What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)
★★★★☆
Charting the rise, fall and rise again of Nina Simone, Liz Garbus’s What Happened, Miss Simone? creates an icon of the High Priestess of Soul.
Mr Holmes (2015)
★★★☆☆
A final chapter for fiction’s greatest detective, Bill Condon’s Mr Holmes sees a bright spark battling against the darkness.
Les Combattants (2014)
★★☆☆☆
Apart from an engaging performance from Adèle Haenel, Les Combattants is a listless love story that never quite gets its feet off the ground.
Second Coming (2014)
★★★☆☆
An intriguing film debut for playwright Debbie Tucker Green, Second Coming is a thought-provoking allegory of an unexplained pregnancy in contemporary London.
Queen and Country (2014)
★★★☆☆
A sequel to his Oscar-nominated Hope And Glory, John Boorman’s semi-autobiographic Queen and Country finds all fair in love and war.
Listen Up Philip (2014)
★★★☆☆
Conceived by a writer/director influenced by Philip Roth, Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip is a darkly comic satire of the American literary world.
Results (2015)
★★★☆☆
A wry comedy on the new-age mantras of fitness training in Austin Texas, Andrew Bujalski’s Results is a sentimental education of love and dreams.
The Goob (2014)
★★★☆☆
Written and directed by Guy Myhill, The Goob is a memorable British coming of age drama with an unusually strong sense of place in its rural setting.
Timbuktu (2014)
★★★☆☆
A magical realist portrait of Mali under occupation, Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu makes for a surprisingly entertaining and satirical riddle of the sands.
The Impressionists and the Man Who Made Them (2015)
★★★★☆
The Impressionists and the Man Who Made Them gives art lovers the chance to learn about the stories behind some of the world’s greatest exhibitions.
Spring (2014)
★★★★☆
An intoxicating alchemy of Shelly and Linklater, Spring is a romantic cross-genre creature feature that is chilling, bold and beautiful.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
★★★☆☆
An Iranian skateboarding vampire movie, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a quirky, stylish addition to the genre.
The New Girlfriend / Une Nouvelle Amie (2014)
★★★☆☆
With delicious performances from Anaïs Demoustier and Romain Duris, François Ozon’s cross-dressing caper The New Girlfriend sizzles like drops on burning rocks.
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
★★★★☆
The meaning of life, cinema and everything, Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria is a powerful, thought-provoking two-hander of subtle performance from Stewart and Binoche.