France
Despite some real imaginative sequences, which are illuminated by excellent production design and great costume choices, See You Up There’s lacklustre style isn’t consistent, never quite reaching the heights that the absurd tale requires.
Whilst there are some scenes in 12 Days that make you wonder what director Raymond Depardon is trying to say, for the most part his documentary is an engaging exploration into the lives of people at the very edge of society, filmed with warmth, humour and humanity.
Double Lover is a loving and surprisingly artful homage to the genre’s masters, equal parts a silly and stylish trashy erotic thriller with enough twists and turns to delight any mainstream audiences.
If you enjoy French cinema, Lover For a Day won’t disappoint you: with its black and white picture, the dramatic, intricate, sensual love story, and its earnest dialogue that comes across even sweeter to English speakers, this movie is a must-see.
From France, Nocturama is an unusual film about disillusioned teenagers that commit an act of terrorism; unsurprisingly, it provides no easy answers.
From 2008, French film A Christmas Tale offers a different type of holiday film – one that is melancholy, depressing, and yet also intriguing.
Félicité contains some of the most powerful moments of any movie this year, yet never quite amounts to the sum of its impressive parts.
The fascinating documentary School of Babel focuses on a group of diverse students settling into a new life in France.
In this in-depth analysis of Julia Ducournau’s Raw, Sophia touches on themes of sexuality, biblical references, and BDSM, among others.
In Between is a compelling study of Arab women in today’s Tel Aviv that’s delightful and eye-opening in equal measure.
My Life as a Courgette is animation at its very best, providing heart and thought-provoking ideas amidst a backdrop of eye-popping beauty.
Thirst Street may be deficient in the character department but it more than makes up for it with its stylishly vivid visuals.
Though visually enticing, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is bogged down by a bloated script and poorly written characters.
In the Shadow of Women is alluring in its presentation, but ultimately doesn’t have much to say about infidelity and relationships.
After Love thrusts you into the middle of a domestic war zone. Thanks to the claustrophobia and heightened tension, there are very few moments in the film that aren’t fraught with emotion; whether it be fury, devastation, or even, on occasion, love (or at least what’s left of it).