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London Film Festival · 2016

London Film Festival 2016

Official Competition

Programme

12 films · 9 reviews

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Brimstone

Review preview for Brimstone

Koolhoven wants all voyeurism of an exploitation flick while still expecting us to take his artistry seriously, and it's an unholy mix.

Amber Wilkinson · 1.5 out of 5
Revenge tale about a mute midwife in the American West.

(Country: Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, UK; Year: 2016; Director: Martin Koolhoven; Writer: Martin Koolhoven, Martin Koolhoven; Stars: Kit Harington, Dakota Fanning, Carice van Houten, Guy Pearce, Paul Anderson, Emilia Jones, Carla Juri, William Houston, Bill Tangradi, Naomi Battrick, Ivy George, Jack Roth, Vera Vitali, Justin Salinger, Frederick Schmidt)

Full review

Certain Women

Review preview for Certain Women

Certain Women is a film suffused in uncertainties.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
Triptych of stories about women in small-town America.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Kelly Reichardt; Writer: Kelly Reichardt, based on stories by Maile Meloy; Stars: Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, Rosanna Arquette, Laura Dern, Jared Harris, James Le Gros, Rene Auberjonois, John Getz, Ashlie Atkinson, James Jordan, Matt McTighe, Sara Rodier, Edelen McWilliams, Lily Gladstone, Gabriel Clark)

Full review See: Interview with Kristen Stewart and Kelly Reichardt about Certain Women

Clash (Eshtebak)

Drama set in a crowded police truck holding pro and anti-Muslim Brotherhood members in the wake of a 2013 protest.

(Year: 2016; Director: Mohamed Diab; Writer: Khaled Diab, Mohamed Diab; Stars: Nelly Karim, Mohamed El Sebaii)

Elle

Review preview for Elle

Huppert's outstanding performance embraces with unswerving delicacy the controversial decisions she faces.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
A successful video game boss aims to track down her attacker after a home invasion.

(Country: France, Germany, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Paul Verhoeven; Writer: David Birke, based on the book by Philippe Djian; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Alice Isaaz, Christian Berkel, Virginie Efira, Anne Consigny, Laurent Lafitte, Jonas Bloquet, Charles Berling, Vimala Pons, Raphaël Lenglet, Olivia Gotanègre, Lucas Prisor, Judith Magre, Arthur Mazet, Stéphane Bak)

Full review See: Isabelle Huppert - Elle star on working with Verhoeven, awards and the gift of confidence

Frantz

Review preview for Frantz

Frequently and not at all randomly, the film switches to colour, posing a charming riddle that reflects states of happiness or other kinds of intensity.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious French man who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: François Ozon; Writer: François Ozon, Philippe Piazzo; Stars: Pierre Niney, Paula Beer, Ernst Stötzner, Marie Gruber, Johann von Bülow, Anton von Lucke, Cyrielle Clair, Alice de Lencquesaing, Axel Wandtke, Rainer Egger, Rainer Silberschneider, Merlin Rose, Ralf Dittrich, Michael Witte, Lutz Blochberger)

Full review See: Interview with François Ozon about Frantz

Goldstone

Review preview for Goldstone

This is psychogeography, a place outback and beyond, where licit and illicit and moral and immoral are buried in shades of grey.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
An indigenous detective arrives in a frontier town on the hunt for a missing person.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2016; Director: Ivan Sen; Writer: Ivan Sen; Stars: Kate Beahan, Pei-Pei Cheng, Linda Chien, Max Cullen, Michelle Lim Davidson, Michael Dorman, Aaron Fa'aoso, David Gulpilil, Lark Lee, Tommy Lewis, Aaron Pedersen, Steve Rodgers, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham)

Full review

Layla M

A young girl begins to be radicalised in Amsterdam.

(Country: Netherlands; Year: 2016; Director: Mijke de Jong; Writer: Mijke de Jong, Jan Eilander; Stars: Ilias Addab, Nora El Koussour)

Moonlight

Review preview for Moonlight

Jenkins doesn't just show us the experience of his young protagonist, he bathes us in it.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Three-part narrative about the life of a gay African-American.

(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Barry Jenkins; Writer: Barry Jenkins, based on the play by Tarell McCraney; Stars: Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan'Sandy' Sanderson, Alex R. Hibbert, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris, Jaden Piner, Herman 'Caheei McGloun, Kamal Ani-Bellow, Keomi Givens, Eddie Blanchard, Rudi Goblin, Ashton Sanders, Edson Jean, Patrick Decile)

Full review

Neruda

Review preview for Neruda

A triumphant piece of filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Story of the Nobel prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his homeland.

(Country: France, Spain, Argentina, Chile; Year: 2016; Director: Pablo Larraín; Writer: Guillermo Calderón; Stars: Gael García Bernal, Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco, Pablo Derqui, Mercedes Morán, Marcelo Alonso, Alejandro Goic, Jaime Vadell, Francisco Reyes, Diego Muñoz, Michael Silva)

Full review

A Quiet Passion

Review preview for A Quiet Passion

Davies looks at questions of the soul, family, war, creativity and how to be true to yourself - all in stunningly beautiful images.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
The story of American poet Emily Dickinson.

(Country: UK, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Terence Davies; Writer: Terence Davies; Stars: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, Keith Carradine, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon, Catherine Bailey, Emma Bell, Benjamin Wainwright, Annette Badland, Rose Williams, Noémie Schellens, Miles Richardson, Eric Loren, Stefan Menaul)

Full review See: Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion and his upcoming projects , Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion Part 2 , Terence Davies in conversation on A Quiet Passion

Una

When a woman arrives at a man's workplace, secrets from the past begin to surface.

(Country: UK, US, Canada; Year: 2016; Director: Benedict Andrews; Writer: David Harrower; Stars: Ben Mendelsohn, Riz Ahmed, Rooney Mara, Indira Varma, Tara Fitzgerald, Tobias Menzies, Natasha Little, Isobelle Molloy, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Ciarán McMenamin, Erand Hoxha, Lasco Atkins, Sydney Wade, Sophie Stanton, Darren Morfitt)

Your Name (Kimi No Na Wa)

Review preview for Your Name

This is a lovely, joyful film from writer/director Makoto Shinkai that will, alternately, make you smile and have you perched anxiously on the edge of your seat.

Jane Fae · 4.5 out of 5
Two high school kids who've never met - city boy Taki and country girl Mitsuha - are united through their dreams.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2016; Director: Makoto Shinkai; Writer: Makoto Shinkai; Stars: Etsuko Ichihara, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Masami Nagasawa, Ryô Narita, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Kanon Tani, Aoi Yuki)

Full review