Katie Smith-Wong

London

Freelance Film Critic at Freelance

Reviews Editor at Flickfeast

🇬🇧🇭🇰 🍅-approved film critic and journo. Member of @theOAFFC, @londoncritics, @TheCherryPicks, @IFSCritics and @OFCS.

Articles

The Amateur ★★★

2 weeks ago | moviemarker.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

Released: 11 April 2025Director: James HawesStarring: Rami Malek, Lawrence Fishburne, Rachel BrosnahanBased on the eponymous 1981 novel by James Littell, The Amateur is the second feature film by One Life director James Hawes. Starring an ensemble cast that includes Rami Malek, Lawrence Fishburne and Rachel Brosnahan, the vigilante thriller follows a CIA cryptographer who embarks on a revenge mission after the death of his wife.
The Alto Knights (2025) - Film Review

1 month ago | flickfeast.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

Starring Robert de Niro in a dual role, Barry Levinson’s latest feature The Alto Knights is inspired by true events. The Academy Award-winning actor plays Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two childhood friends who end up at odds over control of the Mafia, resulting in its downfall by the FBI. A crime drama written by Casino and The Irishman screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, with the casting of de Niro as a gangster in 1950s America, sounds like a familiar formula to audiences.
BFI Flare 2025 - The Wedding Banquet ★★★★★

1 month ago | moviemarker.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

Premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and now gracing BFI Flare. The Wedding Banquet is a remake of Ang Lee’s Academy Award-nominated romantic comedy directed by Fire Island director Andrew Ahn and co-written by James Schamus, who also worked on Lee’s original film.
Snow White (2025) - Film Review

1 month ago | flickfeast.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

Once upon a time, an American animation studio released a full length feature film based by a fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm. Establishing a new milestone in Hollywood, the film would become the first animated film produced by Hollywood and was the highest-grossing animated film for 55 years. With such achievements, it is no wonder that Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is considered a classic among animation fans.
Review - 'Slanted' Examines the Horror of Assimilating for the American Dream

1 month ago | pocculture.com | Katie Smith-Wong

If there is a lesson learnt from teen films, it’s that prom is the ultimate stage for a cinematic climax, and the events taking place when a student is named either Prom King or Queen can either make or break someone. However, the genre tends to lean towards the title of Prom Queen, who are typically depicted as a blonde, pretty and popular student; in nearly all cases, they are also white.
Ne Zha 2 (2025) - Film Review

1 month ago | flickfeast.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

When the Chinese animated fantasy film Ne Zha was released in 2019, it became the highest-grossing non-US animated film that year. The film garnered notable attention for having a relatively unknown cast and a director making his first feature film with an animated fantasy adventure taking on a $22 million production. The gamble paid off as it became a box office hit, eventually earning over $740 million.
Black Bag ★★★★

1 month ago | moviemarker.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

Released: 14 March 2025Director: Steven SoderberghStarring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Naomie HarrisFollowing on from their 2025 psychological horror Presence starring Lucy Liu, director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp reunite for spy thriller Black Bag.
Terrific drama shows the battle for girls' education in Afghanistan

1 month ago | newscientist.com | Katie Smith-Wong

Rule BreakersDirected by Bill GuttentagUS: Out now UK: Released 25 MarchTime magazine named Roya Mahboob among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013. She was the first Afghan woman to be CEO of a technology firm, having founded the Afghan Citadel Software Company in 2010. She is also co-founder of the country’s all-female robotics team for girls aged 12 to 18, called the Afghan Dreamers. This is the focus of , directed and co-written by Bill Guttentag. It tells the story…
Mickey 17 (2025) - Film Review

1 month ago | flickfeast.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

The film adaptation of Edward Ashton’s 2022 novel Mickey7, Mickey 17 is the long-awaited return of South Korean filmmaker Boon Joon-Ho after Parasite made Academy Award history as the first Best Picture winner that is not in the English language in 2019. The film follows The Batman star Robert Pattinson as Mickey, known as an ‘expendable’, who goes on a journey to colonise an ice planet. It has been seven years since Okja, Bong’s last film that was mostly in English.
Superboys of Malegaon (2025) - Film Review

1 month ago | flickfeast.co.uk | Katie Smith-Wong

For many people, cinema is the ultimate form of escapism. After working at your 9-to-5 job, you meet up with friends on Friday night and sit down to watch a film to unwind and decompress after a long week. In India, its cinema industry has recently been called its strongest currency in tourism, with its box office expected to hit $2.8bn by 2028.