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Pamfir
A family man returned from working abroad is dragged back into crime for one last job. Thrilling and compelling Ukrainian drama set deep in the Carpathians during carnival season, drawing on local folklore to great visual and dramatic effect. "Savagely cinematic, charged with feral energy" (Guardian)."Bold and brave, like its protagonist, PAMFIR gorges on its…
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The Harder They Come
The subsequent role of the film in the popularisation of reggae has detracted from the fact that it’s actually an entertaining crime thriller whose appeal owed much to its social authenticity, notably the use of patois, which gave the film the sense of a national conversation about poverty and opportunity a decade after the early…
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Queen & Slim
A Tinder date gone wrong is the springboard for a tense yet romantic road-trip evoking Bonnie & Clyde, set against the backdrop of contemporary racial injustices in the USA. It stars two Brits: Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya, born in London of Ugandan parents, who won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2018; and Jodie…
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The Ciambra
A moving crime-drama in the Italian neo-realist style written and directed by Jonas Carpignano. A 14 year old Romany boy moves between the Italian, African and Romany communities in a small town in Italy’s far south. He’s had to grow up fast and he’s learning to be one street-smart teenager, when adult responsibility falls on…
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The Glass Key
Renowned crime novelist Dashiell Hammett’s tale of big-city political corruption The Glass Key was originally filmed in 1935, starring George Raft. This version was devised as a follow-up vehicle for its charismatic lead Alan Ladd, who had recently impressed in This Gun for Hire; and with Hammett’s stock in Hollywood high in the wake of…
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The Mafia Kills Only in Summer
Putting an irreverent rom-com spin on the organized crime genre, this deceptively sunny rites-of-passage drama marks the big-screen debut of Pierfrancesco “Pif” Diliberto (b. 1972), best known in Italy as a television host and current-affairs satirist. Taking its title from one of the myths that the film’s young hero is taught to believe, The Mafia…
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Nightcrawler
A pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Joining a group of freelance camera crews who specialize in filming crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, known as nightcrawlers, Lou muscles into the…
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Les Diaboliques
Michel Delasalle (Meurisse) is the headmaster of a boys boarding school near Paris. He is verbally and physically abusive of both his wife Christina (Vera Clouzot) and his mistress, Nicole Horner (Signoret). The two women join forces to murder him, drowning him in his bath and subsequently attempting to make it look like suicide. When…