Raindance: Express yourself

It's been an eventful weekend, with Halloween, a blue moon and the announcement that London is going back into lockdown for a month. At least we have the Raindance Film Festival to distract us, even if we're watching it on our own at home. Here are some highlights from this weekend...

Under My Skin

dir-scr David O'Donnell; with Liv Hewson, Chloe Freeman 20/Aus ****

With his feature debut, Australian filmmaker David O'Donnell uses some clever visual touches to reveal the inner life of the central character, whose various sides are played by four different actors. The film's sensitive tone is powerfully involving, and O'Donnell never takes a simple route through the material, quietly digging deeper into a provocative situation. And while it's a big topic, the story remains personal, never preachy.

Nuclear

dir Catherine Linstrum; with Emilia Jones, Sienna Guillory 19/UK ***

Dark and unnervingly intense from the opening shot, this slow-burn drama churns with emotion. Director-cowriter Catherine Linstrum ambitiously uses dreamlike elements and unusual settings to create intrigue while unpicking a dysfunctional family. Beautifully shot and performed, it's quiet and artful, although the narrative has a couple of grinding gear shifts along the way. Still, the underlying feelings have resonance that gets stronger as things gradually comes into focus.

Materna

dir David Gutnik; with Kate Lyn Sheil, Lindsay Burdge 20/US ***

This anthology tells four separate stories that converge at a pivotal event in the life of four women. It's packed with skilled depictions of the tension between independence and vulnerability, taking almost surreal routes beneath the surface. There are some clear connections between the strands, as the film explores the impact of demanding mothers on both children and society at large. These are strong stories that leave us thinking.

Madame

dir-scr Stephane Riethauser; with Caroline Della Beffa, Stephane Riethauser 19/Swi ****

Using an archive of home movies, Swiss filmmaker Stephane Reithauser takes the audience on a meaningful trip through his relationship with his larger-than-life grandmother. It's a bracingly original exploration of how gender roles force people into double lives, written as a nostalgic message to a woman who, through her unflinching honesty, encouraged him to be himself. The kaleidoscopic approach and lively characters make it both engaging and powerfully important.

NB. My anchor page for Raindance is HERE and full reviews will appear in between these daily blog entries. Much more to come...

Critical Week: Fireside chat

London critics watched a few higher profile films this year, including the incoming young adult romantic disease drama Midnight Sun, which like most films in this genre is aimed at 12-year-old girls. Patrick Schwarzenegger and Bella Thorne are the picturesque leads. A more grown up approach sets the new Tomb Raider reboot apart from the last adaptation, including a fierce performance by Alicia Vikander. But fans may bristle at the film's deliberately grounded approach. Wes Anderson's new stop-motion animated adventure comedy Isle of Dogs is a pure, utterly bonkers delight. And Madame is a French farce with a high-profile cast (Toni Collette, Harvey Keitel, Tom Hughes) and a surprisingly meaningful plot.

A little off the grid, My Friend Dahmer stars Disney hero Ross Lynch as the notorious murder before he started killing people. It's a high school movie with a black sense of humour and unusually strong performances. Gook is Justin Chon's lively, artful comedy-drama set around the 1992 Los Angeles riots. They Remain is a very clever low-budget horror movie with sci-fi overtones. From France, My Golden Days is an ambitious look at a man's life and loves, a big exhausting but packed with lovely moments. And from Finland, Screwed is a micro-budget movie about attraction and sexuality, set in lovely locations with a very strong cast.

This coming week there are a few more big ones: Steven Spielberg's complex adventure Ready Player One, Ava DuVernay's take on the classic A Wrinkle in Time, the robot action blockbuster sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, Claire Foy in Steven Soderberg's Unsane, Rupert Everett's The Happy Prince and the French drama I Got Life! BFI Flare kicks off this week too, opening with Ellen Page and Kate Mara in My Days of Mercy. Look for daily updates during the festival's run 21st March to 1st April.