Western documentary regulars may feel as though they are in familiar territory at the start of the film, which begins by focusing on Syria - but soon the violence considered will come a lot closer to home.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Western documentary regulars may feel as though they are in familiar territory at the start of the film, which begins by focusing on Syria - but soon the violence considered will come a lot closer to home.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Sex itself is mostly not shown, as its the initial connection with Lila and the emotional aftermath that counts.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Sex itself is mostly not shown, as its the initial connection with Lila and the emotional aftermath that counts.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

~ Richard Mowe -

In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

~ Richard Mowe -

Religious and family tensions are explored with care and sensitivity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Religious and family tensions are explored with care and sensitivity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The “so what” factor doesn’t go away, because it is difficult to care about these people.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The “so what” factor doesn’t go away, because it is difficult to care about these people.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Elena is not initially an easy character to like, but her courage and ingenuity is handling the crisis she finds herself in gradually wins viewers over.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Elena is not initially an easy character to like, but her courage and ingenuity is handling the crisis she finds herself in gradually wins viewers over.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Everything Hannibal failed to be.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Everything Hannibal failed to be.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Seductive direction embarks on an ill-advised tryst with silly plotting in Ferzan Oztepek's Naples-set psycho-thriller

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Seductive direction embarks on an ill-advised tryst with silly plotting in Ferzan Oztepek's Naples-set psycho-thriller

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ly wanted the people who have lived in these schemes to have the chance to tell their own stories, which gives Les Misérables an unerring sense of authenticity.

~ Richard Mowe -

Ly wanted the people who have lived in these schemes to have the chance to tell their own stories, which gives Les Misérables an unerring sense of authenticity.

~ Richard Mowe -

Most effective is the film's playing with the concept of character motivation, highlighting the studied intellectual complexity prevalent in theatrical fiction in contrast to the often crude driving forces present in reality.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Most effective is the film's playing with the concept of character motivation, highlighting the studied intellectual complexity prevalent in theatrical fiction in contrast to the often crude driving forces present in reality.

~ Jennie Kermode -

~ Ben Sillis -

~ Ben Sillis -

Ozpetek is a sensitive director. He takes his time. He doesn't rush.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Ozpetek is a sensitive director. He takes his time. He doesn't rush.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Arebi's patiently observational film is full of small moments that encapsulate horrific prejudice or warm, resilient humour.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Arebi's patiently observational film is full of small moments that encapsulate horrific prejudice or warm, resilient humour.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Ochipinti's film benefits from a strong documentary underpinning - with the lead actress saying that 70 per cent of what occurs is based on her own story at the film's Berlin screening - showing how strong cultural expectations like this can be.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ochipinti's film benefits from a strong documentary underpinning - with the lead actress saying that 70 per cent of what occurs is based on her own story at the film's Berlin screening - showing how strong cultural expectations like this can be.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The film answers every why, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together with infinite subtlety.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The film answers every why, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together with infinite subtlety.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Despite its reliance on the crutch of cliche in terms of plotting there is much to admire here stylistically.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Despite its reliance on the crutch of cliche in terms of plotting there is much to admire here stylistically.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This domestic drama set in Lebanon also has elements of black humour, which is unique in comparison to other Lebanese films.

~ Maryam Ghorbankarimi -

This domestic drama set in Lebanon also has elements of black humour, which is unique in comparison to other Lebanese films.

~ Maryam Ghorbankarimi -

Recalling the bone-dry wit of the likes of Pablo Larrain mixed with a dash of the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, this is as much a waiting game as an action plan.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Recalling the bone-dry wit of the likes of Pablo Larrain mixed with a dash of the absurdity of Samuel Beckett, this is as much a waiting game as an action plan.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The script is sharp, witty and not afraid to ask awkward questions.

~ Jane Fae -

The script is sharp, witty and not afraid to ask awkward questions.

~ Jane Fae -

Ott’s interest is not in creating an accurate depiction of exactly what happened in the run-up to the Oklahoma City bombing, but rather in exploring the thought processes behind it.

~ Jennie Kermode -

I laughed, and was not alone in doing so, out loud, and repeatedly.

~ Andrew Robertson -

In this tangled tapestry, Russell has captured the soul of a nation.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It feels as if a collection of fantasy and dystopian science fiction archetypes have been poured into a blender and swirled around to produce the script and visuals.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Manages to squeeze solid performances from actors and to infuse the run of the mill story with some dense and tense atmosphere set against the backdrop of the overall slickness of Frank Griebe’s cinematography

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

If the humour works for you at all, you’ll find it a hoot.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Director Siobhan McCarthy is adept at using the long-established visual language of the high school movie both to entertain and to show us the world from a perspective that’s relatively new to cinema.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Clown in A Cornfield has a lot of heart, and not just of the bloody variety.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Bong loses the thread in numerous half-baked sub-plots whose inflation takes its toll on the bloated runtime.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Hallow Road is an Irish co-production, and it shows both in theme and in quality.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It’s refreshing to encounter a multiverse film that doesn’t mess about.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A surprisingly droll deconstruction of crime reconstruction.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The circumstances of women are central to the film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

Every frame feels like the product of conscious decision-making, with nothing merely carrying us from one point to another.

~ 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 -

Ashcroft’s interpretation steers the story away from simple tragedy as we see Mortensen making gains as well as losses.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Comic invention rides shotgun on a screenplay that runs wild.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

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 -

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 -

A sophisticated palate will discern any number of flavours running through Black Bag, but these are glosses on a traditional recipe.

~ Andrew Robertson -

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 -