San Sebastian Film Festival — A–Z of films

One doesn't need to be religious to find something ineffable not just in the music itself but in the way it is expressed.

Every time we are away from the older generation, they're sorely missed and the action drags without their presence.

The difficult reality of life in Senegal dances with something much more otherworldly in Mati Diop's debut film.

The evocation of 1945 Leningrad is brilliantly captured with crumbling buildings and over-crowed trams but too often the dramatic set pieces fail to register

Some patience is required but the general calm and tranquillity of the film becomes part of its charm.

The acutely caught observational humour is what gives The Climb its motor.

The jarring juxtaposition of sparkly, sexualised Seventies choreography and fire-and-brimstone Catholicism is absolutely key to a film that explores the mismatch between devout religious beliefs and modernity.

Di Girolamo has a compelling intensity in the role but it's still hard to believe that everyone would fall quite so hard and fast for Ema's devil may care charms and unpredictability, especially with so much on the line.

The Endless Trench marries its effective prison drama element to a relationship drama, artfully highlighting the impact of hiding out, not just on those forced to do it but on their loved ones.

In terms of basic plotting, there might not seem to be much here, but emotions crackle beneath the surface and the mood burns deep.

The bleak chill of the Quebecois winter seeps into the very bones of Denis Côté's latest film, giving a sense of aching longing to the action.

Remnants of bygone ways of life are beautifully shot in Giraffe.

There's much to enjoy here, from the gripping performances, particularly from Taujanskaité and Bagdziunas to the handsome cinematography from Denis Luschick, showing bags of potential in his first feature

Phoenix strips the skin off your eyeballs. What happens next is a gasp away from easy.

The trouble with all this mood, is that it eventually gets laid on too thick.

Scrimshaw captures Lynn's warring emotions perfectly.

The film feels surprisingly modern but never anachronistically so.

Ly wanted the people who have lived in these schemes to have the chance to tell their own stories, which gives Les Misérables an unerring sense of authenticity.

Looking at the colours, the entire film could be taking place inside a mushroom. Cigarette smoke penetrates almost every scene.

Landes' film has the queasy, uneasy feel of a nightmare - and that's before magic mushrooms are involved.

The way ahead may be a little pre-destined but the director let's the tension drip through every beautifully shot moment by cinematographer Michal Englert - with the sort of imagery that could see her film achieve its own cult appeal.

Bong Joon Ho's tale of two families explores the wealth gap in South Korean society with wit, insight and a pitch black sense of humour.

What could have been a traditionally lavish costume drama has been pared down to highlight the erotic tension and sensuality

The narrative manages to balance the personal with the wider world of space exploration while dealing with the issues of domesticity and family demands and the conflicts of pursuing a demanding work arc.

The camera is, literally, down with the kids, at their eye level, drinking in their mayhem, their laughter and their viewpoint.

Tightly structured and well-shot

Nothing here is as peaceful as the various characters are trying to make it seem.

A chiller of displaced domesticity

A narrative that hits your emotional solar plexus with the raw power of the performances and the deceptive simplicity of the story.

As character studies go, it's familiar ground but Funes succeeds in exploring it with some tenacity and strikes emotional chords without resorting to melodrama.

Bustamante employs physical earthquakes as well, with a similar subtlety that he goes on to use the myth of La Llorona in his follow up film

In less sensitive hands than Kore-eda's, it could have come across as cloyingly introverted but instead there is wit and warmth in the observed relationship between the two women.

Rylance is superb throughout in a role perfectly suited to his talents.

This is one of the most beautiful animated films of the year.

The deeper into the film we get, and the closer the realities of the war become to Unamuno, the more Amenábar and his co-writer Alejandro Hernández lean into the melodrama.