Its female-centered narrative hints at a new, rapidly crystallising modern identity which constitutes a conscious and eager shift away from old divisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Its female-centered narrative hints at a new, rapidly crystallising modern identity which constitutes a conscious and eager shift away from old divisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The trappings and style more than make up for any lack of substance.

~ Richard Mowe -

The trappings and style more than make up for any lack of substance.

~ Richard Mowe -

Utterly lacking in decorum or shame, this is a film that reeks of self-indulgence but gets away with it completely.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Utterly lacking in decorum or shame, this is a film that reeks of self-indulgence but gets away with it completely.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Labaki manages to get across a view of life that is not predominant in cinematic stories, without making it seem like an agenda.

~ Lindis Kipp -

Labaki manages to get across a view of life that is not predominant in cinematic stories, without making it seem like an agenda.

~ Lindis Kipp -

Eggers draws fully on the iconography of the period, the muted greys and greens of the landscape captured by cinematographer Jarin Blaschkee broken only by repeated flashes of cardinal red, bringing with it the suggestion of cardinal sin.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Eggers draws fully on the iconography of the period, the muted greys and greens of the landscape captured by cinematographer Jarin Blaschkee broken only by repeated flashes of cardinal red, bringing with it the suggestion of cardinal sin.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As a first feature, this has conviction to burn.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

As a first feature, this has conviction to burn.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

It is the casting of Jónsson that is the film's master stroke. Known as a comedian in Iceland, he brings a great sense of underplayed comic timing to Fúsi, resulting in a big impact from small gestures.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It is the casting of Jónsson that is the film's master stroke. Known as a comedian in Iceland, he brings a great sense of underplayed comic timing to Fúsi, resulting in a big impact from small gestures.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A respectfully written and admirably performed drama.

~ Luke Shaw -

A respectfully written and admirably performed drama.

~ Luke Shaw -

This film is not a hectoring polemic, rather a passionate plea for understanding and empathy.

~ Jeff Robson -

This film is not a hectoring polemic, rather a passionate plea for understanding and empathy.

~ Jeff Robson -

This film is a shot of dayglo-coloured adrenaline to the vein, a vat of sugar poured into the eyes.

~ Owen Van Spall -

This film is a shot of dayglo-coloured adrenaline to the vein, a vat of sugar poured into the eyes.

~ Owen Van Spall -

Like rap without rhythm, Tokyo Tribes is missing something vital: plot and characters.

~ Donald Munro -

Like rap without rhythm, Tokyo Tribes is missing something vital: plot and characters.

~ Donald Munro -

Gere, despite his image both off and on screen, gives a flawless performance.

~ Richard Mowe -

Gere, despite his image both off and on screen, gives a flawless performance.

~ Richard Mowe -

This is a well structured and affecting piece of film-making.

~ Andrew Robertson -

This is a well structured and affecting piece of film-making.

~ Andrew Robertson -

On balance, the dexterity of Garrone’s vision papers over the cracks and finds the poetic dimensions of the magical material.

~ Richard Mowe -

On balance, the dexterity of Garrone’s vision papers over the cracks and finds the poetic dimensions of the magical material.

~ Richard Mowe -

The passage of time - and a beautiful 4k restoration - have been kind to this reimagining of Jacques Offenbach's opera, with its deliberately operatic gestures and colours and stylised production design feeling sharply avant garde even today.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The passage of time - and a beautiful 4k restoration - have been kind to this reimagining of Jacques Offenbach's opera, with its deliberately operatic gestures and colours and stylised production design feeling sharply avant garde even today.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Bispuri is interested in how escape from one form of repression seamlessly flows into another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Bispuri is interested in how escape from one form of repression seamlessly flows into another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

We are thrown headlong into a remake of Aliens, only with a mansion instead of a space colony and caterers instead of marines. The surprise is that it works.

~ Jennie Kermode -

We are thrown headlong into a remake of Aliens, only with a mansion instead of a space colony and caterers instead of marines. The surprise is that it works.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Péloquin delivers an absorbing drama about a ground-breaking period in a teenager’s life.

~ Richard Mowe -

Péloquin delivers an absorbing drama about a ground-breaking period in a teenager’s life.

~ Richard Mowe -

It is Kryštof Hadek who steals the show.

