Shame (2011)

A man addicted to sex and porn finds himself unravelling when his sister stays over.

The gimmick: Shame forgoes the usual niceties of character development, plot, and narrative structure for a depressing psychological study fuelled by Raw Acting.

Watch for: Carey Mulligan, whose character and performance punctuates the one-note storytelling of the film. Watch only if you liked Hunger.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 30 January 2013.

Sinister (2012)

The Ring gets a classic American horror style homage in Sinister.

Ethan Hawke plays a writer who wants to be the Truman Capote of unsolved serial killings and finds there is a real evil behind a case, lurking within... homemade 8mm videos.

Watch for: excellent conceptual writing that melds two very different horror traditions, and Ethan Hawkes, who's very good in any movie he's cast.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 10 October 2012.

The Possession (2012)

Nice kid gets possessed by an ancient, malignant spirit.

Yes, The Possession is sort of a tribute to the sensibilities of The Exorcist, with its slow-building, suggestive, philosophical horror - where supernatural horror wasn't a convenient expy of suburban middle class angst.

The gimmick here is instead of Christianity, the theology is Jewish.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 19 September 2012.

Life during wartime (2009)

Todd Solondz perfects his cinema of misanthropy in Life during wartime, where an ensemble of characters create their own hell even as they convince themselves they're out of it.

Eschewing the surreal, over the top feel of his previous attempts, Life during wartime is actually enjoyable and funny because of the its perfect timing and understated humanism.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 8 August 2012.

Stricken (Komt een vrouw bij de dokter) (2009)

A couple in a Lubitschean marriage find their arrangement unworkable when the Missus has a Terminal Illness and the hubby continues his womanising.

It's a virtuous woman dying melodrama with a huge curveball. You're treated to multiple interpretations of her arrangement with the husband and the buffet of possibilities make for delicious viewing.

The fun and creative storytelling ends when it collapses down to one possibility by the time the lady expires.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 4 July 2012.

A Separation (جدایی نادر از سیمین) (2011)

Within a domestic drama and courtroom procedural lies a complex, morally ambiguous story about being good and lying for the greater good, and the inability to do otherwise.

Director Asghar Farhad's neorealist direction is an antidote to the standard American formulations of the suburban angst drama.

Watch this for: superb and empathetic storytelling.

Read my full review on Fridae, first published on 7 March 2012.

The Beaver (2011)

A very outlandish film about a man whose midlife crisis causes him to reinvent himself... as a sock puppet.

You can watch it as a very serious drama, as an allegory for acting.

Or you can watch it as an unintended comedy, and revel in the knowledge that at one point in production, it was meant as a comedy starring Jim Carrey.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 22 June 2011.

Rabbit Hole (2010)

When bad things happen to good people, it provokes a sense of pity in the audience.

Rabbit Hole introduces us to one such Good Person, and then proceeds to show what a passive-aggressive dick she is, especially in her grieving.

This turn by Nicole Kidman is bolstered by all-round strong ensemble acting by the cast, and is one of the year's underrated gems.

Read my full review at Fridae, first published on 16 February 2011.