Critical Week: Let's talk about love

Screenings are few and far between at the moment, with most smaller releases running scared from the single big movie that's either coming out this week or is still dominating the box office. But there are still some good things out there - both in cinemas and on streaming services - even as the blockbusters have been merely ok so far this summer. One of the most endearing films of the year is Billy Porter's comedy-drama Anything's Possible, a teen romance that's packed with heart and just enough realistic edge. And the newcomer leads, Eva Reign and Abubakr Ali (above), are terrific. Meanwhile, this week's big release is the animated DC League of Super-Pets, a comically entertaining adventure packed with genuinely smart gags delivered by a scene-stealing vocal cast, even if the superhero formula feels as stale as ever.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Hit the Road • Sharp Stick
Ali & Ava • Hypochondriac
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More intriguing was The Score, an inventive genre mashup starring the terrific Will Poulter, Naomi Ackie and Johnny Flynn that features romance, comedy, violence and musical numbers. Juliette Binoche stars in master filmmaker Claire Denis' Both Sides of the Blade, a boldly complex French drama about relationships and regret. And the horror thriller Hypochondriac finds some original, and deeply unsettling, things to say about mental illness while properly freaking us out.

Screenings remain thin next week, but I'll be watching Brad Pitt in Bullet Train, Charlotte Rampling in Juniper, the Predator spin-off Prey, the animated adventure Luck and the refugee doc Fadia's Tree.

LFF: Find inspiration

More disappointment today, as long queues meant that I missed another film's press screening. The BFI is putting on about 300 seats for more than 2000 accredited journalists, so even arriving an hour early isn't a guarantee of getting in. It certainly makes properly covering their festival almost impossible. But we critics forge ahead, see what we can see, and work around the system by speaking to distributors about seeing their films in another way. Maybe next year I'll save the accreditation fee and simply stop standing in queues all day! In the meantime, there are great movies to see...

The Souvenir Part II
dir-scr Joanna Hogg; with Honor Swinton Byrne, Tilda Swinton 21/UK ****
Incisive filmmaker Joanna Hogg continues to mine her own backstory in this astonishing sequel to 2019's The Souvenir. It continues the narrative in the same short, sharp scenes, but expands to be funnier, darker and much more boldly inventive. And since much of it takes place on a movie set, it features some gorgeously surreal touches as well, all while maintaining that middle-class effort to bury anything unpleasant... FULL REVIEW >

Encounter
dir Michael Pearce; with Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer 21/US ***
An inventive visual approach and strong performances make this somewhat under-plotted thriller far more involving than it should be. Filmmaker Michael Pearce wisely hones in on the complex characters rather than the standard action story points, which have an odd flattening effect on the film's more intriguingly ambiguous elements. But it looks terrific, especially in the clever ways it nods to classic alien invasion adventures.

Titane
winner: Cannes Palme d'Or
dir-scr Julia Ducournau; with Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle 21/Fr ***.
An intense, Cronenberg-style provocation, this French odyssey pushes several buttons in its bracingly complex depictions of female empowerment and toxic masculinity, and vice versa. It's relentlessly pungent, as filmmaker Julia Ducournau challenges the audience to invest in the characters and consider seemingly random things that are happening in the context of a much bigger picture. It's too scattered and loose to narrow its target, but thoughts it raises are haunting... FULL REVIEW >

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
winner: Berlin Golden Bear
dir-scr Radu Jude; with Katia Pascariu, Claudia Ieremia 21/Rom ****
Fiendishly clever and endlessly provocative as it explores the messiness of humanity at this point in history, this satirical Romanian comedy starts with an explicit sex tape then proceeds to unpack and then challenge our reactions to it. Writer-director Rade Jude's approach is endlessly playful and also very pointed, rummaging around in culture and history while allowing a wide range of opinions to surge within the narrative... 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