FOUR STARS The first chapters of Les Misérables but there's no singing when a man imprisoned for kindness finds purpose when finally released from gaol. PERIOD DRAMA FRANCE French #JEANVALJEAN Starring Grégory Gadebois, Bernard Campan If LES MISÉRABLES is the grand, table-groaning banquet of French literature, then JEAN VALJEAN is the entree; thoughtfully plated and undeniably tasteful. Director Éric Besnard zeroes in on the opening stretch of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, st

FOUR AND A HALF STARS A young man in colonial Algeria is a stranger to everyone who knows him. DRAMA FRANCE French #THESTRANGER Starring Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder With THE STRANGER, director Francois Ozon doesn’t simply revisit Albert Camus’s famously cool slab of existentialism, he turns into something pared back, distilled, faintly accusatory. The result is a film of icy assurance and unnerving beauty, one that feels philosophically aligned. The broad strokes will be

THREE AND A HALF STARS Three stories about the little things not said that makes a family what it is. DRAMA US English #FATHERMOTHERSISTERBROTHER Starring Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER is as wonderfully compelling triptych of family (dis)connection. Three stories in three distinct settings pick at how families work, or don’t; first in a cluttered American cottage (Father), then an uptight British home (Mother), and finally an empty apartment in Pari

THREE AND A HALF STARS The sun is dying and Dr Ryland Grace is sent to save us. Turns out it's a bigger problem than he thought, and he's gonna need a bigger brain. SF DRAMA US English #PROJECTHAILMARY Starring Ryan Gosling, James Oritz There’s a strain of big-budget sci-fi that mistakes noise for awe; PROJECT HAIL MARY isn’t entirely immune, but it’s far more interested in charm than chaos. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, th

THREE AND A HALF STARS Stella and Gerry take a holiday in Amsterdam where faith, secrets, history and yearning collide. DRAMA UK English #MIDWINTERBREAK Starring Lesley Manville, Ciarán Hinds The quietly affecting MIDWINTER BREAK follows a long-married couple who travel to Amsterdam to celebrate a milestone anniversary. What begins as a gentle holiday soon reveals emotional fault lines, as chance encounters and buried tensions nudge their relationship into unfamiliar territo

FOUR STARS A young girl calls from a car, trapped in Gaza. She's surrounded by dead bodies, gunfire can be heard in the background. The Red Crescent is working to save her. DRAMA TUNISIA Arabic #HINDRAJAB Starring Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees There’s a moment, early on in THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB where you realise the film has no intention of letting you look away. Not through spectacle, not through manipulation, but through something far more confronting: restraint. What unfol