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Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival · 2018

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2018

Panorama

Programme

44 films · 21 reviews

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3 Days In Quiberon (3 Tage in Quiberon)

Dramatisations of Romy Scheider's last two interviews with journalists.

(Country: Germany, Austria, France; Year: 2018; Director: Emily Atef; Writer: Emily Atef; Stars: Marie Bäumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hübner, Robert Gwisdek, Denis Lavant)

All Is Well (Alles Ist Gut, All Good)

Review preview for All Is Well

Trobisch lets the normality bite.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman keeps silent after a rape.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Eva Trobisch; Writer: Eva Trobisch; Stars: Aenne Schwarz, Andreas Döhler, Hans Löw, Tilo Nest, Lina Wendel, Lisa Hagmeister, Dagny Dewath, Thomas Gräßle, Annika Blendl, Doris Buchrucker, Hildegard Faust-Albrecht, Vera Flück, Marc-Philipp Kochendörfer, Valentina Kühnel, Hermann Linnenbrink)

Full review

Angel (Une Ange)

Fae is a Senegalese sex worker. Thierry is a world-renowned Belgian racing cyclist. Their paths cross.

(Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Senegal; Year: 2018; Director: Koen Mortier; Writer: Koen Mortier, Dimitri Verhulst; Stars: Vincent Rottiers, Fatou N'Diaye, Paul Bartel, Katrien Goossens, Ronnie Kreeft, Aïcha Cissé, Ba Mentor, Lieven Noterman Nancy Debuy, Makhtar Diop, Kilifeu, Mouhamadou Diarra, Ndiaga Mbow, Rokhaya Niang, Eric Berlito, Dieynanba Janie Ndione)

Anna's War (Voyna Anny)

Review preview for Anna's War

Aleksey Fedorchenko isn't the first to try to come at the horrors of the Holocaust from a fresh perspective - although the narrow outlook he adopts here also ends up limiting how much he is able to say.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A little girl survives a Nazi mass execution and hides in the disused chimney and struggles to survive.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Aleksey Fedorchenko; Writer: Aleksey Fedorchenko, Nataliya Meshchaninova; Stars: Marta Kozlova, Ilya Belov, Sergey Fedorov, Konstantin Itunin, Yekaterina Sokolova, Aleksandr Vakhov, Lyubov Vorozhtsova, Marta Kozlova, Ilya Belov, Sergey Fedorov, Konstantin Itunin, Yekaterina Sokolova, Aleksandr Vakhov, Lyubov Vorozhtsova)

Full review

An Unexpected Love

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2018; Director: Juan Vera; Writer: Daniel Cúparo, Juan Vera; Stars: Ricardo Darín, Mercedes Morán, Claudia Fontán, Luis Rubio, Andrea Pietra, Jean Pierre Noher, Claudia Lapacó, Chico Novarro, Gabriel Corrado, Andrea Politti, Norman Briski, Juan Minujín, Andres Gil, Ricardo Darín, Mercedes Morán)

And Breathe Normally

At the edge of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, two women’s lives will intersect – for a brief moment – while trapped in circumstances unforeseen. Between a struggling Icelandic mother and an asylum seeker from Guinea-Bissau, a delicate bond will form as both strategise to get their lives back on track.

(Country: Iceland, Sweden, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Ísold Uggadóttir; Stars: Kristín Thóra Haraldsdóttir, Babetida Sadjo, Patrik Nökkvi Pétursson)

Butterflies (Kelebekler)

Review preview for Butterflies

Turkish director Tolga Karaçelik shows a fine ear for family dynamics as well as a joyously off-the-wall sense of humour that ensures even though we've taken similar movie road trips in the past, this one feels fresh.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Three estranged siblings travel back to their home village after a call from their father.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2018; Director: Tolga Karaçelik; Writer: Tolga Karaçelik; Stars: Ezgi Mola, Serkan Keskin, Bartu Küçükçaglayan, Ercan Kesal, Tolga Tekin, Hakan Karsak, Tugce Altug)

Full review

The Candidate (El Reino, The Realm)

