This is a very particular film - one where particles of detail crystallise into observation, meaning and import accreting like nacre around grit, producing a pearl, a natural jewel.

~ Andrew Robertson -

This is a very particular film - one where particles of detail crystallise into observation, meaning and import accreting like nacre around grit, producing a pearl, a natural jewel.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Trengove strikes a good balance between showing the cultural importance, even though on the wane, of old-fashioned masculinity and personal drama between Xolani and Kwanda, slowly ratcheting up the tension to breaking point.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Trengove strikes a good balance between showing the cultural importance, even though on the wane, of old-fashioned masculinity and personal drama between Xolani and Kwanda, slowly ratcheting up the tension to breaking point.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's a potency to this film, largely thanks to a carefully judged performance by Marina Foïs as novelist and tutor Olivia, and a charismatic one by Matthieu Lucci as her most difficult student, Antoine.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There's a potency to this film, largely thanks to a carefully judged performance by Marina Foïs as novelist and tutor Olivia, and a charismatic one by Matthieu Lucci as her most difficult student, Antoine.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Sobel doesn't invite us to pity these men but rather to listen to what they have to say.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Sobel doesn't invite us to pity these men but rather to listen to what they have to say.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It quite subtly toys with the iconography of the genre - poking at the outlying parts of it, the parts dealing with "foreigness" and "home" rather than the more dependable elements of right and wrong.

~ Rory Ford -

It quite subtly toys with the iconography of the genre - poking at the outlying parts of it, the parts dealing with "foreigness" and "home" rather than the more dependable elements of right and wrong.

~ Rory Ford -

This is powerful and painful, striking.

~ Andrew Robertson -

This is powerful and painful, striking.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Annemarie Jacir's characters may not leave the city of Nazareth as they take a circular road trip in Wajib but the emotional distance they travel is considerable.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Annemarie Jacir's characters may not leave the city of Nazareth as they take a circular road trip in Wajib but the emotional distance they travel is considerable.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Inti Briones's muddy, saturated black and white imagery complements director Daniela Thomas' tight close-ups and lingering landscape shots in conveying both the paradox of the location and the pressure its inhabitants feel.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Inti Briones's muddy, saturated black and white imagery complements director Daniela Thomas' tight close-ups and lingering landscape shots in conveying both the paradox of the location and the pressure its inhabitants feel.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The tone is deliberately odd blending the naturalism of the day-to-day emotions of relationships and grief, with the altogether more heightened tensions of a revenge thriller, while still keeping a cheeky eye on the absurdity of a mooning garden gnome.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The tone is deliberately odd blending the naturalism of the day-to-day emotions of relationships and grief, with the altogether more heightened tensions of a revenge thriller, while still keeping a cheeky eye on the absurdity of a mooning garden gnome.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fortunately, McDormand never lets Mildred's hold on us slip, balancing the conundrum of a woman who is simultaneously a mum, who likes a beer and a game of pool, and a Rambo-style avenging angel.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fortunately, McDormand never lets Mildred's hold on us slip, balancing the conundrum of a woman who is simultaneously a mum, who likes a beer and a game of pool, and a Rambo-style avenging angel.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The weirdness thrives on understatement

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The weirdness thrives on understatement

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The lightness of touch so evident in his family films is no less deft here, as he woos us with the promise of cast iron fact.... only to spend the rest of the film oiling the ground beneath our beliefs until they can't stop sliding this way and that

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The lightness of touch so evident in his family films is no less deft here, as he woos us with the promise of cast iron fact.... only to spend the rest of the film oiling the ground beneath our beliefs until they can't stop sliding this way and that

