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Cheltenham International Film Festival · 2024

Cheltenham International Film Festival 2024

Features

Programme

39 films · 13 reviews

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Arthur's Whisky

A widow and her friends discover the elixir of youth that her husband had invented just before his shed was struck by lightning, but will using it make them any happier?

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Stephen Cookson; Stars: Diane Keaton, Patricia Hodge, Lulu)

Auction (Le tableau volé)

A modern art appraiser's routine is unexpectedly disrupted by the discovery of a long-lost painting.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Pascal Bonitzer; Writer: Pascal Bonitzer; Stars: Alex Lutz, Léa Drucker, Alain Chamfort, Louise Chevillotte, Laurence Côte, Nora Hamzawi, Matthieu Lucci, Vincent Nemeth, Christophe Paou, Olivier Rabourdin, Arcadi Radeff, Alexandre Steiger, Jesse Guttridge)

Blind At Heart (Die Mittagsfrau)

Adaptation of Julia Franck's bestseller about female empowerment.

(Country: Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg; Year: 2023; Director: Barbara Albert; Writer: Meike Hauck, Barbara Albert, basedon the novel by, Julia Franck; Stars: Mala Emde, Max von der Groeben, Thomas Prenn, Liliane Amuat, Fabienne Elaine Hollwege, Laura Louisa Garde, Elisabeth Wasserscheid, Helena Pieske, Maria Matschke-Engel, Finjen Kiefer, Lilia Herrmann, Laurids Schürmann, Steve Karier, Monique Reuter, Karin Pfammatter)

Cottontail

A widower has a life-changing experience when he and his estranged so travel to Lake Windemere to spread his wife's ashes in accordance with her will.

(Country: UK, Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Patrick Dickinson; Stars: Lily Franky, Ryo Nishikido, Ciarán Hinds, Aoife Hinds, Tae Kimura, Rin Takanash)

The Crime Is Mine

Review preview for The Crime Is Mine

A sugary delight with a delightfully bitter aftertaste.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a glamorous but talentless young actress is accused of murdering a sleazy producer, her aspiring lawyer friend spies a money-making opportunity.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon, Philippe Piazzo, based on the play by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil; Stars: Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Madeleine Verdier, Rebecca Marder, Pauline Mauléon, Isabelle Huppert, Danny Boon, Andre Dussollier)

Full review

Dormitory (Yurt)

A boy finds things tough after he is sent to an all-boys religious school.

(Country: Turkey; Director: Nehir Tuna; Writer: Nehir Tuna; Stars: Doga Karakas, Can Bartu Aslan, Ozan Çelik, Tansu Biçer, Didem Ellialti, Orhan Güner, Isilti Su Alyanak, Fatih Berk Sahin, Ozan Bilen, Emrullah Erbay, Nazli Benan Özkaya, Erdi Kökerer, Miraç Kaya, Ercan Erdil, Tolga T. Talay)

The Dreamer (L'Homme D'Argile)

SYNOPSIS - Raphaël, a one-eyed man, is the caretaker of a mansion where no one lives anymore. Soon to turn 60, he lives with his mother in a small house located at the entrance to the grounds of the stately manor. Between mole hunting, bagpipe practice and the occasional ride in the postwoman’s Kangoo van, the days resemble one another. But one stormy night Garance, the estate’s heiress, comes back to the family’s abode and now nothing will ever be the same again.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2023; Director: Anaïs Tellenne; Writer: Anaïs Tellenne; Stars: Raphaël Thiéry, Emmanuelle Devos, Marie-Christine Orry, Mireille Pitot, Alexis Louis Lucas, Vincent Thomas, Cesare Capitani, Zoran Boukherma, Ludovic Boukherma, Natasha Cashman)

Dr. Cheon And The Lost Talisman

Review preview for Dr. Cheon And The Lost Talisman

A supernaturally themed thriller which also delivers a healthy supply of laughs, this is a wild ride from start to finish.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
The story of a fake exorcist, Dr. Cheon, who is commissioned to look into the case of a girl who is strongly possessed.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Kim Seong-sik; Writer: Kim Seong-sik; Stars: Gang Dong-won, Joon-ho Huh, Esom, Lee Dong-hwi)

Full review

Everybody Loves Touda

A singer plans to build a better future for her son.

(Country: Morocco; Year: 2024; Director: Nabil Ayouch; Writer: Nabil Ayouch, Maryam Touzani; Stars: Nisrin Erradi, Jalila Talemsi)

Flowers Of Mold

A young woman falls for her neighbour after going through his bins.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Shim Hye-jung; Stars: Kim Jae-kyung, Hyun Woo, Kim Ryul-ha, Kim Shin-young)

Girls Will Be Girls

Review preview for Girls Will Be Girls

Panigrahi is pitch perfect in her debut role.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
In a strict boarding school nestled in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira discovers desire and romance. But her sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother who never got to come of age herself.

