Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Twin Peaks

2017 | USA | David Lynch | ★★★★★

Equal parts hilarious, terrifying, and baffling, David Lynch's dreamlike, formally audacious Twin Peaks: The Return is an 18-part existential crime serial, featuring incomparably bold visuals, wonderfully full-blooded performances, and fantastically nonsensical plotting.

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"Directed entirely by David Lynch, the new Showtime 18-part limited event series picks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town were stunned when their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. Twin Peaks is written and executive produced by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and is executive produced by Sabrina S. Sutherland." Showtime

See also:
Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Murdered for Being Different (2017)

2017 | UK | Nick Leather | ★★★★

Alternating between tender beauty and barbaric ugliness, Nick Leather's utterly devastating Murdered for Being Different is a lovingly crafted, sensitively performed BBC drama, made to mark the tenth anniversary of the murder of Sophie Lancaster.

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"Real-life drama about the murder of 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster who in 2007 was kicked to death in a park by a gang. Her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, was also severely beaten and ended up in a coma. The two of them were attacked because they were dressed as goths." BBC

Trust Me (2017)

2017 | UK | Dan Sefton | ★★★

Driven by the mesmerising central performance of the ever-wonderful Jodie Whittaker, but hampered by an almost fatal lack of credibility, Dan Sefton's four-part medical drama with a twist, Trust Me, proves itself ridiculous but entertaining.

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"Driven to desperate measures, nurse Cath Hardacre (Jodie Whittaker, Doctor Who, Broadchurch) steals the identity of her best friend, an A&E doctor and finds work in a struggling emergency department. It’s not long before she starts to enjoy the trappings that come with her new job and Cath soon finds herself falling for a fellow doctor. With her dream job and the perfect man, she buries herself in her imposter persona, until her old life threatens to shatter her new existence and she’s forced to go to increasingly desperate methods to cover up her lies. Will her lack of skills have deadly consequences? How can she be in a relationship when she can’t be herself? How can she keep hold of the perfect life when she is living a lie?" Studiocanal

Queers. (2017)

2017 | UK | Mark Gatiss | ★★★★

Screened as part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season, Mark Gatiss's witty and upbeat though never romanticised Queers. is a series of eight pub-set, decades-spanning monologues, starring and written by an array of well-corralled British talent.

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"Curated and directed by Mark Gatiss, Queers sees eight new and established writers respond to the 50th anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act which partially decriminalised homosexual acts between men. Taking in 1957's Wolfenden Report, the HIV crisis and the 1967 Sexual Offence Act itself, the monologues will explore some of the most poignant, funny, tragic and riotous moments of British gay history and the very personal rites-of-passage of British gay men through the last one hundred years." BBC

See also:

Gay Britannia (2017)

Ill Behaviour (2017)

2017 | UK | Sam Bain | ★★★

Buoyed by witty dialogue and amiable performances, but hamstrung by a complete absence of credibility, Sam Bain's Ill Behaviour is a mildly diverting three-part BBC black comedy, Starring Chris Geere, Tom Riley, Jessica Regan, and Lizzy Caplan.

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"Thirty-something friends Joel, Charlie and Tess are having a tough time. Joel is recently divorced and now has the hots for doctor Nadia, a raging alcoholic/ Tess has quit her job. And Charlie – well, Charlie has cancer. Charlie wants to treat the cancer naturally (it’s curable if caught in time) but Joel is convinced this is suicide. There’s only one thing for it: kidnapping. Joel and Tess bundle off Charlie to a secret country house and, with Nadia’s ‘help’, begin a course of chemotherapy with Charlie tied to a chair. Tempers flare, temperatures rise, copious amounts of alcohol are consumed and crossbows are brandished. Mates turn into enemies, enemies turn into lovers and life-long friendships bend, stretch – and shatter." 2entertain

Meteors (2017)

Meteorlar

2017 | Turkey | Gürcan Keltek | ★★★★★

Gürcan Keltek's remarkable Meteors is a thoughtful, visually distinctive experimental docu-fiction exploring the intersection between the Kurdish plight and the natural world, driven by the alluring combination of spectacular black and white digital imagery and Ebru Ojen's quietly affecting narration.

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"They come at night and everybody steps out. They light torches and remember those who have walked these streets before them. In the coming hours, the city will be on lockdown: an eclipse appears and meteors start to fall." Festival Scope

See also:
Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Sweating the Small Stuff (2017)

枝葉のこと

2017 | Japan | Ninomiya Ryutaro | ★★★★★

Writer-director-star Ninomiya Ryutaro's utterly engrossing Sweating the Small Stuff is a low-key, semi-autobiographical  slice-of-life drama about pain and regret, comprised of long, handheld, naturally lit takes of Ninomiya's enigmatic, booze-soaked wanderings.

