Critical Week: Take a leap

I travelled back from rainy California to icy London this week, having submitted my final ballot for the Golden Globes last weekend. So I look forward to seeing what our international group of critics chose to take home prizes on Sunday night in Los Angeles. I also caught up with two films opening this week: Kristen Stewart's writing-directing debut The Chronology of Water is a challenging arthouse collage, based on a dark memoir. Imogen Poots is superb in the lead role, although the film is a bit too fragmented to pull us in. By contrast, People We Meet on Vacation is a charming and silly romantic comedy (now on Netflix) that's a bit too slick and long, but has some underlying themes that resonate. Plus ridiculously likeable leads in Emily Bader and Tom Blyth. Still, Chloe Zhao's Hamnet is hands down the best film out this week.

I also caught up with the acclaimed German drama Sound of Falling, an ambitious and luxuriant multi-generational epic that continually sends shivers down the spine with its darkly astute observations. Another awards contender, the doc Orwell: 2+2=5 is expertly assembled by Raoul Peck to explore how George Orwell's prescient novels have been echoed in global politics over the past century. It's essential viewing, partly because of the rather terrifying things it says about humanity. And then there were two movies I finally caught up with on the plane flight home: Megan 2.0 is an enjoyably bonkers sequel that is unafraid to get both silly and sharply pointed. I loved it. And gifted filmmaker Kogonada takes a huge swing with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, a surreal romance starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. It's skilfully crafted, but almost nothing about the story works at all.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo in Crime 101, survival horror Primate, Palestinian drama All That's Left of You and catching up on films and TV I haven't had time to watch over the past few weeks. There are also more voting deadlines to contend with.

Critical Week: Have a laugh

The 69th London Film Fest continues this week, which means I am watching rather a lot of big awards-season titles, often with the filmmakers and actors in attendance.  Sometimes this even includes a chance to chat with them at a reception, which is always nice. One of these was Bradley Cooper's new movie Is This Thing On?, a romantic comedy-drama starring Will Arnett (above) and Laura Dern, based on the life of British stand-up comedian John Bishop. It's a terrific story, and the film is strikingly well shot and acted, without a single false note, which is like a miracle in this genre.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Souleymane's Story
Roofman • Frankenstein
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking
ALL REVIEWS >

Elsewhere, Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons were on hand for the premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia, a surprisingly punchy black comedy. Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri came along for Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt, an abrasive, challenging drama about morality. Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth turned up for Guillermo del Toro's superbly epic new version of Frankenstein. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal were on-stage for Chloe Zhao's utterly gorgeous Hamnet, one of the most emotional resonant movies in recent memory. 

And there's more! Colin Farrell showed up for Edward Berger's colourful, involving Macau odyssey Ballad of a Small Player. Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots and Nina Hoss were resplendent at the screening of Nia DaCosta's inventive, spiky new adaptation of Hedda. Brendan Fraser was on hand for Hikari's beautiful comedy-drama Rental Family, which skilfully explores modern-day isolation through a strongly engaging story set in Tokyo. Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones attended for Clint Bentley's sumptuous lifelong saga Train Dreams. And Kaouther Ben Hania's harrowing The Voice of Hind Rajab mixes documentary elements with emotive dramatics in a true story from the Israel-Palestine war. I also attended a live performance of Hofesh Schechter's mesmerising Theatre of Dreams at Sadler's Wells.

Coming this next week are a few more London Film Fest movies, including Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident, Paolo Sorrentino's La Grazia, Annemarie Jacir's Palestine 36, Emirati horror thriller The Vile and the photography doc Love+War, plus the Navy Seal doc In Waves and War.

Critical Week: Take a break

Tube strikes have paralysed London this week, so the only films I've seen are those I could watch on links at home. I braved the bus one day to get to the theatre, a grisly journey involving flustered crowds, pouring rain and nightmarish traffic. But there were plenty of movies to watch. Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star in the understated romantic drama The History of Sound, which requires patience but has a lot to say. Denzel Washington reteams with Spike Lee for Highest 2 Lowest, a provocative thriller with a moral dilemma at its heart, reimagined from a Kurosawa classic.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Islands • Spinal Tap II
The History of Sound • Dreams
ALL REVIEWS >

Screening at Toronto Film Festival, Christy is a biopic about boxing champion Christy Martin. It's the usual story, but Sydney Sweeney is excellent in the title role. Michael Chiklis goes back to college in The Senior, based on the relentlessly inspirational true story of a 59-year-old who returns to play college football. The superb Adam Bessa stars in Ghost Trail, a complex, powerfully moving story about Syrian refugees in Europe. And the Hong Kong remake of Richard Linklater's 2001 drama Tape is seriously riveting exploration of perspective and memory.