Review preview for The Candidate

The writers start from a place where the screw is already turned and, just when you think they can't get it any tighter, find new ways to increase the tension - matching their torque with action.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Manuel, an influential deputy secretary of an regional government who has everything going his way, finds himself fighting for survival when news of his involvement in a corruption ring leaks out.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Writer: Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen; Stars: Antonio de la Torre, Mónica López, Josep Maria Pou, Nacho Fresneda, Ana Wagener, Bárbara Lennie, Luis Zahera, Francisco Reyes, María de Nati, Paco Revilla, Sonia Almarcha, David Lorente, Óscar de la Fuente, Mona Martínez, Pepe Ocio)

Full review

Capernaum (Capharnaüm)

Review preview for Capernaum

You might notice the elegance of composition while knowing that the place contains so much human suffering.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
A child rebels against the life imposed upon him.

(Country: Lebanon, US; Year: 2018; Director: Nadine Labaki; Writer: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Keserwany, Georges Khabbaz, Khaled Mouzanar; Stars: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al Haddad, Fadi Yousef, Haita 'Cedra' Izzam, Alaa Chouchnieh, Nadine Labaki, Elias Khoury, Nour El Husseini, Joseph Jimbazian, Samira Chalhoub, Farah Hasno, Joe Maalouf, Alexandre Youakim)

Full review See: Interview with Nadine Labaki about the lives in Capernaum (Capharnaüm)

Core Of The World (Serdtse Mira)

A vet finds his life's fragile balance crumbling after animal rights activists arrive at his place of work.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Natalia Meschaninova; Writer: Natalia Meschaninova; Stars: Stepan Devonin, Dmitriy Podnozov, Jana Sekste)

Crystal Swan

Young Evelina has a law degree, but her dream is to travel to the USA and earn a living as a professional DJ. But it’s 1997 and the girl is living in post-Soviet Minsk…

(Country: Belarus, US, Germany, Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Darya Zhuk; Stars: Alina Nasibullina, Ivan Mulin, Anastasia Garvey, Ilya Kapanets, Yury Borisov, Lyudmila Razumova, Svetlana Anikey, Natalya Onishenko, Vyacheslav Shakalido, Alina Nasibullina, Ivan Mulin, Anastasia Garvey, Ilya Kapanets, Yury Borisov, Lyudmila Razumova)

Dead Women Walking

Nine vignettes depict the stages leading to execution for women on death row.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Hagar Ben-Asher; Writer: Hagar Ben-Asher; Stars: Crystal Bush, Colleen Camp, Lynn Collins, Dale Dickey, Logan Johnson, Dot-Marie Jones, Joy Nash, Jeryl Prescott, Maya Lynne Robinson, Bess Rous, Ashton Sanders, Crystal Bush, Colleen Camp, Lynn Collins, Dale Dickey)

Erik & Erika (Erik And Erika)

The true story of Erik Schinegger, women’s world champion skier. Declared female at birth and raised as a girl, until a newly-introduced gene test proves that he is genetically male.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Reinhold Bilgeri; Writer: Dirk Kämper; Stars: Ulrike Beimpold, Christoph Bittenauer, Nives Bogad, Sarah Born, Hans-Maria Darnov, Lili Epply, Markus Freistätter, Victoria Hauer, Gerhard Liebmann, Birgit Melcher, Cornelius Obonya, Anna Posch, August Schmölzer, Harald Schrott, Marianne Sägebrecht)

Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben)

Review preview for Everybody Knows

While Farhadi certainly knows how to spin a web of intrigue, deceit and suspicion, the narrative has a tendency to leap from strand to strand, often leaving the audience stumbling in its wake.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
Secrets resurface after a woman returns to her family's village for a wedding.

(Country: Spain, France, Italy; Year: 2018; Director: Asghar Farhadi; Writer: Asghar Farhadi; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Bárbara Lennie, Ricardo Darín, Jaime Lorente, Carla Campra, Inma Cuesta, Eduard Fernández, Elvira Mínguez, Sara Sálamo, Roger Casamajor, Ramón Barea, Sergio Castellanos, Marianella Rojas, Penélope Cruz)

Full review See: Interview with Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Asghar Farhadi about Everybody Knows

The Extraordinary Journey Of Celeste Garcia (El viaje extraordinario de Celeste García)

An ex-schoolteacher looking for a life change, signs up to leave Earth with a group of aliens.

