The Unknown Girl (2016)
★★★★☆
The Dardennes brothers’ The Unknown Girl is a bleak examination of guilt and personal responsibility.
Cannes
Cannes Review: Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★★☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
DOG EAT DOG (2016)
Flashily shot, ultra-violent and at times absurd. Paul Schrader’s fast-moving failed heist movie stars Nicholas Cage and Willem Dafoe. Dog Eat Dog CAUTION: Here…
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BFI LFF 2016: Staying Vertical (2016)
★★★☆☆
As a scriptwriter turns shepherd, Alain Guiraudie’s Rester Vertical reveals an existence of fear and lusting in the Midi-Pyrénées.
BFI LFF 2016: Toni Erdmann (2016)
★★★☆☆
A feelgood father-and-daughter comedy, Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann sees the joylessness of the corporate world undone by paternal clowning.
BFI LFF 2016: The Handmaiden (2016)
★★★★☆
A sumptuous new adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden is a dazzling tale of duplicity and deception.
BFI LFF 2016: The Student (2016)
★★★★☆
Bringing Christian fundamentalism to the playground, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student satirises the conservatism of Russian institutions.
BFI LFF 2016: MA’ ROSA (2016)
★★★★☆
Director Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa is a gritty evocation of poverty and survival in the backstreets of Manila starring Cannes Best Actress Jaclyn Jose.
BFI LFF 2016: Sieranevada (2016)
★★★☆☆
Taking place in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack, Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada reveals a family in turmoil when the patriarch dies.
The Cannes Film Festival 2016
And the winner of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 Palme d’Or is Ken Loach for his searing film of social criticism I, Daniel Blake.
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Chicken (2016)
★★★★☆
A teen maelstrom of romance, secrets and family in the Essex countryside, Joe Stephenson’s Chicken is a moving portrait of a breaking idyll.
Cannes Film Festival: The Student (2016)
★★★★☆
Bringing Christian fundamentalism to the playground, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student satirises the conservatism of Russian institutions.
La Danseuse (2016)
★★☆☆☆
A portrait of revolutionary dancer Loie Fuller, Stephanie Di Giusto’s La Danseuse makes for a disappointingly pedestrian biopic.
Ma Loute (2016)
★★★☆☆
Divided into stalwarts of French cinema and non-professional actors, Bruno Dumont’s crime caper Ma Loute exposes the grotesque in everyone.