The Secret in their Eyes - Movie Poster

The Secret in their Eyes

4.5 Anne Murphy

A man wants to solve a murder committed many years ago.

"The Secret in Their Eyes" is engrossing as a crime thriller and compelling as a cold case romance. The threads are seamlessly interwoven to create a movie going experience that lingers long after the credits roll. All eyes will be glued on the outstanding cast who fill out the interesting characters. This is a well crafted film that spans 25 years, moving from fear to love visiting every emotion in between. It's no secret that this is a knockout story to be seen with your own eyes.


The Silence - Movie Poster

The Silence

3.0 Anne Murphy

The bicycle of a missing girl is found in the exact place where another girl was killed 23 years ago.

A cold case that mirrors a current crime is reopened, and the dual storyline is effective as each amplifies the loss and despair of the other. Beyond the suspense of the police investigation are stories of suffering by the families of the victims. Not surprisingly, the criminals are revealed as unsettling individuals. It's the depth of the characters, revealing chilling psychological profiles of the transgressors, that sets this movie apart from TV dramas with similar story-lines. Worth talking about.


The Skin I Live In - Movie Poster

The Skin I Live In

4.0 Anne Murphy

A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin.

The narrative of "The Skin I Live In" is as intriguing as it is twisted, central to the plot is a contemporary and perverse Frankenstein character. This is an ethically challenging story of an obsessive patriarch, sinister gender control is stirred with psychological intrigue to create a morally unsettling but memorable movie. The nightmarish elements are balanced by the visually sophisticated and vibrant tone presented on screen. Your skin may crawl, but an imprint is left getting right under the skin.


The Snows of Kilimanjaro - Movie Poster

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

3.5 Anne Murphy

After celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, a couple are shattered by two young men, armed and masked, who beat them, tie them up, snatch their wedding rings and flee with their credit cards.

Inspired by Victor Hugo's poem "How Good are the Poor", this warm-hearted movie tackles some of today's social and moral issues within the setting of a small community. Our judgments of others can be black and white but, as this moving story highlights, the reality of another is never so simple. The themes are complex but the motivation of each character is uncomplicated. Let it snow.


The Strength of Water - Movie Poster

The Strength of Water

3.0 Anne Murphy

When a mysterious stranger arrives in an isolated coastal town, 10-year-old twins are forced apart.

This film is more mood than story. The brooding characters are burdened with emotion but without anywhere to channel it. Wild New Zealand coastal landscapes are artistically captured, and the screen is laden with images that evoke dark undercurrents and equally dark overtones. The inescapable heaviness of production is not quite balanced by the simplicity that's almost necessary when dealing with big themes through the eyes of children. "The Strength of Water" is strong enough to overpower.


The Tall Man - Movie Poster

The Tall Man

4.0 Anne Murphy

A documentary, set on Palm Island where on the day Cameron Doomadgee was arrested for swearing at a policeman and was found dead in a watch-house cell forty-five minutes later.

"The Tall Man" is a documentary that persuasively recreates a death in custody one statement at a time through interviews and first person accounts. As each witness account is carefully scrutinised, a grim and unsettling story emerges. Trials and inquests are revisited and accounts unravel. We may not be able to determine exactly what happened on that one night in 2004, but we can definitely draw our own conclusions. Short on truth.


The Time Traveller's Wife - Movie Poster

The Time Traveller's Wife

1.5 Anne Murphy

A romantic drama about a Chicago librarian with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage.

"The Time Traveller's Wife" has an imaginative storyline centred on an incredible romance that transcends time. Something must have gone wrong in production, as the telling of this tale is unforgivably banal. This movie is such a drag viewers will find themselves wishing for an ability to time travel beyond the credits to escape the tedium. With no on-screen chemistry it's hard to even care about the time traveller's wife's husband or his wife.


The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls - Movie Poster

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls

4.0 Anne Murphy

A profile of the world's only comedic, singing, dancing, lesbian twin sisters.

