Edinburgh International Film Festival — A–Z of films

This is a grand vision, grandly executed, and like the solutions it depicts it exists today.

Instead of curbing Welsh's excesses, he platforms them. The result, with the exception of The Granton Star Cause, is unwatchable.

The script is sharp, witty and not afraid to ask awkward questions.

Although little of this is new, it's delivered with poise and grace, aided by finely tuned performances.

Undoubtedly, a masterpiece, this three-and-a-half hour version puts body on the flesh of what was already a great movie.

For those who get into the rhythm of it, this is an instant classic.

It is good to see the women taking charge, though this happens sufficiently often in Asterix that it is close to becoming a trope in itself.

Astronaut is a charming fable given life by Dreyfuss' spirited performance.

Bait looks, sounds, feels amazing.

The real joy in the film lies in watching what started out as barren land gradually bloom over the years.

With imagery that shifts seamlessly from the kawaii to the diabolical, not least in a darkly psychedelic sequence near the end, this is a film that really makes its mark.

Realism is certainly the mode that Platt embraces here, crafting her film as though it were an intimate holiday video, and inviting viewers to be flies on the wall.

It's almost a disservice to talk about Black Panther in the context of the MCU, because perhaps more than any other it stands alone.

Although much of the action is played for dark comedy, Berger undercuts his pastiche with unexpected poignancy at key moments.

In trying to walk a line between geek and jock it paints (and washes and drybrushes) itself into a corner.

One of the great masterpieces of modern cinema

There's a lot of things going on here, but it's a talented cast and crew playing firmly within a set of genre tropes, not painting by numbers.

Bohemian Rhapsody is as baroque and evocative a beast as its namesake song, thanks almost entirely to Malek's phenomenal performance.

That the skies are Glaswegian grey does not make the eyes below them any less starry, or watery, nor does that overcast overshadow the microcosm below.

It's laugh out loud funny in places, and there's an endearing earnestness throughout.

While Brave may occasionally shy away from darker territory in order to retain its appeal for even the youngest of audiences, there are still plenty of 'big' ideas here for small minds to think about.

The problem is, you are left wanting to know far more than Fedda tells you.

The territory that it takes the film to makes the last third is rushed in comparison to what has gone before, where the simplicity of the storyline provided the perfect backdrop for complex emotions.

Simó works hard to capture the same oddness of perspective and association that marks out Buñuel's own films, succeeding more often than not.

Beautifully shot, aided by beautiful country, there's mist and rain, birds on a wire, and real humour too.

Pilcher strikes a good balance between interpersonal drama, nerve-racking action scenes and focus on the cat and mouse game that the women are caught up in.

A nice study in group dynamic.

Harris drinks deep of the novella's sapphic themes to present a tale of obsession and fear of 'the other' but though the end result is well turned out in terms of look and performance, it could use a little less corseting and a lot more bite.

This film doesn't just have one good idea, it has many, and it segues them together beautifully.

Many filmmakers would be happy to have this as their crowning glory; considered as a debut it’s little short of astonishing.

Lauryn Canny is stunning in the central role, easily adopting the same body language that Mcintosh has used continually to break away from conditioned patterns of movement and take up space.

Jarmusch usually manages to invest his films with a quirky sense of humour, but here the lines fall decidedly flat.

The film gleefully rips off everything from genre classics like The Terminator to recent upstarts such as Shoot 'Em Up, but manages to do it with a tongue so firmly in cheek that you should be too busy grinning to care.

This is a community that, one suspects, director Alison Piper understands well.

All praise to the acting here, as each star deliver characters with depth and meaning, without the encumbrance of lengthy self-exposition.

The film's heart is certainly in the right place, but its narrative is more of a scattergun affair.

Given a magical quality by director Carolina Hellsgård's distinctive shooting style and Leah Striker's luminous cinematography, this is a world that seems full of new possibilities.

There's not a great deal of strategy involved in Tony D'Aquino's film, which mostly concerns itself with bloody violence, screaming and running about.

Cage here continues the recent return to his legendary loony best.

A story brought dazzlingly to life by the talents of its veteran cast and crew

Altman's great triumph is in galvanising the energies of exceptional actors into a living, breathing entity.

There is magic here.

The style is confused

Despite desolate circumstances and habitat, Domínguez Serén's film buzzes with humour and human warmth.

Moreno's travels give us a sense of the enormity of what lies beneath, unhurried but curious in his progress, even homing in to look at the microscopic monsters we might not realise also make these caverns their home.

The film works on almost every level, particularly its central relationship.

