The Nights Of Zayandeh-Rood
★★★★☆
Mohsen Makmalbaf’s The Nights of Zayandeh-Rood, banned in Iran since 1990, gets its first showing in London.
festivals
Viceroy’s House (2017)
★★★☆☆
An upstairs-downstairs portrait of Indian independence and Partition, Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House is a history lesson with a big heart.
The Student (2016)
★★★★☆
Bringing Christian fundamentalism to the playground, Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student satirises the conservatism of Russian institutions.
Certain Women (2016)
★★★★☆
Kelly Reichardt takes an appraising look at four women’s lives in Certain Women‘s intriguingly overlapping stories.
It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
★★★★☆
Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End Of The World is an intense, melodramatic family drama around the lunch table.
Sweet Dreams (2016)
★★★☆☆
Marco Bellochio’s Sweet Dreams is a journalist’s belated emotional coming of age as he investigates the death of his mother.
The King’s Choice (2017)
★★★★☆
It’s desperate times for democracy in Erik Poppe’s The King’s Choice as Norway’s monarch attempts to save both King and country.
Ana, Mon Amour (2017)
★★★☆☆
An intimate portrait of the codependency of love, Cãlin Peter Netzer’s Ana, Mon Amour falters through its very male gaze.
Pieles (2017)
★★☆☆☆
A rhapsody in pink and purple pastels, Eduardo Casanova’s episodic debut Pieles doesn’t quite have the smarts to match its looks.
The Lost City Of Z (2017)
★★★☆☆
Pitting the difficulties of returning against the traveller’s urge to stray, James Gray’s The Lost City Of Z finds no peace at home or abroad.
On The Beach At Night Alone (2017)
★★☆☆☆
With its quiet portrait of a lovesick actress, Hong Sang-soo’sOn The Beach At Night Alone reveals a disappointingly light vision of a male fantasy.
Have A Nice Day (2017)
★★★☆☆
Sleek in its industrial animation, Jian Liu’s Have A Nice Day makes up for a lack of substance with style.
Moonlight (2016)
★★★★☆
Moonlight is a very different gay coming-of-age movie by Barry Jenkins and it will break your heart.
The Bar (2017)
★★★☆☆
Returning to the horror-comedy genre of his early films, Álex de la Iglesia’s The Bar uncovers Spanish society at a frightening pace.