Mustang (2015)
★★★☆☆
A stirring portrait of female freedom denied, Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang is a deeply personal story with a profound political resonance.
France
Rester Vertical (2016)
★★★★☆
As a scriptwriter turns shepherd, Alain Guiraudie’s Staying Vertical reveals an existence of fear and lusting in the Midi-Pyrénées.
Dheepan (2015)
★★★★☆
With an extraordinary central performance, Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan offers a searing portrait of Europe as seen by the dispossessed.
Marguerite (2015)
★★★★☆
A delicious update of the Emperor’s new clothes parable, Xavier Giannoli’s Marguerite exposes the well-meaning flattery of the have-nots.
Festival Review: Saint Amour (2016)
★★★☆☆
Another French loser comedy about love, men, wine and heritage, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s Saint Amour finds a gentle, fruity sparkle.
Festival Review: News From Planet Mars (2016)
★★☆☆☆
After Lemming and The Monk, Dominik Moll’s News From Planet Mars is a desperate comedy of male empowerment and family harmony.
Festival Review: Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau (2016)
★★★★☆
A deliciously simple story of one night of romance, Ducastel and Martineau’s Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau uncovers the ins and outs of gay love.
Festival Review: Alone In Berlin (2015)
★★☆☆☆
Adapting Hans Fallada’s German resistance novel for the silver screen, Vincent Perez’ Alone In Berlin recreates the plot but none of the drama.
Festival Review: Being 17 (2016)
★★★☆☆
Exploring themes of identity, masculinity and desire, André Techiné’s Being 17 is a delicate portrait of adolescent confusion and first love.
Love (2015)
★★★☆☆
Bringing sex to the screen in glorious, terrifying 3D, Gaspar Noé’s Love offers a long hard look at love, sex and Gaspar Noé.
Festival Review: My Golden Days (2015)
★★★☆☆
Childhood, studenthood and falling in love, Arnaud Desplechin’s My Golden Days paints an intriguing and at times erratic portrait of a boy becoming a man.
Festival Review: Dheepan (2015)
★★★★☆
Set on the battlefields of Sri Lanka and the banlieues, Jacques Audiard’s Palme d’Or winning Dheepan is an inspirational tale on the power of family.
Festival Review: Cowboys (2015)
★★★☆☆
Based on John Ford’s The Searchers, Thomas Bidegain’s Cowboys is a thoroughly modern, European western of cowboys and Islamists.
Festival Review: Francofonia (2015)
★★★★☆
An impressionistic portrait of the Louvre Museum under Nazi occupation, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia reveals the chequered history of art.