I also attended the stage show Murmuration: Level 2, a mesmerising mix of music and movement. And I published my September TV Roundup featuring Chief of War, Wednesday, Smoke and much more.

Films screening this coming week include Harris Dickinson's Urchin, Marion Cotillard in The Ice Tower, Cillian Murphy in Steve, Mike Figgis' making-of documentary Megadoc and three festival favourites: The Love That Remains from Iceland, Two Prosecutors from Ukraine and Romeria from Spain.

Critical Week: Are you not entertained?

As we get stuck into November, the year's big titles are beginning to turn up at press screenings, and none is bigger than Ridley Scott's sequel Gladiator II, a mammoth epic set in Ancient Rome starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal. The script is flawed (Connie Nielsen's role is criminally underwritten), but the film is hugely entertaining. Another sequel might even be more anticipated: while not as magical as No 2, Paddington in Peru is a charming, funny movie that sees our heroic little bear on an Amazon adventure accompanied by Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
No Other Land
Piece by Piece
ALL REVIEWS >

Another big one, Wicked: Part I stars Cynthia Erivo Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey (with added spark from Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum). It's gloriously assembled on a lavish scale, and we have to wait a year for Part II. Bill Skarsgard is imperious in Robert Eggers' profoundly horrific Nosferatu, costarring Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe. Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton find lovely textures in Almodovar's The Room Next Door, while Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson shine in the complex and powerfully provocative drama A Different Man. Meanwhile outside of awards contention, Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans provide some sparky banter in the otherwise over-familiar Christmas action comedy Red One. And the quirky British comedy Time Travel Is Dangerous is packed with hilarious performances and local North London gags.

This coming week I'll be watching the long-awaited Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the acclaimed animated adventure Flow, Isabelle Huppert in A Traveler's Needs, the biopic Bonhoeffer and more awards contenders. I'm also travelling to Southern California to visit family for a couple of weeks, and I'm sure to see a few things out there before it's time to submit my ballots.

BFI Flare: Dance the night away

The 38th edition of the British Film Institute's Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival heads into its first weekend with a flurry of special screenings and guest actors and filmmakers. I'll be chatting with quite a few of them over the next couple of days, plus a number of Q&As alongside screenings. There aren't many film festivals left that allow audiences and moviemakers to mix, and this one sometimes feels like it's slipping away, as it begins to feel more corporate each year. But there's still some life and sass left at BFI Southbank, so if you can get there, it's worth the time. And the movies have been notable this year. There's a strong presence from Canada in the highlights here..

Crossing
dir-scr Levan Akin; with Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava 24/Geo ****
After his moving drama And Then We Danced, Swedish-Georgian filmmaker Levan Akin continues to explore society's margins with this involving story set in the persecuted trans subcultures of Georgia and Turkey. Bracingly observant, this humane film tackles big issues with unusual sensitivity, refusing to focus on harsher aspects of life for people simply trying to exist in a place that rejects them. So the film is engaging, uplifting and important... FULL REVIEW >

Close to You
dir Dominic Savage; with Elliot Page, Hillary Baack 23/Can ***
Shot improv-style, with intensely intimate camerawork, this Canadian drama relies on the strong presence of Elliot Page as a young man confronting his connections with his family and lingering feelings for an old flame. Director Dominic Savage finds moments of honest insight within scenes that are continually heightened by conflict. This allows the actors to play emotional scenes with unusual nuance, but it also leaves the film feeling somewhat meandering and indulgent.