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although much of Laaksonen's work was hardcore, Karukoski doesn't seek to 'shock' audiences with outrageousness, instead gracefully zoning in on the man and his life to celebrate his both his bravery and his art.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although much of Laaksonen's work was hardcore, Karukoski doesn't seek to 'shock' audiences with outrageousness, instead gracefully zoning in on the man and his life to celebrate his both his bravery and his art.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Thelma appears aloof on the surface, but her constant choice of statement lipsticks, despite her otherwise conservative dress code, hints at the emotions screaming from within.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Thelma appears aloof on the surface, but her constant choice of statement lipsticks, despite her otherwise conservative dress code, hints at the emotions screaming from within.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The use of abstract visuals, however, not only forces us to focus more intently on what is being said in the section about Miriam but also encourages us to become attuned to the 'everyday' life we are seeing.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The use of abstract visuals, however, not only forces us to focus more intently on what is being said in the section about Miriam but also encourages us to become attuned to the 'everyday' life we are seeing.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Song is superb in the central role, taking his character through an emotional arc that would be a challenge for any actor, but never less than convincing.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Song is superb in the central role, taking his character through an emotional arc that would be a challenge for any actor, but never less than convincing.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The film has grit as if volcanic dust had scorched its rose tinted glasses

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The film has grit as if volcanic dust had scorched its rose tinted glasses

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The film wears its story lightly. Even when Simón is dealing with heavier themes her focus is on Frida and her emotions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The film wears its story lightly. Even when Simón is dealing with heavier themes her focus is on Frida and her emotions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It has the ungainly but attractive ambience of an old fairy tale being passed down through the generations, becoming more and more embellished on each retelling.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It has the ungainly but attractive ambience of an old fairy tale being passed down through the generations, becoming more and more embellished on each retelling.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While satirically entertaining in places it has too many threads competing for attention and ultimately runs out of steam.

~ Richard Mowe -

While satirically entertaining in places it has too many threads competing for attention and ultimately runs out of steam.

~ Richard Mowe -

A vivid illustration of just how close life can come to mockumentary when you start to scrutinise it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A vivid illustration of just how close life can come to mockumentary when you start to scrutinise it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Densely packed with information, this is a film that continually finds new things to say and new ways to say them.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Densely packed with information, this is a film that continually finds new things to say and new ways to say them.

~ Jennie Kermode -

As entertaining as the above is with its two charismatic leads, it is not an especially novel path for a 'crime couple' thriller to take, and it is in the last act that Racer kind of goes off the rails.

~ Owen Van Spall -

As entertaining as the above is with its two charismatic leads, it is not an especially novel path for a 'crime couple' thriller to take, and it is in the last act that Racer kind of goes off the rails.

~ Owen Van Spall -

There's a quietness about it, a new maturity for Spielberg.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There's a quietness about it, a new maturity for Spielberg.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Like all good road trips, the destination may be a the top of the protagonist's mind but the film says a lot more about his past and present than his future.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Like all good road trips, the destination may be a the top of the protagonist's mind but the film says a lot more about his past and present than his future.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky love their protagonist just a bit too much.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky love their protagonist just a bit too much.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Phantom Thread is a film about fabric, craft, beauty, but at heart asks all the crucial, complicated questions about love.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Phantom Thread is a film about fabric, craft, beauty, but at heart asks all the crucial, complicated questions about love.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

There is a fragility and brittleness to this but also an underlying warm sweetness that might just melt your heart.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There is a fragility and brittleness to this but also an underlying warm sweetness that might just melt your heart.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

No Date, No Signature is a moral maze in which superb performances mean we can never lose sight of the human impact of what might seem like logical decisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

No Date, No Signature is a moral maze in which superb performances mean we can never lose sight of the human impact of what might seem like logical decisions.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Even though Newton is a stickler, there's an appealing purity to his views and he remains likeable almost despite himself.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Even though Newton is a stickler, there's an appealing purity to his views and he remains likeable almost despite himself.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It's as though Cuenta and his co-writer Alejandro Hernández spent so much of their energy on their impressive plot machinations that they have none left for developing his character, leaving Gutiérrez trying to work magic with just one note.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It's as though Cuenta and his co-writer Alejandro Hernández spent so much of their energy on their impressive plot machinations that they have none left for developing his character, leaving Gutiérrez trying to work magic with just one note.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There are a lot of characters, but they gradually flow together to build a fractured patchwork of what it means to be a veteran of messy conflict on any side.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There are a lot of characters, but they gradually flow together to build a fractured patchwork of what it means to be a veteran of messy conflict on any side.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It's as if I Spit On Your Grave has been transformed into a Kabuki drama.

~ Rory Ford -

It's as if I Spit On Your Grave has been transformed into a Kabuki drama.

