A POSITION ON CINEMA

CHECK begins from a simple position: cinema deserves to be taken seriously.
Film is image, sound, performance, rhythm, politics, memory and feeling. Criticism should attend to all of it. The question is never simply whether a film succeeds, but how it works, what it attempts, what it reveals, and what remains once the screen goes dark.
Rigour need not mean distance. Enthusiasm need not replace analysis. CHECK exists in the space between them.
CHECK publishes criticism across contemporary and historical cinema: reviews of new releases, essays, and films returned to after their original moment.
Argument comes before verdict. Ratings appear only after the criticism is complete; they summarise a position rather than substitute for one.
The aim is criticism that is serious without becoming inaccessible, precise without becoming bloodless, and attentive to cinema as an art form rather than simply another stream of content.
CHECK is an independent film publication founded in London in 2026 and edited by Max Sharpe.
It was created as a space for considered criticism outside the churn of instant reaction: writing allowed the time to think, reconsider and argue.
CHECK is independent in both editorial outlook and operation. Future contributions, collaborations and editorial enquiries are welcomed as the publication grows.