Colette (2018)
★★★★☆
As French cultural icon Colette, Keira Knightley charms and shocks in 19th century Paris in Wash Westmoreland’s intriguing biopic.
Americas
Stan & Ollie (2018)
★★★★☆
Steve Coogan and John C Reilly excel as Stan & Ollie in Jon S Baird’s bittersweet biopic of the end of a comedy duo – and an era.
The Front Runner (2018)
★★★★☆
The Front Runner, Jason Reitman’s absorbing dredge into presidential favourite Gary Hart’s downfall is a timely take on US politics and morality then and now.
The Favourite (2018)
★★★★☆
The Favourite is Yorgos Lanthimos’s blackly comic behind-the-scenes romp though a historical period that was strange enough to start with..
Lizzie (2018)
★★★★☆
Chloe Sevigny strikes her axe blows against an oppressive patriarchy in Craig William Macneill’s Lizzie – with superb support from Kristen Stewart.
The Old Man & The Gun (2018)
★★★★☆
The Old Man & The Gun, directed by David (A Ghost Story) Lowery and starring Robert Redford, is a lovely little pared-down film, based on a true story.
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
★★★☆☆
Sorry to Bother You, the stunningly accomplished debut feature film by rapper Boots Riley, is a satirical morality tale about workplace culture, black exploitation and rampant capitalism.
Disobedience (2017)
★★★★☆
Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience is an unorthodox love story set within the constraints of an Orthodox Jewish community.
Roma (2018)
★★★★★
Roma is Alfonso Cuarón’s beautiful and compelling homage to his family’s maid, Libo, when he was growing up in Mexico in the 1970s.
Assassination Nation (2018)
★★★★☆
Assassination Nation, written and directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Sam Levinson (Another Happy Day), is a bitingly funny, black satire on America today that’s enjoyably ultra-violent.
Wildlife (2018)
★★★★☆
Wildlife, Paul Dano’s directorial debut, is a scorching coming-of-age drama starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, with a compelling debut from Ed Oxenbould.
Widows (2018)
★★★★☆
Steve McQueen’s Widows is a hugely entertaining, violent, female-centred heist thriller that starts with a bang and never lets up thanks to co-screenwriter Gone Girl’s Gillian Lynn’s reimagination of Lynda LaPlante’s 1983 TV series.
BFI LFF Review: Birds of Passage (2018)
★★★★☆
In Birds of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, the violent birth of Colombia’s drug trade destroys a unique traditional culture.
BFI LFF Review: Monrovia, Indiana (2018)
★★★★☆
In Monrovia, Indiana, veteran documentarian Frederick Wiseman, compassionately chronicles life in small-town America.