While exploitation is expertly outlined, the directors are never exploitative themselves in the way it is depicted.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While exploitation is expertly outlined, the directors are never exploitative themselves in the way it is depicted.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This challengingly structured moving picture connects past with present not in linear form but in fragments of story that come in waves.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

This challengingly structured moving picture connects past with present not in linear form but in fragments of story that come in waves.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Martyrdom and bad wishing, casual cruelty and sweet despair reign in this realm.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Martyrdom and bad wishing, casual cruelty and sweet despair reign in this realm.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Audiard captures the fluid nature of relationships for a younger generation navigating both on and offline opportunities and, because this is French, it also features plenty of gracefully worked sexual encounters.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Audiard captures the fluid nature of relationships for a younger generation navigating both on and offline opportunities and, because this is French, it also features plenty of gracefully worked sexual encounters.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The star himself commands an uncharacteristic stillness, dialling down his famous charisma, surrendering himself to the material.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The star himself commands an uncharacteristic stillness, dialling down his famous charisma, surrendering himself to the material.

~ Jennie Kermode -

An exercise in stamina and perseverance.

~ Domers -

An exercise in stamina and perseverance.

~ Domers -

Everything flows with the flourish of an expensive ink pen on paper, as sketches are made to bloom with colour or a bicycle ride turns into a mini adventure, all given additional life by the zippy score from Ludovic Bource.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Everything flows with the flourish of an expensive ink pen on paper, as sketches are made to bloom with colour or a bicycle ride turns into a mini adventure, all given additional life by the zippy score from Ludovic Bource.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The closer and more personal this documentary gets, the more it opens up to the largest of issues.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

The closer and more personal this documentary gets, the more it opens up to the largest of issues.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

What makes all this work is the very straightforward and matter-of-fact way in which Dupieux approaches the story.

~ Jennie Kermode -

What makes all this work is the very straightforward and matter-of-fact way in which Dupieux approaches the story.

~ Jennie Kermode -

What, you might ask, is at the heart of the mystery? It's a good question and one that Pariser barely articulates.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

What, you might ask, is at the heart of the mystery? It's a good question and one that Pariser barely articulates.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A crisp, downbeat, clever exploration of the issues, combined with a whodunnit.

~ Jane Fae -

A crisp, downbeat, clever exploration of the issues, combined with a whodunnit.

~ Jane Fae -

Gravel cleverly works the tempo, so we feel the occasional moments when Julie almost gets to relax, but that keep being snatched from her, more acutely.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Gravel cleverly works the tempo, so we feel the occasional moments when Julie almost gets to relax, but that keep being snatched from her, more acutely.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is satire. Sharp, observant, but unlike British films in similar vein, never cutting.

~ Jane Fae -

This is satire. Sharp, observant, but unlike British films in similar vein, never cutting.

~ Jane Fae -

France is a supremely sad film, maybe the saddest Dumont has made in its interplay of the true and the fake.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

France is a supremely sad film, maybe the saddest Dumont has made in its interplay of the true and the fake.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

An homage to truly bad film-making - but it sails perilously close to self-parody

~ Richard Mowe -

An homage to truly bad film-making - but it sails perilously close to self-parody

~ Richard Mowe -

The detailing, including the flamboyant naming of dresses and the rush to be finished, feels as right as a perfect necklace, so that it sets off the wider fabric of the story without detracting from it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The detailing, including the flamboyant naming of dresses and the rush to be finished, feels as right as a perfect necklace, so that it sets off the wider fabric of the story without detracting from it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

François Ozon makes what could have been an impossibly painful subject more palatable but nonetheless affecting.

~ Richard Mowe -

François Ozon makes what could have been an impossibly painful subject more palatable but nonetheless affecting.

~ Richard Mowe -

Breathtakingly ambitious, exquisitely realised and performed and made under extreme circumstances, Les Enfants Du Paradis is an absolute joy to behold and a monument to the power of the arts to transcend opressive social and political climates.

~ Neil Mitchell -

Breathtakingly ambitious, exquisitely realised and performed and made under extreme circumstances, Les Enfants Du Paradis is an absolute joy to behold and a monument to the power of the arts to transcend opressive social and political climates.

