Edinburgh International Film Festival — A–Z of films

Jean Reno is unflappably cool. There's not much more to it.

The cast deliver good performances, but not enough for the burden they're expected to carry.

Served well by David Aston's sound work, the machinery and the small quantity of voicework, and by Peter Wright's music, it's technically excellent.

Irwin's film is populated by an assortment of creatures who seem not quite human in the first place.

Such a sweet and fun little film that it's hard not to warm to it and be utterly won over by the time its hour and a half is up.

Presumably the fictionalising of the story offered González-Rubio more freedom in terms of shaping the narrative, but he has such a gentle touch that you would be hard-pushed to spot the artifice.

Darren Bolger and Caroline Campbell's film is a portrait of an individual crime lost amidst other tragedies.

A beautifully shot little film.

For anyone who ever doubted Soderbergh’s artistic integrity, this unassuming film is a minor monument to excellence of execution and the enduring validity of his work.

There's time to wonder if this might have played better as a sketch in some other show.

Compelling, intriguing, and brief.

While this is a short film it carries within it the seeds of dread, hope, and waiting.

Entertaining, amusing, like a humorous conversation overheard on the train.

Unsettling, concerning, rewarding.

Make no mistake, this is an immensely creepy picture.

A triumph, albeit an uneasy one.

Ultimately, this is your basic talking heads documentary, interspersed with footage that redefines cinematic cool.

This is an upbeat, often hilarious, but never mawkish, celebration of love.

Haunting, intriguing, compelling.

The script and direction are solid, the performances great.

A mixture of humour both visual and bodily that will amuse children of any age.

Brilliantlove falls hard on its bare backside between the two stools of pornography and erotica.

Entertaining, inventive, and bleak.

All involved can hold their heads up high.

Talk about furry vengeance.

Good intentions abound, consequences too.

Although couched in the realities of conflict, Wakamatsu is equally, if not more, concerned with the little horrors caused by organised, countrywide violence.

The character design seems off somehow, as if they've managed to find three separate uncanny valleys to pull new species out of.

Lucy Walker's chilling documentary serves as a reminder that the threat of a nuclear bomb going off somewhere in the world to devastating effect has not diminished just because it has slipped from the public consciousness.

Andrew Walker's script is short on words but has plenty of depth, and Jonathan Harris' direction is assured.

Watching this dysfunctional family implode is sobering, if not suicidal.

Chase The Slut is a typical fun film-festival movie: low budget, brimming with talent.

It boils down to an exercise in horror and endurance. It's rare you see a film which will elicit such a guttural reaction from its audience

The film loses direction very quickly, and after about 20 minutes, the characters and the situations grow quite wearisome.

Beautifully shot, with some excellent tracking work, it's visually impressive.

As a portrait of 21st century man, with his obsession for porn sites, casual blow jobs and dysfunctional relationships, the film is contemporary.

This is the sort of film that will be lapped up by arthouse cinema lovers who thrive on films with bucketloads of atmosphere and a teaspoon of plot.

Inspired mediocrity rather than inspired genius.

Short, lyric, a minor epic.

Visually it's a delight, but spectacle is not enough.

Hand-processed super8 film makes patterns, colours, shapes that raise questions about technique, origin, which remain unanswered.

Donkeys is an interesting experiment. But its script is patchy, and at times strands the excellent performances in a wasteland of poorly defined relevance.

Ryan O'Nan is good value. He is ably supported by Ferrera, as the long-suffering spouse. They're stuck with a script that can't quite find the right voice for its concerns.

This is an alternate reality, let us say, but a convincing one.

This is less a straightforward year in the life, than an emotional, poetic snapshot, exploring themes to which we can all relate - mortality and the fear of death.

An unrelentingly emotionally tense and harrowing experience from start to finish... one of the most accomplished short films I have seen this year.

It's the script and the visuals that really sing.

Shot in ultra-closeup on occasion, confined, claustrophobic.

There's a dozen reasonable ideas, none of which are developed into fruition.

So overloaded with oddball characters that it never finds an even keel.

Ingenious, convincing, and powerful.

The pacing of co-directors Olivier Duscastel and Jacques Martineau is restrained and deliberate, possibly because the larger subject they are dealing with is a weighty one that they clearly feel passionate about.

A good evocation of genre, long enough for us to pick up the cues, raise a smile, and then gone.

Not outright farce, too naturalistic to mug, but observational, behavioural comedy requires that we be looking from the same perspective.

Though it's light on plot it's more about how things are seen rather than what.

Intelligent writing, direction and performances.

Bad rugby and fantasy sex fail to win the thrill-a-minute prize for originality.

A pristine biographical film about a brilliantly difficult man.

Conveys mood and beauty ably but never quite grabs.

Although this is worth watching purely for Duvall's superb turn, he doesn't want for support.