(Country: Cuba, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Arturo Infante; Writer: Arturo Infante; Stars: María Isabel Díaz, Omar Franco, Néstor Jiménez, Yerlín Pérez, Tamara Castellanos, Veronica Diaz, Roberto Espinosa, Reinier Díaz, Andrea Doimeadiós, Beatriz Viña, María Isabel Díaz, Omar Franco, Néstor Jiménez, Yerlín Pérez, Tamara Castellanos)

The Favourite

Review preview for The Favourite

The dialogue is irreverent and sharp like a raven's claw.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
Two of Queen Anne's acolytes jockey for position.

(Country: Ireland, United Kingdom, United States; Year: 2018; Director: Yorgos Lanthimos; Writer: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara; Stars: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss, Timothy Innes, John Locke, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Jenny Rainsford, James Smith, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte, Basil Eidenbenz, James Melville, Jack Veal)

Full review See: Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Olivia Colman, Joe Alwyn, and Tony McNamara in conversation on The Favourite , Venice 2018: First Man, Peterloo, The Favourite, Roma, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs and Suspiria

Friend (Rafiki)

Review preview for Friend

Touching and brave.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
When they fall in love, two girls from rival families must choose between being together and being safe.

(Country: Kenya, South Africa; Year: 2018; Director: Wanuri Kahiu; Writer: Jenna Cato Bass, Wanuri Kahiu; Stars: Patricia Amira, Muthoni Gathecha, Jimmy Gathu, Nice Githinji, Charlie Karumi, Patricia Kihoro)

Full review

The Gentle Indifference Of The World

After her father’s untimely death, Saltanat is forced to trade her idyllic countryside life for the cruel city... and she is followed by her loyal but penniless admirer.

(Country: Kazakhstan, France; Year: 2018; Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov; Writer: Roelof Jan Minneboo, Adilkhan Yerzhanov)

The Good Girls (Las Ninas Bien)

Mexico City 1982. Affluent and arrogant, queen bee Sofia rules over the city’s social elite–until the family business falls victim to the national economic crisis... but how far will she go to retain her status.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Writer: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Stars: Ilse Salas, Flavio Medina, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Paulina Gaitan, Johanna Murillo, Jimena Guerra, Ana José Aldrete, Pablo Chemor, Claudia Lobo, Diego Jáuregui, Daniel Haddad, Rebecca de Alba, Nicolas Andreu, Alfonso Borbolla, Alejandro Caballero)

Green Book

Review preview for Green Book

Mortensen has gained weight. He plays Tony with confidence.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
An Italian-American is hired as a driver for a world-class black pianist on a concert tour of the Deep South.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Peter Farrelly; Writer: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly; Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Don Stark, PJ Byrne, Craig DiFrancia, Sebastian Maniscalco, Brian Stepanek, Nick Vallelonga, Daniel Greene, Iqbal Theba, Jenna Laurenzo, Joe Cortese, Tracy Brotherton, Martin Bats Bradford, Tom Virtue, Linda Cardellini)

Full review See: Craig DiFrancia in conversation on The Irishman, The Sound Of Philadelphia and Green Book , Viggo Mortensen on preparing for Green Book

Gundermann

Story of a construction worker turned singer-songwriter in the German Democratic Republic

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Andreas Dresen; Writer: Laila Stieler; Stars: Bjarne Mädel, Alexander Scheer, Milan Peschel, Peter Schneider, Axel Prahl, Thorsten Merten, Alexander Schubert, Anna Unterberger, Peter Sodann, Christian Skibinski, Leni Wesselman, Alexander Hörbe, Hilmar Eichhorn, Peter Rappenglück, Benjamin Kramme)

The Heiresses (Las Herederas)

Review preview for The Heiresses

This film displays a deftness of touch.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
When Chiquita is sent to prison for debt, her introverted girlfriend Chela is left to her own devices. Chela offers rich women a taxi service in her old car. As she explores the outside world she also starts to focus on her own desires.

