Journey Into Cinema
@journeyintocinema.bsky.social
Exploring the outer edge of film at journeyintocinema.com
"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...
Joseph Owen reports from his first ever Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival! journeyintocinema.com/tallinn-blac...
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Review 2025
Tales of trauma, pain, memory and vanishing animate an instructive and illuminating Tallinn Black Nights, a ray of light amid bleak November.
journeyintocinema.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
"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...
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-...
Sly Tallinn competition entry 18 Holes to Paradise skewers the foibles — and hubris — of the rich.
journeyintocinema.com/18-holes-to-...
18 Holes to Paradise by João Nuno Pinto Review| BNFF
The absurdities of the privileged in the face of incoming disaster is smartly dissected in João Nuno Pinto's Tallinn entry 18 Holes to Paradise.
journeyintocinema.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:25 PM
"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-...
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...
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...
Song Sung Blue by Craig Brewer Review | Journey Into Cinema
Craig Brewer's Song Song Blue is a surprisingly powerful musical biopic that rests upon the remarkable easygoing charm of Kate Hudson.
journeyintocinema.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"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...
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...
Devastating Dutch drama The Pupil plays at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/the-pupil-re...
The Pupil by Karin Junger Review | Tallinn Film Festival
At a time when "groomer" is used as a political smear, The Pupil shows us the truly sickening impact the reality can have on young boys and girls.
journeyintocinema.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"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...
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...
Jared Abbott reviews Interior, playing at Black Nights Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/interior-rev...
Interior by Pascal Schuh Review | Tallinn Black Nights
A sleek German answer to Philip Noyce's Sliver, Interior uses a sexual taboo to interrogate a world where all we do is watch — and rarely intervene.
journeyintocinema.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
"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...
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/
Osgood Perkins' latest movie is a non-starter.
journeyintocinema.com/keeper-review/
Keeper by Osgood Perkins Review | Journey Into Cinema
Osgood Perkins' lazy "cabin in the woods" horror Keeper is a tale about almost nothing at all, with almost nothing to enjoy.
journeyintocinema.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:24 AM
"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/
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-...
@chidinmaokezie_ looks at the classic 1977 Spanish film La criatura!
journeyintocinema.com/la-criatura-...
La criatura by Eloy de la Iglesia Review | Aesthetics
Made during Spain's transition to democracy, La criatura is a fascinating time capsule that uses bestiality to represent the possibility of change.
journeyintocinema.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:51 PM
"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-...
@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...
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...
NMS #2: Autumn in New York
A terrible "fall" movie you can't look away from, in-flight corporate propaganda, and a couple of heist recommendations
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
"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...
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...
journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/no-more-sl...
No More Slop! #1
Here's what you should be watching instead!
journeyintocinema.substack.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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...
journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/no-more-sl...
Reposted by Journey Into Cinema
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...
Nick Kouhi surveys new films by Radu Jude, James Benning and Tsai Ming-liang at NYFF!
journeyintocinema.com/currents-nyf...
Currents Review | New York Film Festival 2025
From Radu Jude's take on AI slop to Benning's pointedly political piece, Currents at NYFF has its experimental finger on today's disintegrating world.
journeyintocinema.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
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...
Nick Kouhi surveys new films by Radu Jude, James Benning and Tsai Ming-liang at NYFF!
journeyintocinema.com/currents-nyf...
Currents Review | New York Film Festival 2025
From Radu Jude's take on AI slop to Benning's pointedly political piece, Currents at NYFF has its experimental finger on today's disintegrating world.
journeyintocinema.com
October 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"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...
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...
@nkouhi.bsky.social takes on the always entertaining and provocative Currents section at NYFF!
substack.com/@journeyinto...
Current Responses to a Degrading Status Quo
New films in New York by Radu Jude, James Benning, Sharon Lockhart and Tsai Ming-liang
substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"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...
@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!
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journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/dont-pay-f...
