Welcome to TOTAL FILM

elcome to a new-look Yep, we decided it was time to redecorate this great old ship so we’ve redesigned with a view to making it as on the cover, and we’re hoping bringing that back to life will be as successful as (see my review on page 90). This month I was pretty spoilt as an editor; not only did I get to see a ton of creatively intoxicating films early (thanks, LFF), I also chatted with a personal hero, Stellan Skarsgard, who’s as straight-talking and unguarded as they come. And I got to dig deep into the Madonna Complex on film with three brilliant women: Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Jessie Buckley. ‘Collie’, as she’s known to her friends, is always a (sweary) delight to talk to and to see her mother-henning Johnson was heartwarming (Dakota forgets meals so Collie is her ‘feeder’). Their film, was one of my highlights of LFF and is sure to be an awards-botherer, but it also feels like an important project. It’s a movie that shows audiences that life isn’t perfect, that sometimes we fail in the roles we so long to excel at, and that’s OK. It feels particularly pertinent with current affairs and the last 18 months we’ve lived through that cinema not only provides an escape, but also reflects our lives back at us authentically. This issue is the perfect combination of both those things – movies that are mirrors and movies that allow us to step through the glass.