The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Released on 3rd November
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos likes to make us uncomfortable. After the love-hotel lunacy of The Lobster, his latest English language feature, set in affluent North America, has Colin Farrell as an urbane surgeon and Nicole Kidman as his ophthalmologist wife (below). But what’s with the teenage boy who seems to have a sinister hold on Farrell? Lanthimos builds up style (and music) into full-throttle horror, spiked with his trademark absurdism. Co-winner of best screenplay at Cannes this year, he teases at classical tragedy but you can take your pick of themes—hypocrisy, control within families, responsibility and the mixture of science and superstition in contemporary life.
Trophy
Released on 17th November
The place of big game hunting in the ecology of commerce and development is the basis of this handsome, thoughtful new documentary. Conservationists, breeders, hunters, poachers and villagers whose cows are slaughtered by predators including lions each get their share of attention; there are no monsters here. To what extent can the legalised trade in animal hunting or parts (like rhino horn) fund conservation? No easy solutions here but the convictions displayed are surprisingly moving.
The Florida Project
Released on 10th November
The wrong side of the tracks from Disney World, a young mother and daughter are long-term residents in the kind of motel where payment is always in cash and from welfare or graft. Six-year-old Moonee drags her peers through eye-watering scrapes. The loose narrative is surprisingly satisfying: director/writer Sean Baker’s depiction of survival in the shadow of other people’s dreams continues the energy of his fizzing debut Tangerine. Willem Dafoe provides ballast as the long-suffering caretaker.
Released on 3rd November
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos likes to make us uncomfortable. After the love-hotel lunacy of The Lobster, his latest English language feature, set in affluent North America, has Colin Farrell as an urbane surgeon and Nicole Kidman as his ophthalmologist wife (below). But what’s with the teenage boy who seems to have a sinister hold on Farrell? Lanthimos builds up style (and music) into full-throttle horror, spiked with his trademark absurdism. Co-winner of best screenplay at Cannes this year, he teases at classical tragedy but you can take your pick of themes—hypocrisy, control within families, responsibility and the mixture of science and superstition in contemporary life.
Trophy
Released on 17th November
The place of big game hunting in the ecology of commerce and development is the basis of this handsome, thoughtful new documentary. Conservationists, breeders, hunters, poachers and villagers whose cows are slaughtered by predators including lions each get their share of attention; there are no monsters here. To what extent can the legalised trade in animal hunting or parts (like rhino horn) fund conservation? No easy solutions here but the convictions displayed are surprisingly moving.
The Florida Project
Released on 10th November
The wrong side of the tracks from Disney World, a young mother and daughter are long-term residents in the kind of motel where payment is always in cash and from welfare or graft. Six-year-old Moonee drags her peers through eye-watering scrapes. The loose narrative is surprisingly satisfying: director/writer Sean Baker’s depiction of survival in the shadow of other people’s dreams continues the energy of his fizzing debut Tangerine. Willem Dafoe provides ballast as the long-suffering caretaker.