(Country: Paraguay, Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, Norway; Year: 2018; Director: Marcelo Martinessi; Writer: Marcelo Martinessi; Stars: Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova, Nilda Gonzalez, María Martins)

Full review See: Marcello Martinessi on cultural conservatism and filmmaking honesty in The Heiresses

In The Aisles (In Den Gangen)

Christian is new to the warehouse. He falls in love with Marion, but she’s married. Magical realism in the east German provinces.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Thomas Stuber; Writer: Clemens Meyer, Thomas Stuber; Stars: Franz Rogowski, Sandra Hüller, Peter Kurth, Andreas Leupold, Michael Specht)

"I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians" ("Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari")

A young artist is planning to reconstruct a historical event from 1941, during which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.

(Country: Czech Republic, France, Bulgaria, Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Radu Jude)

Lysis

Review preview for Lysis

The improvised nature of the script also works in its favour, with the unpredictability for the actors themselves translating to tension on the screen.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A father takes his estranged son on a rafting trip into the wilderness that suddenly turns into a struggle for survival.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Rick Ostermann; Writer: Rick Ostermann; Stars: Oliver Masucci, Louis Hofmann)

Full review

The Man Who Surprised Everyone (Tchelovek Kotorij Udivil Vseh)

Review preview for The Man Who Surprised Everyone

All the more powerful because of its deep roots in myth.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
When a man discovers he has cancer, he tries to trick death. As a disguise, he chooses to take the identity of a woman.

(Country: Russia, Estonia, France; Year: 2018; Director: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov; Writer: Natasha Merkulova, Aleksey Chupov; Stars: Evgeniy Tsiganov, Natalya Kudryashowa)

Full review

Mothers' Instinct (Duelles)

A neighbourhood friendship descends into paranoia after a tragic accident.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2018; Director: Olivier Masset-Depasse; Stars: Jules Lefebvres, Luan Adam, Veerle Baetens, Anne Coesens, Mehdi Nebbou, Arieh Worthalter, Jules Lefebvres, Luan Adam, Veerle Baetens, Anne Coesens, Mehdi Nebbou, Arieh Worthalter)

The Perfect Ones (Bez menya)

When two women who loved the same man get texts from him after his death, they find themselves on a road trip to unravel a mystery.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Kirill Pletnyov; Writer: Darya Gratsevich; Stars: Lyubov Aksyonova, Yuriy Bigulov, Irina Chipizhenko, Evgeniya Dmitrieva, Roman Evdokimov, Ekaterina Gudina, Darya Gushchina, Anna Kamenkova, Vladislav Kaptur, Seseg Khapsasova, Polina Maksimova, Rinal Mukhametov, Aleksandr Oblasov, Aleksandr Pechenin, Kirill Pletnyov)

The Rib

Trans woman Huang Yi braves coming out to her patronising male roommate and her devoutly Catholic father, whose signature she needs for male-to-female surgery.

(Country: China; Year: 2018; Director: Wei Zhang; Writer: Ruirui Chen, Hao Meng, He Zhang, Marlo Bernier, Amory Hui, Ye Qin, Dan Li, Xuejun Wu; Stars: Jingyi Huang, Weijie Yuan, Deng Gao, Hao Meng)

European premiere

Richard Says Goodbye

When a college professor discovers he is dying, he decides to completely change his life.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Wayne Roberts; Writer: Wayne Roberts; Stars: Johnny Depp, Zoey Deutch, Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, Danny Huston, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Farrah Aviva, Odessa Young, Kaitlyn Bernard, Matreya Scarrwener, Keith MacKechnie, Katherine Evans, Linda Emond, Debbie Podowski)

Spitak

A man returns to his Armenian hometown after a devastating earthquake to search for his family.

(Country: Armenia, Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Aleksandr Kott; Writer: Marina Sochinskaya; Stars: Mkhitar Avetisyan, Martun Ghevondyan, Lernik Harutyunyan, Joséphine Japy, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Arthur Manukyan, Olivier Pagès, Alexandra Politic, Konstantin Poyarkin, Hermine Stepanyan, Oleg Vasilkov)

Styx

Review preview for Styx

There's a strong sense of isolation from the start in Fisher's film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A storm in the middle of the ocean, a boat full of refugees that is about to sink and a woman all by herself...

