Sandra Hall

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Oct 15, 2026 3/5 There is no doubt that Duffield knows how to put a thriller together and this one is a true original, but by the end, I was even more eager to make my escape than Jay himself. Go to Full Review Whalefall (2026) 73% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Oct 15, 2026 3.5/5 Oakley and Reid’s take on Austen produces an up-market bodice ripper, loosening the novel’s constraints, punching up the emotional temperature and taking the story out of the drawing room whenever it can to roam Devonshire’s forests, fields and beaches. Go to Full Review Sense and Sensibility (2026) 76% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Oct 9, 2026 3.5/5 Sorkin’s longstanding fascination with the nature of power and those who find its charms irresistible is functioning as effectively as ever, as is his flair for dialogue. Go to Full Review The Social Reckoning (2026) 54% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Oct 9, 2026 3.5/5 I would have cut an extended sequence involving a little-known musician whom Wilson films because of the popularity of musical biopics on the streaming services. But his gentle tongue-in-cheek humour and his self-deprecation both have their charms. Go to Full Review The History of Concrete (2026) 97% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Sep 16, 2026 3/5 The animation has all the verve of the old cartoons but overall the production lacks the deadpan wit that makes Frazier’s short piece so funny. Go to Full Review Coyote vs. Acme (2026) 96% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Sep 9, 2026 3/5 Given extra oomph by a new song from the Backstreet Boys, the film has plenty of colour and energy, but there’s something depressing about watching yet another well-worn franchise trying to extract...more mileage from ideas it has peddled so often before. Go to Full Review PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026) 83% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Sep 2, 2026 4/5 It’s out to show how the legal system is being used to victimise, discredit and financially ruin survivors, along with journalists who take up their stories. Go to Full Review Silenced (2026) 100% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 27, 2026 4/5 By the time Haugerud has finished exploring his story’s every aspect, you feel as if you’ve been treated to a modern, romantic Rashomon without the bloodshed and the fancy dress. Go to Full Review Dreams (2025) 52% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 19, 2026 3.5/5 Stewart prefers to retain the film’s impressionistic style rather than risk any hint of excessive explanation and there are occasional moments of bewilderment but they do little to diminish the power of what’s on screen. Go to Full Review The Chronology of Water (2025) 91% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 19, 2026 3.5/5 Pálmason doesn’t go in for exposition. He trusts in his evocations of the family’s everyday routines to produce the sense of intimacy he’s after. Instead, you often feel as if you’re on the outside looking in. Go to Full Review The Love That Remains (2025) 95% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 13, 2026 3.5/5 ...it’s a swift trip back to the Saturday matinee serials of the 1950s. At the horrors to come, you’re not sure whether to laugh or cry. Go to Full Review The End of Oak Street (2026) 86% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 6, 2026 3.5/5 The film is endlessly inventive. References to classic movies abound and Schoenbrun’s well-developed sense of the ridiculous never flags, but the script is packed with so many half-baked elaborations...that it leaves you breathless. Go to Full Review Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (2026) 94% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Aug 6, 2026 3.5/5 It’s all fairly predictable, including the revelation that Agnes likes a smoke and a drink in times of stress, but there’s plenty of fun to be found in watching Davis and Weaver negotiate the differences between two old friends... Go to Full Review Holy Days (2026) 63% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 30, 2026 4/5 ...Destin Daniel Cretton and the writers, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers have produced a script with enough twists to take [Spider-Man] all the way from panicked despair to unadulterated silliness. It’s quite a ride. Go to Full Review Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) 90% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 27, 2026 3/5 It’s a brilliant cautionary tale, but Assayas fails to catch its essence. Go to Full Review The Wizard of the Kremlin (2025) 44% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 27, 2026 3.5/5 It doesn’t quite convince, but Klapisch extracts a lot of charm from the idea, switching between past and present with such panache that the two narratives merge in a single portrait of the city at its most vibrant. Go to Full Review La venue de l'avenir (2025) 96% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 27, 2026 3/5 Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm - the third screen adaptation of George Orwell’s 1945 novella – is much cuter and more sentimental than either of its predecessors and it’s been soundly punished for it by critics and audiences alike. Go to Full Review Animal Farm (2025) 29% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 9, 2026 2/5 The power of the ocean, in this scenario, stands in for the power of the Walt Disney Company: this is a film where everything appears to happen automatically, in accordance with Disney formula. Go to Full Review Moana (2026) 33% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 8, 2026 3/5 Francis is convincing enough – an intense portrait in rising panic – and Danielle Macdonald supplies a welcome dash of sanity as her best friend, Josie, who’s trying to talk her into getting help. Go to Full Review Saccharine (2026) 73% - -

Sandra Hall Sydney Morning Herald Jul 8, 2026 4/5 It’s a powerful story but Simón handles it with a light touch. Go to Full Review Romería (2025) 92% - -