films screened are German Premieres and many are European and World Premieres. There are a dozen competitions with prizes worth over €250K which are donated by the festival's major sponsors and partners. With over 160 feature films and feature-length documentaries on more than eighteen screens, from fifty-four countries, Filmfest Munchen has an annual attendance of around 80,000. It accredits more than six hundred members of the international press and media as well as over 2,500 film industry professionals. Nearly fifty films will have their World Premieres at this year’s festival in the Bavarian capital, with such international stars as Stellan Skarsgard, Francois Ozon, Jay Duplass and Gillian Anderson, the American Actress, Writer, and activist, who will be honoured with the CineMerit Award for her outstanding contributions to the art of film, all giving personal appearances.

This years Opening Night film presentation is 'The Balled of Wallis Island' and Directed by James Griffiths and starring Tom Basden, Tim Key and Carey Mulligan and tells the story set on a remote island off the Welsh coast where old tensions resurface when former bandmates, who were former lovers, reunite for the first time in nine years for a private show at the island home of an eccentric millionaire. 

The CineMasters Competition includes films from internationally acclaimed Directors (with the exception of Germany). The films are in competition for the ARRI/OSRAM Award for Best Film (non-German), and carries a services award from both of these companies worth €50K). Those feature films therefore competing are as follows :-

* 'Aicha' - from France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and Written and Directed by Mehdi M. Barsaoui. 

* 'Hard Truths' - from the UK and Written and Directed by Mike Leigh and starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin and David Webber.

* 'Sound of Falling' - from Germany and Co-Written and Directed by Mascha Schilinski. Winner of the Jury Prize at this years Cannes Film Festival.

* 'Kika' - from Belgium and Co-Written and Directed by Alexe Poukine. 

* 'Magellan' - from France, Philippines, Portugal, Spain and Taiwan and Written, Production Designed, Directed, Co-Photographed and Co-Edited by Lav Diaz, and starring Gael Garcia Bernal.

* 'Militantropos' - from France, Austria and Ukraine and Directed by Yelizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova and Simon Mozgovyi.

* 'Nouvelle Vague' - from France and Directed by Richard Linklater and starring Guillaume Marbeck, Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin.

* 'Perla' - from Austria and Slovakia and Written and Directed by Alexandra Makarova.

* 'Promised Sky' - from France, Qatar and Tunisia and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Erige Sehiri. 

* 'Sirat' - from France and Spain and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Oliver Laxe. Winner of the Jury Prize at this years Cannes Film Festival.

* 'The Baltimorons' - from the USA and Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Jay Duplass.

* 'The Exposure' - from Switzerland and the UK and Written, Co-Produced, Directed and Co-Edited by Thomas Imbach.

* 'When Fall is Coming' - from France and Co-Written, Produced and Directed by Francois Ozon.

* 'Yes' - from Germany, France, Israel and Cyprus and Written and Directed by Nadav Lapid.

For the full synopsis of the aforementioned films being showcased within the CineMasters section, plus the other film strands including the CineVision Competition, the CineCoPro Competition, Spotlight, International Independents, New German Cinema and the Kinderfilmfest, plus a whole bunch of other good stuff, you can go to the official website at : https://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/en/

This week we have four new movies coming to your local big screen Odeon, launching with a sports drama film in which a semi-retired Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team up with a younger driver. This is followed by a Sci-Fi horror sequel set two years after this child sized humanoid robot's rampage, her creator, resorts to resurrecting her infamous creation in order to take down a military-grade robot who was built by a defence contractor who stole the underlying tech from the original robot. Next up we have the first of two French offerings, with the story of a Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker who has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency; and closing out the week and set on the sunny French Riviera, where a family revelation spirals into a mischievous journey brimming with love, vengeance and surprises.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new films as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'F1' (Rated M) - this American sports drama film is Co-Written, Co-Produced and Directed by Joseph Kosinski whose prior feature film efforts take in 'Tron : Legacy' in 2010, 'Oblivion' in 2013, 'Only the Brave' in 2017, 'Top Gun : Maverick' in 2022 and 'Spiderhead' also in 2022. This film features the Formula One World Championship, created in collaboration with the FIA, its governing body, and is Co-Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Lewis Hamilton and Brad Pitt. The film is released internationally this week and cost US$200M to produce.

Here, dubbed 'the greatest that never was' Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was Formula 1's most promising driver of the 1990's until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he's a nomadic racer-for-hire driving in other motor sport disciplines, when he's approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling Formula 1 team Apex Grand Prix (APXGP) that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to Formula 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He'll drive alongside Joshua 'Noah' Pearce (Damson Idris), the team's hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny's past catches up with him and he finds that in Formula 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition, and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone. Also starring Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Shea Whigham plus all ten Formula One teams and their drivers in the 2023 season will appear as themselves.

