MIDLANDS SPOTLIGHT

Film speaks in a universal language, yet they also reflect the times and places they were made in. Our regional coverage showcases the originality, diversity and richness of local films, and also spotlights the unique position of what makes the Midlands great.

Check out the latest local releases below which give a window into the Midlands, with its mix of contemporary and historical culture encapsulated across a variety of film genres.

Midlands Review of Smile, Smile, Smile!

By midlandsmovies • July 19, 2025
A seemingly injured man being dragged away by uniformed men is the rather unconventional intro to a new dark comedy short “Smile, Smile, Smile!” from Oliver Griffiths.

Midlands Review of Run For Your Life!

By midlandsmovies • July 16, 2025
There’s no hiding the influence of Evil Dead on Liam Banks’ Run For Your Life. The woodland setting, the Eldritch horrors and esoteric texts, even certain shots of the protagonist being dragged away from the camera.

Midlands Review of No Worries If Not!

By midlandsmovies • July 13, 2025
Nominated across multiple categories at the Midlands Movies Awards and winning both Best Sound and Best Director, Emma Hodgkinson’s breakneck comedy, No Worries if Not!, follows Grace Scrivener (Poppy Abbott) as she struggles to balance her people-pleasing ways with a far more honest inner monologue.

Midlands Review of Homunculus

By midlandsmovies • July 12, 2025
A jaunty upbeat keyboard riff opens Homunculus, a new short from Ayesha Walker that imagines an intriguing world of model dioramas.

Midlands Review of Couple Goals

By midlandsmovies • July 4, 2025
A woman with an electronic ab stimulator plus other assorted exercise bands, and a man in a white vest clapping is the quirky beginning of a new comedy short from Tom Bridger and Jonny Gillard.

Midlands Review of The Wirksworth UFO Incident

By midlandsmovies • July 3, 2025
Stuart Wheeldon’s The Wirksworth UFO Incident is an interesting proposition. Taking the form of a documentary about extraterrestrial experiences across Derbyshire, it ebbs and flows across its 70-minute runtime; never quite building up enough tension to truly hold the audience but made with such clear passion that you.

Midlands Review of War Paint

By midlandsmovies • July 1, 2025
How we and others perceive ourselves is a key component of a new short from local filmmaker William Kowanec called War Paint.

Midlands Review of Creativity is for Everyone

By midlandsmovies • June 28, 2025
Creativity is for Everyone is a new short film from Midlands animator Charlotte Footitt and focuses on inventiveness around the world by using LEGO bricks and minifigs to highlight these issues.
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Midlands film reviews: Terms & Conditions


Submission of material: You are welcome to submit film projects or material for review & Midlands Movies uses these geographical areas as a definition of the Midlands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midlands As per our annual awards, we consider a film Midlands-made if OVER 75% of a finished film has been SHOT in the Midlands region. Filmmakers should ensure their film fulfils these requirements before submitting.


To submit a film please send an online video link (& password if required) via our Facebook or Twitter or email to midlandsmovies@yahoo.com

Sending
Sending additional press release material (biography, film poster, photos, cast & crew info etc) is encouraged to give context to your project. Reviews are undertaken by a diverse range of volunteer writers within one month of acknowledgement of your submission. And please ensure all films made by you adhere to copyright standards with respect to intellectual property. Films are scored out of 5 stars (in half star increments).


Conditions of review: Importantly Midlands Movies will only ever review a film once. If a secondary edit, director’s cut or a new version of a film is sent AFTER a review is published, the alternative version will not be reviewed. And owing to resources unfortunately no further feedback can be given.


In that context, we encourage all filmmakers to put their best foot forward in relation to the final film they consider submitting.


Thank you and we look forward to seeing your film!