Backspot
dir DW Waterson; with Devery Jacobs, Evan Rachel Wood 23/Can ***
Centred around teen cheerleaders, this Canadian drama has plenty of punchy energy in its handheld camerawork, raucous song score and high-energy acrobatics. And the cast is excellent. But the writing and direction leave little space for the audience to get involved, as every thought and feeling is carefully chosen and depicted without nuance. Still, there are moments when we can identify with the characters, and the larger themes are vivid... FULL REVIEW >

We Forgot to Break Up
dir Karen Knox; with Lane Webber, June Laporte 24/Can **.
There's a strong mix of musical and visual sensibilities in this Canadian period drama, which traces the life of a high school band into the big time. Oddly, there's the feeling that this was written to a screenplay formula, rather than capturing firsthand experience of real life, so all of the characters and plot points feel constructed. This makes it tricky to engage with either the people or their story, as it feels cinematic rather than authentic. But the larger themes running through the film make it worth a look.

B E S T    O F    Y E A R

All of Us Strangers
dir-scr Andrew Haigh; with Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal 23/UK *****
Like Weekend's more challenging big brother, this contained British drama from Andrew Haigh uses incisive storytelling to explore connections in a fractured society. He shoots it in his usual bracingly naturalistic style, this time augmenting the story with a surreal sensibility that draws on the creative process itself. And it's beautifully played by a focussed, invested cast. This is a gently involving, darkly personal film that carries a massive emotional wallop... FULL REVIEW >

Full reviews will be linked on Shadows' BFI FLARE PAGE >

For festival information, BFI FLARE >

Critical Week: Let's make a plan

I'm late with most things this week, including this post, for two reasons: firstly I'm organising the 44th London Critics' Circle Film Awards, a seriously complicated event that's coming up in just a week and involves a myriad of variables to sort out. And secondly, I am migrating everything to a new computer, My vintage iMac has been slowing down after 15 years of faithful service, so I finally took the plunge. This new one is another world entirely, outrageously nimble and I can open websites again! But I have to learn how to do pretty much everything in a new way.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Totem • Samsara
All of Us Strangers
PERHAPS AVOID:
Padre Pio
ALL REVIEWS >

I've also of course been watching films, although not as many as I should have. I caught up with Snoop Dogg's comedy The Underdoggs, which takes a true story and bends it into the usual formula involving the foul-mouthed coach of a scrappy team. Watchable but not very funny. Ian McShane plays a bored hitman in American Star, gorgeously shot in the Canary Islands. It's very snow and meandering, but full of intrigue. The offbeat British drama-documentary hybrid This Blessed Plot traces the witty journey of a filmmaker who can talk to ghosts. And there were two rather elusive South American films: from Chile, The Settlers is a bold, gorgeous trek across the continent with historic repercussions, while the Argentinian odyssey Eureka is even more ambitious, opening in the Wild West (with Viggo Mortensen) and ending in the Amazon, with a North Dakota police chapter in between. Perplexing but fascinating exploration of indigenous cultures.

This coming week I'll be watching Henry Cavill in the spy romp Argylle, animated adventure Migration, black comedy Club Zero, Australian drama Shayda, musician documentary Dalton's Dream and the dark drama Pornomelancholia.

The Best of 2023: 43rd Shadows Awards

The year-end ritual is complete, as I compile my lists of the best of the year. This post is merely a preview - there is so much more on the website if you dare! Meanwhile, my voting continues in various awards (Golden Globes, London Critics, Online Critics, Galeca Dorian Awards), bearing only passing resemblance to these lists due to eligibility rules. And I'll add my usual Critical Week note below...

BEST FILM:

1. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
2. Past Lives (Celine Song)
3. Joyland (Saim Sadiq)
4. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
5. Reality (Tina Satter)
6. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
7. The First Slam Dunk (Takehiko Inoue)
8. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
10. Barbie (Greta Gerwig)

DIRECTOR:

1. Celine Song - Past Lives
2. Tina Satter - Reality
3. Andrew Haigh - All of Us Strangers
4. Jonathan Glazer - The Zone of Interest
5. JA Bayona - Society of the Snow

SCREENWRITER:

1. Celine Song - Past Lives
2. Andrew Haigh - All of Us Strangers
3. Saim Sadiq - Joyland
4. Molly Manning Walker - How to Have Sex
5. Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach - Barbie

ACTRESS:

1. Sandra Huller - ​​Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest
2. Emma Stone - Poor Things
3. Sydney Sweeney - Reality
4. Teyana Taylor - A Thousand and One
5. Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

ACTOR:

1. Ali Junejo - Joyland
2. Andrew Scott - All of Us Strangers
3. Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer
4. Koji Yakusho - Perfect Days
5. Colman Domingo - Rustin, The Color Purple

