Allan Hunter

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Screen Daily
For 281 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 28% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 9.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Allan Hunter's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 75
Highest review score: 100 Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Lowest review score: 30 Mothers and Daughters
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 238 out of 281
  2. Mixed: 41 out of 281
  3. Negative: 2 out of 281
281 movie reviews
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    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Last Spy
    When Sichel attempted to write his memoirs, the CIA returned the manuscript with endless suggested redactions. They argued that if a journalist had written the book it would have been considered mere speculation, but with his name attached it would have become confirmation. The Last Spy affords him the privilege of having the final word.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Sebastian
    The fearless lead performance from Ruraridh Mollica really gets under the skin of the complex central figure and should elevate him to rising star status.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Hanging by a Wire
    Hanging By a Wire may have all the urgency of a Hollywood disaster movie from the 1970s, but also incorporates an undercurrent of commentary on the neglect of poor rural communities in Pakistan.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    One in a Million
    The bittersweet realities of being a stranger in a strange land create a complex, thought-provoking human interest film.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Bedford Park
    A tentative connection warms to something deeper in a poignant, slow-burn tale of hope and healing.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Mother of Flies
    The result is a polished horror yarn that leads to a satisfying conclusion, and leaves the impression there is more than enough material here for a potential prequel or an extension of Solveig’s story.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Adult Children
    Adult Children develops into a tale of guilty secrets, ulterior motives, honest conversations and sweet vulnerability.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    A Sad and Beautiful World
    The result is an appealing, soulful romance with a considerable emotional tug.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
    Farsi’s film now stands as a powerful memorial to someone who was both ordinary and extraordinary.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Saipan
    Even those with little interest in the beautiful game should be entertained by Saipan, a breezily engaging narrative.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    My Sunshine
    My Sunshine is a deceptively sweet little heartwarmer that eventually cuts deeper.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    The Cut
    An increasingly overwrought approach undermines its better instincts and creates an uneven affair.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Four Letters of Love
    Four Letters is a tale of signs and omens, destiny and divine intervention, cosmic connections and miracle cures in which love conquers every obstacle placed in its path. It has elements of Edna O’Brien’s early writing, and these star-crossed lovers might have appealed to Powell and Pressburger back in the day.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Brick
    More conventional in its later stages, Brick is still a satisfying and watchable audience-pleaser.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    No Sleep Till
    In No Sleep Till, it feels as if time is standing still.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Falling Into Place
    A little too long and reliant on a coincidence or two to advance the plot, Falling Into Place still proves a heartfelt tale of thirtysomething love in which the prevailing gloom ultimately leads towards the light.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Meeting with Pol Pot
    The thriller-like intrigue in Meeting With Pol Pot is sustained by tension around whether the title event will ever actually happen and, ultimately, whether any of the trio will make it out alive.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
    Love is a constant saving grace in The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo. Diego Cespedes’s striking debut feature blends together a heady mixture of melodrama, western and coming of age tale to create an imaginative, indignant AIDS-era story.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Ghost Trail
    While the thriller element remains compelling, it is ultimately eclipsed by the gripping focus on a man haunted by the past.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    That They May Face the Rising Sun
    The story of a couple finding their best life in the rural Ireland of the 1980s is beautifully realised and quietly beguiling.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Atropia
    Hailey Gates’ ambitious debut feature Atropia is full of comic potential that is never quite realised. The mixture of war games satire, deadpan farce and sweet romance provides amusement along the way without cutting as deep as it sometimes promises.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Seeds
    Seeds is a sweet, meditative elegy for a way of life that is fast disappearing.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Coexistence, My Ass!
