Troll Hunter / Trolljegeren (2010)
★★★☆☆
With its folkloric hellions and scatological asides, André Øvredal’s mockumentary of Northern frights, Troll Hunter, can’t quite decide if it’s horror or comedy.
★★★☆☆
With its folkloric hellions and scatological asides, André Øvredal’s mockumentary of Northern frights, Troll Hunter, can’t quite decide if it’s horror or comedy.
★★★☆☆
Mona Achache’s adaptation of The Hedgehog is a touching, tragic tale of unlikely friendships and a contemporary take on the malaise of the Parisian bourgeoisie.
★★★★☆
Neither really a return to form for Almodóvar nor a Banderas reinvention, The Skin I Live In is good clean, honest fun. Like Frankenstein and no monster.
★★★★☆
Playing the waiting game, Noer and Lindholm’s R: Hit First, Hit Hardest reveals the bitter, cinematic truth about life behind bars in a Danish prison.
★★★★☆
Split between Kenya and Denmark, Susanne Bier’s In A Better World has war and peace in its sights as its playground bullies test the pacifists to the limit.
★★★☆☆
With Kristin Scott Thomas charmingly exposing family secrets, Sarah’s Key combines the horror of the Vel d’Hiv round-up with modern traumas and untold stories.
★★★☆☆
With a happiness drive worthy of Amélie, Pierre Salvadori’s Beautiful Lies transcends its farcical plotting and ropey characterisation to deliver a masterclass on filmmaking.
★★☆☆☆
A fly-on-the-wall documentary spotlighting the beautiful game’s men in black, The Referees looks at soccer from a different angle. More obtuse than acute.
★★★★☆
The first and final part in Semih Kaplanoglu’s Yusuf trilogy, Honey is a tender portrait of childhood.
★★★☆☆
Revisiting the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier tones down the sexy intrigue in favour of female self-determination.
★★★☆☆
JLG is back to his impenetrable best with Film Socialisme, a cascading multi-lingual mosaic of ideas and comment presented as a symphony in three reassuringly dense movements.
★★☆☆☆
With its noble African spirit and picturesque, violent savannah, Justin Chadwick’s The First Grader may be historical tourism, but it’s cine-colonialism with a good heart.
★★★★★
A return to form for François Ozon, Potiche is a melting pot of satire, farce and high camp with a sprinkling of stardust.
★★★★☆
Living la dolce vita in Calabria, Michelangelo Frammartino’s documentary fiction Le Quattro Volte is a naturalist’s reduction of man to matter.