(Country: Germany, Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Wolfgang Fischer; Writer: Wolfgang Fischer, Ika Künzel; Stars: Susanne Wolff, Gedion Oduor Wekesa, Alexander Beyer, Inga Birkenfeld, Anika Menger, Susanne Wolff, Gedion Oduor Wekesa, Alexander Beyer, Inga Birkenfeld, Anika Menger)

Full review See: Susanne Wolff and Wolfgang Fischer ‪in conversation on‬ her performance, cinematographer Benedict Neuenfels, recording the sound for Styx and Charles Darwin , Susanne Wolff and Wolfgang Fischer ‪in conversation on‬ the high seas and shooting Styx

Sunset (Napszállta)

Review preview for Sunset

Sunset while resisting the digital, flings us into a dreamworld where nostalgia for the past is twin to premonition of our future.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A young wannabe milliner in Budapest meets a man connected to her past and begins to uncover family secrets.

(Country: Hungary, France; Year: 2018; Director: László Nemes; Writer: László Nemes, Clara Royer, Matthieu Taponier; Stars: Vlad Ivanov, Susanne Wuest, Juli Jakab, Judit Bárdos, Levente Molnár, Evelin Dobos, Urs Rechn, Mónika Balsai, Björn Freiberg, Uwe Lauer, János Kulka, Sándor Zsótér, Mihály Kormos, Dusán Vitanovics, Laurent Winkler)

Full review See: ‪László Nemes in conversation on fairy tales, Murnau's Sunrise, archaic imagery, and resonances beyond Sunset (Napszállta) , László Nemes in conversation on TS Eliot, caves of darkness, the innocent and ominous in Sunset (Napszállta) , Venice 2018: The Sisters Brothers, Sunset, Non-Fiction, The Mountain, Dragged Across Concrete, Charlie Say and Vox Lux

Tel Aviv On Fire

Review preview for Tel Aviv On Fire

Zoabi uses farcical comedy as his warm-hearted messenger, presenting his argument with a disarming hug and a surprising dash of romance.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Salam, an inexperienced young Palestinian man, becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier, but trouble brews when soldier and the show's backers disagree about how the it should end.

(Country: Luxembourg, Belgium, Israel, France; Year: 2018; Director: Sameh Zoabi; Writer: Dan Kleinman, Sameh Zoabi; Stars: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadim Sawalha, Salim Dau, Yousef 'Joe' Sweid, Amer Hlehel, Laëtitia Eïdo, Ashraf Farah, Ula Tabari, Shifi Aloni, Yazan Doubal, Negweny El Assal, Kais Nashif)

Full review See: Director Sameh Zoabi on politics and comedy in Tel Aviv On Fire

The Third Wife

Review preview for The Third Wife

Mayfair treats her scenes of sex and desire with restraint, using juxtaposition to evoke mood.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of a 14-year-old who becomes the third wife of a much older man in 19th Century Vietnam.

(Country: Vietnam; Year: 2018; Director: Ash Mayfair; Writer: Ash Mayfair; Stars: Trần Nữ Yên Khê, Mai Thu Hường, Nguyễn Phương Trà My, Nguyễn Như Quỳnh)

Full review

Van Goghs (Van Gogi)

A lonely but talented artist finds his relationship problems with his father flaring up when he goes to visit. But they are both forced to come to terms with their past.

(Country: Latvia, Russia; Year: 2018; Director: Sergey Livnev; Writer: Sergey Livnev; Stars: Aleksey Serebryakov, Daniel Olbrychski, Elena Koreneva, Polina Agureeva, Natalya Negoda, Aleksandr Sirin, Svetlana Nemolyaeva, Olga Ostroumova, Evgeniy Tkachuk, Saveliy Kudryashov, Yola Sanko, Avangard Leontev, Sergey Dreyden, Anna Kamenkova, Dudu Bauchner)

Wackersdorf

Dramatisation of a 1980s protest against a nuclear reprocessing plant in a small Bavarian community

(Country: Germany; Year: 2018; Director: Oliver Haffner; Writer: Oliver Haffner, Gernot Krää; Stars: August Zirner, Anna Maria Sturm, Marlene Morreis, Johannes Zeiler, Fabian Hinrichs, Thomas Limpinsel, Peter Jordan, Frederic Linkemann, Andreas Nickl, Florian Brückner, Sigi Zimmerschied, Johannes Herrschmann, Monika Manz, Ines Honsel, Katharina Hauter)

International premiere

When The Trees Fall (Koly padayut dereva)

Veering between brutal reality and a surreal fairy-tale world, the stories of three generations of people in the Ukraine unfold. Their lives are marked by sexual desire, aggression and violence.