~ Rory Ford -

The way director Emmanuel Gras eases under the skin of his main subject makes for fascinating viewing.

~ Richard Mowe -

The way director Emmanuel Gras eases under the skin of his main subject makes for fascinating viewing.

~ Richard Mowe -

Though the filmmaking is good, the bleakness of the message is unremitting.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Though the filmmaking is good, the bleakness of the message is unremitting.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Hunnam gives a compelling performance as a man railing against the bigotry of his time, and yet simultaneously embodying it as a white explorer in a place already well-known to its inhabitants.

~ Seph Shewell Brockway -

Hunnam gives a compelling performance as a man railing against the bigotry of his time, and yet simultaneously embodying it as a white explorer in a place already well-known to its inhabitants.

~ Seph Shewell Brockway -

The Kopps' film provides insights into the fundamental nature of storytelling, its psychological relevance and its importance in intellectual development.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The Kopps' film provides insights into the fundamental nature of storytelling, its psychological relevance and its importance in intellectual development.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Denis and Binoche take a perceptive and light approach to what could have been hackneyed material.

~ Richard Mowe -

Denis and Binoche take a perceptive and light approach to what could have been hackneyed material.

~ Richard Mowe -

The plot can sink without trace, which it does, because this is all about the stars

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The plot can sink without trace, which it does, because this is all about the stars

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Carell is extremely impressive here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Carell is extremely impressive here.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Morgen infuses new life into Jane Goodall's groundbreaking wildlife study that took place over half a century ago.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Morgen infuses new life into Jane Goodall's groundbreaking wildlife study that took place over half a century ago.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Akin asks us to shift our perceptions of terrorist attacks in deliberately provocative ways, constantly flipping what we think we know and what we expect to see right up until the film's haunting final image.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Akin asks us to shift our perceptions of terrorist attacks in deliberately provocative ways, constantly flipping what we think we know and what we expect to see right up until the film's haunting final image.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The idea that a family would face the war crime equivalent of lions, tigers and bears in the space of a few hours barges through the boundaries of belief.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The idea that a family would face the war crime equivalent of lions, tigers and bears in the space of a few hours barges through the boundaries of belief.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Tonya's story is a blinder. You walk away with your heart bruised and your eyes swollen

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Tonya's story is a blinder. You walk away with your heart bruised and your eyes swollen

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

The bobbins are a brilliantly employed metaphor, something that feels freshly sprung from a fairy tale, only silly until you consider how sinister they are.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The bobbins are a brilliantly employed metaphor, something that feels freshly sprung from a fairy tale, only silly until you consider how sinister they are.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ziad Doueiri's latest film shows how the embers of history can stay warm for a long time, easily flaring up under the right circumstances - even those that seem innocuous.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ziad Doueiri's latest film shows how the embers of history can stay warm for a long time, easily flaring up under the right circumstances - even those that seem innocuous.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although it is technically beautifully realised and features an impressively varied and supportive score from Terry and Gyan Riley, not all of Girard’s connections fully work.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although it is technically beautifully realised and features an impressively varied and supportive score from Terry and Gyan Riley, not all of Girard’s connections fully work.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Haneke is a master of his material, revealing just enough to keep the viewer on tenterhooks but not enough to give an easy explanations.

~ Richard Mowe -

Haneke is a master of his material, revealing just enough to keep the viewer on tenterhooks but not enough to give an easy explanations.

~ Richard Mowe -

Flashes a light to illuminate different stages in the life of the man who invented himself with style and grace.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Flashes a light to illuminate different stages in the life of the man who invented himself with style and grace.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

The film’s most gripping aspect is the delicacy with which it handles its extraordinary emotional depth

~ Evelin Toth -

The film’s most gripping aspect is the delicacy with which it handles its extraordinary emotional depth

~ Evelin Toth -

One of the most important cinematic perspectives on the genocide to be made for international audiences.

~ Jennie Kermode -

One of the most important cinematic perspectives on the genocide to be made for international audiences.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Samuel Maoz steps into the rhythm of the foxtrot to give structure to the three separate chapters of his intense, reverberating film.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Samuel Maoz steps into the rhythm of the foxtrot to give structure to the three separate chapters of his intense, reverberating film.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

A cast to die for? Certainly. And they almost do.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

A cast to die for? Certainly. And they almost do.

