Sieranevada (2016)
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
As a scriptwriter turns shepherd, Alain Guiraudie’s Staying Vertical reveals an existence of fear and lusting in the Midi-Pyrénées.
★★★☆☆
A Hollywood companion piece to Marguerite, Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins finds a heart of gold beneath the tarnished voice.
★★★★☆
Depicting the grim realities of life at the frontline of an extermination camp, Son of Saul is an extraordinary debut from director László Nemes.
★★★★☆
With an extraordinary central performance, Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan offers a searing portrait of Europe as seen by the dispossessed.
★★★☆☆
Comically skewering creative pretensions, Jamie Adams’ Welsh romp Black Mountain Poets is sharply observed and very funny.
★★★★☆
A gentle portrait of the British ski jumper determined to win, Dexter Fletcher’s Eddie The Eagle is a funny, feel-good and well-made British film.
★★★☆☆
Charting the undercurrents of a remote island, Scott Graham’s tale of return Iona is a dazzling portrait of the wilds of the Scottish isle.
★★★★☆
A delicious update of the Emperor’s new clothes parable, Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite exposes the well-meaning flattery of the have-nots.
★★★☆☆
A visually brilliant adaptation of JG Ballard’s satire, Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump’s High-Rise seems strangely dated with its Seventies’ dystopian future.
★★★☆☆
A chilling psychodrama in primary colours of maternal and social anxiety, David Farr’s The Ones Below leaves a generic horror plot holding the baby.
★★★☆☆
As a couple struggle to come to terms with their unborn baby’s condition, Anne Zohra Berrached’s 24 Weeks uncovers a grey world of female courage.
★★★★☆
A black and white correspondence between an army medic and his new wife, Ivo Ferreira’s Letters Of War is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of war.
★★★☆☆
With fake marriage markets and illegal babies, Sophia Luvara’s intimate documentary Inside The Chinese Closet reveals gay men and women shouldering their parents’ burden.