Showing Type: Film

It’s charming, well acted and beautifully done. ‘Downton Abbey, A New Era’ is a film that manages to be huge fun and yet will still have many of us dabbing gently at our eyes. Yes, Downton has done it again.

The Last Duel is an epic, well-acted and thought-provoking drama. The battle scenes are vicious but pale in comparison to the central final duel, a superbly tense and bone-breaking affair.

“Love Sarah” is a gentle reminder of the power of love in times of grief and the importance of trusting your existing “family” circle. The feel-good drama is a celebration of life and inspires hope. It will warm the cockles of your heart.

Winner of an Oscar for Best Original Screen Play and a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film of the Year, Belfast is a deeply personal semi-autobiographical drama by writer-director Kenneth Branagh about growing up during the Troubles.

The Duke retells a long-forgotten moment from modern British history when, in 1961, an irritating bolshie know-it-all from Newcastle called Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent) stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery which was worth £140,000. This is a warm-hearted film which is funny and unexpectedly touching, too.

Four stories from contemporary Iran, all linked by the theme of capital punishment and suppression of freedoms, make up this Berlin Golden Bear-winning drama from Mohammad Rasoulof. There is great technique in the storytelling, and Rasoulof’s outrage at the state-sanctioned murder gives the film passion.

How do you outdo a classic? Steven Spielberg’s new version of the timeless musical pulls it off in style.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Louis Wain, the Victorian painter who painted cats. This film is a tender story about mental health that is both imaginatively and empathetically portrayed.