Loveless (15)
dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev
As a couple separate, their son vanishes. Haunting study of despair and complacency in modern Russia.
Zama (15)
dir: Lucrecia Martel
Bizarre Beckettian black comedy about an 18th-century magistrate stuck in a South American colony.
Leave No Trace (PG)
dir: Debra Granik
An ex-soldier’s efforts to live off-
grid with his daughter are stymied
in this thoughtful drama.
Roma (15)
dir: Alfonso Cuarón
The woes of a young nanny in Mexico City during the turbulent 1970s. Breathtaking cinematography.
Apostasy (PG)
dir: Daniel Kokotajlo
Directed by a former Jehovah’s Witness, Apostasy explores the horror of expulsion from that faith.
Western (12A)
dir: Valeska Grisebach
Masculinity is at stake when tensions mount between German construction workers and
Bulgarian villagers.
The Rider (15)
dir: Chloé Zhao
A rodeo rider and his family play versions of themselves in a drama with documentary foundations.
Private Life (15)
dir: Tamara Jenkins
Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti are funny and touching as a couple pursuing every path to parenthood.
Cold War (15)
dir: Paweł Pawlikowski
Amour fou in the Eastern Bloc. Joanna Kulig is bewitching as a troubled chanteuse.
American Animals (15)
dir: Bart Layton
Fact blurs with fiction in this audacious thriller about a plot to steal priceless books.
This article appears in the 08 Dec 2020 issue of the New Statesman, Christmas special