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The National (UAE)

Tomatometer-approved publication.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
3/5
Desert Warrior (2025) James Mottram Desert Warrior may not redefine the historical epic, but it delivers what it promises -- scale, spectacle and a vivid sense of place.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
4/5
Baab (2026) Ankit Ojha Al Khaja’s vision remains confident and controlled, focused less on answers than on emotional truth.
Posted Jan 08, 2026  Edit critic review
4.5/5
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) William Mullally For all its technological ambition, Avatar: Fire and Ash ultimately argues for something disarmingly simple: that survival, meaning and progress are collective acts.
Posted Dec 16, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Wicked: For Good (2025) One Carlo Diaz A thoughtful and well-crafted ending to the two-part adaptation. It doesn’t fix every issue embedded in the musical’s second act, but it improves emotional clarity and gives the characters more dimension.
Posted Dec 06, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
The President's Cake (2025) William Mullally The film’s quiet argument is unmistakable: children always pay the highest price for the politics they never chose, and a society that fails them inevitably shapes them in ways they cannot escape.
Posted Nov 24, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Groom & Two Brides (2025) William Mullally You’re likely to be comforted by the tropes, eased by its zippy watchability, and amused by committed performances from actors clearly having the time of their lives with material far outside their comfort zones.
Posted Nov 07, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
The Vile (2025) Faisal Al Zaabi The Vile feels fresh and authentic within the context of Emirati cinema. Al Ansari shows flourishes of his love for the genre, and his understanding of how and why it works.
Posted Oct 21, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) William Mullally You don’t have to be a Springsteen fan to connect with a character unable to grapple with what’s going on inside of them.
Posted Oct 20, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) James Mottram This recreation is on another level. While it can be hard to get people to care about conflicts far removed from their own lives, this simply cannot be ignored. It will break you.
Posted Sep 03, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
War 2 (2025) David Tusing Despite earnest performances by Roshan and NTR, the convoluted story fails to hold your attention. The action scenes are big, but they are also so over-the-top that they strain even the most willing suspension of disbelief.
Posted Aug 22, 2025  Edit critic review
1/5
Dhadak 2 (2025) Ankit Ojha [Director] Shazia Iqbal and co-writer Rahul Badwelkar sanitise the grim reality of institutional horrors in favour of a schmaltzy melodrama like an early-2010s Bollywood romcom.
Posted Aug 01, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
F1 The Movie (2025) William Mullally I found myself, at times, digging my nails into the arms of my chair. Few movies literally place me on the edge of my seat, and F1 was one of them.
Posted Jun 24, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Elio (2025) William Mullally This is a story with broad appeal – made to help children once again dream of a brighter future – and accept that what makes them different is also what makes them irreplaceable.
Posted Jun 17, 2025  Edit critic review
Woman and Child (2025) James Mottram Roustaee’s film is very much about the female experience, and the bond of a mother with her offspring. Arguably it’s this that feels radical, a film that gives us the perspective of a modern-day Iranian woman navigating a patriarchal society.
Posted Jun 06, 2025  Edit critic review
It Was Just an Accident (2025) James Mottram Panahi’s anger is laid out for all to see, as he takes a sledgehammer to the oppressive regimes he has encountered.
Posted Jun 06, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Mountainhead (2025) William Mullally This is the most cynical work yet from Armstrong, and may prove to be his most divisive. But as far as food for thought, there’s plenty here to chew on – just be careful of the bitter aftertaste.
Posted Jun 01, 2025  Edit critic review
4.5/5
Lilo & Stitch (2025) William Mullally Lilo & Stitch is better than the original, first and foremost, because it’s updated with love and care for its source material.
Posted May 20, 2025  Edit critic review
4.5/5
Once Upon a Time in Gaza (2025) William Mullally Once Upon a Time in Gaza is far from an ordinary crime story – instead a layered, self-reflexive meditation on identity, resistance, and the cost of survival.
