Ian Freer

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Empire, Time Out
For 391 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 49% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Ian Freer's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 Imitation of Life
Lowest review score: 20 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 191 out of 391
  2. Mixed: 196 out of 391
  3. Negative: 4 out of 391
391 movie reviews
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    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Kim Novak's Vertigo
    The timelines fuzzy (it’s difficult to discern when she actually left movies behind) and other personal details are scant, but what shines through is the obvious affection between interviewer and subject. It’s a rapport that engenders an engrossing, conversational tribute to a mostly unsung great.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Father Mother Sister Brother
    Closer to the gentle humanism of Paterson than Jarmusch’s cooler, ironic output, Father Mother Sister Brother is a small-scale and singular treat.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 Ian Freer
    Sirât
    So intense you’ll want to scarper but so riveting you can’t leave, Sirāt is an assault on the senses, mind and emotions. If only all movies took swings this bold.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Nouvelle Vague
    It might lack the edge of Godard’s own movies but this courses with love for cinema, creativity, youth, Paris and ’60s cool. Film history is rarely this charming.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 100 Ian Freer
    Train Dreams
    Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams is a peach of a picture. At once miniaturist yet epic, it’s an exquisite film that touches on every human emotion – agony, ecstasy, discovery, surprise, togetherness, loneliness – without contrivance or strain.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Anemone
    A powerful story about father and sons, told by a father and son. At once a showcase for a monumental talent, and the arrival of an exciting new one.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Bring Her Back
    Like Talk To Her, it doesn’t completely satisfy when it comes time to resolve its intrigue. But, as with their debut, the Philippou brothers show a real skill for creating believable teen characters, Barratt and Wong create a tender, affecting chemistry that make the chills all the more affecting.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    The Ballad of Wallis Island
    The Ballad Of Wallis Island is a big-hearted, consoling hug of a movie. It might not reinvent the wheel, but it’s the low-(Tim)-key crowd-pleaser of the year so far.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Heart Eyes
    An affectionate bloody valentine to both romcoms and horror, Heart Eyes is a like a Hinge date from hell. Smart, funny, intense; swipe right.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    The Seed of the Sacred Fig
    Understated performances and unflashy filmmaking coalesce into an absorbing mixture of the personal and the political. It may take its time but, given the circumstances of its making, this is an extraordinary achievement.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    A Real Pain
    It may be formally unadventurous but A Real Pain is a real treat, a tender, funny treatise on family jealousies and our relationship to the past. Simultaneously light and heavy, it soars on the stellar pairing of Eisenberg and Culkin.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Blitz
    This is Steve McQueen’s most accessible film to date, without diluting any of his power. Mixing epic sweep with textured detail, despite an episodic second half it will make even the stiffest upper lip quiver.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Blink Twice
    Kravitz expertly flits between tension, horror, black comedy and social satire, sometimes delivering all four simultaneously. It’s a film about the abuses of power, the dangers of being a woman in a man’s world and the importance of female solidarity, but is never didactic, just gripping.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Kneecap
    Having the mordant wit and tonal confidence to parlay The Troubles into a punchline, Kneecap has laughs, smarts and verve to spare. Get on board or, as the characters put it, fuck up.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Hundreds of Beavers
    Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds Of Beavers is that rare thing in the current film landscape: a genuine cult classic.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Nowhere Special
    Hugely affecting and perfectly played, Nowhere Special is a peach of a picture.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    The First Omen
    It’s horror hokum told with unswerving commitment.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Monster
    Monster is Hirokazu Kore-eda channelling Christopher Nolan: twisty storytelling in the service of wise empathy. There is no judgement in Kore-eda’s worldview, just human behaviour in all its glorious complexity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    The Color Purple
    A sanitised version of Spielberg’s film, let alone Walker’s novel. But bravura musical sequences and a top-notch cast ensure smiles and tears come the end credits.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Werner Herzog - Radical Dreamer
    If nothing else, Radical Dreamer is a never-ending stream of great anecdotes.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
    Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé achieves total Beyhem, a riot of colour, spectacle, inventive staging, stunning vocals and gorgeous grooves. As a self-portrait, it might not delve as deep as you’d like, but it offers a thrilling lesson in what it takes to be a pop icon.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Wonka
    It may not scale the heights of his Paddington duo, but Paul King’s Wonka is a beguiling way to spend 116 minutes, perfectly anchored by Chalamet’s benevolent dandy. All together now: Oompa Loompa, doompety doo…
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Maestro
    Maestro never truly gets under its subject’s skin, but it’s mightily impressive, full of brilliant filmmaking, many memorable scenes and a superb Carey Mulligan walking away with the entire movie.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Subject
    Subject acknowledges sensitivities are shifting but also pointedly makes clear, for the damaged souls here, they didn’t change quick enough.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
    You don’t have to be cray-cray for Tay-Tay to enjoy The Eras Tour. Taylor’s version of a concert flick might not reinvent the music movie wheel but, as a gift to the hardcore or a primer to her immense talent, it works a treat.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Brooklyn 45
    A pressure cooker of a period picture, Brooklyn 45 is a smart take on the spooky séance staple, a film where the scariest spectres are the ghosts of the past rather than any pixel-packed phantoms.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 Ian Freer
    One Fine Morning
    One Fine Morning is Mia Hansen-Løve on tip top form, drawing a fantastic lead performance from a never-better Léa Seydoux. Some flicks need a bearded assassin or ghostface killer to create drama. Hansen-Løve just needs the stuff of real life.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Broker
    If it’s not God-tier level Kore-eda, Broker explores the toughest themes — emotional and physical abandonment — with the gentlest touch. Treat yourself.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 100 Ian Freer
    TÁR
    TÁR is a masterwork. A gripping, grown-up movie superbly orchestrated by Todd Field and perfectly played by a virtuoso, career-best Cate Blanchett. 158 minutes rarely flies by so quickly.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Ian Freer
    Till
    Chinonye Chukwu’s restrained approach replaces dramatic fireworks with an absorbing, slow-burning study of a broken woman’s politicisation. She is superbly served by star Danielle Deadwyler, who transforms Till from a good film into a gripping one.
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