Miss Sloane (2016)
★★★★☆
Jessica Chastain powers through John Madden’s political lobbyist thriller Miss Sloane.
Country
Frantz (2016)
★★★★☆
François Ozon’s Frantz takes you on a haunting journey into the unexpected ramifications of grief, forgiveness and identity in the European aftermath of World War I.
Harmonium (2016)
★★★★★☆
In Koji Fukada’s Harmonium, the fragile harmony of a Japanese family is shattered by the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
The Journey (2016)
★★★★☆
Director Nick Hamm has Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness in the back of his car in The Journey, imagining a spellbinding road trip that might have triggered their bromance in government in Northern Ireland.
Heal the Living (2016)
★★★★☆
As a heart intended for transplant passes from teenage accident victim to middle-aged-mother recipient, humanity, compassion and medical professionalism triumph in Katell Quillévéré’s moving Heal the Living.
The Pyramid Texts (2015)
★★★★☆
An old boxer returns to the ring one last time to record a video message to his son. It’s an award-winning,moving monologue from veteran star James Cosmo in the Shammasian Brothers’ The Pyramid Texts.
Their Finest (2016)
★★★★☆
Danish director Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest is a very British romcom.
Clash (2016)
★★★☆☆
In Clash director Mohamed Diab creates an intensely moving microcosm of Egyptian society in the confined space of a police van as riots erupt outside.
The Handmaiden (2016)
★★★★☆
A sumptuous new adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden is a dazzling tale of duplicity and deception.
The Sense of an Ending (2017)
★★★★☆
The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra’s adaption of Julian Barness’ The Sense of an Ending is a sensitive, unflinching reflection the deceptiveness of emotions.
Letters from Baghdad (2016)
★★★★☆
Clever use of previously unseen archive footage and original letters brings to life the extraordinary story of a forgotten female Lawrence of Arabia in fascinating biopic Letters from Baghdad.
A Quiet Passion (2016)
★★★★☆
A portrait of the poet as a young revolutionary, Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion sees a fiercely independent woman martyred.
City of Tiny Lights (2016)
★★★☆☆
Multicultural London gets the film noir treatment from director Pete Travis in Patrick Neate’s City of Tiny Lights.
Neruda (2016)
★★★★☆