London Film Festival — A–Z of films

Immensely satisfying and riveting.

One of this year's must-see films, this is not simply a worthy tribute of a subject too often ignored by Hollywood; it's also a remarkable piece of cinema in its own right.

Crowder’s film is clearly a labour of love and offers a more multi-angled approach than anything I can recall that’s gone before.

This is great stuff - a fantastic musical documentary.

Breillat shows from her own experience with having suffered a stroke and the camera tells of the hospital and the patient's progress in a tone that is unsentimental, poignant, free.

The situation is played with an off-hand glibness that barely leaves a lipstick mark on the surface of what the quartet are doing.

It's a courageous performance in more ways than one.

Soloway has crafted a well-observed script, too coarse and cruel to be dismissed as frothy romcom.

When it comes to action, the physical abilities of the cheerleaders make them genuinely scary predators.

Drawing from real life events, Tanic's docudrama gains its power from the emotionally stirring scenario and all-round naturalistic performances, which feel infused with greater honesty given that a version of this nightmare has been played out in real lif

The Armstrong Lie confirms Gibney’s position as one of the US’ foremost documentarians.

As I Lay Dying looks and sounds great, and offers many individual moments of heightened intensity.

A commanding painting of passions, relationships and enlightenment.

This film really does do something genuinely new with its old, grinding tropes - but once the veil has been lifted, the mask removed and the mechanics beneath all these devices exposed, no mystery remains.

The director's uncompromising approach and rigour pulls us along at least until the half way point when the pace begins to falter and its lack of obvious intentions starts to grate.

To begrudge this film its faults would be to ignore the way it cuts to the very heart of the contradictions and hypocrisies of a nation that still regards women as vessels for male bloodlines.

An inward, austere examination of ideas of madness, empathy and the creative impulse.

The premise questions our storytelling conventions.

It's the boxy Apple Mac precursors that are the real stars in many ways. It's hard not to feel a warm glow of affection for them, assuming you are a viewer of a certain age.

In some ways she may be a monster, but Netzer and co-writer Radulescu find a path for Cornelia that steers clear of outright condemnation. Her tragic devotion to her son is so absolute that she retains our pity.

The more problematic aspects of the film stem from a narrative that cannot sustain the inventiveness of the central conceit and which peters out before the end.

With such a fascinating subject, it's hard for a documentary to go wrong.

Despite the seemingly grim subject matter, Gordon-Levitt goes the upbeat route with his debut feature.

I wished for Billy Wilder's spirit from The Apartment to take over the tone just a little bit.

Lebna constantly pokes and prods, arguing that the director too often sees the situation through a white western lens.

What might in lesser hands have been an aimless, stilted disaster here becomes, thanks to these capable, funny capable actors, a finely observed naturalist comedy of manners.

This could have been a simple story about heroism in the face of a soul-destroying system. It's a credit to all involved that it manages to be something more.

Campillo keeps the questions coming.

Karasawa's film is at its strongest when Stritch is allowed to open up her life to us in all its intimate detail.

Refreshing and breezy - but also forgotten almost as soon as it has wafted by.

The scripting is loose and Albertine - best known as the former guitarist with punk group The Slits - and real-life conceptual artist Gillick have the rawness that comes with first-time acting.

Mabasa is delightful in the lead.

Gloria has the instincts of an eagle and the courage to fly.

Alfonso Cuaron's film comes with a powerful force of its own - one which drags you towards the edge of your seat, forces your nails down into the cinema arm rests and sucks the breath out of you.

A flowing, lyrical film, at times startlingly beautiful, The Golden Dream hypnotises the viewer with its constant movement, its unceasing rhythm.

Wrathall's considered, thorough and thoroughly entertaining film gives not just a sense of the man but also the importance to the world of iconoclasts like him.

Wong Kar Wai knows how to frame faces like no other, with embroidered collars, white straw fedoras, a rowdy monkey, cotton flowers and words escaping lips that are like song.

Although the actors acquit themselves with some distinction the performances cannot quite disguise the one dimensional aspect of the characters.

Matsuda is excellent in the demanding central role.

A film worth shouting about.

Too many jokes fall flat coming from the mouths of a very talented cast.

A poetic and tense debut that explores not so much the coming of age as the coming of mortality.

Although other films have dealt with the subject of euthanasia none so far has looked at the emotional difficulties of the perpetrator.

A still, painterly vision in silvery monochrome - capturing the quiet contemplation of the two women and simultaneously encouraging the same on the part of the viewer.

Ilo Ilo is a quietly assured first feature that marks the director out as a bright new talent.

The pace may seem deliberate but the Coens obviously want us to uncover the character's layers gently rather than him being delivered ready-made.

The film suffers from a profusion of good taste

Jodorowsky, amazingly vigorous at 84, is never anything less than captivating, funny, and passionate when on screen.

Krikodas should be wary of letting his style run rampant over material that could have been both resonant and disturbing given some restraint.

Although there are no truly outstanding performances, neither are there any weak ones in what is essentially an ensemble piece.

