for the thinkers.

Pretty Lethal: Action With A Killer Pointe | SXSW 2026

Do I think Pretty Lethal is especially spectacular? Not really, but I also recognize that it doesn't need to do anything more than what it sets out to do. It's a grisly, solid genre film that lets ballerina girls go apeshit. Sometimes that's enough. The added Uma Thurman doesn't hurt either.

008 - OFFLINE ALGORITHM

An anti-scroll collection of newsworthy things we watched & read this week.

Erupcja: Volcano, So Erupting | SXSW 2026

The film's chimeric construction is as much an asset as it is a weakness; you're never really sure what these characters are gonna do next because, well, neither are the actors. Erupcja doesn't encourage spontaneity; it lives in it, which makes it propulsive but voids it of detail. 

Marty Supreme Symposium (ft. @amaris_Simone) | Sophisticulture

Sophisticulture is a podcast for people who care a lot about stories and storytellers, and can be found on all major Podcast platforms.

I Love Boosters: Fashion Forward Filanthropy | SXSW 2026

There's intentionality to the film using how it looks to propel its story that calls to mind the built-in worlds of Jacques Tati or Demy, but so driven by Riley’s Bay Area idiosyncrasies: here, a sci-fi sprawler that courts the intersection of exploitation in the fashion industry.

BFI Flare 2026 | Our Most Anticipated

Once again, we've assembled a diverse team of contributors to cover the festival far and wide this year, bringing you the best and most interesting Queer Cinema of the year!

UMNIA’s definitive and complete Academy Awards Best Picture Ranking, with reasons and apologies.

It is time to put a proper button on the last circuit, in order for us to usher in the spring anew.

Read every OBSCURAE Best Picture Review

I finally watched Bugonia, against my will. (Spoilers)My beef with Yorgos continues. WARNING: Metric Tonnes of Sarcasm Ahead.OBSCURAEUmnia El-NeilARCHIVE: F1: Boomer PropagandaFor the glossy Hollywood Treatment of the world’s most glamorous extreme sport, Kosinski asks the question: Should we bring back Brad Pitt Blockbusters? (Spoilers: No, thanks.

If London Were Syria (Review) | Sweet and Short

Here at OBSCURAE, we've always championed short storytelling as the hunting ground for your next favourite filmmaker – and encouraged you not to skip the shorts programme! Welcome back to our Short film review series, Sweet and Short. Back in 2014, I saw a video from the charity Save

Big Boys (Review)

I'd really like to know what the experience of watching Big Boys is like for someone who doesn't adore the music of Will Wiesenfeld (aka Baths) – because I sure don't. My love of Will’s music is what led me to this movie, but

Sentimental Value: The profound sadness™

Trier's typical patient, Norwegian lens does not provide any revelation, but still brings a considered craft to a story of Generational Trauma.

Project Hail Mary Is the E.T. of a New Generation (Review)

In a cinematic landscape mostly plagued by cynicism and IP fatigue, Project Hail Mary arrives not a second too soon.