Don't Pay for Black Phone 2
Put That Coffee Down and Pay for a Journey Paid Tier Instead
journeyintocinema.substack.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Exclusive Journey Content available when you subscribe to paid!
journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/dont-pay-f...
journeyintocinema.substack.com/p/dont-pay-f...
"It starts, as many horror sequels do, with the key question: how on earth can I move beyond the trauma of the last movie?"
The Danteesque Black Phone 2 shows that the worst layer of hell is all *ice*
journeyintocinema.com/black-phone-...
The Danteesque Black Phone 2 shows that the worst layer of hell is all *ice*
journeyintocinema.com/black-phone-...
Black Phone 2 by Scott Derrickson Review | Reviews
Scott Derrickson's marginally better sequel Black Phone 2, the spirit of Dante's Inferno is chanelled to frosty — in both senses of the word — results.
journeyintocinema.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:29 PM
"It starts, as many horror sequels do, with the key question: how on earth can I move beyond the trauma of the last movie?"
The Danteesque Black Phone 2 shows that the worst layer of hell is all *ice*
journeyintocinema.com/black-phone-...
The Danteesque Black Phone 2 shows that the worst layer of hell is all *ice*
journeyintocinema.com/black-phone-...
"The sunny, carefree Mallorca vibe clashes with the quiet pain inside the house — like life keeps moving, but you’re caught in a moment that changed everything."
TIFF feature Forastera is another instalment of a new Catalan filmmaking wave.
journeyintocinema.com/forastera-re...
TIFF feature Forastera is another instalment of a new Catalan filmmaking wave.
journeyintocinema.com/forastera-re...
Forastera by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias Review | Discovery | TIFF
Lucía Aleñar Iglesias' promising debut finds a unique angle on coming-of-age and haunted house tropes — marking her as a director to watch.
journeyintocinema.com
September 20, 2025 at 10:29 AM
"The sunny, carefree Mallorca vibe clashes with the quiet pain inside the house — like life keeps moving, but you’re caught in a moment that changed everything."
TIFF feature Forastera is another instalment of a new Catalan filmmaking wave.
journeyintocinema.com/forastera-re...
TIFF feature Forastera is another instalment of a new Catalan filmmaking wave.
journeyintocinema.com/forastera-re...
"Barragán miscues by taking us from an emotionally nervy first two acts into a closing one where catharsis comes with a soft touch, rather than spiking or maintaining the tension."
David Katz reviews Orizzonti entry The Ivy from Venice!
journeyintocinema.com/the-ivy-revi...
David Katz reviews Orizzonti entry The Ivy from Venice!
journeyintocinema.com/the-ivy-revi...
The Ivy by Ana Cristina Barragán Review | Venice Film Fest
Borrowing Reygadas' DOP, Ana Cristina Barragán's taboo-breaking film The Ivy doesn't satisfy, even if it keeps us curious.
journeyintocinema.com
September 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
"Barragán miscues by taking us from an emotionally nervy first two acts into a closing one where catharsis comes with a soft touch, rather than spiking or maintaining the tension."
David Katz reviews Orizzonti entry The Ivy from Venice!
journeyintocinema.com/the-ivy-revi...
David Katz reviews Orizzonti entry The Ivy from Venice!
journeyintocinema.com/the-ivy-revi...
"How do you survive in a world that wants you gone, especially when that violence begins at home? How long can you keep turning the other cheek before something inside you breaks?"
Trans Iranian thriller Between Dreams and Hope plays at TIFF!
journeyintocinema.com/between-drea...
Trans Iranian thriller Between Dreams and Hope plays at TIFF!
journeyintocinema.com/between-drea...
Between Dreams and Hope by Farnoosh Samadi Review | TIFF
Farnoosh Samadi's blistering thriller Between Dreams and Hope captures the compromises of a young trans man navigating the difficulties of modern-day Iran.
journeyintocinema.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
"How do you survive in a world that wants you gone, especially when that violence begins at home? How long can you keep turning the other cheek before something inside you breaks?"
Trans Iranian thriller Between Dreams and Hope plays at TIFF!
journeyintocinema.com/between-drea...
