Lilya 4-ever (2002)

Originally titled Lilja 4-ever, this film was directed by Swedish filmmaker Lukas Moodysson. It is set in an unnamed, bleak former Soviet republic, was filmed largely in Estonia and is primarily in Russian. It is a devastating story about abandonment and despair, inspired by the real-life case of Dangulė Rasalaitė.

The film follows Lilya, a 16-year-old girl living in a bleak, dour and decaying industrial town. Her life feels as though it is finally about to turn into something worth living when her mother tells her that she plans to move to America and take Lilya with her. She is elated, full of smiles, packs her bags and can't wait for the day to arrive. However, on the day of travel, her life falls apart again when her mother reveals she is going without her, promising to send money and the means to join her at some point in the future.

She is left in the care of her mother’s sister, Anna, who immediately dumps Lilya into a tiny, squalid flat in which an old man has just died, simply so Anna can have Lilya's family home for herself. Anna threatens and abuses Lilya, for whom she clearly does not care, leaving her without electricity, food or the means to survive. When Lilya asks Anna how she is supposed to live, Anna tells her to go and 'spread her legs' for money, just as her mother did. It becomes a hard-nosed tale reminiscent of a Mike Leigh film set in poverty-stricken, working-class Britain. All hope vanishes when she receives a letter from her mother legally disowning her and placing her care into the hands of the social services - who do nothing of the sort.

Lilya has a friend called Volodya, a young boy a couple of years her junior who plays basketball. They end up finding places to sleep and survive together after his father also throws him out of the family home. Volodya looks up to Lilya like a big sister, but also with clear designs on a romantic relationship - which she rejects due to the age gap. Nevertheless, they remain close - they are all each other has. They huddle for warmth, play games and sniff glue together - the downward spiral of poverty and despair continues.

Out of desperation, Lilya briefly turns to survival sex work. She hangs out in a local bar and successfully finds men who use her for money until, inevitably, she is abused. As she is staggering home, Andrei - a handsome young man - pulls up beside her in his car. He offers her a lift and appears to treat her with kindness and respect. They form a relationship and grow close. He claims to live in Sweden and says he is merely on holiday here. He tells her he can find her a job and a home in Sweden if she would like to go with him. Suddenly, life looks rosy again and she leaps at the chance.

Volodya pleads with her not to go. She asks Andrei if the boy can come too, but Andrei says he will "work on it" once she is settled in Sweden. On the way to the airport, having provided Lilya with a false passport, Andrei tells her he must visit his mother and that she should go ahead, with a plan for him to follow in two days. He claims a friend will meet her at the airport to look after her.

By now, even if you do not know the life of Dangulė Rasalaitė, I am sure you can guess what is afoot and the kind of life that awaits her in Sweden. It is a film full of physical and psychological abuse, focusing mainly on how Lilya and Volodya attempt to break free from their world of cruel suffering. It questions the value of human life, highlights systemic neglect and explores the impact of abandonment on 'unseen' children.

The use of Rammstein’s Mein Herz Brennt at the beginning and end of the film creates a moving and harrowing yet chaotic backdrop to the children’s plight. The interior scenes feature a great deal of handheld camerawork, depicting the chaos surrounding the characters and their often violent struggles. I usually complain bitterly about this technique but here, for once, it seems fitting.

The reason I tracked this film down is that we are exploring a 'basketball' theme for the Projector Room Podcast and I wanted to find something away from the usual flurry of American comedies. In this film, Lilya buys Volodya a basketball with the first money she earns from selling her body. He is over the moon. The ball represents happiness in the midst of chaos and misery. When Volodya’s father throws him out, he destroys the ball, ensuring his happiness is short-lived. It is a case of parents destroying the hope of their children. The film ends with a surreal sequence where Lilya and Volodya are on a rooftop, away from the city, happily playing basketball together. It is a quiet, recurring thread that ties their friendship together amongst the misery. I may have had to stretch the theme to fit, but it works!

The film is not an easy watch. It's gritty, dark, moving and tragic. I was unfamiliar with the actors, but the two leads, Oksana Akinshina and Artyom Bogucharskiy, were totally convincing and demonstrated real talent. Well worth a watch if you can track it down.

Hamnet (2025)

I have never read a Shakespeare play. I’ve never seen a film adaptation, never sat through a local production and somehow also managed to navigate the UK education system without ever being taught a single sonnet! So, firing up Hamnet last night, I felt very much like an ignorant git! Literarily illiterate! I kinda expected to be confused, or perhaps even bored by a story that I assumed would require a background I simply didn't have - and I must admit, I was only really in it for the Jessie Buckley viewing!

