Though it might easily have been twee, the young leads are fresh and natural, unintimidated by the symbolism, whilst Huston brings an unnerving edge to his pleasingly complex character.
A 17-year-old girl from Belize finds herself mysteriously pregnant. We find her walking, following the north star to safety across the US/Mexican border. She’s escaping a deadly virus and being chased by the right-hand man of the devil, Baal.
At times this documentary risks becoming too obvious; at others, Lane's sharp eye for the mistakes people make in assuming things to be obvious is what makes it work.
A look at the intersection of religion and activism, tracing the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple is calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?
Hairspray is a sincere, thoroughly entertaining romp; bursting with boundless energy, inventive choreography and performances that quite simply delight.
A big-budget remake of the John Waters classic, with a teenage hair hopper rebel becoming a star even without a dainty figure.
Moving back and forth between these groups allows the narrative to evolve in a way that takes different perspectives into account without setting them against one another.
The last New Zealand War happened in 1979. It lasted three minutes. This documentary tells the story.
Ashby's daughter Leigh MacManus is one of the few contributors to offer an off-set perspective of the man - and it comes with a poignancy and beat of heartfelt truth that is lacking elsewhere.
By looking at what would lie outside of the traditional framework of most documentaries, Ross builds a much more absorbing picture of people fully embedded within an environment.
An exploration of coming-of-age in the Black Belt of the American South.
Aaron's performance is beautifully judged: quiet, unobtrusive but absorbing.
A recently released convict finds himself trapped between his urban criminal past and his new life on probation as the only black man in a conservative white Wisconsin farming town.
There's a generosity of spirit here that is increasingly a feature of teenage dramas as writers and directors move away from stereotypes to more complex characters.
A shy Chinese-American straight-A student finds herself helping the school jock woo the girl they both secretly love.
Hallowarrior stands out for its well drawn central characters and the capable performances of its leads.
Desperate for companionship on a post apocalyptic Halloween night, the last girl on Earth gets more than she bargained for, when something far more sinister arrives on her doorstep.
Hallow Road is an Irish co-production, and it shows both in theme and in quality.
Two parents enter a race against time when they receive a distressing late-night phone call from their daughter after she caused a tragic car accident.
The film works wonderfully as an introduction to this important fashion designer for those who never heard of him or connected his name to Seventies minimalist style.
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America's first superstar designer uncovers the cautionary tale of an artist who sold his name to Wall Street.
Once the story begins to hurtle along towards its conclusion, much of its early cheapness is forgotten.
The novel writer Dashiell Hammett is involved in the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful chinese cabaret actress in San Francisco.
Predictable and embarrassing, despite a cast that deserves better,
An older man, known as The Tramp, who lives in a homemade shack in North London woods attracts support and something more from a lonely widow and a bunch of protesters when he is ordered to leave.
The score draws on the kind of timeless English melodies one might expect to hear in a Ben Wheatley or Robin Hardy film, and those white dresses begin to take on overtones of sacrifice.
A bizarre rite of passage at the local deli determines the fate of a generation of teenagers, leading some to escape their suburban town and dooming others to remain.
Hvistendahl and her cast have a very strong sense of the emotional weight of the piece.
On a hot summer day in Oslo, the newly dead awaken. Three families faced with loss try to figure out what this resurrection means and if their loved ones really are back.
Al Daradji has a way of making the usual meanings of things slip from their moorings.
When a young Iraqi rubbish picker rescues an American sex doll from the Baghdad dumps, he crosses into a perilous red zone, where friends become enemies and nothing is certain.
Elegantly constructed and shot with the same apparent carelessness which turns out to be something much cleverer, Hannah And Her Sisters is a film which will take you by surprise.
A portrait of the secret turmoil and complicated lives and loves of an extended family in New York. On re-release.
Diwan lets the cold hard facts trickle in as weeks are marked off at the bottom of the screen.
France, 1963. Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. But when she falls pregnant, she sees the opportunity to finish her studies and escape the constraints of her social background disappearing.
Todd Solondz's investigation into the suburban psyche is so disturbing, it's funny, although when humour slides into the realms of nightmare, laughs congeal in the throat.
A thoughtful, shrewd examination of the impact of rapidly developing technologies.
Best friends Yuta and Kou are on the brink of graduating from high school in a near-future Tokyo where the threat of a catastrophic earthquake casts a shadow over daily life.
While bringing home the injustice of life for Toha, Goher treads a careful line so as not to turn the adults into cartoonish 'bad guys', which makes the situation all the more upsetting.
An eight-year-old maid gradually discovers her place in the pecking order on the day of her friend's birthday.
This film isn't really doing anything new but it's a solid reflection on a set of experiences that affect millions yet are significantly under-represented onscreen.
Two generations of a Korean American family struggle to understand one another as their dry cleaning business struggles to survive.
