Juniper (2021)
★★★☆☆
Screen legend Charlotte Rampling is magnificently ferocious as a reluctant invalid, estranged bad grandma Ruth in Matthew J Saville’s debut Juniper.
Country
In From The Side (2022)
★★★☆☆
Sparks fly when Mark meets Warren at the rugby club and soon the pair are embroiled in an illicit affair facing consequences on and off pitch in director Matt Carter’s In From The Side.
It Is In Us All (2022)
★★★★☆
It Is In Us All is a strange and mystical film debut by Antonia Campbell-Hughes. held together by Cosmo Jarvis’s extraordinarily visceral central performance, set against awe-inspiring, massive Irish landscapes.
The Forgiven (2021)
★★★☆☆
The unexpected consequences and repercussions of a terrible accident in the Moroccan desert are explored in The Forgiven, John Michael McDonagh’s adaptation of Lawrence Osbourne’s 2012 novel, starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain.
Black Mail
★★☆☆☆
Black Mail, written and directed by Obi Emelonye, is a slick, London-set plot-driven thriller with an appealing central character played by Nigerian star OC Ukeje.
Hit the Road (Jaddeh Khaki) (2021)
★★★★★
In Hit the Road by Panah Panahi an Iranian family say so much and yet leave so much unsaid.
Faya Dayi (2021)
★★★★☆
Faya Dayi, a poetic documentary by director, producer and cinematographer Jessica Beshir, paints a tapestry of haunting recollections and stories about khat that create a vivid picture of the socio-political landscape in Ethiopia.
Everything Went Fine (2021) (Tout s’est bien passé)
★★★★☆
Everything Went Fine by François Ozon is a tender, surprisingly darkly humorous look at euthanasia and family relationships.
Listen (2020)
★★★☆☆
Listen, Ana Rocha de Sousa’s powerful first film about forced adoption, is heart-rending and almost unbearable to watch at times.
Cannes Film Festival 2022 Day 1: Opening Film Coupez! (Final Cut) 2022
★★★★☆
Cannes Film Festival Day 1: Opening Film Coupez! (Final Cut) 2022 – the Opening Film Out of Competition is Final Cut directed by Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist).
Atabai (2020)
★★★☆☆
Atabai by Iranian director Niki Karimi makes the most of stupendous landscapes and reveals its stories gradually.
Casablanca Beats (2021)
★★★★☆
In Casablanca Beats, director Nabil Ayouch blurs the line between fiction and documentary in the exhilarating story of a charismatic group of young would-be rappers in Morocco.
Drive My Car (2021)
★★★★★
strong>Drive My Car, directed with a delicate, luminous touch by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, deservedly won the Oscar this week for Best Film International Feature, the first Japanese film ever to do so.
The Worst Person in the World (2021)
★★★★☆
The Worst Person in the World is an enchanting but dark Nordic coming-of-age-rom-com by Joachim Trier, starring a luminous, award-winning central performance by Renate Reinsve.