Technically exceptional but overlong and somewhat meandering, this Vietnamese Cannes Camera d’Or-winning work takes a leaf out of Weerasethakul’s slow cinema playbook, as a man must process and reflect on loss after an unexpected death in the family.
Xenophobia is fought gallantly through empathy and solidarity with the marginalised as Syrian refugees find new homes in Northeast England, in Loach’s exceptional and emotionally-stirring swansong.
The hopes of transcending their abject youth emanate from the trio of well-realised characters in Chen’s assured fourth feature, set and shot in far-flung Northeast China.
A confident debut feature as this poignant drama about two Korean childhood sweethearts who meet again as adults in New York will likely work the tearducts.
A more wistful film than usual by Anderson, who is back in fine form as we enter the world of a fictional play populated by a range of eccentric characters.
A sensitively-drawn debut feature about a trans-child who must navigate burgeoning notions of gender identity amid confusing signals sent by her family, shot in a naturalistic style befitting the very nature of self-discovery.
This could be Nolan’s greatest achievement so far—a stunning biopic imagined as a complex, time-ticking paranoia thriller as the sheer burden of scientific progress meets the retroactive traumatic weight of 20th-century history.
Fun, wacky and occasionally surprising, Gerwig’s candy-coloured third solo feature tries to say something about the perils of gender oppression and excessive commodification with moderate success.
Intentionally shot out of focus, Hong’s impressionistic and ‘painterly’ new work about an actor-turned-director in search of an idea to shoot a short film doesn’t always work, but its meta-filmic final act is sublime.
Tom Cruise, the consummate entertainer, once again shows us why he’s Hollywood’s last action hero in this penultimate M:I outing that is somewhat bogged down by plotting that is way too reliant on its airy-fairy MacGuffin.
Eternality Tan 