Critical Week: Signature move

Awards season is in full swing now that the actors strike has ended, and I've had a couple of nice Q&A screenings this week (see Insta for pics). Big year-end movies are beginning to appear too. Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Jeremy Allen White, Lily James and writer-director Sean Durkin came along to present The Iron Claw, their astonishingly involving, powerfully moving true drama about a family of wrestlers. And Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby and Ridley Scott were on the red carpet for the Leicester Square premiere of Napoleon, a first-rate epic biopic about the French leader that looks properly amazing on the biggest screen possible. 

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Rustin • Saltburn
May December
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Meanwhile, Colman Domingo is excellent in the biopic Rustin, about the unsung Civil Rights organiser. Alexander Payne's The Holdovers is a 1970s-style wintry delight starring Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick are fierce in the harrowing Aussie Outback thriller The Royal Hotel. Taika Waititi's true-life comedy Next Goal Wins is a gently witty story about the world's worst football team, starring Michael Fassbender. Jesse Eisenberg turns into a meathead for Manodrome, a very dark drama that doesn't always work but gets us thinking. From New Zealand, the drama Punch is thoughtful and moving. Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron is even more spectacular than expected. Godzilla Minus One is a beefy prequel set in post-war Japan. The doc American Symphony finds surprising emotion while following Jon Batiste as he composes an orchestral piece. And the Powell and Pressburger classic The Red Shoes is even more dazzling in a new restoration. I also caught up with this one...

Dance First
dir James Marsh; with Gabriel Byrne, Fionn O'Shea 23/UK ***
While director James Marsh adds considerable visual flourish to this imaginative biopic about Samuel Beckett, there's a nagging feeling that the story is incomplete, as if it is skipping across the surface of a darkly complex figure. So while the script and performances add nuance in the characters and relationships, everything feels eerily out of reach. Thankfully, superb performances as Beckett from Gabriel Byrne and especially Fionn O'Shea give the film layers of insight and context. 

Films this coming week include Disney's new animated feature Wish, Michael Mann's Ferrari, Tilda Swinton in The Eternal Daughter (a full 15 months after I missed the screening in Venice!), Mexican thriller Lost in the Night, Australian drama A Stitch in Time, deep-fake doc Another Body and arthouse cinema doc Scala!!!, plus LoveTrain at Sadler's Wells and Connor Burns: Vertigo at Soho Theatre.

Sundance London: See the world

The Sundance Film Festival London continues today with an event about the ethics of documentary filmmaking and a special screening of Visconti's classic Death in Venice, which is of course the subject of the festival doc The Most Beautiful Boy in the World. This is a busy, short blast of a festival, and many of these films will never see a big screen in Britain again, so it's worth the effort to get down to Picturehouse Central or some of the other venues that are hosting screenings and events. 

Cryptozoo
dir-scr Dash Shaw; voices Lake Bell, Michael Cera 21/US ***
Essentially Jurassic Park with fantastical creatures, this energetic animated romp is made by various artists in their distinct styles, then inventively stitched together on-screen. There's a wildly original mix of imagery, all beautifully hand-drawn from sketches and line art to vividly detailed colour illustrations. Writer-director Dash Shaw's story may not be terribly complex, but it's loaded with deeper themes and properly grown-up touches that will win it a following.

The Nest 
dir-scr Sean Durkin; with Jude Law, Carrie Coon 20/UK ***.
Earthy and intriguing, this intensely personal drama has a terrific balance of humour and darkness, keeping the audience on edge with a subtle sense of foreboding. Writer-director Sean Durkin is determined to subvert expectations, carefully guiding the point of view to deepen the characters in unexpected directions, mirroring the misdirection that fills each person's life. And even if the film meanders a bit, the cast relishes the sharp dialog... FULL REVIEW >

Human Factors 
dir-scr Ronny Trocker; with Mark Waschke, Sabine Timoteo 21/Ger **.
There's an intentionality to this dark German drama that holds the interest, even if writer-director Ronny Trocker keeps everything far too enigmatic to properly connect with the audience. But then this is a film about disconnection, as a family is quietly pulled apart by a series of misunderstandings, clashing personalities and unnervingly insidious betrayals, some of which are unconscious. Still, letting the viewer in would have helped a lot.

Pleasure 
dir-scr Ninja Thyberg; with Sofia Kappel, Revika Anne Reustle 21/Swe ***
There's a bold point at the centre of this Swedish drama set in the Los Angeles porn industry: that even women who are intentional about becoming adult movie stars are still being exploited and often abused by men. Filmmaker Ninja Thyberg says this through virtually each scene in this compelling but repetitive story. It's finely acted and shot with a riveting point of view. But it never feels personal.

• For more festival information: PICTUREHOUSE: SUNDANCE
• Visit Shadows on the Wall's anchor page for SUNDANCE LONDON for links to all reviews.