★★★★
Echoes of the film Haifaa al-Mansour’s tepid Mary Shelley biopic should have been reverberate through Colette, which sees Keira Knightley lead her best film since 2014’s The Imitation Game. From director Wash Westmoreland, this period drama uproots the early promise of corset clichés to deliver a more satisfying exploration of gender restriction and rebellion. It helps too that the lavish production aesthetic makes for delightful viewing.
★★★★
Tim Wardle’s mind-blowing, consistently watchable, documentary lays out the most incredibly twisty true story that I’ve heard in a long time. If it seems, at first, as though audiences will be treated to nothing more than a heart-warming tale of human connection against the odds, the breezy tone soon dissipates as we turn a corner towards something far more sinister. We soon realise that Three Identical Strangers is a ‘more than meets the eye’ allegory of immorality and corruption.
★★★★★
While The Favourite marks the first time director Yorgos Lanthimos has produced a film from his own pen, usually accompanied by Efthymis Filippou, fans of the Greek auteur’s oeuvre need fear not. Led by a trio of stellar performances, this is a tragicomic triumph every bit as deliriously barmy as the likes of Dogtooth and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It even features lobsters.
The Film Blog 