The filmmakers also draw on the natural environment of the sea and the wind in order to create a sense of movement that contrasts with the women's stillness.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The filmmakers also draw on the natural environment of the sea and the wind in order to create a sense of movement that contrasts with the women's stillness.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although there’s plenty of drama, especially considering the length, Belarmino and Rithy wisely also find time to develop the characters so that the focus falls on Silig’s vibrant emotional core

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although there’s plenty of drama, especially considering the length, Belarmino and Rithy wisely also find time to develop the characters so that the focus falls on Silig’s vibrant emotional core

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Loznitsa’s approach is quietly observational, capturing the quotidian goings on as they continue beneath the shadow of war.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Loznitsa’s approach is quietly observational, capturing the quotidian goings on as they continue beneath the shadow of war.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Beyond the dark loneliness of grief, is the soft light of a shared mourning.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Beyond the dark loneliness of grief, is the soft light of a shared mourning.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The plotting takes precedence over characterisation, which saps the film of tension, while its melodramatic developments feel out of keeping with the cooler noir vibe.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The plotting takes precedence over characterisation, which saps the film of tension, while its melodramatic developments feel out of keeping with the cooler noir vibe.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 -

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 -

Through it all is a common thread of authenticity and of women opening up about things and feelings they are rarely asked to scrutinise.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Through it all is a common thread of authenticity and of women opening up about things and feelings they are rarely asked to scrutinise.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Slijepcevic is a documentarian by trade and he maintains a strong sense of realism.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Slijepcevic is a documentarian by trade and he maintains a strong sense of realism.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A film that probes at ideas of masculinity and the fluidity that the smoke sauna environment might bring to that, the emphasis is on the physical expression of feelings rather than them being vocalised.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A film that probes at ideas of masculinity and the fluidity that the smoke sauna environment might bring to that, the emphasis is on the physical expression of feelings rather than them being vocalised.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s fitting for a film set in the “City of Dreams” and that is concerned with life’s illusions and how we navigate them as it is about the here and now.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s fitting for a film set in the “City of Dreams” and that is concerned with life’s illusions and how we navigate them as it is about the here and now.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Park captures the web of life tensions that don’t just stop when we’re teenagers, particularly the pull of the new versus the attraction of nostalgia.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Park captures the web of life tensions that don’t just stop when we’re teenagers, particularly the pull of the new versus the attraction of nostalgia.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Like fellow Frenchman Quentin Dupieux, Meurisse has an enjoyably devil-may-care attitude for the most part although he feels almost like Dupieux’s evil twin as he begins to stray, first, into Farrelly Brothers’ territory, and then something altogether more violent.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Like fellow Frenchman Quentin Dupieux, Meurisse has an enjoyably devil-may-care attitude for the most part although he feels almost like Dupieux’s evil twin as he begins to stray, first, into Farrelly Brothers’ territory, and then something altogether more violent.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Less concerned with scrutinising the playground than the dangerous games adults can play with one another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Less concerned with scrutinising the playground than the dangerous games adults can play with one another.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The action is pacy but that doesn’t mean Courvoisier skims the surface.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The action is pacy but that doesn’t mean Courvoisier skims the surface.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Elliot time and again marries darkness and light, sweetness with sour to create a satisfying emotional umami.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Hairabedian patiently captures all this with an intimacy that stems from trust, with Vrej viewing her and the camera increasingly as a confidante as time passes.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Hairabedian patiently captures all this with an intimacy that stems from trust, with Vrej viewing her and the camera increasingly as a confidante as time passes.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

De Reyes film celebrates family bonds, while also noting how those ties can bind youngsters’ ambitions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

De Reyes film celebrates family bonds, while also noting how those ties can bind youngsters’ ambitions.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Powerful and thorough.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Powerful and thorough.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the women’s relationship with one another may be strong as houses, Azimi opens a window to the precarity of the industry.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the women’s relationship with one another may be strong as houses, Azimi opens a window to the precarity of the industry.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Even if you might get a hint of the film’s final destination before it arrives, the way Bustillo achieves his aims will leave you with a warm glow.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Even if you might get a hint of the film’s final destination before it arrives, the way Bustillo achieves his aims will leave you with a warm glow.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cardoso’s film is experimental in nature and the fragmented style won’t be for everyone.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cardoso’s film is experimental in nature and the fragmented style won’t be for everyone.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Chevrollier captures the amplified mood of teenagehood.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Chevrollier captures the amplified mood of teenagehood.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As the surveys continue, different ideas of happiness emerge along with moments of shared humanity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

As the surveys continue, different ideas of happiness emerge along with moments of shared humanity.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The first episode is likely to lead to you binge-watching all three.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The first episode is likely to lead to you binge-watching all three.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Panigrahi is pitch perfect in her debut role.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Panigrahi is pitch perfect in her debut role.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

No matter that the plot development is deliberately murky, it’s the mood that catches you in its tides.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

No matter that the plot development is deliberately murky, it’s the mood that catches you in its tides.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's ambition here that suggests this is the fragment of a feature that Nakhane has in mind.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

