It is the casual nature of Stalin's cruelty that makes this film such a compelling watch.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It is the casual nature of Stalin's cruelty that makes this film such a compelling watch.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 -

Laugh out loud funny and heartbreaking without resorting to neat Hollywood set-ups or resolutions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Laugh out loud funny and heartbreaking without resorting to neat Hollywood set-ups or resolutions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Antares is another nail in the coffin of brevity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Antares is another nail in the coffin of brevity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Gomez and Seeley have plenty of sparkle and Lynch, Perkins and Isabelle provide a decent level of pantomime humour.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Gomez and Seeley have plenty of sparkle and Lynch, Perkins and Isabelle provide a decent level of pantomime humour.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

His - and Johnson's - real triumph in Anomalisa comes in the smaller gestures and human moments

~ Amber Wilkinson -

His - and Johnson's - real triumph in Anomalisa comes in the smaller gestures and human moments

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Enjoyable and witty, all the more impressive when you discover that it took only 19 days to shoot.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Enjoyable and witty, all the more impressive when you discover that it took only 19 days to shoot.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

These apes aren't great, they grate.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

These apes aren't great, they grate.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The puzzles here are of the sort intended to be enjoyed for their twists and turns rather than their resolution.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The puzzles here are of the sort intended to be enjoyed for their twists and turns rather than their resolution.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

In essence, the story of the indomitable nature of the human spirit, the resilience and commitment of a few to help the many and a triumph of hope in adversity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

In essence, the story of the indomitable nature of the human spirit, the resilience and commitment of a few to help the many and a triumph of hope in adversity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Angels Crest has a number of peripheral problems, mostly to do with the sheer number of under-developed characters and subplots.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Angels Crest has a number of peripheral problems, mostly to do with the sheer number of under-developed characters and subplots.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is an intimate portrait - and much the better for it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is an intimate portrait - and much the better for it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This gritty realism is enhanced by the manner in which the film is shot, using not-so-steady camerawork.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This gritty realism is enhanced by the manner in which the film is shot, using not-so-steady camerawork.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A mind-bender of a film that loops its characters' past into their present or, if you choose to read it another way, loops their future into their present.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A mind-bender of a film that loops its characters' past into their present or, if you choose to read it another way, loops their future into their present.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The heart of Gitai's film is in the right place but the script runs off at the mouth.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The heart of Gitai's film is in the right place but the script runs off at the mouth.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Dabis is certainly to be praised for her lightness of touch, filling many of her scenes with a humour often lacking from films addressing issues of migration.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Dabis is certainly to be praised for her lightness of touch, filling many of her scenes with a humour often lacking from films addressing issues of migration.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Farjado's style is immersive, capturing both the sense of chaos in the district but also finding time to linger on fine details, giving a vibrant sense of place.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Farjado's style is immersive, capturing both the sense of chaos in the district but also finding time to linger on fine details, giving a vibrant sense of place.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Director Sophie Deraspe, probably best-known for 2009 drama Vital Signs, brings a strong sense of the cinematic to what, on paper, looks like a poor candidate for it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Director Sophie Deraspe, probably best-known for 2009 drama Vital Signs, brings a strong sense of the cinematic to what, on paper, looks like a poor candidate for it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fable and fact make an uneasy mix.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Fable and fact make an uneasy mix.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

McGregor's character paradoxically gets too much and not enough. Swede feels clogged with sentiment for his daughter, with little room for other emotions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