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1. Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers, A Little White Lie, Rustin
2. Rosamund Pike - Saltburn
3. Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple
4. Jodie Foster - Nyad
5. Claire Foy - All of Us Strangers

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1. Paul Mescal - All of Us Strangers, Foe, God's Creatures, Carmen
2. Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer
3. Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things
4. Alessandro Borghi - The Eight Mountains
5. Aaron Pierre - Brother, Foe

WORST FILM:

1. Expend4bles (Scott Waugh)
2. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (Rhys Frake-Waterfield)
3. Hunt Club (Elizabeth Blake Thomas)
4. Haunted Mansion (Justin Simien)
5. Assassin Club (Camille Delamarre)

TV SERIES:

1. The Bear (FX)
2. Lessons in Chemistry (Apple)
3. Ted Lasso (Apple)
4. Dave (FX)
5. Succession (HBO)

POP SINGLE:

1. People Pleaser - Cat Burns
2. Flowers - Miley Cyrus
3. Heaven - Niall Horan
4. Padam Padam - Kylie
5. Chemical - Post Malone

C R I T I C A L  W E E K : 
Everything’s new

I've been in catch-up mode, but have limited my viewing, preferring to take a bit of time off for a change. Watching movies is work for me! But I caught up with Wim Wender's wonderful drama Perfect Days, a pointed observation about life through the eyes of a hugely likeable Japanese toilet cleaner. And then there was Franz Rogowski giving another staggering performance in the thoughtful French drama Disco Boy, Ferzan Ozpetek's nostalgic and involving personal drama Nuovo Olimpo, the familiar but effective immigrant romance Norwegian Dream and two very strong docs: Beyond Utopia, a riveting look at a pastor who helps people escape from the North Korea, and 20 Days in Mariupol, a devastating account of Russia's horrific siege on the Ukrainian port city.

This coming week I will continue catching up with films for voting purposes, because there are still a lot of those! New screenings kick off with Jodie Comer in The End We Start From.

LFF: Smile for the camera

Into the second week of the 67th London Film Festival, the star-free red carpets continue to play out every night in front of the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank. The paparazzi look rather bored, so I've been chatting to them as I go by, finding out which of the film's crew members are in town, and perhaps some B-list celebs as well. Then I spot an Oscar-nominated A-lister incognito in the crowd and say hi; she's been enjoying movies as an audience member, adeptly honouring the actors strike by avoiding the cameras. Word has it that most stars have a bag packed so that once the strike is over they can rush off to support their movie projects. But in the meantime, we still have the movies. Here are a few more highlights...

Priscilla
dir-scr Sofia Coppola; with Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi 23/US ***.
Maintaining a sharp perspective from start to finish, Sofia Coppola explores the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis Presley with strikingly intimacy. The film digs under the surface to explore much more than the familiar story of a teenager who married the world's most famous singer. The anecdotal structure sometimes feels a bit jarring, and the ending is abrupt, but the narrative offers a remarkably involving exploration of gender politics... FULL REVIEW >

Nyad
dir Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin; with Annette Bening, Jodie Foster 23/US ****
Powerfully involving, this true drama is shot in a riveting documentary style with the addition of real-life footage. It also features fabulous roles that Annette Bening and Jodie Foster can properly sink their talented teeth into. Without over-egging the story's inherent adventure elements too much, directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin let the events play out authentically, and the engaging characters make it both gripping and unmissable.

Foe
dir Garth Davis; with Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal 23/Aus ***
Beautifully shot, this lightly futuristic romantic thriller centres tightly on three characters who are skilfully played with intense emotionality. But filmmaker Garth Davis tries to be tricky with a plot that simply doesn't hold water. Explanations come far too late to put anything that happens into context, so watching the film is an exercise in frustration. Even so, it has some important things to say about curiosity and compassion... FULL REVIEW >

The Lost Boys [Le Paradis]
dir Zeno Graton; with Khalil Gharbia, Julien De Saint Jean 23/Bel ****
Set in a juvenile detention facility, this sensitive Belgian drama traces a romance between two teen boys with hushed sensitivity. It's a beautifully observed story that unfolds in earthy and sometimes tender interaction, skilfully directed by Zeno Graton to put us into the mindset of a powerfully engaging central character. And it manages to be authentic, hopeful and even occasionally grim without ever resorting to prison movie cliches.

