Aquarius (2016)
★★★★☆
Aquarius is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s unhurried portrait of a fascinatingly complicated woman, meticulously characterised in a career-best performance by Sonia Braga.
Cannes
Personal Shopper (2016)
★★★★☆
A charismatic, nuanced turn by Kristen Stewart holds together an improbable yet strangely compelling mixture of fashion and supernatural horror in Oliver Assayas’s Personal Shopper.
The Salesman (2016)
★★★★☆
Asghar Farhardi’s The Salesman illuminates universal moral arguments about masculinity by presenting them in parallel with a production of Arthur Miller’s stage play in contemporary Iran.
The Student (2016)
★★★★☆
Bringing Christian fundamentalism to the playground, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student satirises the conservatism of Russian institutions.
It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
★★★★☆
Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End Of The World is an intense, melodramatic family drama around the lunch table.
Sweet Dreams (2016)
★★★☆☆
Marco Bellochio’s Sweet Dreams is a journalist’s belated emotional coming of age as he investigates the death of his mother.
The Unknown Girl (2016)
★★★★☆
The Dardennes brothers’ The Unknown Girl is a bleak examination of guilt and personal responsibility.
Cannes Review: Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★★☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
DOG EAT DOG (2016)
Flashily shot, ultra-violent and at times absurd. Paul Schrader’s fast-moving failed heist movie stars Nicholas Cage and Willem Dafoe. Dog Eat Dog CAUTION: Here…
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BFI LFF 2016: Staying Vertical (2016)
★★★☆☆
As a scriptwriter turns shepherd, Alain Guiraudie’s Rester Vertical reveals an existence of fear and lusting in the Midi-Pyrénées.
BFI LFF 2016: Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★☆☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
BFI LFF 2016: 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.
BFI LFF 2016: The Student (2016)
★★★★☆
Bringing Christian fundamentalism to the playground, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student satirises the conservatism of Russian institutions.
BFI LFF 2016: MA’ ROSA (2016)
★★★★☆
Director Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa is a gritty evocation of poverty and survival in the backstreets of Manila starring Cannes Best Actress Jaclyn Jose.