Effie Gray (2014)
★★★★☆
A sumptuously shot, intelligently-scripted drama about the ill-matched marriage of critic and artist John Ruskin and the much younger, beautiful Effie Gray.
UK
London Film Festival 2014: The Duke Of Burgundy
The Duke Of Burgundy Burgundy Is The Sadomasochistic Colour by Dave O’Flanagan Reading-born director Peter Strickland’s vintage erotic melodrama is a beguiling oddity; an…
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Ida (2013)
★★★★☆
Beautifully shot in black and white, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida leads us on a meaningful road trip into a dark night of the Holocaust, Catholicism, and jazz.
Pride (2014)
★★★★☆
Two very disparate communities forge an unexpected bond when a London gay and lesbian group supports a village of Welsh miners during the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike.
Lilting (2014)
★★★★☆
Giving Chinese whispers and cultural difference a voice, Hong Khaou’s Lilting is an intimate and moving study of translation, reconciliation and grief.
American Interior (2014)
★★★☆☆
Gruff Rhys’ musical journey to retrace the footsteps of relative John Evans is a weird and mostly wonderful romantic odyssey.
Exhibition (2013)
★★☆☆☆
Centred around a modernist house in West London, Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition exposes art, womanhood, relationships and architectural space.
Locke (2013)
★★★★☆
With Tom Hardy single-handedly driving the film and Steven Knight’s dirty, pretty script at the wheel, Locke is an elegant one-hander of life in the fast lane.
Half Of A Yellow Sun (2013)
★★★☆☆
The personal and political intersect in an epic drama from the heady days of Nigeria’s independence to the failed attempt to set up the breakaway independent republic of Biafra, and the start of a civil war.
The Fold (2014)
★★★☆☆
A meditation on maternity and mourning, John Jenck’s The Fold finds a strange kind of love in this muddled would-be thriller.
Starred Up (2013)
★★★★★
A powerful, emotional and violent look at prison and reform, David Mackenzie’s Starred Up offers a glimpse of a life beyond bars.
Under The Skin (2013)
★★★★★
Bold, cold and beautiful, Under The Skin is a unique and unsettling experience which defies convention from ambiguous opening to devastating denouement.
The Invisible Woman (2013)
★★★☆☆
Unpicking Dickens’ illicit affair with a girl half his age, Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman brings a strong woman out from behind the novelist’s shadow
The Patrol (2013)
★★☆☆☆
Focusing on the minutiae of military life in conflict, The Patrol eschews the crash, bang and wallop of the genre, but in doing so lacks any impact at all.