Discreet (2017)
★★★☆☆
Turning his gaze on vibrational rhythms and the Texan underworld, Travis Mathew’s Discreet is a broken portrait of a broken man.
A Fantastic Woman (2017)
★★★☆☆
Facing the humiliation of social exclusion after losing a loved one, Sebastián Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman is a heartbreaking portrait of loneliness.
Viceroy’s House
★★★☆☆
An upstairs-downstairs portrait of Indian independence and Partition, Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House is a history lesson with a big heart.
Spoor (2017)
★★☆☆☆
A clarion call against the mistreatment of animals and the hunting confederacy of men, against Agnieszka Holland’s Spoor loses its way in the snowy mountains.
Es war einmal in Deutschland… (2017)
★★★☆☆
With returning Jews looking to get rich and make it to the US, Sam Garbarski’s Es war einmal in Deutschland… unpicks the postwar search for truth with bitter glee.
Wild Mouse (2017)
★★★☆☆
A delicious comedy exposing the tit-for-tat that sees violence perpetuate, Josef Hader’s Wild Mouse is an uproarious plea for emotional honesty.
Final Portrait (2017)
★★★☆☆
Documenting the creative process of Alberto Giacometti painting his model, Stanley Tucci’s Final Portrait offers a tantalising glimpse inside the artist’s studio.
On Body And Soul (2017)
★★★☆☆
Intersplicing oneiric images of deer in the snow with slaughterhouse romance, Ildikó Enyedi’s On Body And Soul is an unexpectedly romantic vision of star-cross’d loving.
Django (2017)
★★★☆☆
Giving a face to the plight of Roma and Sinti during the Final Solution, Etienne Comar’s Django makes a strange hero of the King of Swing.
Petting Zoo (2015)
★★★☆☆
A portrait of the artist as a pregnant teen, Micah Magee’s Petting Zoo is a sensitive study of a girl growing up and finding her way in Texas.
BFI LFF 2016: 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.
The Commune (2016)
★★★★☆
Inspired by his experience growing up in a commune, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune loses emotional power, buried under a multitude of individual stories.
Festival Review: Cemetery Of Splendour (2015)
★★★☆☆
A visually haunting meeting of souls in a country hospital, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery Of Splendour puts a spectacle of lights over story.
Departure (2015)
★★★☆☆
A delicate debut of sexual exploration and lifelong frustration, Andrew Steggall’s poetic Departure comes undone with its exquisite manners.