Festival Review: The Lady In The Van (2015)
★★★★☆
The funny and poignant tale of Bennett’s live-in codger, Nicholas Hytner’s The Lady In The Van is entertainment at its most prestigious.
Europe
Festival Review: The Lobster (2015)
★★★★★
A delicious metaphor on romance and the dangers of being single, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster is a strangely perfect world.
Festival Review: The People Versus Fritz Bauer (2015)
★★★☆☆
Shining a light on German denazification, Lars Kraume’s The People Versus Fritz Bauer is an important story of a forgotten hero.
Festival Review: A Bigger Splash (2015)
★★★☆☆
A sumptuous but strangely outdated adaptation of La Piscine, Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash is a watery enigma of jealousy and miscommunication.
Festival Review: Evolution (2015)
★★★☆☆
A stylish dystopia set in a world without men, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s Evolution comes adrift in a sea of beautiful images.
Festival Review: Brooklyn (2015)
★★★★☆
A brilliant adaptation of Colm Tóibin’s novel, John Crowley’s Brooklyn is a funny and moving portrait of an Irish girl finding herself and emigrating to the USA.
Suffragette (2015)
★★★☆☆
Celebrating nearly a century of women’s right to vote, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette is an important and inspirational film on democracy in action.
Festival Review: Arabian Nights (2015)
★★★☆☆
A six-hour reflection on the financial crisis in Portugal, Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights is an intelligent and visually arresting compendium of uneven tales.
Festival Review: Gold Coast / Guldkysten (2015)
★★★☆☆
Plunging the sorry history of Danish colonialism, Daniel Dencik’s Gold Coast brings a wealth of image and colour to a dark time.
Festival Review: My Nazi Legacy (2015)
★★★☆☆
Revisiting history through the descendants of two high-serving Nazis and a Holocaust survivor, David Evans’My Nazi Legacy bites off more than it can chew.
Festival Review: Room (2015)
★★★★☆
A sensitive study of imprisonment and the painfulness of freedom, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room is an emotional, cinematic tour-de-force.
Festival Review: Son Of Saul (2015)
★★★★☆
A devastating portrait of life in Auschwitz’ Sonderkommando, László Nemes’ Son Of Saul is a powerful testament of faith.
Festival Review: The Program (2015)
★★★☆☆
With an outstanding performance from Ben Foster, Stephen Frears’ The Program gets bogged down in intricately retelling the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.
Festival Review: High-Rise (2015)
★★★☆☆
Adapting JG Ballard’s dystopian novel for the silver screen, Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise is a glamorous reproduction of the Seventies high life.