But as it unfolded, I was proved quite wrong. Enjoying this tale didn't rely on knowing anything about His Bardship at all! While the first hour did occasionally drag, the excellent performances from the whole cast carried me through. The story is far more about family, abandonment, grief and the fragility of existence in an era of perilous childbirth and rigid social values.

The first thing I appreciated was the atmosphere. Right from the off, the sets made the rural world feel alive. A family living in the middle of nowhere amidst mud and hard work, the courtship rituals of a tiny rural community, the mystical/superstition threading through Agnes’s (Buckley - Fargo, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Men, Women Talking, Wicked Little Letters, Fingernails) 'connection with nature' - it all has an earthy quality. It looked remarkably like life at The Weald & Downland Living Museum in Singleton, West Sussex, which I know so well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if parts were filmed there.

The story follows Will (later revealed as the Shakespeare) and Agnes. Will, played by Paul Mescal (Aftersun, All of Us Strangers), is a local tutor with ambitions to be a writer. Agnes is a fierce, intuitive young woman with a reputation for her mystical connection to the forest. When they meet, he falls instantly in love. She is more cagey, fearing that those around her will wildly object to the match. Which, of course, they do.

The chemistry between the characters - and the actors - is clear to see. They are deeply in love, and the only thing standing between them is Will’s ambition. He sees moving to London, the heartbeat of the art world, as a necessity. She wants to remain in her rural home, in touch with the land. As time leaps forward, they have three children - an older girl, Susanna, and twins, Hamnet and Judith. We are told early on that the names Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable at the time. When Will heads to London, the family is left to navigate the complications of a long-distance marriage.

Then we reach the tragedy that eventually inspired the play Hamlet. It is a story of a father-son relationship ruined by death. When pestilence arrives, the tone shifts remarkably. The acting reaches a new level as Hamnet falls victim to the Plague (in a roundabout way I won't spoil, as it carries immense emotional baggage regarding his bond with his twin sister). Emily Watson (Testament of Youth, Breaking the Waves, Apple Tree Yard) steps up as Will’s mother, and the audience is treated to an acting masterclass as the family moves from heartbreak to total devastation.

Will is as devastated as Agnes, yet he makes the unpopular decision to return to London. Torn between passion and grief, he feels 'the show must go on' and sets out to write Hamlet in memory of his son - an attempt to fix the unfixable through art it seems. The entire second half of the film is drenched in the family’s grief until Agnes finally travels to see the play for herself. I’ll leave you to soak up that ending for yourselves.

I haven't read Maggie O’Farrell’s book, on which this is based, but it’s clear that while much is fictitious, it is rooted in the recorded facts of the 1590s. There is very little to dislike here, even for an ignoramus like me! The direction by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) was great. It moved with a fluidity that kept the dual timelines clear and compelling.

The music also deserves a mention - the use of Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight was haunting and emotional, providing the heartbeat of the film. With hindsight, perhaps my 'blank slate' status allowed me to approach this from an emotional place rather than an academic one. It is a beautiful, haunting and hopeful film about the invisible people in history - wives and children left behind - while famous men change the world. You don’t need to be a scholar to be moved by it, you just need to have loved and lost.

The Drift (2026)

The Drift was also released under the title Ice Skater, and I have several thoughts on this Finnish-European co-production (directed by Taavi Vartia), which maintains a stark Scandinavian feel throughout.

We join the film as Emily, a competitive ice skater, wakes up on a lump of ice that has apparently broken off from a shelf in a remote Arctic location. She and her teammates had retreated there to practice away from the public eye. The ice she is stranded on is roughly a 20-foot square, adrift in the Arctic Ocean.

With nobody in sight, we occasionally spend time with rescue crews who eventually appear to give up. Emily has little with her: her skates, a small bag of supplies including a first-aid kit, a mobile phone with a smashed screen, a tent and an urn containing her sister’s ashes. We stay with her for the duration, watching her put basic survival skills to work, though she inevitably becomes dehydrated and exhausted.

There is an interesting encounter with a hungry polar bear and her cub, which Emily survives - somewhat ludicrously - by zipping herself into her tent and closing her eyes! The bears, incidentally, are very poorly rendered CGI. Later, her phone rings - she can answer calls but cannot make them - and despite being in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, she miraculously has a signal. This is where we begin to question what is real and what is hallucinated due to her deteriorating state.

