12 Years A Slave (2013)
★★★★★
A searing story of slavery in 19th century America, based on the 1853 memoir of a free black man from New York, who is abducted and sold into slavery in the South.
UK
The Railway Man (2013)
★★★★☆
The true story of Eric Lomax, the prisoner of war who many years after World War II forgave and became friends with the Japanese soldiers who tortured him.
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?
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.
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.
Mister John (2013)
★★★☆☆
An Irishman, whose marriage is in crisis, travels to Singapore after the death of his brother there and becomes drawn into the life the dead man left behind.
Harrigan (2013)
★★☆☆☆
Bringing the wild west to the North East, Vince Woods’ Harrigan offers a moody warning against the dangers of police cuts amidst blackouts and strikes.
Kelly + Victor (2013)
★★★☆☆
As two lovers meet and start an intense, doomed sexual relationship, Kieran Evans’ Kelly + Victor offers a charged portrait of two worlds colliding.
The Stuart Hall Project (2013)
★★★★☆
A study of the great British cultural theorist, John Akomfrah’s bio-doc The Stuart Hall Project is a patchwork of black identity exposing the empire state of mind.
Trap For Cinderella (2013)
★★★☆☆
Adapting Sébastien Japrisot’s novel for the 21st century, Iain Softley’s Trap For Cinderella is a cautionary tale of lust, vengeance and greed.
A Field In England (2013)
★★☆☆☆
A search for treasure on the fringes of the English Civil War, Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England draws a blank.
I Am Breathing (2013)
★★★☆☆
Living and dying with motor neurone disease, Emma Davie and Morag McKinnon’s I Am Breathing bears witness to Neil Platt and his uncertainty if this is a man.