Posted May 19, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025) William Mullally When a series can still surprise you like that, you never want to let it go. Particularly when it’s unclear if we’ll ever see filmmaking of this kind again.
Posted May 14, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
TEST (2025) Ankit Ojha There’s a lot going on during Test's 145 minutes but very little to connect to emotionally.
Posted May 08, 2025  Edit critic review
1/5
Chhaava (2025) Ankit Ojha As the credits roll on “Chhaava,” all that lingers is a hollow echo of jingoistic noise.
Posted May 08, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
No Other Land (2024) William Mullally See No Other Land, and something chronically labelled “complicated” becomes simple.
Posted Apr 02, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
A Minecraft Movie (2025) William Mullally This is not a disaster. Not by a mile. In fact, for most of its duration, it's downright charming and, in parts, had me laughing out loud.
Posted Apr 02, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/5
The Brutalist (2024) William Mullally This is a film adorned in truth – truth about art, humanity and society. In it, power is the only true currency that matters, and evil is infectious and pervasive.
Posted Feb 22, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
The Light (2025) James Mottram A film about dysfunction -- whether it’s in the home or a group like the United Nations, it’s a work that stumbles as much as it strides. But it’s a provocative and political piece, designed to make you look at the world in a way you haven’t before.
Posted Feb 18, 2025  Edit critic review
4/5
VidaaMuyarchi (2025) Ankit Ojha It’s clear Thirumeni knows exactly what he wants on screen and his style-is-substance filmmaking language balances hyper kinetic shots with an earnest commitment to every emotion present in the story.
Posted Feb 06, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/5
The Sand Castle (2024) Razmig Bedirian By the end of The Sand Castle, and after a suffocating viewing experience, you’re left with fragmented puzzle pieces and a faint idea of the film’s intent.
Posted Jan 31, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
Emergency (2024) Taniya Dutta Emergency attempts to capture a tumultuous period in India's history but falls short in both execution and engagement. While her performance of Gandhi is commendable, Ranaut's film lacks depth and consistency.
Posted Jan 31, 2025  Edit critic review
2/5
Game Changer (2025) Ankit Ojha The film feels less like a Shankar film and more like a Now-That’s-What-I-Call-Shankar's-Greatest-Hits playlist.
Posted Jan 14, 2025  Edit critic review
4.5/5
To a Land Unknown (2024) William Mullally To a Land Unknown is a gripping neorealist neo-noir that is among the best international crime films produced in years, well-executed on all levels.
Posted Dec 10, 2024  Edit critic review
2/5
Kanguva (2024) Ankit Ojha [Kanguva is] not entirely unwatchable; [Suriya's intensity] in his dual role and Deol’s terrifying presence as the villain will take its viewers to the end of the line, but there’s not much otherwise to hold onto as you leave the cinemas.
Posted Nov 14, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
Singham Again (2024) Ankit Ojha The film offers a good time at the movies this festive season. And, overdramatised enunciations and boomer humour aside, it is worth it.
Posted Nov 01, 2024  Edit critic review
3.5/5
Jigra (2024) Ankit Ojha In anyone else’s hands, it could have been just another movie. But with writer-director [Vasan] Bala, however, Jigra stands out thanks to its strong emotional core—and a devastating turn from Bhatt, whose nuanced, understated performance powers the film.
Posted Oct 11, 2024  Edit critic review
2/5
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) William Mullally What are we doing here, exactly?
Posted Oct 02, 2024  Edit critic review
4/5
The Buckingham Murders (2023) Ankit Ojha An excellent slow burner that is locked in and committed to its craft, Mehta and co-writers Aseem Arrora, Raghav Raj Kakker and Kashyap Kapoor have created a tightly wound thriller that grips viewers from the start.
