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The Blue Lenses

The Blue Lenses is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism (2022) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Godless is a film made with enormous integrity and deep emotional intelligence, and brings to the table something we don’t see too much of in contemporary horror: compassion.
Posted Oct 19, 2023  Edit critic review
Wyvern Hill (2021) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Fun, daring and fearless in so many ways, Wyvern Hill is a reminder that low budget indie film can go where more mainstream fare fears to tread.
Posted Nov 01, 2021  Edit critic review
Dashcam (2021) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Dashcam is an extraordinary low-budget political thriller that does a lot with a little, and is a masterclass that sometimes, having the guts to punch above its weight can pay off just through sheer audacity alone.
Posted Oct 12, 2021  Edit critic review
Surge (2020) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas What Surge achieves most impressively of all is how it pulls us into the sensory experience of being completely overwhelmed to the point where it untethers Joseph from reality entirely
Posted Sep 27, 2021  Edit critic review
Hopper/Welles (2020) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas An orthodox cinephile's wet dream, there are also in the gaps and ellipses of Hopper Welles compelling revelations of the volatility of discourse itself, as two giants go head-to-head.
Posted Aug 17, 2021  Edit critic review
Black Magic for White Boys (2017) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas a sharp, emotionally cutting and very funny film about power: who owns it and the impact of how they choose to wield it.
Posted Jul 11, 2020  Edit critic review
Ode to Nothing (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas An exercise in cinematic poetry, successfully embracing the darkest of black comic elements with a genuinely heartfelt, moving story of a lost woman who has fallen between the cracks.
Posted Jul 11, 2020  Edit critic review
The Beach House (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas A good film definitely - although perhaps not a great one - at the very least, The Beach House certainly indicates the presence of a filmmaker here with a promising career ahead of them.
Posted Jul 08, 2020  Edit critic review
Blood Quantum (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Blood Quantum seamlessly balances two very different things; it's proudly and unambiguously political, while simultaneously being just a banger of genre film.
Posted May 12, 2020  Edit critic review
A White, White Day (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas A White, White Day is a masterclass in balance, contrast and restraint, as profoundly moving as it is refreshingly bereft of cliché.
Posted Apr 02, 2020  Edit critic review
Depraved (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas A tragedy as much as a horror film, Depraved is a contemporary love letter to Mary Shelly's legacy
Posted Feb 19, 2020  Edit critic review
Tommaso (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Poetic, moving and unflinching in its honesty, Tommaso is Ferrara's finest film since his criminally underrated magnum opus 4:44 Last Day on Earth.
Posted Feb 13, 2020  Edit critic review
Corpus Christi (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas An understated, fierce masterpiece that deserves to be remembered as one of the finest films of 2019.
Posted Feb 04, 2020  Edit critic review
Rock, Paper and Scissors (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Masterfully directed, perfectly cast and immaculately paced, Rock, Paper and Scissors is further evidence that when looking for the contemporary epicentre of exciting, fresh work in the horror genre, we need look nowhere further than Argentina
Posted Jan 09, 2020  Edit critic review
Motherless Brooklyn (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Motherless Brooklyn is a love-letter to the long-held focus across film noir on masculinity in crisis, but through Lethem's source material and Norton's deep engagement with it, something genuinely fresh explodes out of seemingly familiar material.
Posted Dec 10, 2019  Edit critic review
Clemency (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Clemency is a compelling character portrait of a woman caught within a perfect storm of ideological volatility; as both witness and part of the machine, it is her very professionalism that places her humanity in crisis
Posted Dec 08, 2019  Edit critic review
Der Bunker (2015) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas An absurd, disturbing film that is simultaneously both funny and tragic, Der Bunker is that rarest of treasures: a one-of-a-kind.
Posted Nov 12, 2019  Edit critic review
Take Me Somewhere Nice (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas At times passive, passionate and often frequently ambivalent, the power of Take Me Somewhere Nice lies in just how confidently Sendijarević allows her protagonist the right to her contradictions, without feeling the need to justify them.
Posted Aug 26, 2019  Edit critic review
Leftover Women (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Leftover Women is captivating viewing that demands we think with intelligence and compassion of a world beyond our own experience.
Posted Aug 16, 2019  Edit critic review
Sequin in a Blue Room (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Smart, hot and unflinching, Sequin in a Blue Room is dark but not doomed, sexy but not exploitative, proving the queer coming-of-age film can be told in an Australian vernacular in new and exciting ways.
Posted Aug 14, 2019  Edit critic review
Chinese Portrait (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Elegantly simple in both concept and execution, Chinese Portrait is thoroughly captivating as its kinetic tableaux breathe new life into the very notion of "moving pictures".
Posted Aug 11, 2019  Edit critic review
Rosie (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Rosie cannily captures something about the fundamental tension between the banality and panic of poverty, and while far from experimental cinema in this sense there is something intrinsically radical about the film.
Posted Aug 09, 2019  Edit critic review
Land of Ashes (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Land of Ashes is built upon the seamless, impressive connection between Sofía Quirós Ubeda and her lead actor, Smashleen Gutiérrez, the latter bringing real depth to her character's transition from childhood to womanhood
Posted Aug 06, 2019  Edit critic review
Vision Portraits (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Vision Portraits is a frank and fearless examination not only of the remarkable journeys of its four visually impaired subjects, but also of the assumptions and biases of the sighted
Posted Aug 05, 2019  Edit critic review
Particles (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas With Particles director Harrison says something important about the experience of adolescence itself, rejecting soap-boxing didacticism for something far more subjective, disorienting and indefinably creepy.