~ Neil Mitchell -

The real strength of the film is in the way it points up gender role differences that go unnoticed because people are so used to them.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The real strength of the film is in the way it points up gender role differences that go unnoticed because people are so used to them.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Loose camerawork from Frank van den Eeden enhances the intimate, raw spirit.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Loose camerawork from Frank van den Eeden enhances the intimate, raw spirit.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although the heartfelt nature of the film is evident, it's a shame Ayouch became so wedded to its documentary element when its more stylised moments are where it finds its real energy.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although the heartfelt nature of the film is evident, it's a shame Ayouch became so wedded to its documentary element when its more stylised moments are where it finds its real energy.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Desplechin fires off too many salvoes which hit wide of the mark

~ Richard Mowe -

Desplechin fires off too many salvoes which hit wide of the mark

~ Richard Mowe -

Although this film has no body count, it carries with it all the danger of an erotic thriller.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although this film has no body count, it carries with it all the danger of an erotic thriller.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Covert glances and dauntless gestures between the three protagonists, that keep us guessing about who knows what, weave a web as diaphanous as the stitching on fine cloth.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Covert glances and dauntless gestures between the three protagonists, that keep us guessing about who knows what, weave a web as diaphanous as the stitching on fine cloth.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Bloody Oranges is condemned to straddle between two half-baked tones.

~ Antoni Konieczny -

Bloody Oranges is condemned to straddle between two half-baked tones.

~ Antoni Konieczny -

Director Yann Gozlan has done a great job here of taking us right up to the line.

~ Jane Fae -

Director Yann Gozlan has done a great job here of taking us right up to the line.

~ Jane Fae -

Binoche gives her all, stripping away any vestiges of actressy pretence to assimilate herself in the community while at the same time investing her performance with an authentic conviction.

~ Richard Mowe -

Binoche gives her all, stripping away any vestiges of actressy pretence to assimilate herself in the community while at the same time investing her performance with an authentic conviction.

~ Richard Mowe -

Dreams, memories and reality all intermingle to rather intoxicating effect

~ Richard Mowe -

Dreams, memories and reality all intermingle to rather intoxicating effect

~ Richard Mowe -

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 -

A very effective piece of low budget storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Coogan is well cast in this tricky role, moving easily from humour to heartbreak..

~ Jennie Kermode -

Manizha Bakhtari may not be a household name but after watching Natalie Halla’s documentary you’re likely to think she ought to be.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Sung’s own camera plays tricks, placing objects too close in the foreground so that parts of an image are out of focus, like an incomplete memory.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The concept, narrative, dialogue, cinematography and action sequences are elements of Scanners that can't be faulted.

~ Donald Munro -

The film hangs on Pemberton’s performance, and he imbues Doug with a sweetness that makes us feel for him despite his deeply misguided actions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The screenplay written by the filmmaker and Andrea Piva is a proper masterwork, from the basic plotting to the intelligent, insightful dialogue.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

From the start, there is something different about this film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Despite the anger at the unfairness of what has gone before, this is ultimately a warm-hearted, life-affirming film.

~ Jennie Kermode -

It is a ride, okay, and it is a bit nauseating and therefore not sterile.

~ Marko Stojiljkovic -

It’s also striking to think that when Leila is looking forward into the future, she is already, in some senses, looking at our recent past, which only reinforces the sense of the cyclical and ongoing nature of her themes.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Thorne still comes across as being at the stage where many aspects of her work are experimental. She’s yet to settle into her style.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The characters work well...but there’s never quite enough energy to events.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Ahmed doesn’t need to include war footage for us to feel its weight and understand its shadow.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The colour elements prove all the more striking when in contrast to black and white.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The beautiful cinematography, the bluesy jazz score and the gentle pace of the film are beguiling, but Masciari makes sure that we don’t lose sight of the ridiculous.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Shot over 17 years, it mingles intimate personal moments with visceral concert footage, its musical sequences knitted together with some of the best editing you’re likely to see this year.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A very effective piece of low budget storytelling.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Having set up all the elements of a thriller, the film proceeds to untangle them in a refreshingly different and mature way.

~ Jennie Kermode -

[Hart] doesn’t turn up the volume, but uses tone and repetition so effectively that the film becomes a microcosm of the real experience.

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

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 -