~ Richard Mowe -

It is Kryštof Hadek who steals the show.

~ Richard Mowe -

Maclean shows a land where loss of innocence is ever-present.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Maclean shows a land where loss of innocence is ever-present.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If this is romance, it's dead.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If this is romance, it's dead.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Jackson Martin, Nick Serino and Reece Moffett have great chemistry and give wonderfully naturalistic performances, making them easy to engage with.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Jackson Martin, Nick Serino and Reece Moffett have great chemistry and give wonderfully naturalistic performances, making them easy to engage with.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It's worth noting that this is Altricher's graduation film - he's certainly got his career off to an impressive start.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It's worth noting that this is Altricher's graduation film - he's certainly got his career off to an impressive start.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Hákonarson proves himself a master of his material - a sort of rural Ken Loach - shooting sparingly yet dramatically against extreme weather conditions.

~ Richard Mowe -

Hákonarson proves himself a master of his material - a sort of rural Ken Loach - shooting sparingly yet dramatically against extreme weather conditions.

~ Richard Mowe -

Veteran actress Yun Jeong-hie, who came out of a 15-year retirement to take on the role of Mija brings a fragile beauty and strength to the part, lending her character an air of inscrutability that is intriguing rather than frustrating.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Veteran actress Yun Jeong-hie, who came out of a 15-year retirement to take on the role of Mija brings a fragile beauty and strength to the part, lending her character an air of inscrutability that is intriguing rather than frustrating.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Chabriel, in his first ever screen role, is a revelation.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Chabriel, in his first ever screen role, is a revelation.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Deftly scripted, subtle and challenging, this is a film which reminds us why Muntean is such an important contributor to the Romanian New Wave.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Deftly scripted, subtle and challenging, this is a film which reminds us why Muntean is such an important contributor to the Romanian New Wave.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Ageing, Paralluelo observes - for the elderly as everyone else - goes on, even when we fear it might not.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ageing, Paralluelo observes - for the elderly as everyone else - goes on, even when we fear it might not.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Documentary this may be, but it's very much in horror movie territory, and filmed as such.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Documentary this may be, but it's very much in horror movie territory, and filmed as such.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The director and her co-writer Alice Winocour side with their young protagonists, drawing on their boundless energy to tell their story in the spirit of a fable and in a way that makes it accessible to younger audiences.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The director and her co-writer Alice Winocour side with their young protagonists, drawing on their boundless energy to tell their story in the spirit of a fable and in a way that makes it accessible to younger audiences.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A bold study of what it means to be Chinese in the modern age.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A bold study of what it means to be Chinese in the modern age.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Full of dazzling images.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Full of dazzling images.

~ Jennie Kermode -

As a road movie it is surprisingly static

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

As a road movie it is surprisingly static

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Stephane Brizé is a master of films that appear to say very little but actually speak volumes.

~ Richard Mowe -

Stephane Brizé is a master of films that appear to say very little but actually speak volumes.

~ Richard Mowe -

Her mix of animation, collage, and actual footage from the various periods covered suits her subject to perfection.

~ Richard Mowe -

Her mix of animation, collage, and actual footage from the various periods covered suits her subject to perfection.

~ Richard Mowe -

None of the characters seem grounded in any kind of reality.

~ Richard Mowe -

None of the characters seem grounded in any kind of reality.

~ Richard Mowe -

Amare's performance is a real gem.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Amare's performance is a real gem.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Ethical acts are met with punishment and moments of kindness are just fleeting enough to make the next torque of tension feel all the more severe.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ethical acts are met with punishment and moments of kindness are just fleeting enough to make the next torque of tension feel all the more severe.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

From silence and small details, César Augusto Acevedo weaves a devastating tale.

~ Jennie Kermode -

From silence and small details, César Augusto Acevedo weaves a devastating tale.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Its refusal to treat fights as spectacle, together with its austere editing and static camera, provides a melancholic grounding.

~ Luke Shaw -

Its refusal to treat fights as spectacle, together with its austere editing and static camera, provides a melancholic grounding.

~ Luke Shaw -

In his customary style, Cousins makes a lot of points, not all of them hitting home.

~ Jennie Kermode -

In his customary style, Cousins makes a lot of points, not all of them hitting home.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This is the tail end of the good times, Doc and his cohort seem as though they are fading out.