    Sharp-witted, sympathetic and illuminating, Coexistence, My Ass! successfully runs the gamut from hilarity to heartbreak.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Two Women
    Its reflections on modern relationships are engagingly comical, cynical and ultimately tender.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
    On the surface, Not Alone Anymore is a solid, sweet-natured celebration of a unique artist, but it gradually provides a deeper perspective.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Lurker
    Lurker is sometimes a little too on the mark.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    The Dating Game
    The Dating Game is sustained by the humanity that Du Feng finds in each of the individuals we come to know and understand a little better.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    All That's Left of You
    Lacking nuance in its early stages, it matures into a more considered, moving tale that effectively blends the personal and the political.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Predators
    Predators may not find all the answers, but it offers a thought-provoking exploration of the questions and should attract audiences fascinated by the morality of the media and the complexities of crime and punishment.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Bread & Roses
    Bread And Roses conveys the full nightmare of what has happened to women in Afghanistan, but it becomes a celebration of resistance rather than a lament for what has been lost.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Flow
    There are no human characters in Flow and no dialogue beyond barks and squawks but the sense of peril is compelling, the visuals are impressive and the emotional spell it casts is captivating.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Hell Hole
    A restrained production favours story over splatter but eventually delivers a fair amount of gloopy, tentacled creatures and exploding host bodies. That should be enough to satisfy Adams aficionados.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Cottontail
    Cottontail does not hold any great surprises and, while understanted and full of grace, also lacks bite.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Ama Gloria
    It is a small film, but one whose subtle touch and generous spirit proves captivating.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Filmlovers!
    Filmlovers! is a beguiling, bittersweet celebration of a life-long love affair with the movies.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Solo
    Drag is a form of self-expression, an act of political defiance and a means of reinvention in Solo.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Good One
    The ending is as low-key as the rest of the film, but the subtle shifts in power and understanding feel like a significant coming of age.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    In Flames
    What lends this film distinction is the way it evolves into a story of female empowerment, and the bond between mother and daughter as they combat the pernicious evils of a patriarchal society.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Bobi Wine: The People's President
    Bobi Wine is an intimate portrait of a hugely engaging figure that also serves as a sobering warning about the seeming impossibility of democratic change in a dictatorship.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Girls Will Be Girls
    Giving her characters shading and the story space to breathe, Talati has created a quietly captivating, sharply observed film.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Bye Bye Tiberias
    Filmmaker Lina Soualem’s sentimental journey with her actress mother Hiam Abbass becomes a powerful celebration of lives marked by separation, exile and erasure.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Skin Deep
    Alex Schaad’s spiky, good-looking debut feature takes a clever concept and develops it into a witty, provocative exploration of identity, gender fluidity, sexuality and the pursuit of happiness.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    A Prince
    [A] charming, quirky, dramatically inert new feature.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    2018
    2018 wears its heart on its sleeve and succeeds as tense, well-paced popular entertainment.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Concrete Utopia
    The well-drawn characters, clever plotting and sting of social commentary in a tale of pride and property create an entertaining film that could follow in the wake of Parasite, Squid Game and other South Korean success stories.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Eismayer
    Wagner takes a reserved approach to potentially heart-tugging developments. There is an air of confidence and composure in the film.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    The Mission
    The Mission is a thoughtful, fair-minded exploration of what motivated Chau, and also spreads out to confront bigger questions on the legacy of colonialism, the delusions of white saviour narratives and the thin line between faith and fantasy.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Reality Winner
    Kennebeck’s documentary offers a more sympathetic, thought-provoking version of what motivated Winner’s actions and the morality of whistleblowing.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation
    Initially intriguing, Ashkal grows less satisfying as it struggles to do justice to the disparate elements of the personal, the political and the supernatural.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    The Dive
    The film itself has a commendable logic and credibility, but perhaps lacks a little of the pulse-racing intensity that might have made it a more obviously commercial proposition.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Madeleine Collins
