Aquarius (2016)
★★★★☆
Aquarius is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s unhurried portrait of a fascinatingly complicated woman, meticulously characterised in a career-best performance by Sonia Braga.
Americas
The Eyes of My Mother (2016)
★★★★☆
Nicolas Pesce’s black and white feature debut The Eyes of My Mother is a stylishly shot American Gothic horror with nightmarish scenes that stay imprinted on the mind’s eye.
Get Out (2017)
★★★★☆
Get Out is actor and comedian Jordan Peele’s original horror-satire take on white liberal racism in the US.
Personal Shopper (2016)
★★★★☆
A charismatic, nuanced turn by Kristen Stewart holds together an improbable yet strangely compelling mixture of fashion and supernatural horror in Oliver Assayas’s Personal Shopper.
Uncertain (2015)
– ★★★★☆
Subtle, beautifully shot documentary about the residents of a small town in the middle of nowhere, so remote that it barely exists.
Certain Women (2016)
★★★★☆
Kelly Reichardt takes an appraising look at four women’s lives in Certain Women‘s intriguingly overlapping stories.
Bitter Harvest (2017)
★★☆☆☆
In Bitter Harvest George Mendeluk explores a tragic period in Ukraine’s history and makes it the background to a love story.
Moonlight (2016)
★★★★☆
Moonlight is a very different gay coming-of-age movie by Barry Jenkins and it will break your heart.
Hidden Figures (2016)
★★★★☆
In Hidden Figures Theodore Melfi reveals the hitherto hidden story of the African American women maths geniuses who got America to the moon.
Multiple Maniacs (1970, 2016)
★★★★☆
Now released in cinemas for the first time since it was made in 1970, John Waters shocks and awes with Divine in Multiple Maniacs – the clue’s in the title.
Joaquim (2017)
★★★☆☆
A pastoral account of the politicisation of Brazilian hero Tiradentes, Marcelo Gomes’ Joaquim makes up for its slow pace with delicious images.
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.
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.