Items25The creator’s order
  1. 1Moonlight (2016)Moonlight (2016) 7.4/10 on IMDbReleased 21 Oct 2016Barry Jenkins lets three periods of a life answer one another through gesture, colour and withheld speech. The actors make the changing physical presence feel continuous. Its particular achievement is giving tenderness and self-protection equal dramatic weight without explaining the protagonist…0
  2. 2Arrival (2016)Arrival (2016) 7.9/10 on IMDbReleased 10 Nov 2016Language becomes a difficult shared task rather than a convenient way to deliver information. Amy Adams gives that work patience and emotional pressure, while Denis Villeneuve makes the visitors' scale quietly unsettling. The science fiction earns its most ambitious ideas through the experience of…0
  3. 3Toni Erdmann (2016)Toni Erdmann (2016) 7.3/10 on IMDbReleased 14 Jul 2016Maren Ade lets a father's disruptive performance expose the exhausting work inside his daughter's professional composure. Sandra Hüller and Peter Simonischek make embarrassment funny long after it has stopped being comfortable. The film's unusual length allows affection and resistance to remain…0
  4. 4Manchester by the Sea (2016)Manchester by the Sea (2016) 7.8/10 on IMDbReleased 17 Nov 2016Casey Affleck and the ensemble make grief visible in failed practical conversations rather than only major declarations. Kenneth Lonergan's shifts in time change how ordinary behaviour is understood. The film is powerful because it allows continuing damage to coexist with humour and the need to…0
  5. 5The Handmaiden (2016)The Handmaiden (2016) 8.1/10 on IMDbReleased 1 Jun 2016Park Chan-wook makes changes in perspective alter the meaning of objects, rooms and performances already seen. The production design gives deception a material elegance. Its erotic thriller machinery is engrossing, with the women's changing access to knowledge more consequential than spectacle…0
  6. 6Paterson (2016)Paterson (2016) 7.3/10 on IMDbReleased 17 Nov 2016Adam Driver makes a bus driver's quiet attentiveness feel like an active way of living. Jim Jarmusch's repeated routes and domestic routines create space for small variations to matter. This is the year's most rewarding gentle option for viewers willing to find drama in observation and the daily…0
  7. 7Certain Women (2016)Certain Women (2016) 6.4/10 on IMDbReleased 25 Sept 2016Kelly Reichardt lets work, distance and an unequal exchange of attention organise three loosely connected stories. The performers make pauses carry information that conversation cannot comfortably supply. The final section is especially moving because desire remains specific even when it has little…0
  8. 8American Honey (2016)American Honey (2016) 7.0/10 on IMDbReleased 30 Sept 2016Andrea Arnold keeps the sales crew's collective energy close to the precarious work supporting it. Sasha Lane gives the journey an alert, searching centre. The roaming camera and music make freedom feel exhilarating without pretending the open road removes dependency or exploitation.0
  9. 9Elle (2016)Elle (2016) 7.1/10 on IMDbReleased 25 May 2016Isabelle Huppert makes the protagonist's control of an encounter difficult to read as either simple strength or emotional safety. Paul Verhoeven keeps social comedy abrasively close to sexual violence. It is a demanding, troubling choice whose force lies in refusing an easy reassuring account of…0
  10. 10Raw (2017)Raw (2017) 6.9/10 on IMDbReleased 10 Mar 2017Julia Ducournau makes bodily appetite a means of discovering an identity that cannot be managed through polite self-explanation. Garance Marillier gives the transformation physical specificity. The graphic material is integral to an unusually assured debut, suited to viewers who want horror that…0