Upgrade first published by Little White Lies The second film (after 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3) to be written and directed by Leigh Whannell, Upgrade opens with a contradiction. After the names of the film’s various production companies, and even its title, are read out in a Siri-like voice to the accompaniment of CG imagery, we…
The Invitation first published by VODzilla.co Some way into The Invitation, the host of a dinner party is seen walking into the garden of his Hollywood Hills home, and lighting a red lamp in the darkness. In the film’s nexus of meanings and associations, that lamp is a multivalent symbol whose conflicting significations – it is…
Longer version of piece published by Sight & Sound as part of coverage of the Cult programme at the London Film Festival 2015 A cult following is something that takes time to build, so calling a new film ‘cult’ involves a certain degree of crystal ball gazing and quixoticism – unless of course an actual cult…