Posted Sep 12, 2024  Edit critic review
2/5
The Greatest of All Time (2024) Ankit Ojha For what it's worth, [Vijay’s] singular charisma – a delicate balance of relatable, confidently cocky and hard-boiled action hero – helps viewers reach the finish line, even if they may be confused by the plot's nonsensical twists and turns.
Posted Sep 05, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) William Mullally For the first time in a long time, Burton feels like he’s having fun again – opening his old toy box and remembering how much he enjoyed prosthetics and practical set design before he lost himself in the computer-generated era.
Posted Sep 04, 2024  Edit critic review
5/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 (2024) William Mullally With this documentary, Swedish director Goran Hugo Olsson has created a film that, even without comment, is an astonishing, invaluable document of the history of Israel and Palestine, and a fascinating insight into the complicated nature of journalism.
Posted Aug 30, 2024  Edit critic review
0/5
Borderlands (2024) William Mullally Borderlands, based on the massively popular first-person shooter space western, is bad – very bad. Unfortunately, it’s not even the kind of bad you can have fun with – that would have taken someone putting their heart into it and failing.
Posted Aug 12, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
Trap (2024) William Mullally What is Trap interested in? Fatherhood. Perhaps that’s why the film feels like the most wholesome thriller in recent memory – not to mention the funniest.
Posted Aug 05, 2024  Edit critic review
5/5
The Sixth Sense (1999) William Mullally This is popcorn cinema at its most purely empathetic – a horror film where the true horror is in not being seen, heard or understood by those around us, especially the people we love.
Posted Aug 03, 2024  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha (2024) Ankit Ojha In spite of its drawbacks, though, it contains more good than bad throughout its running time, remaining eminently watchable for its bleeding-heart sincerity, if nothing else.
Posted Aug 02, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
BLACKPINK WORLD TOUR [BORN PINK] IN CINEMAS (2024) William Mullally It’s maximalist, manicured pop that has devoured all possible influences in its successful bid to take over the world. There are no nutrients to be had here, but it tastes pretty good, so who cares? Indulge yourself. Dance a bit. Bring the children.
Posted Jul 31, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) William Mullally The machine is what will kill superhero films, if we let it. Teasing the future will no longer sell the present. Deadpool & Wolverine is a call to let things matter on their own again, and to peel a few more of these cynical masks off in the process.
Posted Jul 26, 2024  Edit critic review
3/5
From the Ashes (2024) William Mullally The heart-wrenching event the film’s premise prepares us for, the big fire, comes in the first 30 minutes. That alone might leave you colder than expected. Once that’s out of the way, however, the film starts to get more interesting.
Posted Jul 20, 2024  Edit critic review
5/5
Goodbye Julia (2023) William Mullally For people from across the world, in all walks of life, there is much to consider here, not only about the region, but about ourselves, and the ways in which we, no matter how far along we are, still have room for change.
Posted Jul 20, 2024  Edit critic review
4.5/5
The Holdovers (2023) William Mullally In a time when things often seem so hopeless, when the same forces of inequality and military injustices plague our own world, perhaps it’s this film’s realistic salve that makes it resonate so strongly.
Posted Jul 20, 2024  Edit critic review
4.5/5
Divine Intervention (2002) William Mullally Divine Intervention is not an essay – it’s a diary. It’s a window into one man’s soul, at times sharply focused and other times disassociated.
Posted Jul 20, 2024  Edit critic review
2.5/5
Twisters (2024) William Mullally I’m coming down hard on a perfectly fine piece of summer entertainment, I know. But it’s hard not to when I can remember the way the first made me feel as if it were yesterday, and the sequel had already left my mind by the time I’d walked to my car.
Posted Jul 20, 2024  Edit critic review
2/5
Sarfira (2024) Ankit Ojha “Sarfira” could have been much, much more. What it is now, unfortunately, is an overwhelmingly loud and long drama that is less movie and more a platform for Kumar's unceasing, unrelenting presence that overstays its welcome way before the first act ends.
Posted Jul 11, 2024  Edit critic review
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