The Phoenician Scheme

Official Australian release date: 29/5/25. Viewed: 4/6/25.
Director: Wes Anderson
Actors: Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Mathieu Amalric
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: M

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ is a semi-crime-caper and half family drama (but not in ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ style), but all Wes Anderson. We effectively follow 3 characters – eccentric, semi-shady millionaire Zsa-Zsa Korda (Del Toro), his semi-estranged/soon-to-be-nun daughter Liesl (Threapleton) and Korda’s assistant Bjorn (Cera) as they travel around fictional Phoenicia putting together a complicated infrastructure deal.

The start is both shocking and bleakly funny, making Korda an arrogant antihero, who’s balanced out well by Lisel and her wanting to do good in the world. While supposed to be set in Syria (i.e. ancient Phoenicia), was actually filmed in Germany! It’s both nice to see famous faces, but also annoying that we don’t get to see too many actors shine, as there’s so many that want to be in an Anderson film that we get less than 10min of screentime from Hanks, Cranston, Ahmed, Dafoe, Murray, Abraham, Ayoade, Wright, Johansson & Cumberbatch.

While it looks as stylish as ever, with great set design and score, there’s some annoying cuts and edits. It feels rushed at times, trying to get through 5 acts in the 100min runtime. While it has humourous moments, felt like it needed more proper laughs and warmth. All the actors are solid, with Del Toro having fun, but seeming to imitate how Hanks would’ve played the role at times. Pleasant ending.

Overall: Not Wes’ best or worst

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars 

Bring Her Back

Official Australian release date: 29/5/25. Viewed: 31/5/25.
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Actors: Billy Barrat, Sora Wong, Sally Hawkins, Jonah Wren Phillips
Genre: Horror / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Bring Her Back’ is a slow-reveal horror, directors the Philippou brothers once again finding the darkness in the Adelaide hills, following their first film ‘Talk To Me’. We follow teenagers Piper (Wong), who’s mostly blind, and her brother Andy (Barrat) as they’re placed in foster care with Laura (Hawkins from ‘The Shape of Water’), and her other adopted son, Oliver (Phillips). Somethings not quite right from the outset, but it is a bit hidden to start with and is only unsettling for the first 40min or so.

The backstory is slowly given to us in glimpses, and Hawkins does well to make Laura not an evil mastermind, but rather just a terribly-misguided grieving mother. All the actors are superb, with Andy and Piper being making you really care about them and Oliver having one of the best blank stares you’ll ever see. That said, there’s a few really gruesome scenes that the camera doesn’t shy away from and make you squirm – they’ll definitely stick with me!

It's a pretty tight 1 hour 40min, and while the body count isn’t too high, the tension and shocks/grossness of most of the final 40min are very well done and make this a pretty unique Aussie horror film. The ending is mostly satisfying – looking forward to seeing what the brothers do next.

Overall: Memorable horror mystery

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars  

 

The Surfer

Official Australian release date: 15/5/25. Viewed: 25/5/25.
Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Finn Little, Nic Cassim
Genre: Thriller / Drama
Rating: MA

‘The Surfer’ is an Australian film (albeit with an Irish director and American star), set in southern Western Australia, so we get plenty of great scenery, beach vistas, Aussie soundscapes and gratuitous animal shots – I think they had everything but a koala! Cage plays the nameless “surfer” (funny when he says near the end: “I have a name”, and then you realise the audience doesn’t know what it is!), who’s been in the USA and wants to move home and take his son (Little) surfing. He runs into Scally (McMahon), a self-styled surfing guru/cult leader, who makes this more difficult than it should be.

At first you don’t like any of the locals (I swear most Aussies aren’t like this!), as what starts off as local protectionism slowly turns more sinister. There’s also a homeless man (Cassim), which sets up a nice plot twist as Cage does Cage and spends lots of time doing the wide-eyed/mouth open Cage stare, presumably due to heat stroke. There’s a fair bit of “what’s real and what’s not”, which is pretty well stitched together at the end. Basically, Cage is gaslight by Scally, his acolytes and local cop (Rosniak). Good to see Tapsell as one of the few regular people here.

It has some almost-funny moments, but mostly it’s all a bit wry. There’s definitely some gross bits, and while the tension does build, it’s not really fully as weird, violent, or chaotic as other recent Cage films (i.e. ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massie Talent’, ‘Colour Out of Space’, ‘Dream Scenario’). Score is ok, with soundtrack almost non-existent. Great to see more Australian locations on screen. Good, without being great.

Overall: Surfing is suffering (in this case)

Gav’s Rating: 3 stars  

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Official Australian release date: 17/5/25. Viewed: 17/5/25.
Director: Chris McQuarrie
Actors: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales
Genre: Action / Adventure
Rating: M

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ is the 8^th and possibly final film in the franchise. Pretty impressive that Tom Cruise has been steadily making these for 30 years, without over-saturating the market. This is a direct sequel to ‘Dead Reckoning’, with Ethan (Cruise) in possession of the key to stop the malevolent AI called “The Entity”. This means he comes out of the shadows a bit, and interacts with the US President (Bassett) and General Sidney (Offerman).

The plot means Ethan has to retrieve something from a sunken submarine, which is arguably the tensest scene in the film, as well as possibly the most unbelievable, but is expertly done. We also get to see the team from the previous film back – long-timers Luther (Rhames), Benji (Pegg), Kittridge (Czerny), plus returnees Grace (Atwell), Paris (Klementieff) and antagonist Gabriel (Morales). The best call-back though is Donloe (Saxon) and how he’s important to the story. As much as it’s all about Ethan, it's always good to see the IMF team in action.