    Barraud offers a satisfyingly slippery tale in which we think we know where it might be headed but are constantly met by a little twist or discovery that puts everything into a different perspective.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Miracle Club
    An ensemble cast led by Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney brings persuasive conviction to period heartwarmer The Miracle Club.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Will-o'-the-Wisp
    Served up with lashings of homoeroticism, Bunuelian satire, a gay love story and an athletic dance number, its uncompromising nature will delight fans of the visionary filmmaker.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 100 Allan Hunter
    Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
    This is a remarkable debut feature; provocative, absorbing and mysterious. There are no easy answers to the big existential questions, just a desire to seek them out with a kind heart and good intentions. In the end you just have to have faith.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Pray for Our Sinners
    O’Shea finds hope in how much Ireland has changed in recent years. Yet her film powerfully documents what happened within living memory, the trauma still experienced by those who survived it and the inspiration from an often invisible resistance who helped to bring about change.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Falcon Lake
    The end result is a delicate and ultimately touching evocation of first love’s intensity.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Chile '76
    The blend of character study, Hitchcockian intrigue and an excellent central performance from Aline Kuppenheim makes for a tensely involving tale.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Kubrick by Kubrick
    Backed by a wealth of archive interviews and a judicious use of clips, Gregory Monro’s elegant documentary should prove irresistible to those familiar with Kubrick’s films and keen to deepen their understanding of his process and filmmaking philosophy.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    The Persian Version
    The combination of exuberant energy, wise-cracking humour and warmhearted emotion makes for a captivating crowdpleaser.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    20 Days in Mariupol
    Ultimately, Chernov’s film is a compelling record of senseless destruction and death, and a salute to the enduring resilience of a people who refuse to surrender their home.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Joyland
    Sadiq’s screenplay navigates a complex web of secrets and lies, pressures and prejudices to create a soulful human drama intent on challenging narrow minds.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Last Flight Home
    This is unflinching, but is very much a film of love and understanding
    • 42 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Rhinegold
    Rheingold is a helter-skelter mix of coming of age drama, heist thriller, chaste romance and origins story for a star rapper. Akin comes up with some striking moments.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Young Plato
    The bright sparks and troubled souls of the classroom make for lively, sometimes heartrending company in a film that successfully links individual stories to a broader perspective.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    My Imaginary Country
    Guzman’s heart and soul investment in the film and the snapshots of people power in action make for an emotional and involving documentary.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Raymond & Ray
    The predictable route to resolution does offer some surprises along the way, and is anchored by nuanced, rock solid performances from the ever reliable Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Emily
    Mackey convinces us that there are so many more colours to Emily than the ones she is allowed to display. Her thoughtful, understated performance matches a film that teases out the flesh-and-blood emotions from the stuff of gothic romance.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 40 Allan Hunter
    Instinct
    Plays like an unnecessary revival of the provocative cat and mouse thrillers that were once a speciality of screenwriter Joe Ezterhas.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams
    Luca Guadagnino’s lush documentary may be traditional in its use of talking head interviews and evocative archive footage, but it works a treat when the subject is this fascinating.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Elizabeth: A Portrait in Part(s)
    Couched in fondness and gentle irreverence, his impressionistic archive footage documentary offers whimsical reflections on a lifetime of duty and service.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Castro's Spies
    Compelling as a tale of Cold War intrigue and fraught international relations, Castro’s Spies is equally gripping on a human level especially when the focus settles on emotional accounts of what happened to each one of the five.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Hold Your Fire
    What makes Hold Your Fire so timely and disturbing is also how much remains the same.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Bad Roads
    Humanity is the first casualty of war in Bad Roads. Natalya Vorozhbit’s adaptation of her 2017 play is a howl of anguish over the recent history of the Ukraine and the impact of hostilities with neighbouring Russia.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Father
    It is the viewer who feels the injustice and outrage on his behalf, deepening the emotional connection to events.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Zero F*cks Given
    A moving lead performance from Adele Exarchopoulos is the film’s strongest selling point.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Girl and the Spider
