Sundance London: Beatriz at Dinner (2017)
★★★★☆
Trump-era America is under an unforgiving spotlight in Miguel Arteta’s visually beautiful dark comedy Beatriz at Dinner, starring a luminous Salma Hayek.
Reviews
Michelangelo: Love and Death (2017)
★★★★☆
To coincide with a major show at London’s National Gallery, Michelangelo: Love and Death, the latest offering from Exhibition on Screen, retraces the genius of the Florentine master.
Sundance London: The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
★★★★☆
The Incredible Jessica James is director Jim Strouse’s irresistible rom-com vehicle for rising star Jessica Williams.
Sundance London: The Big Sick (2017)
★★★★☆
The Big Sick by director and comedian Michael Showalter is a culture-clash rom-com set in Chicago that’s genuinely moving and funny – what’s more, it’s based on a real-life love story.
Cannes review: Before We Vanish (2017)
★★★★☆
Before We Vanish by Kiyoshi Kurosaw is a genre-bending Japanese bodysnatchers movie that provokes an alien apocalypse on Earth.
Cannes review: The Desert Bride (2017)
★★★★☆
The Desert Bride (La Novia del Desierto) is a charming Argentinian road move about a late-life blossoming.
Cannes review: Bright Sunshine In (2017)
★★★★☆
Juliette Binoche stars in a rom-com departure for Claire Denis in Bright Sunshine In (Un Beau Soleil Interior).
Cannes review: A Man of Integrity (Lerd) (2017)
★★★★☆
Mohammad Rasoulof laments institutional corruption in Iranian society in A Man of Integrity (Lerd).
The Other Side of Hope (2016)
★★★★☆
Aki Kaurismäki is in top droll, compassionate form dealing with the refugee crisis in The Other Side of Hope.
Spaceship (2016)
★★★★☆
Spaceship is a dreamlike, semi-psychedelic, free-flowing story of teenage cyber goths and alien abductions.
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.