1 Nocturnal Animals (15)
(Tom Ford, 2016, US) 117 mins.
Cruel, complex and classy, this thriller-within-a-thriller is further evidence (after 2009’s A Single Man) that Ford should give up his day job and just make movies. Amy Adams is dragged out of her luxurious but miserable LA existence and into the pages of a novel written by her ex, a brutal Texan revenge tale that reopens past wounds and impacts on the present.
2 Doctor Strange (12A)
(Scott Derrickson, 2016, US) 115 mins.
Benedict Cumberbatch negotiates inner space, parallel realities and other mind-bending realms in yet another inventive Marvel origin story. Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor and co deftly induct this playboy surgeon into their quasi-eastern astral Avengers, and the special effects take your brain to another dimension.
3 I, Daniel Blake (15)
(Ken Loach, 2016, UK/Fra/Bel) 100 mins.
Loach goes where others can’t or won’t: depicting the plight of those hardest hit by Britain’s heartless austerity regime – in particular Dave Johns’s geordie carpenter, whose “fit for work” assessment puts him through the bureaucratic wringer. No misery-fest (nor liberal guilt-trip), it’s rousing and very moving.
4 The Light Between Oceans (12A)
(Derek Cianfrance, 2016, UK/NZ/US) 133 mins.
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander have an emotional storm to weather in this grand, unashamed weepie. Brought together by grief, they settle on a remote lighthouse island off western Australia, but their happiness is tempered by difficulties in conceiving a child. An apparent answer to their prayers turns out to augur more harrowing times ahead.
5 Train To Busan (15)
(Yeon Sang-ho, 2016, S Kor) 118 mins.
“Zombies on a train” is pretty much all you need to know about this solid Korean action thriller. It’s less gory and more character-driven than a straight horror, but still involves seething hordes, bludgeoning action and mass carnage, so don’t worry.