Harry, the man on the phone, is initially a cold-caller trying to sell air conditioning. When he calls back, their conversation shifts to life, love, death and the universe - further making me wonder what is real and what's not. Regardless of the call's reality, it provides Emily with the encouragement to keep fighting. We see flashbacks regarding her sister, who, at seven years old, appears to have been struck by lightning due to eight-year-old Emily’s neglect. Carrying that guilt ever since, Emily has been searching for the most beautiful place in the world to scatter the ashes. As the Northern Lights appear, she decides she has found it and finally lets go.

The production is clearly low-budget. The ice platform is strangely static amidst a rough sea that mostly looks like a CGI creation. The water resembles a studio tank rather than a real location - certainly not the genuine waters of Finland. The ending, which I won’t spoil here, is wildly open to interpretation, again forcing us to question the reality of the situation.

At one point, Harry mentions a news item claiming her body has been found. Is she dead? Is Harry real? Is she hallucinating? Or is a miraculous rescue mission around the corner? The film is intentionally ambiguous, leaning into the message rather than the plot, which is full of holes. Ultimately, it seems to be a metaphor for Emily 'drifting' through her own guilt and grief.

Emily herself looks like a high-end video game character half the time, likely due to the use of AI-enhanced digital doubles to save costs. She also appears to survive against all odds - in reality, she would last mere minutes in those waters. At one point, she even dons her skimpy ice-skating gear and barely loses colour! Biological survival is clearly off the table here, so we must consider the survival as purely metaphorical.

It's a decent-enough watch - fairly short at under 90 minutes and moving at times (unlike her ice floe)! Digitally enhanced or not, Thea Sofie Loch Næss delivers a convincing lead performance. It’s currently streaming on Apple TV if you fancy it.

PodHubUK Podcasts for the Month of February 2026

   

...a roundup of our month of podcasting. Links to the team, communities and podcast homes on the net at the foot, so scroll down!

Tech Addicts 2026

Season 1, Episode 1 - An Overclockable Sex Toy

Sunday 1st February

Gareth and I are back talkin’ tech for 2026! Chatting about the Handy 2 Pro sex toy, HP EliteBoard G1a, Linux Mint 22.3, Social Media Ban, Google, Epic, Logitech MX Master 4, Marshall Heddon, Pixel Tablet and loads more! So do join us - get back in the groove!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 881 - Signature Samsung Sellout!

Monday 2nd February

Joe and I are joined by James Reed this time as we find out what he's been using as a phone since last on. Lots of Samsung chat, Android Auto antics, Magic V6 is en route, Galaxy Unpacked too - plus we lend our thoughts on the 3-in-1 NexPhone, Sammy's Privacy Display, Motorola Signature and much more besides - including the crowning of Photo of the Year for 2025.

Whatever Works

Episode 237 - Common as Castrol Muck!
Wednesday 4th February

Aidan and I are back again with this month’s deluge of drudge as we go a Wicking and Coddling our way through many a time-wasting twaddle whilst blocking the blue light! From Cool Collars to Castrol Cups, Steam Bags to Angry Mamas - we even have time to go Inseparable and certainly Affordable! This and so much more in this bumper episode, so strip off and jump on into the frog pond with us!

Projector Room

Episode 203 - The Anaconda Cannibal
Wednesday 4th February

Gareth and I are back again with another fortnightly roundup of all things film, cinema and TV. This time we're Ravenous for Sorority Babes, take The Long Walk to Greenland, discover that H is for Hawk and Hannibal, take Little Bites from The Surfer - and that in 28 Years, we'll have Falling Skies! Loads more as always, now available in the usual places!

Tech Addicts 2026

Season 1, Episode 2 - Aforementioned RAM SHortages

Sunday 8th February

Gareth and I are back again with another catchup of all things tech, to which we are addicted! We chat about the RAM shortage, Logitech MX Master 4, Lenovo Legion Y700, Ark 2-in-1, ChromeOS giving way to AluminiumOS, the Steam Machine delay, Amazon and Northern Ireland, Vodafone and 3uk woes, O2 5G coverage across UK and much more. So get tuned in and enjoy hearing me splutter through a stinking cold! The show must go on!

Tech Addicts 2026

Season 1, Episode 3 - I Saw OpenClaw

Sunday 15th February

Gareth and I are back again with another dumpling of dogdoo this weekend chat about AI-driven RAM spikes are thinning phone specs, while uTag unlocks Samsung gear for all. KeyGo Gen 2 and NexPhone offer new hardware paths, Linux Mint 22.3 updates and OpenClaw agents bring both utility and high-risk security warnings. And much more. Available now from the usual places!