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"Ryutaro Ninomiya, 27 years old, lives a fairly simple life. He works at an auto-repair shop, reads books and drinks a few beers. One day, he receives a phone call from Yusuke, his childhood friend whose mother, Ryuko, is dying from Hepatitis C. Despite knowing for a while that Ryuko was sick, Ryutaro hasn’t visited her, but today he decides to go." Festival Scope

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Against the Law (2017)

2017 | UK | Brian Fillis | ★★★★

Screened as part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season, Brian Fillis's beautifully crafted, '50s-set Against the Law is a powerful historical docudrama, featuring sobering talking heads testimony from several elderly gay men and a great central performance from the ever-wonderful Daniel Mays.

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"Against the Law follows the affair between celebrated Fleet Street journalist Peter Wildeblood and serviceman Eddy McNally. The exposure of their relationship had devastating consequences, leading to public vilification and prison sentences for Wildeblood and his friends Michael Pitt-Rivers and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Enduring a year-long incarceration that involved attempts to alter his sexual orientation, Wildeblood emerged with a determination to challenge the draconian laws that shattered the lives of generations of gay men." Network

See also:

Gay Britannia (2017)

Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)

2017 | UK | Patrick Gale | ★★

Screened as part of the BBC's Gay Britannia season, Patrick Gale's disappointing but vaguely likeable Man in an Orange Shirt is a two-part romantic drama, hamstrung by bland performances, unconvincing dialogue, and an ill-fitting score.

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"This captivating drama from the makers of Broadchurch and Apple Tree Yard explores forbidden wartime love vividly contrasted with a present-day romance nearly derailed by the consequences of the 1940s tale with which it is so intertwined. Written by best-selling author Patrick Gale, Man in an Orange Shirt features an exciting cast of outstanding young stars alongside Oscar winner Vanessa Redgrave." Network

See also:

Gay Britannia (2017)

Fargo: Year 3 (2017)

F          A          R          G          O

2017 | USA | Noah Hawley | ★★★★★

The third instalment of Noah Hawley's Coen-inspired Fargo is a ten-part existential black comedy, featuring truly unpredictable plotting, oft inspired direction, and memorable performances from its starry cast, particularly from Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, David Thewlis, and both Ewan McGregor and Ewan McGregor.

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"From Creator Noah Hawley, the new installment of Fargo is an all-new “true crime” tale starring Ewan McGregor in dual roles as Emmit Stussy and his slightly younger brother Ray. Their sibling rivalry leads to a twisted path that begins with petty theft but soon leads to murder, mobsters and cutthroat competitive bridge." 20th Century Fox

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites

The Handmaid's Tale (2017-)

2017- | USA | Bruce Miller | ★★★★★

Based on Margaret Atwood's acclaimed 1985 novel, Bruce Miller's gripping television drama The Handmaid's Tale is a harrowing, beautifully crafted, Syria-echoing dystopian nightmare, driven by Elisabeth Moss's outstanding central performance and a raft of notable supporting turns.

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"Adapted from the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized “return to traditional values.” As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a Handmaid in the Commander’s household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her." Hulu

See also:

Stotty's 2010s Favourites

Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017)

2017 | Australia | Jane Campion | ★★★★

Jane Campion's Top of the Lake: China Girl is an outlandish, hugely entertaining six-part television drama (a sequel to 2013's Top of the Lake), featuring a seductive mix of dry, absurdist black humour, over-the-top, faintly ridiculous melodrama, and bold, confrontational sexual politics.

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"Top of the Lake: China Girl is a crime mystery story that finds Detective Robin Griffin recently returned to Sydney and trying to rebuild her life. When the body of an Asian girl washes up on Bondi Beach, there appears little hope of finding the killer, until Robin discovers 'China Girl' didn't die alone. Robin looks to the investigation to restore herself, but her problems are personal. Haunted by a daughter given up at birth, Robin desperately wants to find her, yet dreads revealing the truth of her conception. But her search to discover 'China Girl's' identity will take her into the city's darkest recesses and closer than she could have imagined to the secrets of her own heart." 2entertain

All Small Bodies (2017)

Alle kleinen Körper

2017 | Germany | Jennifer Reeder | ★★

Jennifer Reeder's unengaging All Small Bodies is a short post-apocalyptic fairy tale, buoyed by interesting editing and intriguing plotting, but fatally hamstrung by stilted performances, bland photography, and a distracting score.

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"All Small Bodies' is a feminist, sci-fi take on the Grimm tale of Hansel and Gretel. It occurs in the distant future among the ruins of a planetary catastrophe, revealing the abuses of history and technology. In the wake of the chaotic aftermath, there are several resilient survivors including two young girls named Z and Bub. The film follows these curious adolescents who have long been lost and alone in the haunted, other-worldly woods, as they awaken their extrasensory abilities and reclaim their autonomy from a menacing dark presence." Festival Scope

This Is Not an Olive Tree (2017)

Esto no es un olivo

2017 | Spain | Carlos Arteiro | ★★★

Filmed to mimic the effects of a tree-shaking harvester, Carlos Arteiro's This Is Not an Olive Tree is an interesting but underdeveloped experimental short film that proves stimulating on a formal level, but unengaging on an intellectual one.