'M3GAN 2.0' (Rated M) - is an American Sci-Fi horror film Written and Directed by Gerard Johnstone, and is a sequel to 2022's 'M3GAN' which was also Directed by Gerard Johnstone and grossed US$182M from a production budget of US$12M making this sequel inevitable. Here, set two years after the events of the first film Gemma (Allison Williams, who also Co-Produces here alongside James Wan and Jason Blum) has become an author and an advocate for the regulation of artificial intelligence while trapping a still-active M3GAN (Amie Donald with Jenna Davis providing the voice) in a small, harmless robotic doll. However, M3GAN's technology has been stolen and used by a defence contractor to create a military robot called AMELIA (Autonomous Military Engagement Logistics and Infiltration Android - Ivanna Sakhno), who becomes self-aware, turns on her creators, and attempts an AI takeover. Facing imminent destruction, Gemma's niece Cady (Violet McGraw) convinces her to rebuild M3GAN with advanced upgrades so she can fight Amelia. Also starring Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jermain Clement. The film is released Stateside this week too.

'SOULEYMANE'S STORY' (Rated M) - this French drama film is Co-Written and Directed by Boris Lojkine, and tells the story of Souleymane (Abou Sangare), a recent Guinean immigrant in Paris, whose every waking second is spent fighting against the clock, working as an e-bike rider for a food delivery service to make his quota, getting back in time to secure a bed at the shelter, filling out paperwork on a deadline as he tries desperately to get asylum in France, and with his interview in two days, he is ill prepared. The film had its World Premiere showcasing at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Performance Prize. It was released in its native France in early October last year and only now is it released in Australia having garnered universal critical acclaim.

'RIVIERA REVENGE' (Rated M) - is a French comedy film Written and Directed by Ivan Calberac whose two most recent feature films were 2019's 'Venice Calling' and 2022's 'The Tasting'. Here, he tells the story of Francois Marsault (Andre Dussollier), a war veteran, who makes the most of his retirement alongside his wife Annie (Sabine Azema) with whom he has been married for five decades. Authoritarian and ruthless, Francois rules his family with an iron fist, but when he discovers that his esteemed wife cheated on him forty years ago, he files for divorce and confronts her former lover, who lives on the French Riviera. The film was released in France in late April 2024, and only now does it get a showing in Australia. 

With four new release movie offerings this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere at your local Odeon in the coming week.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

BRING HER BACK : Tuesday 17th June 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'BRING HER BACK' this week, and this Australian supernatural horror film is Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou and Co-Written by Danny Philippou, whose debut feature film was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'Talk to Me' in 2023. The brothers are known together online as RackaRacka, and are Australian twin filmmakers, YouTubers, and stunt performers, and are known for their horror comedy YouTube videos. The film was released here in Australia and the USA at the end of May and in the UK on 1st August, has so far grossed US$20M from a production budget of US$15M and has generated largely favourable critical reviews.

Here then, following the death of their father in the shower, a brother Andy (Billy Barratt) and his almost blind step-sister Piper (Sora Wong) are placed into foster care with the eccentric former counsellor of twenty years Laura (Sally Hawkins), who also has in her care a mute young lad named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips). 

We also learn during their initial introductions that Laura had a daughter Cathy (Mischa Heywood) who drowned at the age of twelve in the home swimming pool, and who was also blind. Andy quickly becomes disturbed by Laura's behaviour, her favouritism towards Piper, and Oliver's strange mannerisms. He tells his social worker Wendy (Sally-Anne Upton), and Laura, of his intention to apply for Piper's guardianship when he turns 18 in three months time. Laura begins subtly undermining Andy's mental condition, implying he is unfit to look after his sister, particularly after she reads a text message on Andy's mobile phone to a friend that Oliver is 'fucking weird!'

At their father's funeral, Laura secretly cuts a lock of hair from the body and later tells Andy that some believe the soul lingers in a corpse after death for up to a few months. She also urges Andy to kiss his father one last time, which he reluctantly does on the forehead, after which she kisses the corpse on the lips. That night, back at the house the three of them play a drinking game and play loud music which they all dance to. With Piper passed out on the sofa, Andy shares that their father was abusive toward him when he was eight years old especially, but was always affectionate toward Piper, which caused resentment. Laura reflects on her grief over Cathy's death and says she would give anything to hear Cathy call her 'mum' again. 

The next day, Laura runs an errand in town and takes Piper leaving strict instructions for Andy to leave Oliver locked in his room. However, Andy sees this as a chance to bond with Oliver, and so he unlocks the door and they both sit at the kitchen bench. Andy pulls half a cantaloupe melon from the fridge and with a large kitchen knife begins slicing off big chunks and offering a slice to Oliver. He grips the blade and Andy releases his hold and turns his back, but Oliver starts chewing on the knife breaking his two front teeth and badly cutting his upper lip. There's blood everywhere. 