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 882 - The Murena Shift

Monday 16th February

Ian Furlong of CoolSmartPhone fame joins Joe and I this time as we find out all about his World of Samsung, Watches, Rings and dabblings with hyper-secure, Google-free phones. We have drop-in audio from Steve regarding the Nokia N8 Reborn experiments and time still for loads more natter as we're all awaiting MOTOvator hardware to review, looking at rejiggling PSC Photos and have hands-on with the Honor latest too! Available now via the usual outlets, so do join us for an hour!

Projector Room

Episode 204 - Choral Keeper
Wednesday 18th February

Gareth and I are back again for another viewing roundup. This time we visit The Beyond during the Night of the Hunted, Steal a Phantasm (or 5), let Halliwell's Guide our research, consider a Migration 2 Greenland and take Exit 8 after 56 Days in Coming Soon. Loads more as always, so do join us.

Tech Addicts 2026

Season 1, Episode 4 - Attack of the Martial Arts Robots

Sunday 22nd February

Gareth and I look at Martial Arts Robots putting on a display before impending potential human annihilation, the Honor MagicPad 4 tablet, Samsung’s MovingStyle…thing, Steam Deck woes, Linux 7.0 excitement, changes to the Google AI Plus, Pro & Ultra packages and is the Sapphire an Aluminium flagship? The season finale is now available via the usual haunts, so do join us.

The Phones Show Chat Podcast

Episode 883 - Ted & Joe Go Live!

Monday 23rd February

Bit of an experiment to get some of the community involved, which wasn't a complete failure because our good friend Irfan Ali turned up to chat with us about all sorts of topics, but mainly his love for new phone, the Honor 400 Pro. And he's in good company with Joe and I on that one! Oh well, it was a bit of a fun toe-in-the-water test. Maybe we'll write that experiment off to experience and focus on the lovely chat we had with Irfan!

The Camera Creations Podcast

Episode 16 - Infrared Photography

Thursday 26th February

The gang is back again with another delve into all things photography and cameras. We learn about the value and purpose of Infrared Photography, hear about some upcoming new lenses (with dubious focal length ranges) and still have time to showcase shots taken by the panel since the last show. Motor sport, Street from Hong Kong, murky weather on the south coast and of course, plenty of samples of infrared. Now available in the usual places, so do join us.

The Podcasts (PodHubUK)

Phones Show Chat (PSC) - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - Tech Addicts - Camera Creations

The MeWe Community Groups (follow the links to join up)
Phones Show Chat (PSC) - Whatever Works - Chewing Gum for the Ears - Projector Room - PSC Photos - PSC Videos - PSC Classifieds - PSC Health - Coffee Time - Camera Creations - Tech Addicts

The Team
Ted Salmon - Steve Litchfield - Aidan Bell - Gareth Myles - Joe Hickey - Chris Clayton - Ian Bundey - Charlie Winston

Grafted (2024)

Here we have another Shudder outing - often bonkers, but never dull. Grafted is a New Zealand creation that fits squarely into the body horror genre like no other! It is messy, grisly, dark, and tragic.

The story begins in China with Wei and her father. There is clearly much love between them. She is a bright young girl and he is a brilliant scientist working on a medical research project. If successful, his work will heal them both, as they share a common facial deformity.

The cracking first five minutes of the film set the tone as he tries his grafting formula on his own face but fails to survive the attempt. We witness the horror of his work through special effects that clearly demonstrate the growth and grafting on skin samples. Wei tries to save him by cutting air holes in his face with a scalpel, but fails. It is a start that goes off with a bang!

The film then jumps several years forward as Wei travels to New Zealand to stay with her aunt and immerse herself in medical research, continuing her father’s work. She guards his handwritten Chinese notes with her life, hoping to one day make her face 'beautiful'. She constantly wears a scarf wrapped high around her neck to hide her scars.

As well as physically, she's emotionally scarred and socially isolated and struggles to fit in. Her cousin, Angela, is street-wise, confident and speaks no Chinese, having been born and raised in New Zealand. While Wei and Auntie Ling hit it off immediately, Angela quickly becomes irritated by Wei’s presence - especially when Wei sets up a shrine to her father in the house.