(Country: India; Year: 2024; Director: Shuchi Talati; Writer: Shuchi Talati; Stars: Kani Kusruti, Jitin Gulati, Kesav Binoy Kiron, Preeti Panigrahi)

Full review See: Shuchi Talati on rebellion and relationships in Girls Will Be Girls

The Golden Harvest

Review preview for The Golden Harvest

Yunis, who is also a novelist, covers a lot of ground here but it never feels as though we are only being served up the easy route.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Consideration of the history of olives and olive oil manufacture.

(Country: Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Spain, Greece, Italy; Year: 2019; Director: Alia Yunis; Writer: Alia Yunis)

Full review

The Good Teacher

After being wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl from his class, a young teacher struggles to clear his name.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Teddy Lussi-Modeste; Stars: Francois Civil, Shain Boumedine, Toscane Duquesne)

A Hard Day's Night

A typical day in the life of the Beatles, as they travel from their hometown of Liverpool to London to perform in a television broadcast.

(Country: UK; Year: 1964; Director: Richard Lester; Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Star)

Holst: In The Bleak Midwinter

A documentary about the composer Gustav Holst.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Tony Palmer; Stars: Imogen Holst, Katherine Jenkins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Russell Watson, Barbara Dickson & Troy Donockley, Máiréad Nesbit, Yeo Yat-soon)

A House On Fire

Smouldering resentments flare into blazing rows at a dysfunctional family reunion.

(Country: Spain, Italy; Year: 2024; Director: Dani de la Orden; Stars: Emma Vilarasau, Enric Auquer, Maria Rodriguez, Alberto San Juan, Clara Segura, Jose Perez Ocana, Macarena Garcia)

Juliette Au Printemps

Juliette is a children’s book illustrator who is going through a crisis and cannot find an explanation for her depressive state. Returning to her hometown broadens her perspective.

(Country: France; Year: 2024; Director: Blandine Lenoir; Stars: Izïa Higelin, Sophie Guillemin, Jean-Pierre Darroussin)

Leonard Cohen: Bird On A Wire

Capturing him on tour and ‘off-duty’, this almost lost and forgotten documentary showcases one of the world’s most respected singer-songwriters.

(Country: UK; Year: 1972; Director: Tony Palmer; Stars: Leonard Cohen, Jennifer Warnes, David O'Connor, Ron Cornelius, Donna Washburn, Tony Palmer, Bob Johnston, Peter Marshal)

Making Of

A director tries to shoot a movie about factory workers rights.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Cédric Kahn; Stars: Jonathan Cohen, Emmanuelle Bercot, Denis Podalydès, Stefan Crepon, Emilia Derou-Bernal, Riad Gahmi, Matilda Kime)

Maria Montessori

French Courtesan Lili d’Alengy travels to Rome to bring her learning-disabled daughter to an institute for special needs children.

(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2023; Director: Léa Todorov; Stars: Jasmine Trinca, Leïla Bekhti)

Memories Of Murder (Salinui Chueok)

Review preview for Memories Of Murder

The film is well made and the humour delicately balanced between corruption and farce.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
Foolish cops investigate South Korean serial killer.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2003; Director: Bong Joon Ho; Writer: Bong Joon Ho, Kim kwang-rim; Stars: Song kang-ho, Kim sang-kyung, Kim roe-ha, Song jae-ho, Byeon hie-bong, Ko seo-hie)

Full review

Missing, Presumed

A middle-aged couple find themselves committing a series of grisly murders as they try to cover up the accidental killing of the gas man.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Edward Samuel Woolford; Stars: Paul Cooper, Deirdre Forrest, Tom E Saxon, Maureen Casey, Mufrida Hayes, Iona Young, Richard Simpson)

The Monk And The Gun

The story of an American who travels into Bhutan in search of a treasure and crosses path with a young monk who wanders through the serene mountains, instructed by his teacher to make things right again.

(Country: Bhutan, Taiwan, France, US; Year: 2023; Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji; Writer: Pawo Choyning Dorji; Stars: Tandin Wangchuk, Harry Einhorn, Tandin Phubz, Tandin Sonam, Pema Zangmo Sherpa)

My Old Ass

Review preview for My Old Ass

Park captures the web of life tensions that don’t just stop when we’re teenagers, particularly the pull of the new versus the attraction of nostalgia.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott comes face-to-face with her older self during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Megan Park; Writer: Megan Park; Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Maddie Ziegler, Percy Hynes White, Maisy Stella, Seth Isaac Johnson, Kerrice Brooks, Carter Trozzolo, Remington Schneider)

Full review

My Wonderful Stranger

A delusional 18-year-old convinces a handsome amnesic stranger, whom she finds beside Oslo harbour, that he is her boyfriend. Then he starts to remember things.

(Country: Norway, France, Sweden; Year: 2024; Director: Johanna Pyykkö; Stars: Camilla Godø Krohn, Hristo Petkov, Laila Goody, Christian Skolmen)

A Normal Family

Two wealthy families meet for dinner to discuss and decide how to handle a violent crime committed by their sons.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Hur Jin-ho; Writer: Herman Koch; Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Jang Dong-Gun, Kim Hee-ae, Claudia Kim)

The Outrun

Review preview for The Outrun

Distances of time and space are collapsible in Fingscheidt’s hands.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands - where she grew up - hoping to heal.

