Phil de Semlyen

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Empire, Time Out, Time Out London
For 492 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 5.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Phil de Semlyen's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 The Lost Daughter
Lowest review score: 20 Stuber
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 285 out of 492
  2. Mixed: 202 out of 492
  3. Negative: 5 out of 492
492 movie reviews
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    • 91 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
    If you’re looking for a more granular account of the Oxy epidemic and its perpetrators, Emmy-nominated miniseries Dopesick and investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe’s bestseller ‘Empire of Pain’ both have your back. But All the Beauty and the Bloodshed plots a slightly different kind of narrative: one that’s full of defiance and emotion.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
    Baumbach’s drama of grown-up kids seeking emotional restitution sees Sandler and Stiller at their best. If it feels like familiar turf for the writer-director, the emotions here are rawer than ever.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Beast
    Immaculately composed yet skittish, edgy and surprising, this impressive debut by writer-director Michael Pearce emanates a chill that will have you hugging your sides.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Scrapper
    Like Aftersun on a gallon of SunnyD, this warm and freewheeling comedy-drama about a girl connecting with the dad she’s never met proves that working-class stories don’t have to be all misery and angst. Sometimes, that kitchen sink can be filled with bubbles.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    King & Country
    Courtenay is heartbreaking as a broken man crushed under the wheels of a callous system.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Killer
    Like a hollow-point shell, David Fincher’s slickly enjoyable assassin thriller is explosive but empty.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Maestro
    It’s a film for cinephiles as well as musos and romantics, with its discrete ‘movements’ mirroring the movie making style of its time frame.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Alpinist
    As a piece of watch-through-your-fingers outdoors filmmaking, The Alpinist stands right up alongside the Oscar-winning Free Solo.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Conclave
    Directed with real élan by Edward Berger – going two-for-two on literary adaptions after his take on All Quiet on the Western Front – Conclave is a film for the ’they don’t make ’em like they used to’ brigade.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    In the Heights
    The editing is sharp and director Jon M Chu, who captured Singapore as a celebratory melting pot in Crazy Rich Asians, repeats the trick for New York, packing a tonne of warmth and summery vibes into every shot.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Challengers
    If the story construction is intricate, the tennis is ferocious.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The County
    Egilsdóttir centres it all wonderfully as the lugubrious Inga, bemused to find herself slowly transforming into a champion of the underdog.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Only the River Flows
    This analogue noir set in central China evokes satisfying memories of Bong Joon-ho’s great Korean crime thriller Memories of Murder.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Great Escaper
    It could have a lot of sentimental mush, but with Jackson and Caine on this form, it’s a total heartbreaker.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    M3GAN 2.0
    M3GAN 2.0 continues to offer up a goofy brand of cautionary tale, too: against AI, tech dependence, and Silicon Valley types who want to stick a chip in their brains. You can take that seriously as you want to, just don’t be surprised to find yourself watching it again on your cellphone one day.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Air
    A mostly CG-free, witty, grown-up drama that revels in strong, propulsive storytelling? Sometimes they do make ’em like they used to.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Rocketman
    If there’s one thing Rocketman does have in common with Bohemian Rhapsody, it’s a commanding central performance.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Paul McCartney: Man on the Run
    If, like Alan Partridge, you believe that Wings were ‘the band The Beatles could have been’, Morgan Neville’s propulsively upbeat music doc is a total treat.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Io Capitano
    Stark social drama meets boy’s own adventure in this strikingly photographed African-set, Oscar-nominated adventure.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Santosh
    Santosh positions its protagonist as a fundamentally decent woman in an impossible situation, rather than a crusading cop on mission. If ‘Training Day with more grey areas’ sounds dull, it’s anything but.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Asteroid City
    The overall effect is one of wonderment, eccentricity and heartache that will connect deeply with anyone who recently spent an extended period stuck in close proximity with other human beings.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Four Daughters
    Like a kind of cinematic Lego set, Ben Hania takes the building blocks of filmmaking and constructs from them something cathartic, affecting and original.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Kubi
    Kubi is often wildly funny in Kitano’s straight-faced style, and it’s never less than a lot of fun. Fans of visceral, cynical action movies will lose their heads over it.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Bergman Island
    Although the story isn’t autobiographical, there’s a tang of lived experience here – of very personal feelings and important questions being channelled through these characters – that keeps its sunlit landscapes and island interactions ground with relatability.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Nouvelle Vague
    For devoted filmlovers, Nouvelle Vague is a must-see – a joyful homage to the art of cinema that’ll have you queuing at your local repertory cinema as soon as the credits roll.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    The Many Saints of Newark
    A busier proposition than its HBO forefather, this sets up more than it can pay off. But it does manage to balance fan-service with plenty of rich, original, complex material.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Hit Man
    Comfortably Linklater’s best movie since Boyhood, Hit Man stands alongside School of Rock for big laughs and good vibes – albeit with a darker streak that slowly kicks in.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    A Hidden Life
    Diehl and Pachner are both terrific, mastering Malick’s improvisational style and bringing earthy authenticity to its playful family moments.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    Stan & Ollie
    There are also juicy supporting roles for Shirley Henderson and Midnight in Paris’s Nina Arianda as the comedians’ long-suffering wives, Lucille and Ida. The film may be called Stan & Ollie, but it’s never more alive than when the four of them are onscreen.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Phil de Semlyen
    A Cambodian Spring
    For all its sombre revelations, A Cambodian Spring exudes a powerful sense of possibility. In these days of popular protest, it makes for an enthralling case study.
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