    Precisely observed but somewhat aloof in tone, The Girl And The Spider builds into a symphony of separation and solitude.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Coma
    Eventually, Bonello does draw things together and creates a sense of cohesion in addressing the insecurities, large and small, of a typical teenager who has endured the pandemic lockdown.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
    The story arc of Lunana may offer few surprises but Dorji handles it with confidence and buckets of charm.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    All That Breathes
    Saud, Nadeem and Salik are engaging and inspirational individuals. Shaunak Sen’s film does justice to their efforts but also allows us to see the bigger picture of a highly connected, complex world that humanity shares but seems intent on destroying.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Nanny
    The combination of sensitively handled character drama and slow-burning horror genre tropes builds into an intriguing tale of survival and empowerment with a standout central performance from Anna Diop. ... But the supernatural element almost feels like a distraction or one ingredient too many for the film to incorporate.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    You Won't Be Alone
    You Won’t Be Alone’s strength lies in Stolevski’s ability to balance the gore with the humanity.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Fresh
    The central performances give the film its conviction and keep you intrigued about the twisted, see-sawing power dynamics between captor and captive.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Memory Box
    As truths are shared, revelations uncovered and reunions achieved, Memory Box becomes a warming tale of truth and reconciliation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Ascension
    Never appearing to judge any situation, Kingdon confidently allows the images to tell a fascinating, universal story of inequality and class division, revealing a country that feels more like a capitalist society than anyone’s idea of a Communist state.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    A Banquet
    An intense combination of apocalyptic nightmare and family psychodrama. ... A provocative, rigorously composed film that confirms Paxton as a singular talent after a string of award-winning shorts.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Becoming Cousteau
    Garbus’s approach is respectful, never hagiographic and allows room for consideration of Cousteau’s professional regrets and personal failings.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    My Name Is Pauli Murray
    West and Cohen reflect some of Murray’s unassuming nature in a diligently assembled, absorbing film that treats its fascinating subject matter with respect.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Desperate Hour
    Directed with brisk efficiency by Philip Noyce, the mix of adrenaline-rush emotion, manipulative melodrama and moralising is surprisingly entertaining in the moment.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    The Rescue
    Free Solo wife and husband directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are forensic in the detail they provide and the range of testimonies they have assembled; the result is a tense, absorbing documentary with a strong emotional charge.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Braves
    Anais Volpe’s debut feature celebrates a female friendship as it runs the gamut from jubilation to lamentation.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    La Civil
    La Civil paints a compelling picture of a society in which nobody can be trusted and everyone is complicit in a neverending cyle of violence, intimidation and revenge.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Mi Iubita Mon Amour
    A sure-footed handling of tangled emotional issues creates an involving if small-scale feature.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    The Story of Film: A New Generation
    A New Generation offers no earthshattering conclusions. There is no pretense of covering everything, just a chance to swim in Cousins erudite passion for film and answer his call to keep the faith.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Allan Hunter
    Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story
    Entertaining, wide-ranging and insightful, Lady Boss leaves you with admiration for Collins and even a sneaking inclination to read her books.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    All These Sons
    All These Sons finds universal truths in individual lives, and it is impossible not to be moved by these young men, what they represent and the glimmer of hope they are offered.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It
    Mariem Perez Riera’s celebratory documentary covers the full sweep of Moreno’s seven decades long career but also addresses her significance as a trailblazing Latina woman and political activist.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 90 Allan Hunter
    Faya Dayi
    Jessica Beshir’s hypnotic, immersive and very beautiful documentary marks an impressive feature debut.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    The County
    Egilsdottir makes Inga a very sympathetic figure, playing her with the bone weary resolve of someone who recognises that she has nothing left to lose.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Allan Hunter
    Wet Season
    It is easy to see where Wet Season is heading but Chen invests so much in the needs and flaws of the central duo that you want to see how it plays out.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Allan Hunter
    Jump, Darling
    Jump, Darling travels along predictable roads as family secrets are revealed, ghosts of the past confronted and separate generations discover the strength to be true to themselves. What makes the journey worthwhile are the performances.
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