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"A theoretical exercise can stem from a physical one: using the camera as if it was the vibrating device placed on the olive trees for the harvest of its fruit, the final result is a series of original and intriguing images. The camera shakes, gets in and out of focus, and we don’t exactly know what is happening. At first this is a strange disorientation, but then you get used to it through the cyclical mechanical noise that joins the images. The words of a peaceful female voice allows you to frame the film: a visual exercise after all can also be free." Festival Scope

Bad Bunny (2017)

Coelho Mau

2017 | Portugal | Carlos Conceição | ★★★★

Starring João Arrais, Julia Palha, Matthieu Charneau, and Carla Maciel, Carlos Conceição's gorgeously crafted Bad Bunny is a dreamily erotic short fairy tale, featuring beautiful lighting, committed performances, and disarmingly unpredictable plotting.

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"Wayward boy punishes his mother’s lover. Beauty and horror fondle each other. Young gods callously abjure conventional morality. Death goes whoring in child’s guise." Festival Scope

White Gold (2017-)

2017 | UK | Damon Beesley | ★★★★

Starring Ed Westwick, James Buckley, and Joe Thomas, Damon Beesley's profanely funny White Gold is an '80s-set comedy series about awful people doing awful things, featuring strong performances, memorable dialogue, and a cracking soundtrack.

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"Britain, the early ‘80s. At Cachet Windows, the stakes are high and so are the staff. Vincent Swan, Cachet’s head of sales, excels at selling his favourite product – himself. Martin Lavender has a university degree, which in the world of sales is as much use as an aerated condom. Brian Fitzpatrick is an excellent liar with no principles: he makes a pretty good salesman. And then there’s Carol, Britain’s lousiest receptionist. They are getting filthy rich thanks to uPVC double-glazing, a dirt-cheap alternative to timber. To you and me, it’s just plastic. To them, it’s white gold." 2entertain

Klipperty Klöpp Split Screen (2017)

2017 | UK | Andrew Kötting | ★★★★

Andrew Kötting's fascinating Klipperty Klöpp Split Screen is a short experimental film, comprised of his 1984 absurdist masterpiece Klipperty Klöpp and its bold 2017 remake Klipperty Klöpp 2 screened captivatingly side by side.

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"Artist and film-maker Andrew Kötting re-vists his graduation film Klipperty Klöpp. A post punk piece of pagan sensibility in which a man repeatedly and energetically runs round and round in circles on common ground in Gloucestershire carrying palaeolithic paintings of horses. Part Benny Hill part Joseph Beuys the work is as much a performance piece as it is a exercise in Samuel Beckett parody. In the re-make Kötting's protagonist is a woman moving very slowly within the almost identical landscape to exactly the same soundtrack. Married up edit for edit with the original super 8 footage, Kötting sees the work as a digital artefact dug up and re-presented as a split screen 33 years after the event." Andrew Kötting

Klipperty Klöpp 2 (2017)

2017 | UK | Andrew Kötting | ★★★★

Featuring performance artist Yumino Seki, Andrew Kötting's Klipperty Klöpp 2 is a discomforting remake of his 1984 absurdist masterpiece Klipperty Klöpp, featuring a gender-switched protagonist and a decided change of tone.

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"Artist and film-maker Andrew Kötting re-vists his graduation film Klipperty Klöpp. A post punk piece of pagan sensibility in which a man repeatedly and energetically runs round and round in circles on common ground in Gloucestershire chasing a painting of a horse - part Benny Hill part Joseph Beuys. In the re-make Kötting's protagonist is a woman moving very slowly within the almost identical landscape to exactly the same soundtrack. Married up shot for shot with the original super 8 footage, Kötting sees the work as a digital artefact dug up and re-presented 33 years after the event." Andrew Kötting

Broken (2017)

2017 | UK | Jimmy McGovern | ★★★

Jimmy McGovern's socially conscious Broken is a sporadically powerful though often unsubtle and not entirely convincing six-part BBC drama, buoyed by its strong performances, in particular Sean Bean's sensitive, softly spoken central turn.

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"Hollywood star Sean Bean heads an impressive cast in this poignant and powerful series centred around Father Michael Kerrigan, a Catholic priest presiding over an urban parish in northern England. Father Michael must be a confidant, counsellor and confessor to a congregation struggling to reconcile its beliefs with the challenges of daily life in contemporary Britain. With a chequered past and a complicated relationship with his own family, the priest is determined to help his parishioners through their troubles. But despite his best efforts, Father Michael can’t always fix what’s broken in their lives." BBC

Forgotten the Queen (2017)

2017 | UK | Andrew Kötting | ★★★★

Father and daughter Andrew & Eden Kötting's delightful Forgotten the Queen is an experimental animated short companion piece to the feature length Edith Walks (2017), filled with striking, quietly challenging sights, sounds, and musings.

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"Forgotten the Queen is a short animated film that digs into themes inspired by the life of Edith Swan Neck. Eden’s drawings and collages are brought to life by Glenn Whiting and tossed into the time-line like flotsam from a demented passion. Meantime Edith’s eyes fix on the man-shadows overhead, resplendent in their didactic belief systems and stupid hats, which seem to have blighted women since the beginning of time. King Harold would not have approved because despite the fact that time itself can touch you like a feather, stupid men keep firing their bloody arrows." Andrew Kötting