A showcase for the great Catherine Deneuve, who is the sun around whom every other character orbits. This is her most indelible role since A Christmas Tale and she moves from imperious to playful with ease and her scenes with Juliette Binoche crackle with tension but gradually reveal an underlying respect between mother and daughter. This may not always seem like a Kore-eda film but there are enough touches (the changing seasons in the garden, cooking a pasta dish, a…

Last year, the film that stood out most for me at NZIFF was Lee Chang-dong's Burning and it contained a standout scene right in the middle which acted as a flashpoint to what follows after. In a similar vein there's a scene in this film's middle, also set to music which literally and metaphorically sets things on fire. This is an elegant period piece but don't mistake elegance for stuffiness - it feels both of its time and very contemporary…

How do you follow up the magnificent monochrome of Embrace of the Serpent? With this, an epic which tracks the rise and fall of a small time drug trafficker and the family into which he marries. The traditions of the Wayuu people contrast with the encroaching rise of the modern drug trade. Ostensibly the centre is Raphayet, as the man initially on the make but he is soon confronted with his new family's matriarch, Ursula played as a cross between…