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London Film Festival · 2017

London Film Festival 2017

Official Competition

Programme

12 films · 6 reviews

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120 BPM (Beats Per Minute) (120 Battements Par Minute, 120 Beats Per Minute)

Review preview for 120 BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Campillo has a weakness in not knowing when to trim all the talking.

Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
Portrait of the ACT UP activist group, a direct action collective aiming to impact the lives of people with AIDS.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Robin Campillo; Writer: Robin Campillo; Stars: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel, Yves Heck, Emmanuel Ménard, Rahim-Silvioli Mehdi, Antoine Reinartz, Caroline Piette, Marco Horanieh, Pascal Tantot, François Rabette, Naelle Dariya, Ariel Borenstein, Coralie Russier, Saadia Bentaïeb)

Full review See: 120 Beats Per Minute award-winner Nahuel Biscayart on sexuality, activism and the pink condom , Robin Campillo on AIDS drama 120 BPM, writing from the heart and collaboration

Angels Wear White (Jia Nuan Hua)

In a small seaside town, two schoolgirls are assaulted by a middle-aged man in a motel. Mia, a teenager who was working on reception that night, is the only witness. For fear of losing her job, she says nothing. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Wen, one of the victims, finds that her troubles have only just begun. Trapped in a world that offers them no safety, Mia and Wen will have to find their own way out.

(Country: China; Year: 2017; Director: Vivian Qu; Writer: Vivian Qu; Stars: Le Geng, Ke Shi, Yuexin Wang, Weiwei Liu, Zhou Meijun, Qi Wen, Mengnan Li, Jing Peng)

The Breadwinner

Review preview for The Breadwinner

Intelligent, humane and multi-layered, The Breadwinner is a much more substantial film than its central heroic narrative might suggest.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A young girl in Afghanistan disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.

(Country: Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg; Year: 2017; Director: Nora Twomey; Writer: Anita Doron, Deborah Ellis; Stars: Saara Chaudry, Laara Sadiq, Shaista Latif, Ali Badshah, Noorin Gulamgaus, Kawa Ada, Soma Chhaya, Kanza Feris, Kane Mahon, Ali Kazmi, Reza Sholeh, Mran Volkhard)

Full review

Beyond The Clouds

A teenager sets out to save his sister.

(Country: India; Year: 2017; Director: Majid Majidi; Writer: Majid Majidi; Stars: Malavika Mohanan, Ishaan Khattar, Shashank Shende)

Good Manners (As Boas Maneiras)

A lonely nurse is hired by a wealthy woman as a nanny for her unborn child, but one night has unexpected consequences.

(Country: Brazil, France; Year: 2017; Director: Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas; Writer: Marco Dutra, Juliana Rojas; Stars: Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Miguel Lobo, Cida Moreira, Andréa Marquee, Felipe Kenji, Nina Medeiros, Neusa Velasco, Gilda Nomacce, Eduardo Gomes, Hugo Villavicenzio, Adriana Mendonça, Germano Melo, Naloana Lima, Clara de Cápua)

The Guardians (Zashchitniki)

Soviet superheroes take on a mad scientist in charge of an army of drones.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2017; Director: Sarik Andreasyan; Writer: Andrey Gavrilov; Stars: Anton Pampushnyy, Sanjar Madi, Sebastien Sisak, Alina Lanina, Stanislav Shirin, Valeriya Shkirando, Vyacheslav Razbegaev, Nikolay Shestak, Anna Kravtsova, Mila Maksimova, Marusya Klimova, Vladimir Butenko, Yuliya Titarenko, Evgeniy Venediktov, Aleksandr Semyonov)

Lean On Pete

A homeless teenager, whose only friend is a failing racehorse, sets out on a trek to find his only known relative.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Andrew Haigh; Writer: Andrew Haigh, Willy Vlautin; Stars: Travis Fimmel, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi, Steve Zahn, Thomas Mann, Amy Seimetz, Charlie Plummer, Rachael Perrell Fosket, Justin Rain, Ayanna Berkshire, Lewis Pullman, Dana Millican, Curtis McGann, Frank Gallegos, Craig Kennedy)

See: Venice 2017: Three Billboards, Victoria And Abdul, Lean On Pete and The Third Murder

Loveless

Review preview for Loveless

Though the filmmaking is good, the bleakness of the message is unremitting.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A couple go looking for their young son after he disappears during one of their bitter rows.

(Country: France; Year: 2017; Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev; Writer: Oleg Negin; Stars: Maryana Spivak, Alexei Rozin)

Full review

The Lovers

Years into a dispassionate marriage, a long-married couple, both seriously involved with other people, resolve to call it quits. To their surprise, their decision reignites a dormant spark that leads to an impulsive affair.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Azazel Jacobs; Writer: Azazel Jacobs; Stars: Jessica Sula, Debra Winger, Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tracy Letts, Tyler Ross, Lesley Fera, Eric Satterberg, Janine Mitchell)

Sweet Country

Review preview for Sweet Country

There is artistry here and an absence of cliche.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Australian frontier drama, told from an Aboriginal perspective.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2017; Director: Warwick Thornton; Writer: Steven McGregor, David Tranter; Stars: Hamilton Morris, Bryan Brown, San Neill, Matt Day, Ewen Leslie, Tremayne Doolan, Trevon Doolan, Natassia Gorey Furber, Anni Finsterer, Thomas M Wright)

Full review

Thoroughbreds

Review preview for Thoroughbreds

The weirdness thrives on understatement

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Two rich girls contemplate murder in Connecticut

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Cory Finley; Writer: Cory Finley; Stars: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Kaili Vernoff, Paul Sparks)

Full review

Wajib

Review preview for Wajib

Annemarie Jacir's characters may not leave the city of Nazareth as they take a circular road trip in Wajib but the emotional distance they travel is considerable.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A father and his son come together to deliver wedding invitations.

(Country: Occupied Palestinian Territory; Year: 2017; Director: Annemarie Jacir; Writer: Annemarie Jacir; Stars: Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri, Maria Zreik)

Full review See: Annemarie Jacir talks about working Mohammad and Salem Bakri on Wajib