There's ambition here that suggests this is the fragment of a feature that Nakhane has in mind.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Diaz has drawn partially on his relationship with his own mother and the specificity of place and time also help the tensions to feel authentic.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Diaz has drawn partially on his relationship with his own mother and the specificity of place and time also help the tensions to feel authentic.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Lowe’s approach is an exhiliarating, if sometimes a bit scrappy, mix of high and low brow.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Lowe’s approach is an exhiliarating, if sometimes a bit scrappy, mix of high and low brow.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although the emotions in this story are raw, she approaches them with sensitivity and a strong respect for people who are trying hard even if they don’t always succeed.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although the emotions in this story are raw, she approaches them with sensitivity and a strong respect for people who are trying hard even if they don’t always succeed.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If it wasn’t for the excellent, immersive sound design from Chu-Li Shewring, you could easily believe you were watching a piece of silent movie found footage.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

If it wasn’t for the excellent, immersive sound design from Chu-Li Shewring, you could easily believe you were watching a piece of silent movie found footage.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Small children reciting old rhymes is surely one of the oldest tricks in the book for generating atmosphere but Ataka51 employ it with the smoothness of a tried and tested magician.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Small children reciting old rhymes is surely one of the oldest tricks in the book for generating atmosphere but Ataka51 employ it with the smoothness of a tried and tested magician.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Visually, Guan never puts a frame wrong, whether he’s setting up a physical comedy set-piece, idly incorporating a solar eclipse or letting the dogs steal a scene.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Visually, Guan never puts a frame wrong, whether he’s setting up a physical comedy set-piece, idly incorporating a solar eclipse or letting the dogs steal a scene.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While many other films feel as though they are really staking out a deliberate political stance against the Iranian regime or coming at it from deep within metaphor, My Favourite Cake is casually, but almost constantly, rebellious in small ways.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While many other films feel as though they are really staking out a deliberate political stance against the Iranian regime or coming at it from deep within metaphor, My Favourite Cake is casually, but almost constantly, rebellious in small ways.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the end result doesn’t fully deliver on its excellent premise, being a little too light of touch, heavy on montage and spare in its scripting, this is nevertheless one of the more accessible cinematic takes on existentialism.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

While the end result doesn’t fully deliver on its excellent premise, being a little too light of touch, heavy on montage and spare in its scripting, this is nevertheless one of the more accessible cinematic takes on existentialism.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The close proximity camerawork employed by Sheldon Chau, coupled with the fact that the frame is often reduced by foreground intrusions, lend Pooja, Sir an intense and often claustrophobic feel.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The close proximity camerawork employed by Sheldon Chau, coupled with the fact that the frame is often reduced by foreground intrusions, lend Pooja, Sir an intense and often claustrophobic feel.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cassigoli and Kauffman capture the muscle of family life as it bends, stretches and, from time to time strains, to accommodate all of its members.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Cassigoli and Kauffman capture the muscle of family life as it bends, stretches and, from time to time strains, to accommodate all of its members.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Allowing each woman’s testimony to play out uninterrupted means they gather weight, not just as individual stories but as a meditation on the nature of memory and our desire to preserve it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Allowing each woman’s testimony to play out uninterrupted means they gather weight, not just as individual stories but as a meditation on the nature of memory and our desire to preserve it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

What emerges is a carefully calibrated, bleak but elegiac picture of an environment where people are being forced to perform rather than allowed to live on their own terms.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

What emerges is a carefully calibrated, bleak but elegiac picture of an environment where people are being forced to perform rather than allowed to live on their own terms.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A film that is built upon patience and which takes a philosophical rather than judgmental stance.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

A film that is built upon patience and which takes a philosophical rather than judgmental stance.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although this is set in the Nineties, the gritty feel makes it redolent of Seventies-set thrillers, a mood reinforced by the way that du Welz embeds us in Paul’s life from the start.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Although this is set in the Nineties, the gritty feel makes it redolent of Seventies-set thrillers, a mood reinforced by the way that du Welz embeds us in Paul’s life from the start.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 -

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 -

With elements that are sadly all too recognisable, the familiar story is elevated by the strength of the performances and the decent pace and no-nonsense approach adopted by Bollaín.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

With elements that are sadly all too recognisable, the familiar story is elevated by the strength of the performances and the decent pace and no-nonsense approach adopted by Bollaín.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

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 -

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 -

This is a tactile retelling, inviting us to imagine the sticky feel of Coca-Cola on hot skin in the sun or the heat of a sheepskin coat and the love that goes with it being passed from mum to daughter ahead of a trip abroad.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

This is a tactile retelling, inviting us to imagine the sticky feel of Coca-Cola on hot skin in the sun or the heat of a sheepskin coat and the love that goes with it being passed from mum to daughter ahead of a trip abroad.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Coppola has style, but sometimes employs too much of it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

Coppola has style, but sometimes employs too much of it.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The animation is just part of the film’s major selling point, which is unpredictability.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The animation is just part of the film’s major selling point, which is unpredictability.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The documentarians invested several years in the project and it pays off in this impressively balanced assessment of a conflict over land that has been exacerbated by climate change and drought.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The documentarians invested several years in the project and it pays off in this impressively balanced assessment of a conflict over land that has been exacerbated by climate change and drought.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The writer/director also zeroes in on the importance of physical contact for Ruth - something concrete in a world that is now full of things that she can’t always grasp.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

The writer/director also zeroes in on the importance of physical contact for Ruth - something concrete in a world that is now full of things that she can’t always grasp.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s funny to begin with, watching Pansy rant with no filter, sharing her negative thoughts on everything from baby clothes with pockets to sofa salespeople, but gradually we realise just how close to the edge she is.

~ Amber Wilkinson -

It’s funny to begin with, watching Pansy rant with no filter, sharing her negative thoughts on everything from baby clothes with pockets to sofa salespeople, but gradually we realise just how close to the edge she is.

~ Amber Wilkinson -