McGregor's character paradoxically gets too much and not enough. Swede feels clogged with sentiment for his daughter, with little room for other emotions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The director makes judicious use of old family photos and voice-over along with some strong nature photography that anchors the documentary in terms of place.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The director makes judicious use of old family photos and voice-over along with some strong nature photography that anchors the documentary in terms of place.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although initially threatening to take pretentiousness too far, Amama gathers power through the runtime.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although initially threatening to take pretentiousness too far, Amama gathers power through the runtime.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Tomanová, making her debut here, shows rather than tells their story, leaving us to interpret.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Tomanová, making her debut here, shows rather than tells their story, leaving us to interpret.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Nölle's greatest achievement is to keep the magic realist realm firmly anchored to the real so that reality feels touched by imagination rather than smothered by it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Nölle's greatest achievement is to keep the magic realist realm firmly anchored to the real so that reality feels touched by imagination rather than smothered by it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's no shying away from the fact that the New Age, twig-built mumbo-jumbo peddled here is no match from the otherworldly ancient belief systems of Peru that flow through Llosa's earlier works.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's no shying away from the fact that the New Age, twig-built mumbo-jumbo peddled here is no match from the otherworldly ancient belief systems of Peru that flow through Llosa's earlier works.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There is an air of worthiness hanging over this film, like a fug.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There is an air of worthiness hanging over this film, like a fug.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

All fur coat and no knickers.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

All fur coat and no knickers.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Like the advent calendar Rene gives to Michi to count down the days to Christmas, the film holds a surprising number of sweet treats, despite its austere veneer.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Like the advent calendar Rene gives to Michi to count down the days to Christmas, the film holds a surprising number of sweet treats, despite its austere veneer.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 -

Truly defies classification.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Truly defies classification.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This movie scores well on the quirky British movie scale.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This movie scores well on the quirky British movie scale.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A melancholy and, in places, excruciatingly slow take on the tale with virtually all the comedic moments pared away.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A melancholy and, in places, excruciatingly slow take on the tale with virtually all the comedic moments pared away.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A celebration of peaceful resistance and of those who stand behind many of the world's figureheads, helping them to achieve their aims.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A celebration of peaceful resistance and of those who stand behind many of the world's figureheads, helping them to achieve their aims.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ponderings on the effects of war become distinctly ponderous.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Ponderings on the effects of war become distinctly ponderous.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Those who like the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr will find similar humanist themes in Sokurov's films, although he has a much greater tendency to self-indulgence than those two auteurs.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Those who like the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr will find similar humanist themes in Sokurov's films, although he has a much greater tendency to self-indulgence than those two auteurs.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the odds are, no doubt, stacked against her, Berneri gives Alanis a real sense of agency.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the odds are, no doubt, stacked against her, Berneri gives Alanis a real sense of agency.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Presumably the fictionalising of the story offered González-Rubio more freedom in terms of shaping the narrative, but he has such a gentle touch that you would be hard-pushed to spot the artifice.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Presumably the fictionalising of the story offered González-Rubio more freedom in terms of shaping the narrative, but he has such a gentle touch that you would be hard-pushed to spot the artifice.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As the plots begin to coalesce everything becomes far too overwrought.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As the plots begin to coalesce everything becomes far too overwrought.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As gruelling as it is compelling.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As gruelling as it is compelling.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There is some truth in advertising - Age Of The Dragons does drag on for an age.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There is some truth in advertising - Age Of The Dragons does drag on for an age.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

~ 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 you like epic romances such as Dr Zhivago, this provides a decent story of will they/won't they love, although its all rather U certificate.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If you like epic romances such as Dr Zhivago, this provides a decent story of will they/won't they love, although its all rather U certificate.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's not an inch of fat on this slickly edited and tightly plotted Belgian crime thriller

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's not an inch of fat on this slickly edited and tightly plotted Belgian crime thriller

~ Amber Wilkinson -

They say it's the hope that kills you and Dvortsevoy lets enough light in to emphasise her plight.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

They say it's the hope that kills you and Dvortsevoy lets enough light in to emphasise her plight.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Garcia – reminiscent of a young Jack Lemmon - puts the hang into dog perfectly and the script will bite your arm off.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Garcia – reminiscent of a young Jack Lemmon - puts the hang into dog perfectly and the script will bite your arm off.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Once they hit the road, the script goes away with the pixies.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Once they hit the road, the script goes away with the pixies.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The audience should be warned that the film boasts a cliche level that could also be hazardous to health.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The audience should be warned that the film boasts a cliche level that could also be hazardous to health.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A fascinating, if skewed, account of creativity gone wild.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A fascinating, if skewed, account of creativity gone wild.

~ Amber Wilkinson -