Trans Iranian thriller Between Dreams and Hope plays at TIFF!
journeyintocinema.com/between-drea...
"Pablos has crafted a modern erotic drama centred on working-class men that offers a fascinating — and at times deeply disturbing — journey through Northern Mexico’s highways and truck stops.'
Queer road trip En el camino wins the Queer Lion!
journeyintocinema.com/en-el-camino...
Queer road trip En el camino wins the Queer Lion!
journeyintocinema.com/en-el-camino...
En El Camino by David Pablos Review | Orizzonti | Venice
David Pablos' riveting Mexican film En El Camino, winner of the Queer Lion, presents a fresh take on the queer road trip movie.
journeyintocinema.com
September 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
"Pablos has crafted a modern erotic drama centred on working-class men that offers a fascinating — and at times deeply disturbing — journey through Northern Mexico’s highways and truck stops.'
Queer road trip En el camino wins the Queer Lion!
journeyintocinema.com/en-el-camino...
Queer road trip En el camino wins the Queer Lion!
journeyintocinema.com/en-el-camino...
"People get scared, turn on each other, and look for someone to blame — making it clear how easily fear and desperation can be used to keep existing power structures in place."
Coronavirus is labour oppression in Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU.
journeyintocinema.com/made-in-eu-r...
Coronavirus is labour oppression in Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU.
journeyintocinema.com/made-in-eu-r...
Made in EU by Stephan Komandarev Review | Venezia Spotlight
Stephan Komanderev uses the coronavirus pandemic to explore the horrors of labour exploitation in one of Europe's poorest regions.
journeyintocinema.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
"People get scared, turn on each other, and look for someone to blame — making it clear how easily fear and desperation can be used to keep existing power structures in place."
Coronavirus is labour oppression in Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU.
journeyintocinema.com/made-in-eu-r...
Coronavirus is labour oppression in Stephan Komandarev’s Made in EU.
journeyintocinema.com/made-in-eu-r...
"When a film leans so heavily into muscular bodies, eroticised violence, and women reduced to collateral damage — even with critical intent — it risks becoming what it claims to criticise."
Gorgonà is empty incel nonsense with a silly woke ending.
journeyintocinema.com/gorgona-revi...
Gorgonà is empty incel nonsense with a silly woke ending.
journeyintocinema.com/gorgona-revi...
Gorgonà by Evi Kalogiropoulou Review | Critics' Week
Evi Kalogiropoulou's deeply disappointing Gorgonà leans so heavily into fascist aesthetics it starts to resemble the very thing it criticises.
journeyintocinema.com
September 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
"When a film leans so heavily into muscular bodies, eroticised violence, and women reduced to collateral damage — even with critical intent — it risks becoming what it claims to criticise."
Gorgonà is empty incel nonsense with a silly woke ending.
journeyintocinema.com/gorgona-revi...
Gorgonà is empty incel nonsense with a silly woke ending.
journeyintocinema.com/gorgona-revi...
"For in the end, these seven days, irrespective of their bearing upon our real world, feel strangely inconsequential."
Patrick Fey reviews Mother, playing in Orizzonti at Venice Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/mother-review/
Patrick Fey reviews Mother, playing in Orizzonti at Venice Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/mother-review/
Mother by Teona Strugar Mitevska Review | Venice Film Fest
Noomi Rapace is highly forbidding as the Saint of the Peripheries in Mitevska's Mother Teresa biopic, yet this seven-day narrative ends up disappointing.
journeyintocinema.com
August 30, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"For in the end, these seven days, irrespective of their bearing upon our real world, feel strangely inconsequential."
Patrick Fey reviews Mother, playing in Orizzonti at Venice Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/mother-review/
Patrick Fey reviews Mother, playing in Orizzonti at Venice Film Festival!
journeyintocinema.com/mother-review/
"When he realises what’s actually happened, we’re as disoriented as he is. It’s a chilling demonstration of how convincingly the mind can rewrite reality."
