Rory O'Connor

[Venice Review] The Untamed

There’s something dark and wonderful lurking in The Untamed, the brilliant, frightening, hyper-real erotic mystery from the mind of Mexican auteur Amat Escalant...

[Venice Review] Hacksaw Ridge

Mel Gibson is back in the director’s chair after a decade to remind us, in his own devout way, that war is hell and faith is good. Hacksaw Ridge, his new World ...

[Venice Review] Safari

Isn’t it strange how cinema’s greatest misanthropes always seem, deep down, to be the most empathetic. It’s as if the total lack of sentiment for (and complete ...

[Venice Review] Nocturnal Animals

“You have to learn to enjoy the absurdity of our world,” says Michael Sheen’s L.A. socialite to Amy Adams' disillusioned art gallery owner at the after party of...

[Venice Review] Chuck

Chuck looks a bit familiar. A film of browns and greens; disco music and ‘70s rock tunes; big haircuts and even bigger lapels. Indeed, in a way reminiscent of r...

[Venice Review] Arrival

In Arrival, prolific Québécois director Denis Villeneuve ponders the ramifications and possibilities of a potential first-contact between human beings and an ad...

[Venice Review] La La Land

There’s a great recurring gag in Whiplash director Damien Chazelle’s La La Land -- a beautiful, audacious, aesthetically vibrant, and enchanting contemporary mu...

[Cannes Review] After the Storm

Can our children pick and choose the personality traits they inherit, or are they doomed to obtain our lesser qualities? These are the hard questions being medi...

Rory O'Connor

Irish-born, Berlin-based, Rory O'Connor has been covering the European film festival circuit since 2012. A regular contributor to The Film Stage, his work has also appeared in Frieze, The Playlist, and CineVue.