When Andy tries to carry him across Laura's white painted circle property line to get him to a hospital, Oliver begins to convulse and scream. Laura, arrives and takes Oliver to her room and calms him by rubbing his head in a circular motion. He reluctantly returns to his mute state. Laura then feeds the lock of hair to Oliver. Later that night, Andy attempts to shower but is interrupted by Oliver, who speaks in Andy's father's voice, warning, 'She'll die in the rain'. Andy hallucinates this as an apparition of his dead father, slips on the wet floor out of sheer fright and is concussed. 

With Andy recovering in hospital, Laura takes Piper to a padlocked shed and dresses her in Cathy's clothes. Cathy's corpse is in the shed, stored in a chest freezer, which Laura guides Pipers hand over saying it is frozen meat. It is revealed that Oliver is a demonically possessed child, overtaken by a demon that Laura summoned via an amateur occult resurrection ritual learned from a pirate VHS recording. The corpse of the person to be resurrected is fed to a possessed host, who then regurgitates the corpse and its lingering soul into the newly dead body of a person killed in the same manner as the one to be resurrected. Laura intends to drown Piper in the pool during a forecasted heavy rainstorm to mimic Cathy's death and use Oliver to complete the ritual. Meanwhile, Oliver becomes more and more restless.

Upon Andy's return, Laura sprays herself with his cologne and savagely punches Piper while she sleeps, giving her a severely blackened eye, and then convinces Piper that Andy assaulted her that night. Piper is unsure but says she could smell Andy's scent. Laura accuses Andy of being abusive like their father, provoking an outburst. Andy leaves in a state of shock from his own behaviour towards Laura. Following this angry altercation, Laura takes Piper to a goalball practice session to remove her during the ritual's setup.

As Oliver's hunger becomes ever more intense, he trashes the house, bites Laura savagely on the arm, starts biting chunks out of the wooden kitchen bench top and eating the wooden splinters leaving several teeth embedded in the worktop, and then starts chewing on his own arm and hand. Meanwhile, Andy visits the foster agency and learns Oliver is actually a missing child named Connor Bird who has been missing for two weeks according to a poster displayed on the wall, and that Laura's foster background was never vetted. He convinces Wendy, to investigate. During their drive to the house, Andy warns Piper via voicemail about Laura and reveals the truth about their father. Laura intercepts the message, hurriedly cleans and tidies up the house, and deceives Wendy during the visit, until Wendy notices Laura's bleeding arm. Upon questioning, Laura hysterically claims she can resurrect Cathy. Wendy and Andy discover Oliver eating Cathy's corpse in the shed, but before escaping are run down by Laura in her car. Wendy is killed outright, and Andy survives but is badly injured. Laura then finishes off Andy by drowning him in a muddy puddle of rain.

Laura hurriedly collects Piper from her goalball game and returns her home. Having eaten some of Andy's flesh, Oliver now speaks with Andy's voice to attract Piper. She follows the voice and touches his face and head but is stopped by Laura. Suspicious, Piper locks herself in the bathroom and finds Andy's body laying on the floor. Laura breaks in and explains the ritual to Piper then drags her to the pool which is now filled with rainwater, and proceeds to hold her under the water. Piper is able to kick herself free and screams 'mum', at which point Laura hesitates and releases her. 

Oliver in the meantime has descended onto the steps of the pool and follows Piper as she climbs out. Piper escapes to the road, having kicked Oliver where it hurts, and is rescued by a passing car. Oliver crawls past the painted circle and collapses as the demon leaves his body, and Police arrive in the darkness of night to find and identify him as Connor Bird. Laura, now downcast, carries Cathy's partially consumed corpse into the pool and cradles it as officers surround her, and as the rain stops.

'Bring Her Back' won't be for everyone, but for aficionados of the horror or supernatural genres this film is sure to please with its tale of an unhinged foster mum literally hell bent on bringing her dead daughter back to life. The Philippou brothers have here delivered a tense, unsettling and at times macabre offering that is not short on violence and gore but all at once is as effective at examining the themes of life, death, grief, friendships and family all wrapped up into one neat package. At the same time they have further established themselves as masters of the genre while cementing their position as Directors to watch for what they'll come up with next. The performances of Jonah Wren Phillips especially as Oliver/Connor is a standout for a twelve year old lad, and Sally Hawkins proves she up for anything as the deranged foster mum Laura who takes us from tragedy and trauma, to heartbreak to manipulation and horror along the way. My only criticism of the film is the poor continuity within some of the scenes that left me thinking that the attention to detail was lacking somewhat. However, that said, this film is a worthy follow-up to 'Talk to Me' and quite possibly qualifies as one of the best horror films you're likely to see this year.

'Bring Her Back' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-