The film itself is a thing attacked, artifact upon medium transformed by light into something inexplicable.

Apart from Cox giving it large, there is nothing to this film except sentimentality in disguise.

Gravity is a reasonably skillful and elegant thriller, working well as a piece of visceral moviemaking.

With sandy docklands, rusting hulks, the taxi we follow drifts through an unfathomable landscape.

The comedy is soft, the story’s predictable and the clichés line up like pretty little dolls.

This is touching and excellently executed.

The film is as rich in imagery as it is diverse in character.

A unique experience and profoundly enjoyable.

Despite its stoner credentials, HIGH School thrives on speed.

The plot is punctured from the start.

The movie is almost like a Kafka novel; there seems no earthly rhyme and reason, but there are some resonating themes and a sense of the surreal.

This should have been an insider’s guide to laughter. It isn’t.

The biggest problem with the film is not its snail's saunter, but rather the minimalist way Pitts approaches the scripting.

The plot remains continuously unpredictable.

As a feat it's impressive and as a film it's entertaining.

From a gentle start In The Meadow gets very dark, very quickly.

The Illusionist has a sense of humour, a sense of wonder, and a sense of place, and in combination that's enough to make it magical.

The risk for a film that focuses on film is that it'll reference something that does what it's trying to do better.

Jackboots On Whitehall isn't afraid of stomping on a few tender sensibilities and its smut level is set to 'stun'.

What grates is that the film cannot stand alone, but more so that even with support it falters.

When these men die, this film may be all that remains as testimony to their experience.

There's certainly potential, and talent, but nothing comes of it.

If the past is another country, exploring it can be a dangerous endeavour, affecting more people than you know.

The photography is stunning and many of the set pieces are visually exciting.

Ultimately more heart-warming and life-affirming than you would ever imagine a film centred on casual violence could be.

A rather dull action Western.

A lovely little portrait of a nocturnal community.

Socha is excellent as always, but Alex Howson as the reappearing resident compels.

Angela Steffen's film is amazing, complete and satisfying, brilliant.

In just under half an hour we get a glimpse into scores of lives, all just after major changes.

Three minutes that are thing and un-thing, a flicker of stillness.

Lola Sepa will always be for me now a real character I have seen, not a fiction.

Luca Cuiti's photography is good, strikingly so.

Although presenting a multifaceted view of the winners and losers behind the millions (or lack of them), it's an overwhelmingly upbeat, positive experience.

From the two-tone credit sequence to the jaunty camera angles, this is visually striking stuff.

A gentle, touching, a portrait of a woman with a calling.

The soundtrack is loud, the picture crisp, the performances good, it's not to be faulted.

A heartwarming little portrait.

This is an impressive film, managing to imply and suggest with a graceful economy.

An amazing piece of work.

If this is what the British director can achieve on a shoestring, one can only look forward to what a bigger budget may bring with monster expectation.

A clear debt is owed to Ferne Pearlstein, whose cinematography is of such quality that the film appears to have fallen through some documentary vortex untouched by time.

Mother Of Many is full of little details, textures, sympathetic character design and beautiful use of pattern.

This is brilliant.

Jana Prchalova's a talented artist, but the script is a little weak.

The Moon Bird is original in appearance, but feels like the retelling of an unknown classic.

Very art house.

This made me proud that Britain can turn out solid, constructive comedy.

Is this the end of life, energy’s car crash?

At times this appears to be a documentary about looking things up on Google.

Entertaining throughout, with moments of both wry amusement and vocal laughter.

A bizarre and off-putting perspective, but mesmerising all the same.

This is one of my favourite performances of the year.

The simplicity of the concept is sublime

Min Sung-ah's character design and artwork are masterful.

A quietly humorous, gently endearing examination of one man's attempts to get his hands on the American dream.

It verges on the unhinged, but its good humour is infectious.

Meštrovic seems to know exactly what he's doing, and the bold narration, accompanied by a fantastic jazz score, grip the viewer throughout.

A low-key, but fascinating, documentary.

That it comes so close to being fair, to being true, is to its credit.

Tremendous.

For much of its runtime, Outcast may be the best British horror film since The Descent.

A film with moments of striking beauty, compassion, and more than a few sporting thrills.

Sometimes the sense of a thing is enough, and Paradise Later delivers ably.

Both compelling and haunting.

A very large cast, outstanding production values and a solid story cement the reality of the situation, and no character's motivations go unexamined.

This film is fast and funky and deadly serious, and massively flawed, yet just about succeeds in its difficult central premise.

A rather affectionate fanboy love-in and whingefest.

The animation is crisp, the character design entertaining.

Features a nice, if melancholy score and excellent photography.

This is a police procedural, but it's also about the nature of policing, about the gap between law and justice, the self and the state.

Paraphernalia is a product of a significant team effort, and it shows in its quality.