At university, we are introduced to the cocksure, predatory Professor Paul. He pretends to befriend Wei, but only because he has discovered her father's research and believes he can finish it himself, making for fame and fortune. He steals the notes and works alone, while leading Wei to believe they are collaborating.

In the meantime, Wei discovers the missing link her father overlooked in his formula - an extract from a rare plant, the Corpse Flower! This stabilises the serum, allowing for near-instant, perfect skin grafting. Following a falling out, Wei accidentally kills Angela by stabbing her in the eye with a chopstick! Not one to miss an opportunity to practise what she has learned, she uses Angela’s skin to 'fix' her own face.

From here, the film leaps from disaster to disaster and experiment to experiment. There are grisly deaths for anyone who gets in Wei’s way - including, and especially, the cliquey girls at university who gave her such a hard time. Monsters are created, grafting is the key, and there is a poignant, sad ending to the whole affair. Wei is the monster here, yet the film encourages us to feel pity for her despite the terrible things she does.

The film is shot quite artistically at times, with great cinematography, close-ups, and lighting - all hallmarks of good arthouse horror. However, it occasionally feels as though the production ran out of money - some special effects are excellent, while others are clearly lower-budget prosthetics and makeup, for example - and handheld camerawork sometimes creeps in.

I was unfamiliar with the cast, but Yoyena Sun is very convincing in the lead role. Those around her are perhaps less so. Regardless, it is a good romp and 90 minutes of solid entertainment. It is well worth a look now that it’s streaming on various platforms in the UK.

Motorola Edge 60 Neo

I am the proud owner of the Motorola Edge 50 Neo and reviewed it here on my Blog Motorola Edge 50 Neo in 2024 and love/d the dinky little phone. Heck, I even declared it my Best Phone of 2024 in another enthusiastic post here on my Blog! So how on earth could Moto improve on this, I mused! Pleased to say that I can now tell you thanks to a generous review-loan of the Motorola Edge 60 Neo from MotoUK PR as part of the MOTOvator programme. They don't tell me what to write, nor see anything I do prior to publication. What you get here is my truth!

I've been using this device as my main phone now for about a week. As you can see from the first image, they're like two peas in a pod. Apart from the missing 'Pantone' badge on the back, the new one is physically identical to the old, as far as I can see. Which is actually not a bad thing because it's wonderfully pocketable and a great size in an ocean of 6.7" (and similar) phones these days. Capable small phones are becoming rare, so kudos to Moto for sticking with this form factor.

When I started to look at the spec-sheet, I did begin to wonder if anything meaningful had changed - and much like the recent Pixel 10a release from Google, with nothing much to talk about over the Pixel 9a - was I going to end up scratching my head as to the marketing motivation. So let's see what those changes are (on paper) before I give you my thoughts on the 'real world' changes.

But first, the obligatory unboxing! It's a very small white box, just big enough for the little phone to sit in, with an inner box holding the USB-C to USB-C cable, the usual bunch of papers, SIM Card Tray tool and a very nice (though slippery) colour-matched (in this case the same Pantone Poinciana orangey-red) and the usual odours from some sort of perfume shop! (There is one new colour this year - Frostbite, which is a kind of light green/minty-looking shade.) There's no charger in the box, which is fairly usual at this stage. The simple, clear, soft TPU case (a fiver from Amazon) I had for my Edge 50 Neo, as you might expect from the above, fits like a glove - further confirming that the shell of the phone here is identical. I do appreciate that Moto put a starter-case in the box for users to save them that fiver, but I almost always end up giving Amazon a fiver in order to get a simple, but grippy, soft TPU case. Other users/buyers might be completely happy with the supplied one here, but my hands always find these hard cases slippery.

In actual fact, the material on the back of the phone (that same Silicone Polymer - 'eco leather') is almost as grippy as my TPU - and really very nice to the touch. Without a case on at all, it's even more dinky of course and more lovely in the hand and pocket. They've added an IP6/9 rating to the ingress protection, it now has Corning Gorilla Glass 7i (over the 50 Neo's GG3) and retains the MIL-STD-810H compliance. GG7i is supposed to be better for shatter resistance over previous versions - to drops to the pavement survival - and for resisting micro-scratches too. The GG3 on my 50 Neo looks perfectly good to me, but then I do treat my phones very carefully, unlike many out there on building sites and beaches! But perhaps I shouldn't be so concerned about scratching/dropping it! It's slightly heavier by 3g which I'm putting down to the bigger battery, which is certainly a significant change.

