Reviews

After Love (2020) follows a British widow, who discovers her late husband has a secret family in France. It really captures a very complex grieving process. The film is very slow and has lots of quiet scenes with few pieces of dialogue. The main character is a British Muslim woman who converts to Islam before marriage. The acting is great, especially from Joanna Scanlan. It's different to what I expected but a great hidden gem. Less than 90 minutes. Definitely recommend this dramatic tale of grief and love. The director shows the quiet days after losing a loved one and how different people process this. Some truly teary moments.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), currently on Netflix UK. Brutal, gruesome anti-war film from the perspective of a young German soldier. Follows 4 naive young Germans, who have a sharp wake up call on what war entails. I watched with German audio with English subtitles. It's quite slow, often not a lot of dialogue, but cinematic and intense. The makeup and costumes are brilliant. Shows the continuous cycle of war, death and uniform. Not a fan of the music. The sound effects feels like you're there. Some lighter moments. The start and ending mirrors. Uniform scene is haunting. I would recommend. Never seen the original.