The Ones Below (2015)
★★★☆☆
A chilling psychodrama in primary colours of maternal and social anxiety, David Farr’s The Ones Below leaves a generic horror plot holding the baby.
dogandwolf
Anomalisa (2015)
★★★★☆
A story of depression, alienation and looking for love where the human characters are played by puppets, Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa is unsettling and haunting.
Festival Review: 24 Weeks (2016)
★★★☆☆
As a couple struggle to come to terms with their unborn baby’s condition, Anne Zohra Berrached’s 24 Weeks uncovers a grey world of female courage.
Festival Review: Letters From War (2016)
★★★★☆
A black and white correspondence between an army medic and his new wife, Ivo Ferreira’s Letters Of War is a hauntingly beautiful portrait of war.
Festival Review: Mahana / The Patriarch (2016)
★★★★☆
The moving portrait of a Maori family seething under the lash of a ruthless patriarch, Lee Tamahori’s Mahana takes heart in a young man finding his way.
Festival Review: Shepherds And Butchers (2016)
★★★★☆
Exposing the inhumanity of capital punishment on the men who lead them to the gallows, Oliver Schmitz’s Shepherds And Butchers is a powerful portrait of a human timebomb.
Festival Review: Inside The Chinese Closet (2015)
★★★☆☆
With fake marriage markets and illegal babies, Sophia Luvara’s intimate documentary Inside The Chinese Closet reveals gay men and women shouldering their parents’ burden.
Festival Review: Don’t Call Me Son (2016)
★★★☆☆
Depicting the impossible situation of teenagers reclaimed by birth parents, Anna Muylaert’s Don’t Call Me Son clothes her emotion in a plain black smock.
Festival Review: A Dragon Arrives! (2016)
★★★★☆
A multilayered blast of mysterious occurrences in the desert, Mani Haghighi’s A Dragon Arrives! is an enjoyable bafflement.
Festival Review: Saint Amour (2016)
★★★☆☆
Another French loser comedy about love, men, wine and heritage, Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern’s Saint Amour finds a gentle, fruity sparkle.
Festival Review: Miles Ahead (2015)
★★★☆☆
Love and labour lost, Don Cheadle’s biopic Miles Ahead reveals the great jazz musician Miles Davis at his lowest ebb.
Festival Review: News From Planet Mars (2016)
★★☆☆☆
After Lemming and The Monk, Dominik Moll’s News From Planet Mars is a desperate comedy of male empowerment and family harmony.
Festival Review: Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau (2016)
★★★★☆
A deliciously simple story of one night of romance, Ducastel and Martineau’s Théo et Hugo Dans le Même Bateau uncovers the ins and outs of gay love.
Festival Review: Zero Days (2016)
★★★☆☆
Exposing the secrecy around cyber-warfare and the US attack on Iran’s nuclear industry, Alex Gibney’s Zero Days pleads for a break in the silence.