(Country: UK, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Nora Fingscheidt; Writer: Nora Fingscheidt, Amy Liptrot, Daisy Lewis; Stars: Saskia Reeves, Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane, Lauren Lyle, Izuka Hoyle, Naomi Wirthner, Nabil Elouahabi, Posy Sterling, Tony Hamilton-Croft, Seamus Dillane, Danyal Ismail, Scott Miller, Paul Kulik)

Full review

The Phantom

After a failed assassination attempt on the newly-appointed Governor General, security chief Kaito leads an investigation to hunt down an expert spy known only as the Phantom, narrowing down his suspects to just five people who are then interrogated in an isolated hotel.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Lee Hae-young; Stars: Sol Kyung-gu, Lee Hanee, Park So-dam, Pak Hae-soo, Kim Dong-hee)

Poetry (Shi)

Review preview for Poetry

Veteran actress Yun Jeong-hie, who came out of a 15-year retirement to take on the role of Mija brings a fragile beauty and strength to the part, lending her character an air of inscrutability that is intriguing rather than frustrating.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A grandmother discovers poetry and begins to reassess the world around her.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2010; Director: Lee Chang-dong; Writer: Lee Chang-dong; Stars: Yoon Jeong-hee, Ahn Nae-sang, Lee Da-wit, Kim Yong-taek)

Full review

Porcelain War

Review preview for Porcelain War

A tactile and colour-infused film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it’s easy to make people afraid, it’s hard to destroy their passion for living.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev; Writer: Aniela Sidorska, Brendan Bellomo, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Slava Leontyev)

Full review

Reawakening

Review preview for Reawakening

The narrative deals profoundly with grief as well as loss which will assuredly resonate with most of us.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
Tension mounts for a couple when a woman claiming to be their daughter, who went missing 10 years before, arrives back in their lives.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Virginia Gilbert; Writer: Virginia Gilbert; Stars: Jared Harris, Juliet Stevenson, Erin Doherty, Niamh Cusack)

Full review

Scorched Earth (Verbrannte Erde)

Twelve years after he fled, career criminal Trojan returns to Berlin. A valuable painting is set to be stolen in the city. But the meticulously planned heist soon runs out of control.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Thomas Arslan; Stars: Misel Maticevic, Marie Leuenberger, Alexander Fehling, Till Wonka)

The Solent

A woman is held captive by a mysterious man whose motives are unknown, as her brother searches for her, uncovering a web of strange and unsettling clues.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Oliver Henry Cubbage; Stars: Oliver Derham, Bethan Eleri, Jack Sutherland, Jack Parr, Lucas Aurelio)

This Is My Mother

A successful 33-year-old florist, sees his life upended when his flamboyant and unpredictable mother suddenly reappears after a two-year absence.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Julien Carpentier; Stars: Agnes Jaoui, William Lebghil, Salif Cisse)

Timestalker

Review preview for Timestalker

Lowe’s approach is an exhiliarating, if sometimes a bit scrappy, mix of high and low brow.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A woman continuously seeks out the presumed love of her life across time, in one incarnation after another.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Alice Lowe; Writer: Alice Lowe; Stars: Alice Lowe, Jacob Anderson, Aneurin Barnard, Nick Frost, Kate Dickie, Tanya Reynolds, Boyd Clack)

Full review

The Universal Theory (Die Theorie von Allem)

Review preview for The Universal Theory

Multiverses have become a box office staple lately, courtesy of Marvel and the like, but they are rarely as elegantly mounted as this retro and twisty little mystery from Timm Kröger.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
1962. A physics congress in the Alps. An Iranian guest. A mysterious pianist. A bizarre cloud formation in the sky and a booming mystery under the mountain.

(Country: Germany, Austria, Switzerland; Year: 2023; Director: Timm Kröger; Writer: Roderick Warich, Timm Kröger; Stars: Jan Bülow, Olivia Ross, Hanns Zischler, Gottfried Breitfuss, David Bennent, Philippe Graber, Imogen Kogge, Emanuel Waldburg-Zeil, Vivienne Bayley, Ladina von Frisching, Dirk Böhling, Marie Goyette, Paul Wolff-Plottegg, Peter Hottinger, Dana Herfurth)

Full review

We Have Never Been Modern (Úsvit)

A pregnant doctor turns detective after the discovery of a dead newborn.

(Country: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic; Year: 2023; Director: Matěj Chlupáček; Writer: Miro Šifra; Stars: Eliška Křenková, Miloslav König, Milan Ondrík, Richard Langdon, Martha Issová, Luboš Veselý, Ladislav Hampl, Marián Mitaš)

Who Am I Smiling For?

Mari, a young woman facing last stage cancer, is fighting fiercely over the custody rights of her children, trying to prove that in spite of her condition, she is still a fully capable mother. I

(Country: Estonia; Year: 2023; Director: Eeva Mägi; Stars: Oliver Cypriano, Mari Minn, Urmas Minn, Maie Minn, Martin Minn)