Totem
dir-scr Lila Aviles; with Naima Senties, Montserrat Maranon 23/Mex ****
Loose and authentically chaotic, this Mexican drama features refreshing rhythms of family life over a pivotal day. Filmmaker Lila Aviles is an expert observer of human behaviour, filling the house with fully formed characters who have their own preoccupations and little sense of allowing others their personal space. The wonderfully open-handed filmmaking constantly reveals things about people who are both connected and disconnected at the same time.

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
dir Elene Naveriani; with Eka Chavleishvili, Temiko Chichinadze 23/Geo ****
With deadpan charm, this Georgian film opens with a woman picking blackberries on the edge of a riverbank when a blackbird distracts her and she falls, imagining her death below. Filmmaker Elene Naveriani maintains a quiet, slow-burning vibe that ripples with underlying humour and tensions. The characters are wonderfully real, while the film has a colourful, sardonic Kaurismaki-like quality that's thoroughly winning. And the underlying message is hugely empowering.

All full festival reviews will be linked to Shadows' LFF PAGE >

~~~~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~
C R I T I C A L  W E E K

In addition to lots of festival films, this week I also saw Laura Linney, Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates in the engaging and pointed Irish comedy-drama The Miracle Club, the quirky and dark British comedy Mind-Set, and enjoyably cheesy voyeurism nastiness in 15 Cameras. Films this coming week include several more LFF films, the animated musical sequel Trolls Band Together. the girls' comedy Bottoms, and Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie in Eileen. Then I'll be on a plane to visit family in California for a couple of weeks.

LFF: Play to the crowd

We've crossed the halfway point in the 67th London Film Festival, which this year feels like an absolute glut of big-name gala premieres. There are two or three major movies on every day, while dozens of smaller films are also screening outside the spotlight. I'm trying to cover a range of films, although generally I'm only invited to cover the ones that have UK distributors. But that's plenty, frankly! I need to get some sleep, after all. Here are a few highlights for today...

Maestro
dir Bradley Cooper; with Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan 23/US ***.
Taking an ambitious approach to the life of Leonard Bernstein, Bradley Cooper creates ravishing stylistic period flourishes while going deep into the music itself. The introspective approach allows the adept cast to create complex characters that defy stereotypes. But this begins to feel gimmicky as the decades whiz past, mainly because relationships remain sketchy. So there are punchy emotional moments along the way, but the bigger picture remains unfocused.

All of Us Strangers
dir-scr Andrew Haigh; with Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal 23/UK *****
Like Weekend's more challenging big brother, this contained British drama from Andrew Haigh uses incisive storytelling to explore connections in a fractured society. He shoots it in his usual bracingly naturalistic style, this time augmenting the story with a surreal sensibility that draws on the creative process itself. And it's beautifully played by a focussed, invested cast. This is a gently involving, darkly personal film that carries a massive emotional wallop.

Robot Dreams
dir-scr Pablo Berger; with Ivan Labanda, Esther Solans 23/Sp ****.
Charmingly animated in a cheeky cartoon style, this lively animated drama traces an offbeat friendship with unusual nuance. Even without a single word of spoken dialog, multiple characters reveal complex textures as they head on momentous journeys. Genius filmmaker Pablo Berger (see Blancanieves or Torremolinos 73) has made a thoroughly grown-up movie that has something important to say to children too. It deserves to become a cult classic.

That They May Face the Rising Sun
dir Pat Collins; with Barry Ward, Anna Bederke 23/Ire ***.
Based on John McGahern's acclaimed novel, this gentle 1980s-set Irish drama has a documentary tone, observing a year in the everyday life of a rural community. The sense of place is immersive, surrounded by epic verdant fields, mountains and lakes. And there's poetry in the musings of older characters who make pointed observations about everything. This sometimes feels a bit overwritten, but the film is packed with lovely insight.

Haar
dir-scr Ben Hecking; with Kate Kennedy, Balazs Czukor 23/UK ***.
Shot on wonderfully grainy Super 8 film, this British drama maintains a loose, observational structure following a young woman around a European city. Filmmaker Ben Hecking captures knowing details everywhere, with witty encounters and a few amusing surprises. It's a free-flowing series of scenes that are punctuated with a range of emotion from silliness to anguish. The meandering approach is a bit challenging, but it's worth sticking with it.

All full festival reviews will be linked to Shadows' LFF PAGE >

Critical Week: Bugging out

