Elle (18)
(Paul Verhoeven, 2016, Fra/Ger/Bel) 131 mins
A masked man breaks into Isabelle Huppert’s house and violently rapes her… and she does very little about it. That’s not how it usually works in the movies, but this bold, troubling, darkly comical suspense thriller gives no easy answers, instead painting a gripping portrait of complex woman negotiating a misogynist world, a high-wire act possibly only Huppert could pull off.
Logan (15)
(James Mangold, 2017, US) 137 mins
Hugh Jackman goes out on a high with a tougher, swearier, gorier X-Men movie. Between the action scenes, it’s also a more satisfying drama, with a long-in-the-claw Wolverine and Patrick Stewart’s Professor X trading barbs as they go on the run with a mysterious young mutant girl.
The Love Witch (15)
(Anna Biller, 2016, US) 118 mins
This occult horror/domestic melodrama feels like it was made in the late 1960s, but the sexual politics are bang up to date. Samantha Robinson plays a comely young witch who devotes her craft to attracting and obliging the opposite sex, but somehow leaves a trail of bodies in her wake. Are her potions too strong or the men too weak? Gorgeous to behold and deeper than mere pastiche, it puts a spell on you.
Moonlight (15)
(Barry Jenkins, 2016, US) 108 mins
Modestly scaled but ambitious and assured in its artistry, the best picture Oscar winner tells the story of a poor African-American boy’s sexual coming of age with raw intimacy, sumptuous sensuality and committed performances.
Kong: Skull Island (12A)
(Jordan Vogt-Roberts, 2017, US/Vie) 118 mins
You at least get your money’s worth in terms of spectacle with this expensive reboot, which throws monsters, military hardware and a whole lot more into its Apocalypse Now-meets-Jurassic Park mix. Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson lead the mostly expendable cast, treading a fine line between serious and silly as they explore the giant ape’s uncharted tropical domain.
