The Levelling (2016)
★★★★☆
The Levelling is an original, haunting British first feature from writer and director Hope Dickson Leach.
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.
The Cannes Film Festival 2017
★★★★☆
The world’s biggest film event, the Cannes Film Festival, takes place this year from 17-28 May 2017, its 70th anniversary. The Official Selection contains over 80 films (and some TV programmes), of which 12 are directed by women. Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is the President of the Jury.
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)
★★★★☆