There are two versions of this - if you get the South America unit it has a 5,000mAh battery, the Global one, 5,200mAh. This unit seems to be reporting 4,995mAh so maybe they sent me the former one. Either way, the battery hike is significant over the Edge 50 Neo's 4,310mAh. To be honest, I never had any issues with the Edge 50 Neo's battery - it would last incredibly well, as per my reports, linked above. But more is better, for sure - so it can last even longer! On testing the new model, I found that it was certainly lasting two days of my average use and my 10% Reading Test returned results of over 3 hours from 100% to 90% so I'm very happy. The same 68W wired charging (with compatible brick) is present as is 15W Qi wireless. Features that defy the phone's placing in the market. Zero to 100% in under an hour or to 50% in half-hour. Moto's blurb says that you can "power for the day in just 7 minutes". Meaning, real world, about 12 hours of mixed use as it gets you to about 30% charged.

I had thought that the Edge 60 Neo had the promise of 5 OS updates, the same as the Edge 50 Neo, but looking at Moto's UK website, it seems that maybe it's dropped to 4. I remain a little confused as to which it is and will try to seek reassurance that maybe the website has a misprint. Assuming that to be the case, yes - it's arrived on Android 15 so will get Android 20 and (presumably) Google Security Patching to October 2030 to match it. The Edge 50 Neo is the same, but obviously, one year behind on each of those now. The Edge 60 Neo (and 50 Neo) are still on Android 15 as I write, so as usual, Moto don't hurry with these things! But Android 15 is stable and fine, so no complaints. If I want bang up-to-date everything, I'll use a Pixel!

The chipset has been hiked up a notch to the Mediatek Dimensity 7400 (4nm) from 7300. This brings it more up to date, perhaps to service MotoAI, which is now included - so another change. The same is probably true for the increased RAM, up to 12GB from 8. It does feel a little more nippy around the UI, an incremental improvement, regardless of the MotoAI being used or not. Connectivity remains super on all counts here, like for the 50 Neo - WiFi and Cellular (tested with two of each here on 4G and 5G) have strong signal and hold, GPS with mapping is very responsive and again, good hold/range, same is true for Bluetooth and NFC works well, as expected.

There are certainly more storage/RAM options available this time around - plenty of combinations (depending on region) up to 512GB/12GB RAM and down to 128GB/8GB. This one, as I say, has 12GB RAM and it's the 256GB version. I do think that this is probably the sweet spot in 2026 for most people, though basic users will no doubt still be happy with 128GB. The storage has been upped from UFS 2.2 to uMCP which is apparently more power-efficient, enables the phone to run cooler under load, slightly faster - to be honest it feels pretty much the same to me, but then I'm not a heavy gamer or video recorder/editor - and I suspect that the vast majority of buyers/users of this phone won't be either. But another incremental improvement can't be bad.

The MotoAI then, yes, is a difference. The 50 Neo didn't have any of this (outside of what was added to the camera and inside Google's tools) whereas the 60 Neo has the same suite as the, for example, Razr 50. So no dedicated physical MotoAI button like the Edge 60 Pro for example, but via software you can get to, and use, all the tools in the suite. I've published another Blog post here depicting the range of facilities and functions of MotoAI, so do click through. Maybe the Edge 70 Neo will add a hardware button.

I do, sadly, have to come to MotoBloat! I guess that it's the way OEMs these days get/keep prices down, knowing that in a short time the RRP will be undercut in retail, so doing deals with App developers and software houses. You can see why - and most people will just ignore it all, not even know it's there or just accept that this is how the modern world is. However, what is good here, for the likes of me, is that for those who are bothered by it, it's pretty much all uninstallable. So 20-minutes of tinkering and it can be abolished! Here's a list though - Adobe Scan, Opera Browser with VPN, Booking, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, LinkedIn, Amazon Music, Facebook, Instagram, a Games Folder (can be disabled), loads of childish games during setup - some forced on, some can be denied, Temu, Pinterest, PDF Reader and Suggestions in App Tray (can turn off in settings). Now, to be fair, many users/buyers might want some of this stuff and be pleased that it's on there by default - but it feels all a bit OTT to me.

Talking of the RRP, it started out at £379 in the UK (£20 cheaper than the 50 Neo on release - and with more RAM this time) but I have already seen it on Moto's UK website for £299 (and even £269 at one point). So it becomes, despite the above, terrific value for money.

