The Shape of Water (2017)
★★★★★
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a fairy tale, a story of love, loss and friendship, and a magical cinematic joy.
2017
Loveless (2017)
★★★★★
Shown through a couple’s reactions to the disappearance of their son, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Loveless (Nelyubov) is a crushing comment on a loveless society and its people.
Journey’s End (2017)
★★☆☆☆
Journey’s End, director Sam Dibbs’ adaptation of R.C.Sherriff’s stage play, struggles to entrench itself in WWI.
Downsizing (2017)
★★★☆☆
Alexander Payne’s Downsizing is a fantasy satire in microcosm on life, the universe and everything.
Last Flag Flying (2017)
★★★★☆
Richard Linklater’s Last Flag Flying is an elderly Last Detail-type road trip in search of the American military dream.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
★★★★★
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is Michael McDonagh’s five-star drama laced with humour featuring a gloriously Oscar-worthy performance by Frances McDormand.
A Woman’s Life (2017)
★★★★☆
A Woman’s Life is a beautifully staged and acted period drama by Stéphane Brizé that unfolds over decades in 19th century France.
Brad’s Status (2017)
★★★★☆
First-world problems trigger beta-male, middle-aged angst in Mike White’s comedy drama Brad’s Status, with a father/son relationship at its heart.
Jupiter’s moon (2017)
★★★★☆
In Jupiter’s Moon Kornél Mundruczó takes an intriguing and timely magical realist premise but leaves its resolution in mid air.
Ava (2017)
★★★★☆
In Ava, the increasing darkness of Léa Mysius’ direction echoes the encroaching blindness of its young heroine in a strikingly original coming-of-age story.
Youth (2017)
★★★★☆
Feng Xiaogang’s Youth is a massive, immersive sweep of Chinese history that makes the political heart-rendingly personal.
Menashe (2017)
★★★★☆
Menashe by Joshua Z Weinstein is a very human story set in a uniquely closed community that turns out to have universal appeal.
The Unseen (2017)
★★★☆☆
Gary Sinyor’s The Unseen is a well-made, contemporary British thriller with an original slant.
Stronger (2017)
★★★★☆
Stronger, directed by David Gordon Green, stars Jake Gyllenhaal in a gruelling but inspirational portrait of a man rebuilding his life after the Boston Marathon bombing.