The ingredients may look to be all there but Reitman's effort feels too full of studio additives and overcooked.

The film with all its large time leaps gives the impression not of something alien, long dead, but very pertinent to the now.

Built upon a variety of different perspectives, Guo's politically engaged sort-of documentary is more an episodic tapestry of suggestions than anything like a coherent argument.

Shuttling back and forth between the families, Like Father, Like Son scrutinises words, deeds, allegiances.

It's like a suicide. And there's nothing to look at

Sheer unadulterated pleasure often comes from the most unexpected quarters.

It’s a crowd-pleaser and only the most stern of hearts and minds could fail to be seduced by its charm and the incredible persona of Gallienne.

It is the duality in the myth that makes Milius so fascinating, regardless of what you think of his politics.

The joy is in the detail of Dosunmu's film, the nuance of a relationship as richly complex as the African print dresses that Adenike favours.

Sen has crafted a tense thrill ride without ever forgetting his roots.

Reichardt observes the game coolly, yet provides more than enough detail to show the contradictions in her players' gambits.

Behind the surface simplicity of a father and son road trip lurks a sharp and bitter-sweet odyssey with a strong sense of satire.

Achieving a delicate balance between the intersecting worlds of police, criminals and corporations, New World is a breath of fresh air.

This apparently meandering, unfocused story conceals an acutely observed portrait of a society in flux.

What is so disarming about Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive is a scarce sense of appreciation - of the vampire couple for each other and the appreciation by both of them for what is great in the world.

Managing for the most part to avoid the clichés of portraying the gypsy milieu, it has the stamp of authenticity.

Farhadi peels away the layers with simplicity, revealing the complicated and detailed emotions which lurk very close to the surface.

This will have even the bitterest viewer sobbing into their popcorn.

The characters may be variously plagued by debt, illness and emotional strain but they also prove there is conoslation in friendship and that a single shared chocolate can be more important and touching than a thousand words.

There are films that stick with you. Ones that make an impression even if it wasn’t a pleasant one. This is maybe one of those.

If you are a fan of Kathleen and her work, this film is a must-see.

The spirit of childhood skips and giggles through The Rocket even though Kim Mordaunt's debut fiction feature touches on deeply disturbing humanitarian issues.

Rosi's panorama manages to circle back, making you love humanity.

Saleh Bakri is superb in the central role, at first chilling, then lurching between brutality and incongruous tenderness.

The end result, though well-mounted and featuring knock-the-soot-out-of-your-chimney performances from Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as the movie mogul, feels more like a Disney theme park version of events than the real story.

Apart from Mike Eley's lustrous, lyrical cinematography, The Selfish Giant is also elevated by the central performances of Chapman and Thomas.

The film’s simplicity is its strength.

A meandering, overlong trek of a film.

The power of the film comes not from its mystery but from its drama, from Cardinale's incredible screen presence.

The investigation has a surreal aspect to it that stretches credulity while the final resolution seems unsatisfactorily far-fetched.

For all that its often said "they don't make them like they used to" this is very, very close.

Few portrayals of autism spectrum disorders in film have ever had the authenticity of this.

Mackenzie shows everyone, inmates and guards alike, to be trapped in a corrupted, corrupting system that resists all change.

Riding along on the strength of its central mystery, They Will Return just about gets away with its unevenly paced story and variable acting.

Glistens with the best kind of nostalgia.

A complex portrait of grief, Tom At The Farm is Dolan's strongest work to date, not least because of the performance he gives in the lead.

Brac films the small town in great detail, capturing its claustrophobia, and the sometimes tragic destinies of his protagonists.

Visually the film has emotional qualities that contribute to the feeling of admiration for Robyn's quest

With impressively sourced archive footage, much of it in colour, the film presents a fair overview of its subject and finds time for laughs even in stories with tragic endings.

A film that seeks to challenge and alienate its audience from the get-go, knowing full well that it won't win all of them back.

As the story ball is passed from one set of characters to the next, you sense the dexterity without being distracted by it, while the messages about being a team player and winning by fair means not foul underpins the action without getting in the way.

Côté has always had a skill for subverting expectations and here he manages to slide his film from black comedy to outright horror with the smoothness of a snake.

Daring, and well ahead of its time.

This film shows better than any documentary on the development of safety gear for drivers, cars and roads could ever do why the changes in the sport were necessary.

We Are The Best! is a rebel yell of positivism - with exclamation mark - that brings a fuzzy warmth to all the wintry Stockholm locations.

Smart direction and well judged performances keep us guessing - all the way up to a contrived finale which is both hammy and ham-fisted.

Keeps holding out a promise of insight into its young protagonist's mentality and makeup, but ends up merely observing her from a cool distance, as if through the binoculars from the opening scene.

The Zero Theorem is a messy mélange of broad pratfalls, challenged idealism, dark satire, and expansive, indeed cosmic allegory - but it also .cannot escape being seen as a kind of Brazil vers. 2.0.