Babycall (2011)
★★★☆☆
Pål Sletaune’s Babycall is a hall of ghostly mirrors and fantasy reflections as a mother and victim of domestic abuse tries to keep a fracturing reality together.
thriller
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
★★★★☆
A sister, a cult member, an alias – Sean Durkin’s psychological thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene is an assured debut as gripping as it is haunting.
Take Shelter (2011)
★★★★☆
With thunderous performances by Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter is a mind blowing twister of mental illness, austerity America and the apocalypse.
The Ides Of March (2011)
★★★☆☆
Embroiled in politics corrupt and corrupting, George Clooney’s The Ides Of March charts the tragic fate of one man irredeemably lost, and on the way up.
Drive (2011)
★★★★☆
With Ryan Gosling as an übercool, unnamed getaway driver, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive mixes LA heist movie with Melvillian lonerism for a sexy, seething delight.
Perfect Sense (2010)
★★★★☆
David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense is a twist on both thriller and love story as a couple find each other while the world around them crumbles, sense by sense.
In A Better World / Haevnen (2010)
★★★★☆
Split between Kenya and Denmark, Susanne Bier’s In A Better World has war and peace in its sights as its playground bullies test the pacifists to the limit.
Incendies (2010)
★★★★★
Blazing a trail through Lebanon and a family’s past, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies tiptoes through a chain of unstoppable fires to a reconciliatory future.
Black Swan (2010)
★★★★☆
With a mesmerising performance from Natalie Portman, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is entirely gripping in its pas de deux of black sensuality and white innocence.
127 Hours (2010)
★★★★☆
Audiences are bound to be divided over Danny Boyle’s flashy visuals, but James Franco goes all out on a limb to ground the supersonic 127 Hours with a bit of gravitas.
The American (2010)
★★★☆☆
With George Clooney playing the strong and silent type, Anton Corbijn’s photogenic The American has Tinseltown set firmly in his sights. All chestnuts blazing.
Buried (2010)
★★★☆☆
One man, one coffin and 90 minutes’ oxygen, Rodrigo Cortés Buried is a deliciously claustrophobic one-hander for Ryan Reynolds. But can Cortés play by the rules?
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
★★★★☆
Violent and misogynistic, Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me adapts Jim Thompson’s noir novel to expose ’50s America’s darker side. It’s pulp friction.
Un Prophète / A Prophet (2009)
★★★★★
Thrills-and-spills jailbird Bildungsroman or darkly poetic gangster thriller? Whatever it is, Audiard’s Un Prophète is the arthouse blockbuster par excellence.