One of the things I like very much about Moto is that they continue to go their own way while other OEMs are bending over backwards to sheepishly copy what Apple are doing. Example here being the battery percentage readout. It's really annoying that other OEMs are going with the figures inside the icon which, in some cases - looking at you Samsung and Nothing - make it illegible with anything other than a 4-year old's eyes. They say that these changes are coming with 'base Android' and it's Google's fault - well, clearly that's not true if Moto can still do their own thing with the Status Bar. And I do have other Moto devices here on Android 16 and again, retained. Well done Moto. Also, when selecting a Widget - even Google for Pixel have now adopted this one - their own widgets (or suggested ones) on the first panel, then you have to swipe left to get to the usual list of widgets. Small, but annoying. An Apply style App-gathering overview or whatever it's called. Some are offering this as an option, so fine, but some forcing it. This, after Apple users themselves had say that it's confusing and crap. Well, kudos to Moto, I say, like Sony Xperia - sticking to what they think is the best and ignoring the fads. Well done.

The best surprise for me was that the speakers are markedly improved. And I thought the speakers' output on the 50 was very good indeed. Somehow they have made these louder and clearly better quality output. Tested with YouTube Music, same track and also with my own 320kbps .mp3 files too. This is a real surprise and for me, that's almost worth the upgrade alone. It seems that the 7400 chipset has processing power that the 50 Neo didn't, being Hi-Res Audio certified meaning that the internal DAC supports higher bit depths. So more dynamic range regardless of any acoustic improvements inside the body of the phone due to component changes. Hopefully all that means something to audiophiles - but for me, I'm delighted that the sound output is even better. Bluetooth has been hiked from v5.3 to 5.4 but I'm not convinced that I'd notice the difference. BT works beautifully well with all the peripherals I have here.

The optical fingerprint scanner on the Edge 50 Neo, over time, felt as though it was becoming not so good as it was at the outset. When I first bought it, I didn't feel that this was the case, but now having set up this new model, I can tell the difference. I don't know if that is something that naturally deteriorates over time as more and more data is being background-processed, but here it is also faster and more reliable. Maybe to do with the hiked chipset or yes, perhaps because freshly set up. Even if this 60 Neo does go the same way, what's great is that the face unlock works beautifully so in most lighting conditions, by the time the finger gets anywhere near the screen, you're in anyway! No complaints really, but it will be interesting over time if it needs retraining or resetting in the same way.

The Always on Display works as well as the 50 Neo - all present and correct, supported by the whole Peek Display thing, nice and bright - and unlike the Razr models with recent updates, doesn't kick-down a notch when it thinks it's not needed to be so bright. Long may the brightness remain, when there's such a good battery that the LTPO screen really doesn't impact. The screen, incidentally, is exactly the same (aside from the GG7i) as the older unit. It's capable of 3,000nits and is bright, colourful and vibrant - like most Moto P-OLED screens are. The refresh rate is the same at 120Hz, same 6.36", 20:9 and 460ppi. A joy to use, especially at that dinky size. The AoD is one of, if not the, best one out there at the moment. You get a big 'hollow' clock and underneath it the day, date and weather icons. Towards the foot of the screen there is a row of Notification icons (which behave much like Peek did), a fingerprint scanner and battery percentage readout. When a notification comes in, the 'hollow' clock fills itself in so you can see the difference. So that's a big and developed feature.

There's no HDMI-Out here, for 'tis the modern way for everyone to go wireless, but I can report that wireless works really well with TV or PC here under the Smart Connect Moto software. It's really cool to use and I think now better than DeX, since Samsung stripped out the Windows software and compatibility. Smart Connect is by far the leading system in the phone world and runs rings around the likes of Microsoft's Phone Link or the BBK Group's link-up software. The phone can, 100% be run from my Windows PC and whatever I want to send to my SmartTV or Roku, off it goes and does it. No latency - it just works (with a decent home network of course). Copy/paste, cross-control of mouse, keyboard - file management, multiple devices - it needs to be experienced to appreciate. Long may they continue to invest in this system.

The cameras on the phone are exactly the same as they were on the 50 Neo, a 50MP f1.8 main shooter, a 3x Zoom camera on the secondary and close-up shots with the wide-angle lens are excellent with the auto-focus in attendance - and even the Selfie is the same 32MP. I have no complaints, again, for the average demands of the average user in the photography department. For a deeper dive, click through on my links above for the main review of the 50 Neo - it really all looks/feels the same to me.

Needless to say (but I will anyway!) the phone works beautifully with my other Moto peripherals like the excellent Moto Watch Fit, Moto Buds+ (my reviews linked for each) and the Moto Buds Loop (which I have yet to review).

