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From top left: The Substance; Conclave; Anora; Emilia Perez; Wicked; and The Brutalist.

Reviewed: How our critics rated the Oscar best picture nominees

From Wicked to A Complete Unknown and Anora, here are our critics’ takes on this year’s Academy Award nominated films.

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Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) in The Brutalist.

Despite all the awards buzz, is The Brutalist actually any good?

In an industry which ranks familiarity as its favourite selling point how do you peddle a script so original that it defies comparison?

  • Sandra Hall
Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown.

Timothee Chalamet ditches the cuteness and produces an electric Bob Dylan

A Complete Unknown is the actor’s most impressive performance to date: not merely an imitation of the young Dylan, but an interpretation of his body of work.

  • Jake Wilson
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in We Live in Time.

Florence Pugh’s new weepie remains upbeat as time takes its toll

In We Live in Time, Pugh and Andrew Garfield play a couple whose shared sense of the ridiculous proves robust enough to survive almost anything.

  • Sandra Hall
Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott and Matilda Firth in Wolf Man.

Leigh Whannell’s new horror update Wolf Man is ruthlessly effective

Like his 2020 reboot of The Invisible Man, the Melbourne-born director’s new film pares a classic story back to its stark essentials.

  • Jake Wilson
Magic Beach

Beloved children’s book Magic Beach comes to life in this gentle film

Bringing together illustration, live-action and the work of 10 different animators, this film is a tender tribute to the childhood joys of the Australian seaside.

  • Sandra Hall
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Colman Domingo, left, and Clarence Maclin in a scene from Sing Sing.

You’ll be moved by this prison drama about a drama staged in a prison

The supporting cast of Sing Sing includes many former inmates from the notorious jail.

  • Jake Wilson
Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.

Gerard Butler’s new heist movie strains credibility, but I was won over

There’s plenty of testosterone in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, but the star gives an unusually restrained performance.

  • Sandra Hall
Mason Thames, Noah Cottrell, Julian Lerner and Abby James Witherspoon in Monster Summer.

Spielberg meets Stranger Things in this paranoid teen-horror fantasy

Monster Summer, which stars Mel Gibson, is reminiscent of Jaws, but with a more nebulous enemy.

  • Jake Wilson
Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence in the film Conclave.

Heaven help us! Conclave’s divine drama at times defies belief

This adaptation of Robert Harris’ thriller has all the hallmarks of a classic palace intrigue but stretches credibility to breaking point.

  • Jake Wilson

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/movie-reviews-1q7