With yet another long weekend in the UK, we're all getting used to the idea of a four-day week. But the next holiday here isn't until the end of August. Between now and then, we'll be getting roughly one enormous studio blockbuster movie per week. Some of these are greatly anticipated, while others induce a feeling of dread. This week I caught up with two that I was actually looking forward to. Sony was very late in screening Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, perhaps so they could treat us to a star-studded blue-carpet premiere experience. The film is even more eye-popping than the first one, and the story is nicely involving amid the visual mayhem. And then there was an early screening of The Flash, easily the best DC movie in years, with a lively sense of humour and two terrific performances from Ezra Miller.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Unidentified Objects • Reality
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Amanda • Fragments of Paradise
ALL REVIEWS >

I also caught up with Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera in the ambitious and intriguing, but ultimately awkward Carmen, which is infused with music and dance. The low-budget Breaking Infinity is an enjoyably brain-bending time-travel romp.  From France, The Innocent is a superb mashup of romcom, heist caper and crime thriller from actor-filmmaker Louis Garrel. And from Italy, The Neighbor is a dark drama about a man grappling with homophobia in his partner's family. 

I also attended three live performances: as a critic for State Shift at Sadler's Wells; as an audience member for Re-Member Me, Dickie Beau's clever but difficult one-man show about Hamlet at Hampstead; and as part of the crowd right in the middle of Guys and Dolls, the wonderfully lively and engaging new version of the classic musical at the Bridge.

This next week I'll be watching the franchise reboot blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Toni Collette in Mafia Mamma, the Canadian drama You Can Live Forever, the series-turned-feature comedy Bridesman, and the Chilean documentary My Imaginary Country. I'll also attend live performances of Inside the Blind Iris / Air de Temps at Sadler's Wells (review here soon) and the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards.

LFF: Take a break

I feel like I hit a wall today at the 65th BFI London Film Festival, as my wall-to-wall schedule finally overwhelmed me. So I'll be skipping a couple of movies tomorrow just to regain my equilibrium. It's difficult to miss films at the festival, as I'm already only seeing about a third of the movies I really want to see. But something had to give, and I'll be slowing things down a bit over the final four days just so I survive until the end! Here are some more highlights...

The Lost Daughter
dir-scr Maggie Gyllenhaal; with Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson 21/Gr ***.
As an exploration of motherhood, this film has a remarkable complexity that sets it apart, especially since it centres around yet another mesmerising performance from Olivia Colman. Writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal takes an internalised approach that's engaging even it if sometimes feels meandering and indulgent. It also taps into sharply resonant themes using a range of interconnected mothers, fathers, daughters, sons and lovers. And it finds truth in contradictions.

A Hero
dir-scr Asghar Farhadi; with Amir Jadidi, Sahar Goldust 21/Irn ****
Iranian master Asghar Farhadi continues to take a nuanced approach toward morality with this striking drama about justice. It's a hugely involving story that quickly gets under the skin, then takes a series of twists and turns that challenge perceptions of the characters and situations. In his usual earthy, unflashy style, Farhadi makes bold comments about how difficult it is to do the right thing in an unfair society.

Luzzu
dir-scr Alex Camilleri; with Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia 21/Mlt ****
The title of this Maltese film is a type of traditional fishing boat locals use to maintain traditions. Writer-director Alex Camilleri creates a documentary-style realism that's instantly involving, following earthy, likeable people through everyday highs and lows. This is captured with a sharp eye by cinematographer Leo Lefevre, both in the sun-drenched seaside scenes and some colourful nighttime sequences. And the complex narrative takes a series of unpredictable turns... FULL REVIEW >

Natural Light
dir-scr Denes Nagy; with Ferenc Szabo, Laszlo Bajko 21/Hun ***.
With a documentary approach to realism and minimal dialog, this gritty World War II drama relies on the moral dilemmas faced by a central character who gives little away to the audience. Writer-director Denes Nagy creates beautiful imagery in a cold, muddy place while exploring complexities of wartime interaction. So its slow pace is strikingly involving, although the icy approach to emotion leaves it more academic than moving... FULL REVIEW >

Full reviews of festival films will be published as possible and linked at Shadows' LFF HOMEPAGE 
For full information, visit BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL