Young Ahmed review - jihadist drama misses the mark

★★★ YOUNG AHMED  Jihadist drama misses the mark

Cannes Best Director-winner has its moments, but focuses on the wrong parts

Belgian filmmaking duo the Dardenne Brothers have long been darlings of Cannes Film Festival, winning awards for hardhitting dramas like La Promesse, Le Silence de Lorna and The Kid with the Bike. Their latest offering Young Ahmed is no different, a domestic terrorist tale which won them Best Director at 2019’s festival.

Finding The Way Back review - alcoholism on the rebound

★★★★ FINDING THE WAY BACK Alcoholism on the rebound

Ben Affleck delivers a great comeback performance as a recovering alcoholic

Gavin O’Connor has made a career out of sturdy films that make grown men cry. His best was Warrior - a hulking, tear-jerking tale of male fragility and addiction. His latest Finding The Way Back is a potent, raw drama that explores similar terrain and reunites him with Ben Affleck (they last worked together on The Accountant).

Fanny Lye Deliver’d review - blistering English civil war western

★★★★ FANNY LYE DELIVER'D Blistering English civil war western

Thomas Clay delivers a potent pastoral drama by way of a house-invasion horror

Ten years in the making, Thomas Clays third feature, starring Charles Dance and Maxine Peake, is a remarkable and potent example of genre-splicing British independent filmmaking. 

The Luminaries, BBC One review - one of the most visually arresting dramas of the year

★★★★ THE LUMINARIES, BBC ONE One of the year's most visually arresting dramas

Based on the Booker Prize-winning novel, this new big budget murder mystery sparkles and shines

Alarm bells start ringing whenever you discover an author is adapting their own work for a screenplay. In the case of New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton, the alarm proves to be false. 

The King of Staten Island review - Apatow's best work in a decade

★★★★ THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND Apatow's best work in a decade

Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson are a winning combination

The master of crowd-pleasing comedy, Judd Apatow, returns with another on-brand tale of arrested development with The King of Staten Island. While it's near his signature anarchic charm, this comedy-drama shows that even a veteran director/writer/producer like Apatow has room for growth.