Posted Aug 04, 2019  Edit critic review
(undefined) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas While not as audacious as the original Spanish film that inspired it, Door Lock stands as a solid Korean thriller, and on that front has much to keep audiences satisfied.
Posted Jul 29, 2019  Edit critic review
The Deeper You Dig (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Deeper You Dig is both beautifully but simply made, and a poignant, deeply affecting film that uses a supernatural tale to articulate the almost unspeakable complexities of how mothers can connect to their children.
Posted Jul 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Art of Self-Defense (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Art of Self-Defense is a razor-sharp parable about radicalization, masculinity and misogyny that avoids pompous, self-aggrandizing soapboxing in favour of empathy, humanity and compassion. All that, plus bonus dachshund.
Posted Jul 24, 2019  Edit critic review
The Father's Shadow (A Sombra do Pai) (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Father's Shadow is a deeply moving supernatural tale about grief and loneliness, as a young girl discovers her power and agency in a hard, cold world.
Posted Jul 23, 2019  Edit critic review
We Are Little Zombies (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas We Are Little Zombies is an 8-bit empathy theme park that dazzles the senses as much as it provides a window into the subjective experience of its cast of really damaged, traumatised kids.
Posted Jul 23, 2019  Edit critic review
The Best of Dorien B. (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas A film about the liberating force of shaking your comfort zone, The Best of Dorien B. is so earnest, sincere and fun that it's hard to begrudge it taking us to where we - and its title character herself - finally need to be.
Posted Jun 21, 2019  Edit critic review
Hail Satan? (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas In Hail Satan? Lane in many ways mirrors the shrewd sense of radical playfulness that underscores The Temple of Satan's own ideological and moral agenda, while at the same time never downplaying the importance and scale of their vision
Posted Jun 19, 2019  Edit critic review
Dirty God (2019) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Dirty God is a film about finding your own path, of the necessity of trial and error, and a timely reminder that the fallout of domestic violence for its survivors is not just difficult, but often very, very messy.
Posted Jun 12, 2019  Edit critic review
House of Sweat and Tears (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The House of Sweat and Tears is a deliberately understated film to the point it almost feels consciously repressed...But far from poor filmmaking, it is rather a masterclass in form and theme where pacing, poetics and meaning work in admirable harmony.
Posted Nov 19, 2018  Edit critic review
Strike, Dear Mistress, and Cure His Heart (2018) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Strike, Dear Mistress, and Cure His Heart is a low-budget tableaux vivant of trash-mannerism...Painstakingly executed, it's a pleasure cruise through a realm of camp so brilliantly forceful that it collapses the entire notions of 'high' and 'low' art...
Posted Nov 16, 2018  Edit critic review
The Innocents (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Innocents [is] a strong instance of a movie that - if made by a male director - may have lost some of its thematic punch, particularly in regards to the nuanced and often subtle relationships between the film's primarily female cast.
Posted Sep 05, 2018  Edit critic review
The Family (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Family is a provocative documentary about an aspect of Australian history few under a certain age recall, and Jones's film grants a voice to those who had so long been denied one.
Posted Sep 05, 2018  Edit critic review
Clash (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Arguably one of the most important Egyptian filmmakers currently working today, Mohamed Diab is an unflinching director who does not shy away from explicit commentary about current events in his homeland.
Posted Sep 05, 2018  Edit critic review
Nina Forever (2015) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Bodies know things that our brains sometimes cannot comprehend, and Nina Forever is a horror film about learning to listen.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas This is not a subversive horror film by any stretch, but it is regardless a satisfying, visually striking one.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Arrival (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Arrival transcends the limitations that so often govern the less creative examples of the subgenre, instead using it as a loose conceptual foundation upon which to build a theoretically-informed examination of what precisely ... makes us human.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
9/10
Dearest Sister: Nong Hak (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Dearest Sister is a sad, beautiful film, while simultaneously a masterful yet shattering ghost story.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
The People vs. Fritz Bauer (2015) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The result may not be highbrow experimental art cinema, but ... its explicit mission to tell Bauer's story to as many people as it can shouldn't be underrated in the current global political climate.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Neon Bull (2015) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas The Neon Bull exists well beyond the realm of didacticism, surrendering instead to the joys and the discomforts of the senses.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
The Greasy Strangler (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas You embrace The Greasy Strangler for what it is: surrender to its vile idiocy and have the time of your life, or walk away, dull, boring and oh-so-clever.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Cameraperson (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas An autobiography of sorts, Cameraperson demands we think beyond Johnson's own extraordinary career and reflect upon our own status as observers, and the ethical and emotional responsibilities that come with it.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Always Shine (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Always Shine is a remarkable film carried by a strong script and even stronger performances.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Hidden Figures (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Through strong performances, sensitive direction and the strength of its source material, Hidden Figures transcends cliché to become a genuinely moving, inspirational tale of perseverance, strength and love.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Toni Erdmann (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann is a testament to the precision necessary for really good comedy, proving that fart jokes, sophisticated black humour and a profound sensitivity to broadly experienced human emotions can ... find perfect balance.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
Train to Busan (2016) Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Train to Busan is horror as it should be: intelligent, fun, and celebrating life with every mad twist and new take on death that it can find.
Posted Aug 25, 2018  Edit critic review
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