Eternity ★★★★☆
Directed by David Freyne. Starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early, Olga Merediz. 12A cert, gen release, 114 min
Charming supernatural romcom that has Olsen choosing to spend eternity with either Teller or Turner. The film gets a little bogged down in this version of purgatory’s procedures, and feels a bit claustrophobic. But the three leads demonstrate absolute belief in romantic absolutes as we drift towards a class of sob-heavy denouement Hollywood now rarely attempts. The ambience suggests Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s imperishable A Matter of Life and Death. There is the same borderline-sentimental belief in the eternally suitable partner. The hugely stacked balconies feel like a conscious tribute to the architecture in that British classic. Recommended. Full review DC
It Was Just an Accident ★★★★★
Directed by Jafar Panahi. Starring Vahid Mobasseri, Maryam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Georges Hashemzadeh, Delmaz Najafi. 15A cert, limited release, 104 min
A group of former prisoners happen upon a man they suspect to be their sometime torturer. Is it right to kill him? Not for the first time, Panahi, an Iranian director much harassed by his own state, works humour in with the most grating political satire. At times, indeed, the film embraces the blackest farce – a near-Scooby-Doo team transporting a zombie about in their Mystery Machine – without ever compromising its core seriousness. Elsewhere are unmistakable allusions to the stark wit of Samuel Beckett. Deserved winner of the Palme d’Or. Full review DC
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Folktales ★★★★☆
Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. Featuring Hege, Bjorn Tore, Romain, Thor-Atle Svortevik, Iselin Breivold. No cert, limited release, 106 min
Veteran documentary duo Ewing and Grady, whose earlier films The Boys of Baraka, Detropia and the Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp cemented their reputation for tender portraits of young people blossoming away from home, return to familiar thematic terrain with renewed compassion. Set 300km above the Arctic Circle, at Pasvik Folk High School in Norway, the film follows three teens on the anxious verge of adulthood. Intimate observations are framed with local mythology, drawing on Norse tales of goddesses. In the unadorned, stirring words of one devoted instructor, “Be bold. Open doors.” Full review TB
Horseshoe ★★★★☆
Directed by Edwin Mullane and Adam O’Keeffe. Starring Carolyn Bracken, John Connors, Lalor Roddy, Jed Murray, Neill Fleming, Eric O’Brien, Mary Murray. 15A cert, gen release, 89 min
The combustible set-up is familiar: a traumatised family, a contested inheritance and a house rattling with difficult history. But this fine Irish film reinvents this dog-eared premise with dark humour and a keen understanding of the emotional complexities underpinning huge family rows. The film’s locations, notably the characterful, lonely house on the Sligo-Donegal border, are framed with grey, rough-hewn beauty by the cinematographer Jass Foley. Anna Mullarkey’s score deftly marries folk fixtures with minimalist motifs to amplify the rising discord. Not for the first time, Roddy is MVP. Deserving winner of best Irish first feature at Galway Film Fleadh. Full review TB