~ Owen Van Spall -

This is the tail end of the good times, Doc and his cohort seem as though they are fading out.

~ Owen Van Spall -

A thoughtful film which finds plenty of fresh dramatic potential in its subject.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A thoughtful film which finds plenty of fresh dramatic potential in its subject.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A thriller, a deep hard stare into the nature of escape, a comedy of metaphors and an alluringly photographed glimpse into the abyss.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

A thriller, a deep hard stare into the nature of escape, a comedy of metaphors and an alluringly photographed glimpse into the abyss.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Certainly there will be those who take offence - but that’s part of the objective in shaking up politically correct preconceptions.

~ Richard Mowe -

Certainly there will be those who take offence - but that’s part of the objective in shaking up politically correct preconceptions.

~ Richard Mowe -

Fehu, in a careful balancing of tone, ensures that Pepa's situation remains tragicomic to the last, rather than merely exploiting him for cheap laughs.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fehu, in a careful balancing of tone, ensures that Pepa's situation remains tragicomic to the last, rather than merely exploiting him for cheap laughs.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s film is one entirely about small details.

~ Luke Shaw -

Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s film is one entirely about small details.

~ Luke Shaw -

What is quite wonderful in all this flowing and "fade, fade, fade," fading is that the characters and their stories belong to no one specifically. They belong to a cinematic spirit world and maybe nobody even wanted them.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

What is quite wonderful in all this flowing and "fade, fade, fade," fading is that the characters and their stories belong to no one specifically. They belong to a cinematic spirit world and maybe nobody even wanted them.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

We see events from Alice's perspective, meaning that, unusually, she is positioned more as the desiring subject than the desired object within the narrative.

~ Rebecca Naughten -

We see events from Alice's perspective, meaning that, unusually, she is positioned more as the desiring subject than the desired object within the narrative.

~ Rebecca Naughten -

A difficult film, and a film about difficult women.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A difficult film, and a film about difficult women.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Structurally illustrates how the indigenous people don't see time as being a chronological straight line but as multiple realities existing simultaneously.

~ Rebecca Naughten -

Structurally illustrates how the indigenous people don't see time as being a chronological straight line but as multiple realities existing simultaneously.

~ Rebecca Naughten -

Bob may have the beefed up body of a bouncer but Hardy continually emphasises his softer, hesitant side, his body language screaming flight even though he is built to fight.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Bob may have the beefed up body of a bouncer but Hardy continually emphasises his softer, hesitant side, his body language screaming flight even though he is built to fight.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A compelling and powerful character piece.

~ Stephen Carty -

A compelling and powerful character piece.

~ Stephen Carty -

The simplicity of the location, with its gentle green hills and thin woodland, makes it feel as if it could be anywhere, yet Romero positions his camera so as to generate maximum tension from it.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The simplicity of the location, with its gentle green hills and thin woodland, makes it feel as if it could be anywhere, yet Romero positions his camera so as to generate maximum tension from it.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Larraín's judgement when it comes is fiercely Old Testament - harsh, unexpected and fast.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Larraín's judgement when it comes is fiercely Old Testament - harsh, unexpected and fast.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Bridgend is a superb piece of work.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Bridgend is a superb piece of work.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The levels of twee are fairly high, and contrasted with the bizarre and often regressive gendered comedy it’s likely to divide audiences right down the middle.

~ Luke Shaw -

The levels of twee are fairly high, and contrasted with the bizarre and often regressive gendered comedy it’s likely to divide audiences right down the middle.

~ Luke Shaw -

Malgorzata Szumowska takes a playful approach to the subjects of eating disorders and grief with suprisingly effective results.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Malgorzata Szumowska takes a playful approach to the subjects of eating disorders and grief with suprisingly effective results.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Richard Gere is exceptional.

~ Luke Shaw -

Richard Gere is exceptional.

~ Luke Shaw -

Mixes observations on capitalism, society and storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Mixes observations on capitalism, society and storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

An intensely sad and affecting look at a hugely talented young woman, ill equipped for the all-consuming fame which her soulful voice would bring her.

~ Robert Munro -

An intensely sad and affecting look at a hugely talented young woman, ill equipped for the all-consuming fame which her soulful voice would bring her.

