MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
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Bordering on the brilliant
MARIA DUARTE sees a breathtakingly surreal Scandi-noir fantasy
FIONA O CONNOR recommends an unflinching depiction of child sexual abuse and its aftershocks, set in a working-class Liverpool family
New releases from Paul Weller, Wet Leg, and Dino Saluzzi
PAUL DONOVAN relishes the spectacle of a 1950s detective in pursuit of a 500-year-old murder mystery
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
Border (15)
Directed by Ali Abbassi
THIS is one of those rare films that the less you know about beforehand the better so that you can experience its breathtaking uniqueness and ingenuity. It’s one of the most surreal films of the year and takes Scandi-noir fantasy to a whole new bizarre level.
It’s based on the short story Grans by John Ajvide Lindqvist — who wrote Let the Right One In — and like the latter, Border plays around with the genre, providing plenty of surprises.
The film centres on Tina (an extraordinary Eva Melander), a Swedish customs guard who can literally sniff out fear and guilt on those crossing the border.
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