David Parkinson

As with a number of arthouse films, the ending leaves something to be desired. But, courtesy of its meticulously mundane digital imagery, this is a film of precise details that sketches an outline of existence and then leaves it to the audience to draw their own conclusions.

Dramatically, this may seem slight. But bounteous pleasures lie in the intimacy of the acting and in the exquisite cinematic and culinary craftmanship on display.

Drolly scripted, impeccably designed and photographed, and played to succinct perfection, this may only be a slender drama, but it's also a cherishable summation of what makes Aki Kaurismäki special.

Visually striking and explosively violent, this simmering parable makes exceptional use of its rustic locations — and the faces of a vibrant cast — to reinforce a sense of authenticity.

An affecting reflection on the loneliness we will all have to face at our end, held together by Vicky Krieps's poised display of unself-pitying despair and liberating acceptance.

Meticulously controlled, but simmering with a tension that is suffused with fury, this treatise on dignity and depravity, aspiration and apathy is the Dardennes at their most accusatory and damning.

Despite the almost caricatural Frenchness of the premise, this is a superbly acted and intricately directed drama that makes a virtue of its very human feelings and follies.

Despite the nobility of its intentions and commitment of its cast, this would-be treatise on gig economical iniquity winds up patronising the very ‘invisible people' it's supposed to be championing.

Showing how paradise can be hell, this audiovisual treat is spiritedly played by its leads and bristles with a brooding menace that can't quite disguise the story's essentially melodramatic nature.

Filmed over 13 days in Tuscany and based on genuine Balkan Route testimony, this is an innovative, immersive insight into the migration crisis that also reveals much about human depravity.