Hamnet: What Remains, What Reaches Back
I went to see Hamnet at the cinema, with Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as Shakespeare. I had been warned partway through that it would be very sad, that I might want a handkerchief ready. But the tears didn’t come where people expect them to. We all know the child dies. That isn’t […]
How People Step Into Later Life
People step into later life in different ways When paid work ends or loosens its grip, something opens up. Not always freedom. Sometimes uncertainty. Sometimes relief. Sometimes boredom. We often talk about “retirement” as if it’s one experience, but in reality people step into later life in very different ways. Not better or worse, just […]
Why I Found Myself Watching Macclesfield
I’m not a football fan.Or at least, that’s what I’ve always said. And yet, there I was, sitting down properly, not half-reading the paper, not doing something else at the same time, but really watching Macclesfield FC play Crystal Palace. Wanting to feel every minute of it. Part of it goes back a long way. […]
Sentimental Value
I came out of Sentimental Value feeling raw. Not overwhelmed exactly, but stripped back. As if the film had asked me to sit with emotions that are usually softened, explained away, or hurried past. At one level, it is a film about family. A father and his daughters. Sisters who carry the same history differently. […]
A Statement for This Decade
I was born in 1957.In August I will be sixty-nine. Next year, I will turn seventy. I don’t experience this as a distant milestone.I experience it as an entry point. I am already in the period of preparing for my eighth decade.From now until my eightieth birthday, I see this as a deliberate span of […]
Song Sung Blue – A Film That Caught Me by Surprise
I almost did not go. I do not usually enjoy musicals, and I expected people to standi and burst into song. What I found instead felt more like being at a gig, with music woven into the story rather than sitting on top of it. The film follows two people, played by Kate Hudson and […]
Watching The Housemaid: When Charm Hides Control
I have not written a film review for a while, but The Housemaid stayed with me long after the credits rolled. On the surface, it is a psychological thriller built around a familiar setup. A wealthy couple. A young woman hired into their home. Unease. Shifting loyalties. A growing sense that something is not right. […]
Watching the Internet Step Into the Ring
A reflective review I don’t write reviews as an expert. I write them as someone paying attention. These pieces are a way of sharpening my observational and descriptive skills, noticing atmosphere, contrast, discomfort, and resonance rather than technical detail. I’m interested in how events land in the body, what they reveal about the world we’re […]
When Illness Slows You Down
It’s funny how we respond to illness. When I was younger, I fought it. I wasn’t going to let being unwell interrupt anything important. When I went into labour, I kept writing an Open University essay. When I was taken into hospital with a DVT in my leg, I sat there with my briefcase, finishing […]
Pillion – A film review and lessons learned
From time to time, I’m paying closer attention to the films, books, and essays that stay with me. Not as a critic, but as a writer learning to look more carefully. I often watch or read at surface level, for pleasure or distraction. Lately, I’m slowing that down, noticing what unsettles me, what mirrors deeper […]