The Patience Stone (2012)
★★★★☆
A war movie like no other, Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone leaves no woe unturned as a woman rails against man and the theatre of war.
Europe
Floating Skyscrapers / Plynace Wiezowce (2013)
★★★☆☆
Down and out in Warsaw, Tomasz Wasilewski’s haunting Floating Skyscrapers explores identity in flux and gay love in a hopeless place in contemporary Poland.
Young And Beautiful / Jeune Et Jolie (2013)
★★★★☆
Fathoming the sordid depths of taboo and transgression, François Ozon’s Jeune Et Jolie finds the unfathomable in a teenager trading innocence for money.
NFA (No Fixed Abode) (2012)
★★★☆☆
Adam has it all – a beautiful wife and daughter and home, but one day he wakes up in a hostel for the homeless. How did he there and how can he get his life back?
Blue Is The Warmest Colour / La Vie d’Adèle (2012)
★★★★☆
Courting controversy all the way from Cannes, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is The Warmest Colour puts the graphic back into graphic novel.
Child’s Pose / Pozitia Copilului (2013)
★★★★☆
Seeing a way to reassert control over her adult son’s life when he runs over and kills a child, an affluent Romanian woman sets out on a campaign of emotional and social manipulation to keep him out of prison, navigating the waters of power, corruption and influence.
The Nun / La Religieuse (2013)
★★★☆☆
In 18th century France, when a teenage girl is forced by her parents to become a nun, she rebels to try and regain her freedom.
Philomena (2013)
★★★☆☆
As the worlds of an Irish catholic and an atheist ex-politican collide, Stephen Frears’ Philomena sees a simple faith go head to head with Catholic conspiracy.
The Selfish Giant (2013)
★★★★☆
Based on a children’s short story by Oscar Wilde, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant is a rag and bone tale of friendship de profundis.
A Magnificent Haunting / Magnifica Presenza (2012)
★★★☆☆
A ghost comedy exploring realms of fiction and reality, Ferzan Ozpetek’s A Magnificent Haunting sees worlds collide as past meets present and the living meet the dead.
The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)
★★★★★
Love and the circle of life are put to the test in Felix Van Groeningen’s heartbreaking The Broken Circle Breakdown. But will the circle be unbroken?
Le Week-End (2013)
★★★★☆
Love, life and languor in the City of Lights, Roger Michell’s Le Week-End sees a couple renegotiating their marriage and giving it the ooh-la-la.
Filth (2013)
★★★☆☆
A manic Edinburgh police detective manipulates and hallucinates his way through the festive season in this adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel.
In The Name Of / W Imie (2013)
★★★★☆
Love in a dark time, Malgorzata Szumowska’s In The Name Of evokes the desolation of a gay man in conflict with God with summertime brilliance.