Relying heavily on the personal over the historical, 1985 is a gripping reminder that the social drama need not be loud and tumultuous for it to be effective.
The narrative debut of director Miranda Bailey, You Can Choose Your Family, is a misjudged dark comedy that earns enough goodwill through the committed performances from its ensemble.
Koreeda Hirokazu’s intimate family drama After the Storm captures a side of Tokyo rarely seen in cinema, as well as beautifully depicting a turbulent familial relationship with glimmering hope.
A Wrinkle in Time has many touching and beautiful moments, in large part due to the incredible and relatable performance of its young star. However, the heavy-handed direction and sugary-sweet story may wear on adults used to more nuanced fare.
Dark River feels more like a transitional gateway to better films, bridging the gap between Clio Barnard’ older social realist efforts and flirtations with experimental works likely to come.
The BBQ is a low-key Australian family comedy that aspires to be 2018’s answer to 90’s Oz comedy classic The Castle, but it’s too pedestrian to follow in that films footsteps.
The Family I Had is a sensitively-crafted and thoughtful documentary, utterly harrowing in its depiction of a family’s tragedy, but all the more powerful for being so.