"Topp Twins" evokes the '100% Pure New Zealand' tourist campaign that showcases the pure hearts and honest lifestyles that are recognisably typical of our imaginings of life in nuclear-free New Zealand. This documentary chronicles the careers of two remarkable characters that are both subversively and overtly political, and the tone is musical and humorous. The movie is threaded with a cabaret performance, recent and archival footage cleverly edited to tell this down to earth, and at times quite moving, story. Topp viewing.


The Tree - Movie Poster

The Tree

2.5 Anne Murphy

Fate strikes taking the father of a family of four and leaving his daughter convinced that her dad still lives in the giant fig tree growing near their house.

There is a tension between holding on and letting go, mourning and living that's central to the plot. The idea behind the story is imaginative and unfortunately the movie lacks depth on the screen as does the dialogue that fails to hold interest. Even the characters at their best are blandly stereotypical. Thankfully the Australian countryside is magnificent, as is the titular tree. It just doesn't take root.


The Tree of Life - Movie Poster

The Tree of Life

4.0 Anne Murphy

The story centres around a family with three boys in the 1950s.

The on-screen experience is profound while managing to be tiresomely pretentious at the same time. "Tree of Life" takes itself a little too seriously at times, boldly exploring beginnings, creation, and dinosaurs. It is also a gentle reflection on life and the relationships of children with their parents, navigated in a non-linear manner. A dream-like quality makes easy to imagine that you're watching something akin to the replay of life that we're told happens right before death... only this version doesn't 'flash' and takes its time. A tree with a captivating soul.


The Trotsky - Movie Poster

The Trotsky

3.5 Anne Murphy

Leon Bronstein is not your average Montreal West high school student.

"The Trotsky" delivers everything we love from the best Canadian films, an indie tone, clever adolescent characters and a quirky story-line. The movie asks if it is apathy or boredom that leaves high-schoolers without motivation or political interest. A likeable revolutionary geek awakens students from their indifference. He battles family issues and perceived fascism. The action is funny as the players rally to their socialist causes and budding romances with passion. Chuckling audiences might be encouraged to come out of the political Siberia and join a movement.


The Well Digger's Daughter - Movie Poster

The Well Digger's Daughter

3.0 Anne Murphy

A father, in pre-World War I France, is torn between his sense of honour and his deep love for his saintly daughter when she gets in trouble with the wealthy son of a shopkeeper.

A film that explores class differences, social attitudes and mores could be expected to incite ire, something "The Well Digger's Daughter" is too genteel to do. Perhaps it's due to the likeable and charming actors, the rustic French setting, old fashioned feel or simply the issues that raised eyebrows in earlier times that have less impact now. Whatever it is, all is well that ends well.


The White Ribbon - Movie Poster

The White Ribbon

4.0 Anne Murphy

Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment.

"The White Ribbon" is visually mesmerising, artistically captured in black and white with a period detail that is meticulously reproduced, particularly in the costumes of the farming villagers. With its fascist undertones this film is a harrowing watch for all of its lengthy run time, and even then there is no reward of a conclusion or explanation. Austere, relentless, seething with hatred and cruelty, this is unforgiving viewing. The film evokes a sense of impending doom, with blue ribbon success.


The Window - Movie Poster

The Window

3.5 Anne Murphy

An ill and aged author has his housekeeper preparing for the visit of his estranged son.

Related as a simple tale, this film is a gently paced contemplation of life and death. Scenes are deftly painted with an aesthetic eye. The cinema screen becomes an artist's canvas coloured with the haze of summer and reminiscences. It is a rare pleasure for the audience to be credited with the intelligence to sketch sub-plots, rather than having it all spelled out. A melancholic but unsentimental study of mortality; pausing for a view through this window is recommended.


The Woman in the Fifth - Movie Poster

The Woman in the Fifth

4.0 Anne Murphy

American writer Tom Ricks comes to Paris desperate to put his life together again and win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter.

The actor's performances are very good, the cinematography is considered, and dramatic tension is maintained throughout. Audiences will still wonder what happened when the plot is unfolded and will want to decipher what looks like an allegorical representation of the psyche of a writer. This movie will instigate discussions to determine how to explain the outcome. There are no tidy conclusions, and the story will linger beyond first viewing and into the fifth.