Refreshingly charismatic and full of its own unique personality, Pin Cushion is an endearing and eye-opening exploration of the impact of bullying, wrapped in a colourful coming-of-age tale.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 2, 2021

The acting is superb all around with two stunning performance from Joanna Scanlan and Lily Newmark.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 12, 2020

A dark fairy-tale, Pin Cushion is at once a wickedly funny and a deeply emotional experience

| Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 8, 2019

British writer-director Deborah Haywood makes her feature film debut with a heartbreaking story that features devastating performances by Joanna Scanlan and Lily Newmark.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 20, 2019

Despite its dreamlike qualities, as the film progresses, both Pin Cushion and Haywood show their teeth. Bullying, sexuality, ostracisation, and the social other are themes which Pin Cushion explores to an unnerving and violent end.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 20, 2019

Subtly evoking DePalma's Carrie and Mean Girls, the film explores not only the evolving relationship between mothers and daughters, but also the perilous world of high school female friendships, popularity and the pressure to fit in.

| Sep 15, 2018

Pin Cushion encapsulates the wickedness of teenage girls horrifyingly accurately. A story of broken bonds, bullying, tenderness and cruelty, this film takes the emotions on an almighty journey, breaking your heart in the most beautiful way.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 22, 2018

It is refreshing to see a film that doesn't take the easy route but holds its nerve right until the very end.

| Aug 20, 2018

...dark, weird, uncomfortable, sad, and occasionally dangerous.

| Aug 6, 2018

An equally tragic and funny, magical realism and coming-of-age story, odd and creatively refreshing. It is a film unlike anything we've seen before and deserving of our attention.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 27, 2018

... overdoses on quirks and relies on thin supporting characters, then adds a shocking twist at the end that's never fully earned.

| Jul 21, 2018

Writer-director Deborah Haywood makes her feature directorial debut with the surreal and whimsical mother-daughter nightmare Pin Cushion, driven by a singular vision and masterful control of a unique tone, which tiptoes the line of beauty and terror.

| Jul 20, 2018

For sheer distinctiveness of vision, and for the visceral portrayal of how it feels to be bullied, first time director Deborah Haywood deserves plaudits, as do her two lead actresses. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with next.

| Jul 20, 2018

Haywood's formidable first feature is at once a ruthless dissection of cruelty, capturing the relentless torment of outcasts for the pleasure of self-styled superiors, and a warm evocation of an interdependent mother-daughter bond.

| Jul 19, 2018

Doesn't take it easy on the viewer, but there's plenty here to admire, including two sharp performances gracefully interpreting a slow descent into parental and teenager Hell.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 19, 2018

The performances and Haywood's detailed images give intensity to the story's pessimistic vision of life, but it's still pretty facile.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 19, 2018

It's not always an easy watch but it's a sensitive, assured film with characters you'll warm to and root for.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 19, 2018

Haywood digs into her own teenage memories and unearths something eccentric, tragic and utterly unclassifiable.

| Jul 19, 2018

Haywood's strengths as a director don't translate to her writing abilities. Pin Cushion is about cruelty above all else, to the exclusion of characterizations.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Jul 16, 2018

Two compelling central performances shine a light on a difficult relationship between one family and the rest of the world. The screenplay could have benefited from being a touch less predictable.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 16, 2018