Dreamers (15)
Directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
★★★★

DREAMERS announces Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor as a filmmaker with a bold, unblinking gaze. Her debut unfolds inside Hatchworth Removal Centre, a place rendered with such aching specificity that it feels less like a setting than a weather system — grey, noisy, enclosing, yet pierced by sudden shafts of colour. At the centre of it all is Ronkẹ Adekoluẹjo’s luminous Isio, a woman determined to navigate Britain’s labyrinthine immigration system by following its rules, even as those rules repeatedly fail her.

What keeps the film buoyant, and often unexpectedly tender, is the constellation of relationships Isio gathers around her. Farah — played with magnetic, flinty warmth by Ann Akinjirin — quickly becomes both anchor and spark, drawing Isio into a fragile romance that feels like contraband hope. Diana Yekinni’s sharp-witted Nana and Aiysha Hart’s contemplative Atefeh round out a small community stitched together by shared uncertainty and the stubborn will to survive.

Gharoro-Akpojotor punctuates this grounded world with dream sequences that shimmer with menace and beauty: a demon draped in iridescent colours shadowing Isio in nocturnal dances that feel halfway between nightmare and ritual. These visions give the film a mythic pulse, as though Isio’s struggle were being witnessed by something ancient.

The ending arrives quickly, almost like a door slammed by fate, but its abruptness only deepens the emotional bruise. Dreamers is, at its core, a story of love fought for in inhospitable places — a reminder that even where freedom is elusive, tenderness can carve out its own territory.
LB
In cinemas December 5

It Was Just An Accident (12A)
Directed by Jafar Panahi 
★★★★

WINNER of this year’s Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival Iranian film director Jafar Panahi’s latest film is a clever critique of his country’s totalitarian regime, set within a gripping thriller. 

Shot clandestinely in and around Tehran, it follows car mechanic Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) who recognises his former prison torturer due to the squeak of his prosthetic leg, and is hellbent on revenge. To make sure it is him he meets up with some of the other victims to see if they can identify him. The problem is that they were all blindfolded while he tortured them. 

Based on Panahi’s last stint in prison, and on real life stories from fellow inmates, what ensues is both tragic and funny in places as Vahid’s friends each relive their individual trauma while their jailer is tied up in the back of Vahid’ van. The group has to decide if it is him and what retribution to take. 

It is a powerful drama which examines truth and uncertainty along with revenge and mercy ending on a truly chilling note. 
MD
In cinemas December 5

Folktales (12A)
Directed by Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady
★★★★

A STRIKING blend of cinema verité and visual poetry, this ambitious documentary explores the commencement of adulthood, alienation from nature and the power of myth. The hazards of these themes – intrusiveness, sententiousness and faux mysticism – are neatly swerved.

The setting is Pasvik Folk High School in northern Norway, where students learn dog sledding, survival skills and the value of collaboration. Experiences and feelings are portrayed with sensitivity. There are immersions in icy water, campfires constructed in sub-zero temperatures and examinations of the emotional chaos of becoming an adult. Most participants have anxieties relating to self-esteem, “fitting in” and body image, but one is coping with the murder of her father.

The cinematography is impressive: there are dramatic shots of skies, landscapes and sledding – sometimes aerial, sometimes from a dog’s point of view. Examination of the potential influence of canine care on human behaviour is one of the film’s strongest aspects.
AH
In cinemas December 5

Eternity (15)
Directed by David Freyne
★★★

SET in the afterlife, this is a beautiful, yet funny and touching romantic comedy with a unique twist. 

Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives at the Junction to find her recently deceased husband Larry (Miles Teller) is waiting there for her, along with her first love and husband Luke (Callum Turner), a war hero, who has been waiting 67 years for her.

She has seven days to decide which eternity to choose for good, and who to spend it with. They range from Marxist World to Capitalist World and from Man Free World to the sold-out Wine World.  

Co-written and directed by David Freyne this is a captivating and heartfelt screwball comedy which unfolds in a controlling afterlife with no heaven or hell. Those that try to escape their eternity are hunted down. The question is what would you choose? What would eternity look like? 
MD
In cinemas December 5