Similar to the last film, it’s shot around the world – London, Norway, South Africa. The stunts in the bi-planes flying over the South African coast are particularly stunning, and amazing to know that Cruise is literally hanging on those planes himself. While perhaps not as cohesive as ‘Fallout’ or ‘Dead Reckoning’, at 2 hours 45min there’s plenty of action to get through. Less espionage, and more “convince the armed forces not to blow each other up”, making sure the stakes are high. Less trademark-Tom-running than usual, but plenty of fight scenes, bomb diffusions and stunts galore.

Overall: Solid ending if it is, more great action set pieces

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars  

The Correspondent

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 5/5/25.
Director: Kriv Stenders
Actors: Richard Roxburgh, Rahel Romahn, Julian Maroun, Yael Stone
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘The Correspondent’ is from the director of ‘Red Dog’ and ‘Danger Close’, and is based on the true story of Peter Greste (Roxburgh), the Australian journalist working for Al Jeezera in Cairo in 2013, during the Arab Spring uprising, when he & colleagues Fahmy (Maroun) and Mohamed (Romahn) get arrested. The film starts well, setting up some of the protests and why Greste is there, but not really delving much into the wider politics of what’s happening in Egypt.

It’s all filmed in Australia, as we don’t see much of Egypt, due to mostly being inside prison blocks. The film only follows Greste, often consciously claustrophobically so, as he tries to comprehend what’s happening to him and how to navigate his way out, without compromising his journalistic integrity. Having Fahmy and Mohamed in the same predicament, albeit not foreign nationals, helps him share his burden at times, but also adds complications.

Part courtroom drama, part psychological horror, it’s a slow-burn at 2 hours, with a mostly-happy ending – even if it’s mostly inexplicable as with the initial arrests – that’s sobered by the on-screen statistics that close the film. All the actors are good, with Roxburgh carrying the weight of the situation on his face and shoulders, and Kate (Stone) fleshing out some of his past guilt in flashbacks of his time with her in Mogadishu.

Overall: By no means fun, but well-made true story

Gav’s Rating: 3.5 stars 

Thunderbolts*

Official Australian release date: 1/5/25. Viewed: 30/4/25.
Director: Jake Schreier
Actors: Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Rating: PG

 

‘Thunderbolts*’ is a great MCU film, probably mostly due to it mostly being a non-Super Hero film, and thus feeling more grounded and (semi) realistic. Even though this film follows ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, other than a few mentions, it’s not a direct sequel – almost-required prior viewing are ‘The Falcon & the Winter Soldier’ and ‘Black Widow’. The heart of the film’s plot is following Yelena (Pugh)’s search for meaning and family, and dealing with her past. It doesn’t help that she’s working as an off-the-books operative for Valentina (Louis-Dreyfus), head of the CIA.

It's a good set-up how Yelena, Ava/Ghost (John-Kamen), Antonia/Taskmaster (Kurylenko), Bob (Pullman – looking like his dad), John Walker (Russell – not looking that much like his dad) and Alexi/Red Guardian (Harbour) end up together, and how they overcome their initial instincts to fight each other. Bucky/Winter Soldier (Stan) has a significant role, as does Val’s offsider Mel (Viswanathan) – as they all find something they’ve been missing when they all come together, no matter how begrudgingly. Without any spoilers, the set-up of “The Sentry” and then the unveiling of his powers is handled well, with a bit of an ‘Inception’ vibe.

It's quite quick – under 2 hours (before the credits), with both mid- and post-credits scenes worth staying for, and the black and white newspaper titles are great. The story of the “Thunderbolts” name is good and builds naturally – and I won’t delve into the “*” here, other than to say it’s obvious in hindsight. While it has some dark moments – deals with depression quite well – there’s still plenty of jokes and fun moments. Very strong performances elevate this film, Pugh and Pullman in particular, with neither playing a stereotypical part. Bring on Phase 6!

Overall: Great misfits saving the day against all odds

Gav’s Rating: 4 stars

Warfare

Official Australian release date: 17/4/25. Viewed: 26/4/25.
Directors: Ray Mendoza & Alex Garland
Actors: D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Cosmo Jarvis
Genre: Action / Drama
Rating: MA

‘Warfare’ is based on a true story and follows a squad of US Navy Seals in Iraq in 2006. The film takes place over a short period, <12 hours, and after a funny intro, we get introduced to the characters – primarily Ray (Woo-A-Tai, from ‘Reservation Dogs’), Elliot (Jarvis, from ‘Shogun’), Sam (Quinn, from ‘Stranger Things’), Frank (John Smith, from ‘Sharp Objects’) and Erik (Poulter, from ‘We’re The Millers) – as they hole up in a house in an Iraqi town in support of a larger operation. Nothing happens for 30min, so we get to learn something about most of them.

Then things start to escalate, and holding position quickly turns to trying to evacuate. This is all close-quarters, tightly filmed fight scenes, with no real respite. When things explode, we hear the ringing in the ears/semi-silence, and stay with the squad as they deal with the aftermath – there’s no edits to later on, just the reality of the moment. Some interesting war tactics I’d not seen before, including the “show of force” from the planes and how they use the tanks.

This is a tight 95min – lean and nothing wasted. It’s not a typical war film – there’s no central protagonist, no hero’s journey, no glorification. It’s all just dirt, explosions, and pinging bullets. Closest film I can think of to this is ‘Black Hawk Down’. The ending is good, as the entire battle is effectively pointless – which is the point, as arguably all war is. Good performances from the cast, who come across as both young and out-of-place – like that entire war was.

Overall: Gritty and realistic war day-in-the-life

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars