Skip to main content

Cheltenham International Film Festival · 2022

Cheltenham International Film Festival 2022

Features

Programme

32 films · 20 reviews

Jump to a film

Abu Omar

A father strives to transport the body of his baby son from a Tel Aviv hospital (where Omar has succumbed to a heart condition) to the family home in a West Bank village.

(Country: Israel, France; Year: 2020; Director: Roy Krispel; Stars: Kais Nashif, Shany Verchik, Miki Leon)

As In Heaven

One day at the end of the 1800s, 14-year-old Lise’s life is changed forever after her mother experiences problems in labour.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2021; Director: Tea Lindeburg; Writer: Marie Bregendahl, Tea Lindeburg; Stars: Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, Ida Cæcilie Rasmussen, Palma Lindeburg Leth, Anna-Olivia Øster Coakley, Flora Augusta, Kirsten Olesen, Lisbet Dahl, Stine Fischer Christensen, Thure Lindhardt, Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt, Emil Hornemann Juel, Alfred Røssel Læsø, Ingrid Thunbo Ilskov, Ida Hornemann Juel, Villads Røygaard)

Between Two Worlds (Ouistreham)

Review preview for Between Two Worlds

Binoche gives her all, stripping away any vestiges of actressy pretence to assimilate herself in the community while at the same time investing her performance with an authentic conviction.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Marianne Winckler, a well-known author, goes to live in northern France to research for her new book on the subject of job insecurity. Without revealing her true identity, she gets hired as a cleaner, working with a group of other women.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Emmanuel Carrère; Writer: Florence Aubenas, Emmanuel Carrère, Hélène Devynck; Stars: Juliette Binoche)

Full review See: Juliette Binoche on Between Two Worlds

Both Sides Of The Blade (Avec amour et acharnement, Fire)

Review preview for Both Sides Of The Blade

Although this film has no body count, it carries with it all the danger of an erotic thriller.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Sara has been in a stable, loving relationship with Jean for years. But then a man from their past reappears and, without warning, an old passion reignites.

(Country: rance; Year: 2021; Director: Claire Denis; Writer: Christine Angot, Claire Denis; Stars: Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon, Grégoire Colin, Issa Perica, Bulle Ogier, Mati Diop, Hana)

Full review

The Cemil Show

A security guard in an Istanbul shopping mall longs to become a film actor, and is bitterly disappointed when his bid for a role in the remake of his favourite movie is turned down. Discovering that one of his colleagues is the daughter of actor Turgay Göral, he sees an opportunity to realise his by now all-consuming ambitions.

(Country: Turkey; Year: 2021; Director: Baris Sarhan; Stars: Ozan Çelik, Nesrin Cavadzade, Alican Yücesoy)

The Crying Game

Review preview for The Crying Game

Jordan's film stands out as a beacon of humanity.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An IRA man questions his ways after befriending a captured soldier, then flees to London and finds himself out of his depth in the soldier's world.

(Country: UK, Japan; Year: 1992; Director: Neil Jordan; Writer: Neil Jordan; Stars: Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Adrian Dunbar, Breffni McKenna, Joe Savino, Birdy Sweeney, Andrée Bernard, Ralph Brown, Tony Slattery, Jack Carr, Josephine White, Shar Campbell) , Trailer

Full review

Eiffel

A biopic of Gustave Eiffel, looking at how the French star engineer, at the height of his fame, overcame his reluctance to build a ‘temporary’ tower for the upcoming Paris World Fair.

(Country: France, Belgium, Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Martin Bourboulon; Stars: Romain Duris, Emma Mackey, Pierre Deladonchamps, Armande Boulanger)

Girls Girls Girls (Girls, Girls, Girls, Girl Picture)

Review preview for Girls Girls Girls

The performances are all first class, with any one of the three leads capable of carrying a film on her own.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Mimmi, Emma and Rönkkö are girls at the cusp of womanhood, trying to draw their own contours. In three consecutive Fridays two of them experience the earth-moving effects of falling in love, while the third goes on a quest to find something she’s never experienced before: pleasure.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2022; Director: Alli Haapasalo; Writer: Ilona Ahti, Daniela Hakulinen; Stars: Oona Airola, Mikko Kauppila, Elias Westerberg, Linnea Leino, Henrikki Haavisto, Fathi Ahmed, Jantsu Puumalainen, Oksana Lommi, Aamu Milonoff, Cécile Orblin, Yasmin Najjar, Amos Brotherus, Pablo Ounaskari, Pietu Wikström, Eleonoora Kauhanen)

Full review

Goliath

Review preview for Goliath

A crisp, downbeat, clever exploration of the issues, combined with a whodunnit.

Jane Fae · 4 out of 5
In the aftermath of President Macron's U-turn on a glyphosate ban, the stories of lawyer Patrick, victim France and lobbyist Mathias intertwine when the wife of a farmer dead from cancer commits a terrible act of protest.

(Country: France; Year: 2022; Director: Frédéric Tellier; Writer: Gaëlle Bellan, Simon Moutaïrou, Frédéric Tellier; Stars: Gilles Lellouche, Pierre Niney, Emmanuelle Bercot)

Full review

The Good Boss (El buen patrón)

Review preview for The Good Boss

The balance of Javier Bardem's central performance as the CEO of the title is what elevates this from being another run-of-the-mill satire.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Trouble brews at a factory after a boss finds himself in line for an award for excellence.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2021; Director: Fernando León de Aranoa; Writer: Fernando León de Aranoa; Stars: Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo, María de Nati, Fernando Albizu, Sonia Almarcha, Almudena Amor, Celso Bugallo, Óscar de la Fuente, Mara Guil, Dalit Streett Tejeda, Daniel Chamorro, Yaël Belicha, Tarik Rmili, Martín Páez, Rafa Castejón)

Full review

Hit The Road

Review preview for Hit The Road

Panahi and his actors shift through emotions so smoothly, you barely notice them until they have immersed you.

Amber Wilkinson · 5 out of 5
Drama based around a road trip in a borrowed car.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2021; Director: Panah Panahi; Writer: Panah Panahi; Stars: Hassan Madjooni, Pantea Panahiha, Rayan Sarlak, Amin Simiar)

Full review

Huda's Salon

Review preview for Huda's Salon

Writer/director Hany Abu-Assad emphasises the menace in the mundane.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A young mum tries to navigate her way out of a blackmail situation, while her attacker also finds herself under unexpected interrogation.

(Country: Egypt, Netherlands, Palestinian Territories; Year: 2021; Director: Hany Abu-Assad; Writer: Hany Abu-Assad; Stars: Ali Suliman, Maisa Abd Elhadi, Manal Awad, Samer Bisharat, Kamel El Basha, Omar Abu Amer, Jalal Masarwa, Amira Diab, Nael Kanj, Ziad Jarjoura, Rita Taha, Ibrahim Arafah, Christine Hodaly, Vivien Sansour, Ayloul Lutfi)

Full review

Jump, Darling

A rookie drag queen, reeling from a break-up, escapes to the country, where he finds his grandmother in steep decline yet desperate to avoid the local nursing home.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Phil Connell; Writer: Phil Connell, Genevieve Scott; Stars: Cloris Leachman, Linda Kash, Jayne Eastwood, Andrew Bushell, Daniel Jun)

Miracle (Miracol)

Review preview for Miracle

With impressive cinematography at every stage, the film hinges on two magnificent slow, circular sequences, one in the middle and one at the end, each of which resets the narrative.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Divided into two chapters, Miracol follows a young novice as she sneaks out of an isolated convent to attend to an urgent matter. The second part deals with a determined police detective trying to understand what happened to her.

(Country: Romania, Czech Republic, Latvia; Year: 2021; Director: Bogdan George Apetri; Writer: Bogdan George Apetri; Stars: Ioana Bugarin, Emanuel Parvu, Cezar Antal, Ovidiu Crisan, Valeriu Andriuta, Valentin Popescu, Marian Râlea, Nora Covali, Natalia Calin, Catalina Moga, Olimpia Malai, Vasile Muraru, Mircea Postelnicu, Dan Grigoras, Bogdan Farcas)

Full review

Nitram

Review preview for Nitram

Jones has been turning in consistently good work for years now and it’s high time he had a role like this. The art of it lies in how he keeps us alert to his character’s dangerous potential without ever letting us lose sight of his humanity.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Events leading up to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania are explored in an attempt to understand why and how the atrocity occurred.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2021; Director: Justin Kurzel; Writer: Shaun Grant; Stars: Essie Davis, Caleb Landry Jones, Anthony LaPaglia, Judy Davis)

Full review See: Interview with Justin Kurzel about Nitram

Nosferatu (Nosferatu eine Symphonie des Grauens, Nosferatu - A Symphony Of Horrors)

Review preview for Nosferatu

The movie's two main strengths are Max Schreck's compelling performance, as the eerily inhuman vampire, and Murnau's unparallelled ability to blend naturalistic and expressionistic elements.

Keith Hennessey Brown · 4 out of 5
F W Murnau's silent adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

(Country: Germany; Year: 1922; Director: FW Murnau; Writer: Henrik Galeen; Stars: Max Schreck, Gustav Von Wangenheim, Greta Schroder, Georg Heinrich Schnell, Ruth Landshoff, Gustav Botz, Alexander Granach, John Gottowt)

Full review

Notes On A Scandal

Review preview for Notes On A Scandal

Eyre’s direction is flawless and Patrick Marber’s screenplay perfectly pitched.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4.5 out of 5
A sexual adventure leads to emotional blackmail in a comprehensive school.

(Country: UK; Year: 2006; Director: Richard Eyre; Writer: Patrick Marber, based on the novel by Zoe Heller; Stars: Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Bill Nighy, Andrew Simpson, Michael Maloney, Phil Davis, Juno Temple, Tom Georgeson, Stephen Kennedy, Derbhle Crotty, Max Lewis, Joanna Scanlan)

Full review

Olga

Review preview for Olga

The first-time director shows an adept grip when it comes to the rhythms of her craft, letting silence or specific sounds break out at unexpected moments, including a gripping scene when all we can hear is the spring and creak of the uneven bars.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
2013. A 15-year-old gymnast is torn between Switzerland - where she is training for the European Championship in preparation for the Olympics - and Ukraine, where her mother is a journalist, reporting on Euromaidan unrest.

(Country: France, Switzerland, Ukraine; Year: 2021; Director: Elie Grappe; Writer: Raphaëlle Desplechin, Elie Grappe; Stars: Stéphanie Chuat, Aleksandr Mavrits, Philippe Schuler, Bernd Würch)

Full review

Private Desert (Deserto Particular)

Review preview for Private Desert

A potent rejoinder to the hypermasculine, explicitly transphobic values of the Bolsonaro regime.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Daniel has been suspended from active police work and is under internal investigation for violence. When Sara, his internet love affair, stops answering his texts he decides to drive north in search of her.

(Country: Brazil, Portugal; Year: 2021; Director: Aly Muritiba; Writer: Henrique Dos Santos, Aly Muritiba; Stars: Antonio Saboia, Pedro Fasanaro, Luthero Almeida, Thomas Aquino, Laila Garin, Sandro Guerra, Otavio Linhares, Zezita Matos, Cynthia Senek, Antonio Saboia, Pedro Fasanaro, Luthero Almeida, Thomas Aquino, Laila Garin, Sandro Guerra)

Full review

Queen of Glory

Ghanaian-American Sarah is all set to abandon her Ivy League doctoral program to follow her married lover across the country. Her plans are derailed, however when her mother’s sudden death leaves her the owner of a neighborhood bookshop in the Bronx.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Nana Mensah; Writer: Nana Mensah; Stars: Nana Mensah, Meeko Gattuso, Oberon KA Adjepong, Adam Leon)

Reflection

Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russian military forces and exposed to horrifying scenes of humiliation and violence. On release, he tries to rebuild his life.

(Country: Ukraine; Year: 2021; Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Writer: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Stars: Roman Lutskyi, Dmitriy Sova, Andriy Rymaruk, Vasiliy Kukharskiy, Nika Myslytska, Nadiya Levchenko, Igor Shulha, Andrii Senchuk, Stanislav Aseyev, Oleksandr Danyliuk)

Rhino (Nosorih)

Review preview for Rhino

What Sentsov does really well here is to show us the humanity which lies within even the most monstrous of these men.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Starting out as a petty thief, a young man nicknamed “Rhino” quickly works his way up the criminal hierarchy in 1990s Ukraine. Rhino has only known power and cruelty, but with nothing left to lose, could he finally find a chance at redemption?

(Country: Ukraine, Germany, Poland; Year: 2021; Director: Oleh Sentsov; Writer: Oleh Sentsov; Stars: Margo Dumas, Slava Babenkov, Oleksandr Rudynskyy, Alina Zievakova, Serhii Filimonov, Oleg Skripka, Georgiy Povolotskiy, Irina Mak, Yevhen Grygoriev, Lorena Kolibabchuk, Pavlo Shpegun, Evhen Chernykov, Yaroslav Bezkorovayny, Yelyzaveta Tsilyk, Yevhen Svitlychnyi)

Full review

Rise

Reeling in the wake of devastating physical and emotional injuries a ballerina Elise slowly rebuilds her life

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2022; Director: Cédric Klapisch; Writer: Cédric Klapisch; Stars: Marion Barbeau)

Shakespeare In Love

Review preview for Shakespeare In Love

The air is heavy with irony, light with laughter and alive with love.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 5 out of 5
The young William Shakespeare - suffering writer's block - finds romance provides inspiration.

