Sandra Hall
Film critic
Sandra Hall is a film critic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
★★★★
Review
This film shows the horrific truth behind the journey of asylum seekers
Nominated for a Best International Film Oscar, and based on real-life stories, Io Capitano is a coming-of-age story that finds hope among the desperation.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★★
Review
Olivia Colman is brilliant in this glorious, foul-mouthed comedy
Wicked Little Letters is a fictionalised version of a celebrated legal case that transfixed 1920s Britain.
- by Sandra Hall
★★½
Review
Sydney Sweeney as a nun? Say a prayer for this predictable fright fest
In Immaculate, the star of Euphoria and The White Lotus runs the gamut of sweet-natured optimism to blood-stained desperation in less than 90 minutes.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★½
Review
Kristen Stewart’s new psychological thriller is Thelma & Louise on steroids
Stewart is a woman unravelling under the pressure of a violent father and a girlfriend set on revenge in the ultra-violent black farce, Love Lies Bleeding.
- by Sandra Hall
Series
Oscars
Oscars 2024: What our critics thought of the best picture contenders
Read what our reviewers thought of all the films nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars.
★★★★
Review
How brave filmmakers get around the oppressive Iranian regime
Director Mani Haghighi explores the way living in a theocracy compels citizens to put on a public mask frequently at odds with their private self.
- by Sandra Hall
Desolate pub in a gloomy part of town? We know how this story goes...
In Baghead, a young woman inherits a pub with an unwanted tenant in the basement – a ghost who can act as a bridge between the living world and the afterlife.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★★
Review
The Zone of Interest lays bare the banality and ordinariness of evil
Jonathan Glazer’s drama about the Auschwitz camp commandant and his wife takes a meticulously forensic approach, allowing them to incriminate themselves.
- by Sandra Hall
★★½
Review
Madame Web can see the future. Pity she didn’t see this flop coming
This shamelessly ludicrous Spider-Man spin-off, led by Dakota Johnson, is a desperate attempt to keep the franchise flag flying.
- by Sandra Hall
★★★
Review
Argylle is big dumb fun – and it wasn’t written by Taylor Swift and her cat
Starring Henry Cavill and Bryce Dallas Howard, Matthew Vaughn’s action comedy shows a gleeful disregard for damage and has a sequel in its sights.
- by Sandra Hall