So, probably much like my previous writings, I ask what could be better. Last time I asked for something better than GG3 - fixed. A 3.5mm audio-out socket - a tall-order for 2026! A microSD Card facility - well, as I said earlier, 256GB really is the sweet spot for most. An UltraSonic (or capacitive) fingerprint scanner, I cried! Well, there's not either of those but, as I said above, I do think it feels better in use. A 68W TurboPower charger in the box? Yes, same applies - EU regulations or not, it's one way that OEMs are clearly keeping down the cost to consumers. I also appealed for no bloat - well, we don't have that - but at least it's all uninstallable and doesn't seem to come back at every security (or I'm assuming) OS update.

Was it worth it, is the question. Well, for me it was as it's a loan unit! But the question for me is that when it goes back, will I buy my own. The two things which might twist my arm - well, no, three - are the clearly better-sounding speakers, the (even) bigger battery and the price. As someone who already has the last generation model in-hand, with 5 OS updates and security to 2029, it's a big ask. If I didn't have the 50 Neo but had the chance to play with the 60 Neo for the first time, then yes - I certainly think that I would buy it. So upgrade, maybe not (at least the price comes down a bit) but new-user, who favours a dinky little phone with all the above Moto goodness, yes - for sure. Highly recommended. Plenty more discussion on this, and other phone-related exploratory adventures with Joe Hickey and I on our weekly/fortnightly audio podcast, the Phones Show Chat and in video form on Joe's YouTube Channel, Screen On Time.

Send Help (2026) - A Guest Review by Chad Dixon

This is a survival horror thriller film, co-produced and directed by Sam Raimi. Starring Rachel McAdams as the dowdy but highly efficient and completely unappreciated office worker, Linda Liddle. On a day at work where the new CEO, Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien), takes over from his father (the man who built the company), Liddle is expecting that a promise made to her by the old man will now be honoured.

So, after seven tough years, she hopes that she will finally be rewarded with the promotion she most definitely deserves. However, Preston disappoints her by brazenly giving the aforementioned promotion to his old fraternity buddy, Donovan (Xavier Samuel), who has only been with the company a few months.

Liddle is incandescent with anger and storms into the CEO’s office to remonstrate against the decision, but Preston ignores her protestations. Although he is impressed enough by her bravado and knowledge of Liddle’s analytical strengths, he asks her to accompany him and a few of the other senior executives on an upcoming, crucial business trip to Bangkok. Still seething, she slinks off home.

A few days later, they are all onboard the company’s Learjet on their way to Thailand, and Donovan shows the other guys a video he’s found online showing Linda’s audition for a TV reality survival show. Seated, she looks up from her work laptop as all the execs start laughing and looking at her. Suddenly, the aircraft gives a massive jolt and the Captain’s voice over the tannoy instructs everyone to sit down and belt up.

Seconds later, a catastrophic explosive decompression rips open the side of the fuselage, and the strapped-in Linda witnesses Donovan and a couple of other executives get sucked out into the night. The plane, with engines on fire, then ditches in the ocean. Liddle gets herself free and watches helplessly as the aircraft quickly sinks beneath the waves. The next morning, she wakes up face-down on a tropical-looking beach and seems to be OK. She immediately starts looking for other survivors and, moments later, a bit further down the same beach, she discovers her boss, Preston, unconscious with a badly cut leg.

This film initially presents as the start of a classic office rom-com and McAdams plays the role well - a meek but hard-working corporate strategist working under an attractive but extremely arrogant male boss. However, her demeanour changes dramatically as the narrative moves to the desert island. All of her fascination with survival TV shows kicks in, and the invalid Preston is now totally reliant on her for his survival.

Knowing that Sam Raimi is behind this project, you know there’s a good chance of some visually bloody moments and, in the third act, that gory style kicks in with a vengeance - there were some occasions that made me wince! Otherwise, there are some chuckle moments and quite a few gross-out scenes that produced the most laugh-out-loud events in the cinema.

The tropical island they are stranded on is, of course, a major character too and always looked authentic. Even the obviously CGI wild animal they encounter looked well done. With no other notable performances to mention here, the main two leads acted their parts very well and spent the vast majority of the film together. As tempers frayed, they both upped the tempo believably, especially when things got extremely fraught. The ending was a bit predictable, though, but it was an enjoyable 1 hour 54 minutes spent on a rainy weekend afternoon.