Film Review | STRAND Magazine

'The Chronology of Water' Is More Than What It Claims To Be

The way that The Chronology of Water (2025) is billed from a quick Google search is misleading. Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut cannot be reduced to a story about a swimmer. Adapted from the 2011 memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch, the film explores abuse and trauma, but ultimately results in healing through the power of writing.

Emily Bunder

Dec 29, 20254 min read

‘Pillion’: Reuse, Repeat, Re-do.

Harry Lighton’s directorial debut, Pillion (2025), is everything it says on the tin and more. Inspired by Adam Mars-Jones’s novel, Box Hill (2020), we follow the relationship—or, perhaps more appropriately, arrangement—shared between two gay men living in south-east London—one an unassuming, barbershop-singing parking warden, and the other a mysterious, unabashedly kinky biker.

Maddy Maguire

Dec 9, 20254 min read

M Is For Middling In Lowthorpe’s H Is For Hawk (2025)

H is for Hawk (2025) is a biographical drama film adapted by director Philippa Lowthorpe from the best-selling autobiography by the same name, published in 2014. The film follows Helen Macdonald, played by Claire Foy of The Crown fame, as she tends to a goshawk in the aftermath of her father’s death.

Hania Ahmed

Nov 25, 20253 min read

Between Two Worlds: Dislocation And Identity In 'A Pale View of Hills'

Nostalgia is a deeply human experience. But what happens when we romanticise the past to the point of reinventing it? In the film A Pale View of Hills, Kei Ishikawa invites the audience into the quiet world of Etsuko, a Japanese woman in England, whose bandages begin to unwrap as her youngest daughter, Niki, a young writer, itches to investigate her mother’s uncovered past.

Luiza Helena Britton

Nov 24, 20255 min read

After The Hunt… For Good Writing: A Nothingburgers Movie

A good film can make you feel and ponder endlessly; this one made me feel absolutely nothing, and I left the theatre confused and head empty.

Jessy Sun

Nov 19, 20255 min read

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey: Closing The Door On The Cinematic Dream

When a chance meeting ignites a spark between strangers Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell), they embark on a journey of self-exploration, confronting their preconceptions about love and intimacy.

Hannah Sugars

Oct 5, 20254 min read