Lahooti's debut is an audacious, bracing, often funny, equally upsetting, tonal rollercoaster -- Guy Ritchie meets Martin McDonagh with more heart -- that doesn't entirely stick the landing, but it's refreshing to see a lively Australian genre piece unafraid to divide and take on a difficult issue. Let’s talk about some more films I saw at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Below isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty as it tackles dirty issues, resulting in a deliberately provocative dare of film that’s bound to get audiences talking. Premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) through Next Gen. "An Unexpected Tale of Love in New York" - Maria Dunne If I had to sum up this movie in one word I would say this movie was unexpected. Director Maziar Lahooti throws everything he can into the story. Sign up for free giveaways, reviews, our weekly round-up of movie news, and more! The film, in which a movie director goes to stay with a squabbling couple out in the woods, is a real showcase of her range as she plays the deadpan comedian we know her as but also shows streaks of cruel darkness. When tragedy strikes courageous fighter Azad, Dougie locates his hitherto dormant conscience and takes a stand. Though it also takes me out of the film when I recognise actors and locations from my hometown so maybe that doesn’t help. Especially when ... Back in 2014, independent Aussie zombie flick, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, made over 3 years by brothers Kiah and ... From a pet bear and a mummified mummy to smallpox pandemics and rumours of equine coitus; the events in the ... We were lucky to be invited on the set of Leigh Whannell’s latest venture, a return to Oz to write/direct ... Cigarettes on Screen: Do Actors Really Smoke in Movies, When Fact and Fiction Collide: The Real-Life Exploits of Catherine The Great. Three or four stories jostle for the spotlight, each of them orbiting the poisoned chalice that is immigration in Australia. Established in 1952, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is one of the world’s oldest film festivals and the Southern Hemisphere’s largest. Not really funny enough to be a comedy and it doesn’t deal with the issue of asylum seekers in any meanful way to work as a satire or political piece and it doesn’t work as a boxing action film because the fights are all super slow motion and more abstract. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. It is graphic in content while also being palatable to appeal to a wider audience that may find war footage confronting. Wow that’s a bold film straight from my home state of Western Australia. What an absolute honour to be a part of the Madras Independent Film Festival! Manta had a perfect record until the mysterious death of its captain. MIFF Review: The Fairy (2011) by James Madden on July 24, 2011 Not too long ago I posed a simple task for myself. How am I supposed to see all that I want to see and write about it while also juggling upcoming engagements, random bouts of stifling existential wanderings, probably some exercise, and making sure I don’t forget to pick up my new suit before next week? With a life to live, who has the time to leisure in watching movies, even if it’s as good as the ones on offer at the Melbourne International Film Festival? Though even in that sense you can see the parallels to the toxic political and social discourse that surrounds the issue. Dark satire comedy which I must admit loses its way 2/3 but has enough maniac high jinx to keep ya glued. The second half hit a little harder than the first half, but overall it was good. © Letterboxd Limited. The website Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed reviews". Lahooti's debut is an audacious, bracing, often funny, equally upsetting, tonal rollercoaster -- Guy Ritchie meets Martin McDonagh with more heart -- that doesn't entirely stick the landing, but it's refreshing to see a lively Australian genre piece unafraid to … Bold, ambitious, colourful, a big swing, Maziar Lahooti’s feature debut Below, now available on STAN, is full of ideas. At the Q&A, one of the producers said they wanted to make a film about detention centres that could appeal to people of all political stripes, and not just the Fitzroy hipster echo chamber (slight paraphrasing). MIFF 2019 Film #9. When tragedy strikes courageous fighter Azad, Dougie locates his hitherto dormant conscience and takes a stand.