~ Robert Munro -

Fresh, frisky and surprisingly chaste considering the amount of bed-hopping going on.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fresh, frisky and surprisingly chaste considering the amount of bed-hopping going on.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Jude and Lazarescu also show how the structure of society has a habit of making you conform to it, whatever your intentions - a barbed idea intended to stick in the minds of those who live in today's Europe where the Roma still face wide-spread prejudice

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Jude and Lazarescu also show how the structure of society has a habit of making you conform to it, whatever your intentions - a barbed idea intended to stick in the minds of those who live in today's Europe where the Roma still face wide-spread prejudice

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If this weren’t a documentary, these five people would surely find themselves nestled in the pages of some postmodern epic.

~ Luke Shaw -

If this weren’t a documentary, these five people would surely find themselves nestled in the pages of some postmodern epic.

~ Luke Shaw -

To call the film haunting is an understatement.

~ Luke Shaw -

To call the film haunting is an understatement.

~ Luke Shaw -

Kurosawa's masterful synthesis doesn't stop with the script. He weaves a late Edo period samurai film, in its painstaking historic detail, into modernity.

~ Donald Munro -

The film is at its most effective when we feel the urgency of their boredom – the athletic one pacing in circles like a trapped animal – juxtaposed with the languid charm of their environment.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It doesn’t quite hit the mark, but that’s not to say that it isn’t a pleasant way to while away an hour and a half.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The difference here from more familiar selections allows us to appreciate different qualities in the art.

~ Jennie Kermode -

In what is probably Côté's most straightforwardly observational film to date, the fictions come baked in.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While Verseau talks about how crucial the surgery was to her mental health, the complexity of the emotions experienced afterwards is also made clear.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The delight of the drama stems from the well crafted characters, while its heft hinges on toxicity that may not be immediately obvious.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The script is lean, the sword edges keen and the characters mean.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

An extraordinarily thorough film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s the acting that carries it, and naturally Farahani, one of the finest talents of her generation, does not disappoint.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Subtle observations about the racism that underpins this superficially idyllic society pepper a film which repeatedly forces its hero to question his assumptions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film concludes with what is probably the most influential special effect in the history of cinema.

~ Donald Munro -

Bethmann understands the situation well, but her closeness to the teenager and the personal character that the film takes on as a result is something else.

~ Jennie Kermode -

So carefully balanced is this that the film could almost have emerged as a romcom, and it’s that possibility, that clash between the absurdity that cinema has taught us to expect and the bitterness of real life, that makes it so effective.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Through the lens of the men’s romance, Onir takes in a good deal more, exploring the complex realities behind assumptions of prejudice and the myriad factors that go into making each of us who we are.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Throughout the film there is a sense of play, and even as the story evolves to take on darker material, something of that lightness, that happy-go-lucky quality remains.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film hinges on amazing vocal work by Lalama.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There’s a genuine unpredictability to Honey Bunch, both structurally and thematically.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Where the episodes work is when they have a driving, kinetic energy about them. When they don't it's repetitious loop.

~ Donald Munro -

The film, directed by feature debutant Shaun Dozier, retains the density of dialogue you might expect from a stage play but, by leaning into the theatrical nature of the proceedings, Dozier is in some ways able to make this into a virtue.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The delight of the drama stems from the well crafted characters, while its heft hinges on toxicity that may not be immediately obvious.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

An extraordinarily thorough film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Writer/director Sandhya Suri - who has a documentary background - is keen to show that everyone plays their part in the prejudices and corruption of the legal system.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Once again, Guiraudie proves himself the master of setting up a mystery by the means of perfect script economy that functions strictly on “need to know” basis.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

The director shows how it’s not just Julie’s tennis skills that have been groomed by the coach but large aspects of her life.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cat’s viewpoint predominates, and Zilbalodis has an acute understanding of how the world looks from its point of view, of what catches its attention and how its body follows instinctively.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s ironic that a film about a family who have built a perfect facsimile of a life for themselves should feel so overly constructed itself

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The difference here from more familiar selections allows us to appreciate different qualities in the art.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Lin and Sun studiously maintain the enigma around Shuo so that we are left guessing as to whether he’s just a disadvantaged teen trying to make his way in the world or a cuckoo in the nest.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It doesn’t quite hit the mark, but that’s not to say that it isn’t a pleasant way to while away an hour and a half.

~ Jennie Kermode -