(Country: US/UK; Year: 1998; Director: John Madden; Writer: Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard; Stars: Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Wilkinson, Colin Firth, Antony Sher, Martin Clunes, Jim Carter, Judi Dench, Mark Williams, Simon Callow, Steve O'Donnell, Tim McMullen, Ben Affleck, Simon Callow)

Full review

Tigers

Review preview for Tigers

When Martin demonstrates his talent he is celebrated, but what Sandahl is interested in is the weight of all this other experience which fans don’t normally see.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The story of young footballer Martin Bengtsson and his time at Inter Milan.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Ronnie Sandahl; Writer: Ronnie Sandahl, based on the autobiography by Martin Bengtsson; Stars: Erik Enge, Alfred Enoch, Frida Gustavsson, Liv Mjönes, Johannes Kuhnke)

Full review See: Interview with Ronnie Sandahl about Tigers

Tom Medina

An enigmatic petty criminal, is sent by a juvenile court to work on a farm in France’s beautiful and mysterious Camargue. Dreaming of going to Spain to work with bulls, he becomes an apprentice to a wise horse-wrangler called Ulysse, and tries to reinvent himself.

(Country: Switzerland, France; Year: 2021; Director: Tony Gatlif; Stars: David Murgia, Slimane Dazi, Karoline Rose Sun, Suzanne Aubert)

Vampyr (Vampyr - Der Traum des Allan Grey, Vampyr - The Strange Adventure Of Allan Gray, Castle Of Doom, Adventures Of David Gray, Not Against The Flesh)

Review preview for Vampyr

Profoundly unsettling, richly atmospheric, a milestone in the development of cinematic ‘grammar’ as well as an edge-of-the-seat horror movie to rival the best.

Jeff Robson · 5 out of 5
A young occultist stumbles upon a French village shrouded in fog and haunted by a vampire.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 1932; Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer; Writer: Christen Jul, based on the novel by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu; Stars: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko)

Full review

Waiting For Bojangles

The life of a crazy family as seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Gary, where adults have remained children and children become adults too quickly and everybody loves legendary dancer Bojangles.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Régis Roinsard; Stars: Romain Duris, Virginie Efira, Solan Machado Graner)

Where Is Anne Frank?

Kitty, Anne Frank’s imaginary friend and who her diary was dedicated, wakes up in the near future and embarks on a journey to find Anne, who she believes is still alive.

(Country: Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Israel; Year: 2021; Director: Ari Folman; Writer: Anne Frank; Stars: Emily Carey, Ruby Stokes, Nell Barlow, Skye Bennett, Sebastian Croft, Stewart Scudamore, Emily Carey, Ruby Stokes, Nell Barlow, Skye Bennett, Sebastian Croft, Stewart Scudamore)

The World After Us (Le monde après nous)

When penniless young writer Labidi meets Elisa he knows she’s the one for him. But Paris is expensive.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Louda Ben Salah; Stars: Louise Chevillotte, Jacques Nolot, Saadia Bentaïeb, Aurélien Gabrielli, Louise Chevillotte, Jacques Nolot, Saadia Bentaïeb, Aurélien Gabrielli)

You Resemble Me (Tu Me Ressembles)

Review preview for You Resemble Me

Both girls deliver exceptional performances in the powerful opening section, and if the film struggles to make the same impact afterwards, that serves to bring Hasna’s loss into sharp relief.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Cultural and inter-generational trauma erupt in this story about two sisters on the outskirts of Paris.

(Country: US, France, Egypt; Year: 2021; Director: Dina Amer; Writer: Dina Amer, Omar Mullick; Stars: Lorenza Grimaudo, Ilonna Grimaudo, Grégoire Colin, Sabrina Ouazani, Zinedine Soualem, Dina Amer, Mouna Soualem, Hedi Bouchenafa, Tania Dessources, Nassima Benchicou, Elodie Rouprêt, Sana Sri, Nassima Benichou, Djino Grimaudo, Romain Royet)

Full review

Zalava

Review preview for Zalava

Pourfaraj is superb in the lead, his Massoud stiff-backed, primly moustached, yet achingly human.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
In 1978, the inhabitants of a small village claim there is a demon among them. When sergeant arrests the exorcist, the villagers fear and anger escalates.

(Country: Iran; Year: 2021; Director: Arsalan Amiri; Writer: Arsalan Amiri, Tahmineh Bahramalian, Ida Panahandeh; Stars: Navid Pourfaraj, Pouria Rahimi Sam, Baset Rezaei, Hoda Zeinolabedin, Navid Pourfaraj, Pouria Rahimi Sam, Baset Rezaei, Hoda Zeinolabedin)

Full review