San Sebastian Film Festival — A–Z of films

Knudsen is magnetic as the film's relentlessly pounding heart and its easy to fall into step with her beat.

The film makes good use of computer generated recreations of landscape to evoke wonder at nature and capture moments of genuine terror.

This is a deeply personal account of life in Palestine, and also one which sends out a strong political message.

Unquestionably and understandably harrowing, in places unbearably so, this reflection upon acts of murder, genocide and torture, told by the perpetrators themselves, is a masterpiece.

Denis Villeneuve's latest film may be about aliens visiting Earth but it's the people who hold his interest.

The script takes an adult approach to emotions, even as it shows how childish a situation can become.

McGregor's character paradoxically gets too much and not enough. Swede feels clogged with sentiment for his daughter, with little room for other emotions.

Always moving and often downright terrifying it reminds us once again of some uncomfortable truths.

Becker trusts his actors and their small movements and gestures to portray meaning beyond the dialogue.

Vigalondo's film is very funny in places but the characters are undercooked.

Russo's approach is much more impressionistic than you might imagine, seeking to retain an air of mystery even though he takes a largely neo-realist approach.

It's strong, accomplished film-making, and it should serve as a wake-up call to the West: African cinema is on the verge of a breakthrough.

The plot is as floaty as Caroline's evening gown but the joy is in the minutiae.

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

Scores heavily as a mood-driven character exploration of the nature of familial love, duty, conflict and its impact on the innocent.

The detailing, including the flamboyant naming of dresses and the rush to be finished, feels as right as a perfect necklace, so that it sets off the wider fabric of the story without detracting from it.

The symbolism in Fire At Sea is so organic that it might dawn on you hours or days after seeing the film.

The embarrassment levels are high

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.

The film moves deftly between humour and poignancy, generating a strong emotional response in its quieter moments.

Jim Jarmusch has always been great at extracting stories from his subjects. Here, his role is focused more on containment.

Despite the filth, the violence and the desolation, McQueen’s portrait is a thing of brutal beauty in terms of its composition.

The film preserves a sense of immediacy and is achingly relevant for our times much in the same way Cathy Come Home was for the Sixties.

An astonishingly mature feature debut from Hamoud.

The film is a heartfelt cry for someone to stop these children being exploited so cruelly, but offers no easy answers.

This film is not an encyclopedia entry but a living, breathing adventure ride into French cinema through the eyes and ears of the filmmaker.

Almodóvar exudes a new found confidence.

The film could be called "old fashioned" but that is rarely a bad thing.

Just when you think you know this story, Oldroyd and Birch begin to show you that you don't.

Oppenheimer boils down the atrocity to the experience of a single family, leaving us to extrapolate back up.

Purely observational though it is, this is a film that becomes devastating in its intensity.

A sublime family thriller

The John Ford cliches clang against the Sergio Leone sloppy seconds with the hollow ring of a church bell.

Bayona knows how to turn the screw of sentiment, not so much jerking tears as gradually filling a well of sadness until it can't help but spill out.

The script has a heartfelt carefulness but it is never preachy, with 'naughty' conversations about the home's teacher's willy exploding likely to have pre-adolescents (and adults who well remember these sorts of conversations) hooting with laughter.

A triumphant piece of filmmaking.

It is in the second half of Nocturama - which takes place in a department store by night - that Bertrand Bonello's prowess at showing us worlds closing in on themselves comes to full force.

The tension between Philippe and his dad ultimately drives the film in ways that lead Salle to cut corners with other characters and leave it caught in the doldrums when Niney is absent.

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

In keeping with the hagiographic tradition, Hamy keeps his performance rather flat, but this is problematic for The Ornothologist as a film; its success as a piece of art is somewhat at odds with audience appeal.

This film, like it's central character is wilfully complex and surprisingly fluid, wrong-footing us as we try to fill in the spaces between each vignette at the same time as drawing us to its thriller component.

His [Abu-Assad's] controversial decision to place melodrama before morality, while allowing Paradise Now to transcend its hefty (and painfully current) ethical baggage, also allows us to empathise with its conflicted protagonist.

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

Some of the art is truly breathtaking, especially the star-filled skies, and the movement of the various animals we meet is beautifully observed.

Too much smoke and not enough mirrors.

Oliver Stone takes the story and gives it slick mainstream polish, bringing the issue home in a way that is understandable and urgent, even if his hero ends up seeming almost too good to be true.

Rithy Panh’s master stroke brings together S.21 survivors (two of the existing three) and former guards and torturers. He encourages them to talk. To find answers.

If you’ve ever wanted to see a bagel and a lavash engaging in homosexual activity used as an argument for why Israel and Palestine should just y’know, smoke some weed and get on with each other, here’s your chance!

Deserves your attention, marking its director and lead as talents to watch.

The plot pigs out on possibilities but the characters are great and if you can keep up with the speed of events you won't be disappointed.

Huppert is perfect - no trace of self-pity waters down the complicated emotions at work.

There will be plot developments involving kidnap, the loot as ransom and a gunfight but those are really just the action icing on the cake of what is, at heart, a character study and a dissection of friendship.

This film does much well but little new.

The most compelling aspect of the film is it's sheer physicality.

The film really shouldn’t work, but it does.

Wiener-Dog is a Solondz film through and through – there's still no-one daring to be quite so acerbic and inhumane towards his characters while keeping them grounded in a sense of relatable experience.

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.

This modern fairytale has its dark side, but it’s not as grim as something the Brothers Grimm would have concocted.