RITA DI SANTO speaks to the exiled Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa about Two Prosecutors, his chilling study of the Stalinist purges
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Film round-up
Reviews of Young Ahmed, An American Pickle, Perfect, The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands and Flash Gordon
FIONA O’CONNOR is fascinated by a novel written from the perspective of a neurodivergent psychology student who falls in love
New releases from Robert Forster, Self Esteem, and Arve Henriksen
SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals
KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents
The bard gives us advance notice of his upcoming medieval K-pop releases
GORDON PARSONS steps warily through the pessimistic world view of an influential US conservative
Young Ahmed (NR)
Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
★★★
HOW does a studious, video game-loving Belgian teenage boy turn into a radicalised Muslim, hell-bent on killing his teacher? Can a blossoming friendship with a girl his own age who challenges his fanatical beliefs be enough to bring him around?
Those are the questions posed by this very powerful and slow-burning drama from writer-directors the Dardenne brothers.
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