Emma Guscott


My Recent Work

emtalksfilm •

'Project Hail Mary' is So Punk Rock

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novel Project Hail Mary has proved to the world that cinema is alive and well. In only two weeks, it passed $300 million at the global box office, becoming Amazon MGM’s highest grossing film of all time, has joined Letterboxd’s top 500 narrative features list, and has its IMAX run extended and digital release delayed due to such high demand to see it in theatres.All this is for a very good reason. Project Hail Mary is a beautifu...
emtalksfilm •

'The Drama': Weaponised Morality and Lynchian Influence

This review will contain spoilers for The Drama.Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama has hit cinemas and taken the internet by storm, and for good reason. Aside from being wildly entertaining and doing a great job at making you squirm in your seat uncomfortably, The Drama presents an interesting, unfiltered debate on morality: who gets to police morality, how do we judge people by their thoughts versus their actions, what says more about us as people, and when does it become okay to judge others for th...
Reel Noise Magazine •

Cannibalism in Horror: Love Has Never Tasted So Good

Written by Emma Guscott


With romance and horror so often intertwined, it feels only right to spotlight some of the genre’s most unsettling expressions of love. After all, what’s more romantic than loving someone to the point of physical consumption?


Cannibalism appears in many different forms across horror, almost always serving to represent something larger. As a genre built on metaphor and social commentary, horror repeatedly uses the act to explore desire, intimacy, power, and control....
emtalksfilm •

Lightning Round Reviews

I’ve had a pretty busy few weeks, which has unfortunately meant I haven’t been able to post on Substack as frequently as I told myself I would this year. I had a pretty good streak going of posting a review of all the new releases I’ve caught so far this year, which was broken by me going abroad, commuting between two houses, and getting in my last few shifts at my job before I left. But now, I see the light, and the light is my return to Substack with a quick review of each 2026 release I’ve se...
Reel Noise Magazine •

The Letterboxd Four: Emma Guscott

Written by Emma Guscott


For as long as I can remember, cinema has been a part of my DNA. Growing up in a small town and feeling alienated from my peers, film became a form of escapism. This need for escapism was strengthened after I became bedridden following a life-changing spinal operation. With nothing else to do, I worked my way through as many films as I could find, and upon my return to school, film became a part of my education, from my GCSEs all the way through to my A Levels.


Desp...
emtalksfilm •

‘Send Help’: A Loveletter To Your Weird Coworker, with a ‘Good For Her’ Stamp

This review will contain spoilers for Send Help.Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre after 15 years is here, with his desert island horror Send Help. In typical Raimi style, it’s unique and whacky in its style but also in its portrayal of a classic trope: being stuck on a desert island with someone you despise. The film follows Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams), a survival enthusiast who is bullied and underestimated in her corporate workplace, until their work plane goes down on the way to a conf...
emtalksfilm •

'Primate' Is All Monkey Business

This review will contain spoilers for Primate.Primate, directed by Johannes Roberts, is your average paint-by-numbers horror film. Gory, campy, with a teen cast that are just reduced to meatbags for us to watch die. The film follows college student Lucy (Johnny Seqouyah) returning home with a few friends to her sister, her father, and the family pet Ben, a chimp who quickly turns rabid and begins to violently take out every cast member one by one. A pretty terrifying concept especially for someb...
emtalksfilm •

‘No Other Choice’: A Masterpiece of Anti-Capitalist Ecocinema

This review will contain spoilers for No Other Choice.Park Chan-wook’s latest directorial effort No Other Choice has finally hit cinemas in the UK, a hilariously bleak satire on capitalism and the rise of AI that has the potential to be hailed as a masterpiece of anti-capitalist cinema. Starring Lee Byung-hun as a paper mill worker fired from his job after being told machinery can do his job more effectively, No Other Choice is not subtle with its themes or messaging, but that’s why it works. Th...
emtalksfilm •

‘Hamnet’: All The World’s A Stage in Chloé Zhao’s Latest Triumph

After her Best Picture winning Nomadland, Chloé Zhao’s work is back on our screens with a gut-wrenchingly raw period piece following William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes navigating the tragic loss of their young son, the titular Hamnet. An adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel of the same name, Hamnet is beautiful in every possible way, and is well-deserving of being one of the most talked about films of the year.Hamnet is the type of film that does such a good job immersing you that you actu...
Reel Noise Magazine •

Big Stories in Small Packages: Cardiff Mini Film Festival

Written by Eleanor Bate, Editor-in-Chief, and Emma Guscott


Reel Noise Magazine had the honour of attending the thirteenth annual Cardiff Mini Film Festival on 18 January, a celebration of short filmmaking that continues to champion emerging voices from Wales and beyond. Hosted for the second consecutive year at Cardiff’s historic Angel Hotel, situated opposite Cardiff Castle, the festival offered an immersive day of back-to-back screenings, bringing together filmmakers, students, and film lov...
emtalksfilm •

'28 Years Later: The Bone Temple': Howzat For a Followup?

(Mild Spoilers Ahead)Just over half a year after the release of Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, Nia DaCosta brings Spike, Dr Kelson and Samson back to the big screen with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. While it has its fans, 28 Years Later was highly divisive amongst general audiences, due to mainly being a fantasy hero’s journey story rather than a horror, a fable-like tale told in three structures - a tale about the father (Aaron Taylor Johnson’s Jamie), a tale about the mother (Jodie Comer’s...
Reel Noise Magazine •

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein: A Heartbreakingly Human Tale of a Monster

Written by Emma Guscott


A classic gothic tale reimagined by the king of monsters and directing legend Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein has quickly become one of the most poignant and talked-about films in a year chock-full of legendary releases. Complete with an ensemble cast, gorgeous set pieces and costumes, and stunning cinematography, del Toro’s Frankenstein has rightfully earned its place in the 2025 film hall of fame.


Based on Mary Shelley’s classic novel of the same name, Frankenste...
Reel Noise Magazine •

Reel Noise Presents: The Top 10 Films of 2025

A collaborative list by the Reel Noise team.


In a time when art, and the spaces we gather to experience it, feel increasingly under fire, 2025 reminded us of the power of cinema, and why it matters now more than ever.


From bold auteur swings and genre-bending horrors to blockbusters that truly earned their spectacle, this was a year defined by risk, discussion, and films that lingered long after the credits rolled. After compiling our writers’ lists and weighing both consensus and passion,...