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Lelio makes no bones about how he wants us to feel, to the point where it sometimes feels as though he is stating the obvious is six-foot neon letters.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Lelio makes no bones about how he wants us to feel, to the point where it sometimes feels as though he is stating the obvious is six-foot neon letters.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The proportion of films opening with HP Lovecraft quotes that manage to live up to the visionary writer's work verges on the infinitesimal, but The Endless is one of the special ones.

~ Jennie Kermode -

The proportion of films opening with HP Lovecraft quotes that manage to live up to the visionary writer's work verges on the infinitesimal, but The Endless is one of the special ones.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Rather than simply turn Tommy into a laughing stock, Franco teases out the tragicomedy of the man.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Rather than simply turn Tommy into a laughing stock, Franco teases out the tragicomedy of the man.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Leuenberger makes Nora's gradual awakening to gender issues feel like the sun coming out on a dreary day, brimful of unexpected warmth.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Leuenberger makes Nora's gradual awakening to gender issues feel like the sun coming out on a dreary day, brimful of unexpected warmth.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A cleverly constructed piece of low-budget filmmaking, Directions punches well above its weight.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A cleverly constructed piece of low-budget filmmaking, Directions punches well above its weight.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Capturing this moment, this opening up, writer/director team Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato demonstrate that there's room on the big screen for small things.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Capturing this moment, this opening up, writer/director team Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato demonstrate that there's room on the big screen for small things.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There is an awkward balance here between the focus on capturing real events and a clear desire to play to the gallery.

~ Jennie Kermode -

There is an awkward balance here between the focus on capturing real events and a clear desire to play to the gallery.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Though a short film, even one of half-an-hour as Legrand’s was, can be carried almost solely on this sort of tension, a feature needs something more.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Though a short film, even one of half-an-hour as Legrand’s was, can be carried almost solely on this sort of tension, a feature needs something more.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Carpignano is interested in the margins - and the fringes of those margins.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Carpignano is interested in the margins - and the fringes of those margins.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Remarkably adept in balancing audience sympathies and bold in its refusal to choose the most easily justified routes for its characters, The Charmer is a powerful piece of cinema.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Remarkably adept in balancing audience sympathies and bold in its refusal to choose the most easily justified routes for its characters, The Charmer is a powerful piece of cinema.

~ Jennie Kermode -

As a metaphor for the way the world views changing relationships and mores the film is affecting.

~ Richard Mowe -

As a metaphor for the way the world views changing relationships and mores the film is affecting.

~ Richard Mowe -

It is fundamentally a film about the workings of infatuation with a charmed fever that contaminates its characters.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

It is fundamentally a film about the workings of infatuation with a charmed fever that contaminates its characters.

~ Anne-Katrin Titze -

Why make a movie about this match? Why now? Is it the danger factor with Superbrat or nostalgia for IceBorg or the ingenuity of the stunt guys to make the players look genuine?

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

Why make a movie about this match? Why now? Is it the danger factor with Superbrat or nostalgia for IceBorg or the ingenuity of the stunt guys to make the players look genuine?

~ Angus Wolfe Murray -

A tremendously powerful piece of cinema.

~ Jennie Kermode -

A tremendously powerful piece of cinema.

~ Jennie Kermode -

This documentary feels confined by constraints that should have been stripped away in the filming process.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This documentary feels confined by constraints that should have been stripped away in the filming process.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Allure is a film full of claustrophobic tension.

~ Jennie Kermode -

Allure is a film full of claustrophobic tension.

~ Jennie Kermode -

As stark as its empty landscapes, as measured as the tread of the strangers along the poplar avenue, as compelling as the panic that grows in the village ahead of them.

~ Andrew Robertson -

As stark as its empty landscapes, as measured as the tread of the strangers along the poplar avenue, as compelling as the panic that grows in the village ahead of them.

~ Andrew Robertson -

Campillo has a weakness in not knowing when to trim all the talking.

~ Richard Mowe -

Campillo has a weakness in not knowing when to trim all the talking.

~ Richard Mowe -

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 -

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 -

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 -

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

~ Jennie Kermode -

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 -

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 -