RED ISLAND 12A

★★★★★ OUT 1 MARCH CINEMAS, CURZON HOME CINEMA

Following on from 2017’s 120 BPM, director/co-writer Robin Campillo again draws on personal memories for this languid coming-of-age drama set on a French military base in Madagascar during the early 1970s, when the nation had its own growing pains. Sensitive eight-year-old Thomas (Charlie Vauselle) quietly observes the often-mysterious adult world around him and takes refuge in the exploits of masked superhero Fantômette. Sensually shot and making evocative use of period songs, Red Island imaginatively blends the personal and the political.

LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP 15

★★★★★ OUT 25 MARCH DIGITAL

Barbarian star Georgina Campbell finds herself in another nightmare scenario in writer/director Teresa Sutherland’s debut, a tricksy horror largely set in the desolate wilds of a national park. Campbell plays Lennon, a ranger whose time monitoring the park gets increasingly fractious and dreamlike. The actor is a solid presence, shouldering the bulk of the narrative peril, but she’s hampered by a workmanlike script. And while the atmosphere is amped up with an unnerving score and some eerie wide shots, actual scares are few and far between.

VINDICATION SWIM PG

★★★★★ OUT 8 MARCH CINEMAS

First-time director Elliott Hasler offers a warm-hearted but sentimental take on penniless Mercedes Gleitze’s (Kirsten Callaghan) 1927 battles to be the first British woman to swim the Channel. It’s a plucky attempt, but pretty period locations and jaunty fake newsreels can’t compensate for the film’s clunky scripting, halting pace and stilted performances (only John Locke’s drunken, crabby swim coach registers). There’s a fascinating Chariots of Fire-style story to be made about Gleitze’s tenacity against the cruel sea, posh-rival cheats and sexist court cases. But sadly, this isn’t it.

BANEL & ADAMA 12A

★★★★★ OUT 15 MARCH CINEMAS

As a drought devastates their small village in northern Senegal, a young married couple (Khady Mane and Mamadou Diallo, their chemistry sizzling) navigate their star-crossed romance in the face of local obligation and tradition. The feature debut of French-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, this haunting modern fable moves with poetic grace, juggling lingering views of the idyllic yet sun-ravaged desert with intimate close-ups of the townsfolk. The beauty belies the growing horror at the heart of the story, as a once-passionate love is engulfed by superstition and circumstance.

SHAYDA 15

Taking shelter…

★★★★★ OUT 8 MARCH CINEMAS

Inspired by the director’s own experiences, Noora Niasari’s film is a powerful look at both Iranian culture and domestic violence. Zar Amir Ebrahimi (who won Cannes’ Best Actress for Holy Spider in 2022) delivers a nuanced turn in the title role, an Iranian mother-ofone who, after leaving abusive husband Hossein (Osamah Sami), finds refuge in a shelter for women in the Australian suburbs. Aided by the kindly Joyce (Leah Purcell), Shayda tries to get her life back on track alongside her young daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia).

Knife-edge tension takes hold when Hossein reappears, raising the possibility that he may yet snatch Mona and smuggle her back to Iran. Like Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (2011) before it, Niasari’s script touches on Iran’s byzantine divorce laws, pressing home the jeopardy Shayda faces. She also manages to juggle microaggressions in the shelter with slivers of joy; an exuberant, unfettered dance sequence offers uplift. Meanwhile, the setting of 90s Australia conveys a sure sense of how abuse against women in the home is a universal issue.

Throughout, Ebrahimi and impressive newcomer Zahednia present a credible parent/child bond. The final third doesn’t quite deliver on the set-up’s promise, with the drama fizzling out somewhat. But this perceptive film - which won the Audience Award at last year’s Sundance - still hits a nerve.

THE VERDICT Though it lacks impact in places, this mother/daughter drama comes from the heart.