Illustrated by tremendous visuals, it's affecting, moving.

In synthesising drama with a documentary degree of verity it hopes that events as depicted will create story without ensuring that there is one to show.

History replicated in the editing suite, composition compelling, illuminating.

A sweetly understated addition to the romantic comedy genre.

For the first half an hour, the tension bubbles along nicely... but the further into the runtime we ride, the more the cliches stack up.

This is a film that sets out to challenge the way families like Ben and Louisa's are perceived. The trouble is that it doesn't really have much of an argument to make.

Moving and extremely clear-sighted... will live long in the memory.

From the notes it apparently abstracts different theoretical elements from a variety of disciplines, but in practise it's a field of flashing shapes with something approaching music in the background.

Rob & Valentyna In Scotland feels genuine, even heartfelt.

Every actor has a chance to shine, and none fails to take it.

Constrained by medium to sight and sound, it suggests the other senses, beautifully so, with elegant composition of scenes.

There's a wham, bam, thank you, man, quality to this music biopic that makes it a pleasurable rock rush that's easy on the eye, even if it fails to do much more than skate the surface of the band of its title.

A triumph of naturalistic storytelling, of symbolism, aided by tremendous technical work.

Succeeds admirably in its primary thrust.

Given how ably it delivers it would be churlish to ask for more.

A tasty treat.

Visually impressive, technically proficient, Scene 32 impresses the eyes.

This is a strong story, encompassing romance, thriller aspects, comedy and even political intrigue, zipping back and forward in time but always carrying you with it to a conclusion that is thoroughly satisfying on all counts.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez gives us a sensational taste of his talents in front of and behind the camera.

Funny stuff.

A documentary of sorts about a documentary out of sorts.

The painterly 3D animation style draws the viewer in, so effectively does it depict a fantastical landscape.

Visually this is one of the best short films at the Edinburgh Film Festival, so distinctive in its appearance that it will leave you wanting more.

Lea Fehner bites off more than she can chew.

Naheed Raza's film is hypnotic.

Gorgeous scenery and subtle performances.

An intriguing, well-acted, quietly funny film that, though it is outright weird most of the time and certainly won't be to everyone's taste, has a quirky charm and emotional heart.

Kevin is personable, talented, able, and Christopher Lewis Cook's film captures his time in Stockbridge brilliantly.

Offers the audience moments of genuine comedy that is both cutsey and clever.

What gives the film an edge is its immediacy and emotional impact.

The set up is good, but the pay off is less successful.

The road trip device may be a familiar one but it is a choice that broadens the appeal and accessibility of the film and takes it away from more political machinations into the realm of simpler storytelling.

Ultimately, SoulBoy is a strange, lifeless work.

It's dark in places, intentionally so, and that's also to the credit of those involved.

Amusing, entertaining, and technically excellent.

It is formulaic, but it's also bursting with conviction and insight.

Despite the lush pastel colouration, Stanley Pickle feels decidedly old-fashioned.

Only just avoids outstaying its welcome.

A fascinating little film.

Steve Sale is an engaging and funny host, and he doesn't let his movie's technical weakness get in the way of an entertaining time.

Close to being a fairy tale in the old sense - frightening and enlightening.

A short, sweet burst of cuteness.

It seemed all horribly downhill until the end scenes – which, in total contrast, induce a state of shock.

Expertly made, passionately enthusiastic, one of the best films of the year.

Dachi Sato's film is striking, the flicker of light through trees like rolling down a forested lane.

It might have a simple moral but it's still a well-framed piece of work.

This is the movie Sex And The City should have been.

A dazzlingly confident and magical picture.

The opening is strong, the end fair, there is mystery and wonderment - it becomes hard to single out anything because it's all good; brilliant, even.

This is an eye-opening film.

Although van Strien clearly has plenty of talent, he is undone by a constant seen-and-heard-it-all-before-done-better feeling.

Two In The Wave is informative without ever feeling didactic, entertaining in and of itself, and aided by a subject that's likely to be of interest to filmgoers anyway.

This is a delicate examination of attitudes and social mores, touching on issues of self-hate and betrayal.

It's powerful, stunning, the whole film is haunting.

One of the most stunningly banal films I have seen in decades.

A touching portrait of women with a calling.

Welcome To Twister is ultimately hampered by its visuals.

Messy, seeming unmoderated.

It's the sense of claustrophobia, and the tension emanating from it, which are key to the film's success.

An unrelenting, yet utterly mesmerising cinematic vision.

A pitch-black satire on our selective memories of death and the deceased.

This film has an atmosphere that effectively encourages viewers to rally round it, despite its failings.

This is amazing: ephemeral, illuminating, ingenious.

Genuinely advancing the form of the found footage film by attempting to merge it with the digital.

Darkly funny and beautiful to look at.