At times profoundly moving, In a Foreign Land burns with indignation at the circumstances foisted on a generation who did what they were supposed to do but who have had little choice but to abandon the careers and futures they thought lay ahead of them.

Gentle, entertaining, functional.

One of the best pieces of animation you'll see this year.

The Last Circus is worth a watch for the unbridled imagination on display but ultimately it falls apart as much as its main protagonist.

The animation is beautifully composed and, though it succeeds in making Shun's experience scary, doesn't resort to anything age-inappropriate.

Neat little potted history that it is, it doesn't really require the viewer to know the sport in depth.

At once a light satire on the perils of modern dating.. and an enjoyably absurd nod to more old-fashioned humour, writer/director Collington gets away with a lot because of the sheer energy on display.

Heat and oppression hang in the air like an unspoken accusation.

Mamma Mia! is a roller coaster of emotion, careering colourfully from the blue waters of the Adriatic.

The film remains mysterious without being confusing - you don't need to grasp every detail to understand its metaphors and message and its enigmatic aura invites repeat viewings.

This is cameraman as documenter, magician and stuntman rolled into one.

There's a genuine beauty here - this is as much a love letter to love as it is the story of a complicated relationship and the branches (Broomfield included) that sprang from it.

The stakes are high and the fears tangible in this return, which invites discussion and doesn't protect parents from uncomfortable questions. This is the power of the film. Mary Poppins herself wouldn't want it any other way.

A through-line in the work of writer-director Icíar Bollaín is her interest in representing a variety of female experience, in both private and professional spaces.

There are some good stories - various myths around the filming of Alien are punctured, but one of the film's central theses is a mythological one.

Open your eyes. Admire the death defying artistry.

This is very much an actors' film and the two leads are both on superb form.

It's not so much kitchen sink, as tenement trauma.

Ishaq's exploration of what the situation means for women in general is a strength and much more fleshed out than in similar documentaries.

Nefta Football Club scores thanks to the charisma of its two young stars.

The blurring of fictionalisation is just one of the layers that encourages contemplation almost deep enough to justify the film's expansive canvas.

The mix of a humorous story with a well-set pace can’t cover up that the scientifically inaccurate lead element makes the story feel far too contrived.

What the film lacks in allegorical subtlety it makes up for in depth of emotion.

It takes a special kind of documentarian to look behind the right curtain.

Everything about Batra's film is constructed around longing.

The film achieves a state of grace through the performances and chemistry of the actors.

For all that there are premonitions, dreams, even a witch, in truth this is a film without magic

McLean's faith in his own abilities appears to be little diminished down the years.

There are some powerful moments in Skin, but however lasting some of its impacts the film isn't as deep as it hopes.

Almodóvar's trademark narrative divergence is in full effect but he keeps a delicious sense of control over his fabulously grotesque concoction.

This is a treat of a film.

The costumes in The Souvenir speak volumes about female and male desire and the search for identity that garments can encompass.

The drawing is good as the story scatters.

As the film digs into psychological stress, Athale crafts the sharp, unspoken parts of grief into shards that cut at his characters.

The film wears its story lightly. Even when Simón is dealing with heavier themes her focus is on Frida and her emotions.

The film is held together less by the tale than by tensions.

Theresa Moerman's film is a deeply personal, deeply moving portrait of grief.

The film deviates from more caricatured tales of domestic brutality.

For a first movie, Tesis has an astounding confidence. The performances of Torrent and Martinez are focused and electric.

In terms of mood, directors Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage do a lot with a little, allowing the plot to coil round the characters.

It may not be flashy but there are flashes of cleverness sparkling throughout.

This is Freud as we rarely see him, human and approachable and a bit baffled by the idea of having a young fan.

Blair's sharp injection of pace helps to zip past any cliches so fast that you don't have much time to register them.

The simple search and rescue plot is more than adequate an adventure in which to indulge the antics of our original toys, and allows space to throw in a few choice newcomers.

Kaskas makes the step up from short films to her first feature with ease.

The first thing that stands out about the film is the ease with which we can recognise Vai despite her being played by a different actress each time.

A charming and playful consideration of her career.

Patterson handles the acceleration and deceleration throughout with aplomb, notching things up or down at just the right moments and using inventive camerawork and sound design that encourages you to lean in and listen during the film's quieter moments.

There is strangeness here but of an intriguing rather than repellent sort.

The chemistry of film and filming is such that it makes something special.

Teresa Sutherland's script finds Gothic tensions in a landscape where the imaginary has as much power to harm as the real.

Horror film of the year so far, and likely to be one of the most memorable and celebrated of the coming decade.

Is it possible to make an interesting film where only one man remembers The Beatles? Probably. Is this it? Probably not.