Otec takes us into the mind of a frazzled father in a harrowing story of a simple, fatal mistake.
journeyintocinema.com/otec-review/
Otec takes us into the mind of a frazzled father in a harrowing story of a simple, fatal mistake.
journeyintocinema.com/otec-review/
Otec by Tereza Nvotová Review | Orizzonti | Venice Film Fest
A father makes a devastating mistake in Tereza Nvotová's Otec, bleak and hellish depiction of every parent's worst nightmare.
journeyintocinema.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:52 AM
"When he realises what’s actually happened, we’re as disoriented as he is. It’s a chilling demonstration of how convincingly the mind can rewrite reality."
Otec takes us into the mind of a frazzled father in a harrowing story of a simple, fatal mistake.
journeyintocinema.com/otec-review/
Otec takes us into the mind of a frazzled father in a harrowing story of a simple, fatal mistake.
journeyintocinema.com/otec-review/
"Part of growing up is letting go of the fantasies we’ve built — about love, friendship, identity, and belonging — and facing the future as we really are."
Fantasy is THAT GIRL. Jared Abbott reviews from Locarno.
journeyintocinema.com/fantasy-revi...
Fantasy is THAT GIRL. Jared Abbott reviews from Locarno.
journeyintocinema.com/fantasy-revi...
Fantasy by Kukla Review | Concorso Cineasti Del Presente
A transgender Macedonian woman radically transforms the lives of a group of tomboys in Kukla's assured and heartfelt Fantasy — live from Locarno!
journeyintocinema.com
August 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
"Part of growing up is letting go of the fantasies we’ve built — about love, friendship, identity, and belonging — and facing the future as we really are."
Fantasy is THAT GIRL. Jared Abbott reviews from Locarno.
journeyintocinema.com/fantasy-revi...
Fantasy is THAT GIRL. Jared Abbott reviews from Locarno.
journeyintocinema.com/fantasy-revi...
"Mosquitoes leaves you moved but a little uncertain about what you just experienced."
Jared Abbott reviews this bold and messy swing from Valentina and Nicole Bertani, live from Locarno!
journeyintocinema.com/mosquitoes-r...
Jared Abbott reviews this bold and messy swing from Valentina and Nicole Bertani, live from Locarno!
journeyintocinema.com/mosquitoes-r...
Mosquitoes by Nicole and Valentina Bertani Review | Locarno
Not everything in Mosquitoes lands, but its big, and bold swings show off the ambition of Nicole and Valentina Bertani's off-kilter coming-of-age vision.
journeyintocinema.com
August 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
"Mosquitoes leaves you moved but a little uncertain about what you just experienced."
Jared Abbott reviews this bold and messy swing from Valentina and Nicole Bertani, live from Locarno!
journeyintocinema.com/mosquitoes-r...
Jared Abbott reviews this bold and messy swing from Valentina and Nicole Bertani, live from Locarno!
journeyintocinema.com/mosquitoes-r...
"His thesis on the artistic process is therefore a straightforward one: 'A good work is how well it depicts human sadness.'"
Joseph Owen's final review from Locarno, dives deep into a curious, yet radically empathetic Japanese competition work.
journeyintocinema.com/two-seasons-...
Joseph Owen's final review from Locarno, dives deep into a curious, yet radically empathetic Japanese competition work.
journeyintocinema.com/two-seasons-...
Two Seasons, Two Strangers by Sho Miyake Review | Locarno
Two distinct, writerly stories emerge from Sho Miyake's pen in his wistful adaptation of Yoshiharu Tsuge's manga Mr. Ben and His Igloo, A View of the Seaside.
journeyintocinema.com
August 16, 2025 at 11:29 AM
"His thesis on the artistic process is therefore a straightforward one: 'A good work is how well it depicts human sadness.'"
Joseph Owen's final review from Locarno, dives deep into a curious, yet radically empathetic Japanese competition work.
journeyintocinema.com/two-seasons-...
Joseph Owen's final review from Locarno, dives deep into a curious, yet radically empathetic Japanese competition work.
journeyintocinema.com/two-seasons-...