(Country: Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia; Year: 2018; Director: Marysia Nikitiuk; Writer: Marysia Nikitiuk; Stars: Anastasia Pustovit, Sofia Khalaimova, Maksym Samchyk, Maria Svizhinska, Petro Pastukhov)

Widows

Review preview for Widows

Recent Hollywood heist films - typified by the Ocean's franchise - have been largely concerned with shiny surfaces, gloss and froth but British director Steve McQueen is much more interested in what lies beneath.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Women left in debt by their dead husbands' crimes conspire to pull off a heist.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2018; Director: Steve McQueen; Writer: Gillian Flynn, Steve McQueen, Lynda La Plante; Stars: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Debicki, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Jon Bernthal, Michelle Rodriguez, Robert Duvall, Garret Dillahunt, Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas, Jacki Weaver, Brian Tyree Henry, Kevin J. O'Connor, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo)

Full review

Winter Flies (Všechno bude)

Review preview for Winter Flies

There's a refreshing lack of sentimentality in the way Omerzu captures his duo of protagonists.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Mischievously self-assured Mára and somewhat eccentric Heduš set out into the frozen wastes in search of adventure – by car, naturally. After all, Mára's turning 15 soon.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia; Year: 2018; Director: Olmo Omerzu; Writer: Petr Pýcha; Stars: Tomás Mrvík, Jan Frantisek Uher, Eliska Krenková, Lenka Vlasáková, Martin Pechlát, Tomás Mrvík, Jan Frantisek Uher, Eliska Krenková, Lenka Vlasáková, Martin Pechlát)

Full review

With All My Hypothalamus

The stories of several men are linked by their attraction to a young woman.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2018; Director: Dwein Baltazar; Writer: Dwein Baltazar; Stars: Iana Bernardez, Nicco Manalo, Anthony Falcon, Dylan Ray Talon, Soliman Cruz, Ash Nicanor, Nestor Abrogena Jr., Angely Castroverde, Iana Bernardez, Nicco Manalo, Anthony Falcon, Dylan Ray Talon, Soliman Cruz, Ash Nicanor, Nestor Abrogena Jr.)

Yellow Submarine

Review preview for Yellow Submarine

Written around the songs as it is, the film makes good use of them and they add to rather than distracting from the narrative.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Four Liverpool lads take a trip on a Yellow Submarine to save Pepperland from the Blue Meanies.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 1968; Director: George Dunning; Writer: Lee Minoff, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn, Erich Segal, Roger McGough; Stars: The Beatles, Paul Angelis, John Clive, Dick Emery, Geoffrey Hughes, Lance Percival, Peter Batten, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Beatles, Paul Angelis, John Clive, Dick Emery)

Full review

Yomeddine

Review preview for Yomeddine

Shawky allows his characters to sit firmly in the driving seat.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A Coptic leper and his orphaned apprentice leave the confines of the leper colony for the first time and embark on a journey across Egypt to search for what is left of their families.

(Country: Egypt, US, Austria; Year: 2018; Director: AB Shawky; Writer: AB Shawky; Stars: Rady Gamal, Ahmed Abdelhafiz, Shahira Fahmy)

Full review

Yuli

Review preview for Yuli

It's in dance that the film's strength lies, illustrating, through choreography, Acosta's more abstract - and more negative - emotions, including fear, loneliness and lust.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The true story of Carlos Acosta, a black Cuban dancer who rose from an impoverished childhood to find international acclaim as a ballet dancer with London's Royal Ballet.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Icíar Bollaín; Writer: Paul Laverty; Stars: Edison Manuel Olvera, Mario Elias, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Carlos Acosta, Santiago Alfonso, Andrea Doimeadiós, Laura De la Uz, Carlos Acosta, Keyvin Martínez, Cesar Domínguez, Yerlín Pérez, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Andrea Doimeadiós, Laura De la Uz, Keyvin Martínez)

Full review See: Icíar Bollaín and Paul Laverty on adapting Yuli - The Carlos Acosta Story for the big screen , Carlos Acosta on Yuli