This film is part of Rentals
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
If you only see one Iranian vampire western this year, make sure it’s this one. A female vampire stalks a ghost town in Ana Lily Amirpour’s arresting debut.
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Overview
A lone female vampire stalks the nocturnal streets of a decaying ghost town, searching for prey. One of the town’s residents is Arash, who through a series of events involving his junkie father, a prostitute and a drug-dealing pimp, encounters the enigmatic bloodsucker and an unlikely love story begins to unfold.
Although set in the fictional Iranian town of Bad City, Ana Lily Amirpour’s arresting debut was shot in California, the story adapted from its previous incarnations as a graphic novel and short film. With its stark black and white photography, Jarmusch-esque deadpan humour and memorable images of a hijab-clad bloodsucker skateboarding the streets, Amirpour’s film is a superbly ambitious exercise in style and atmosphere. If you only see one Iranian vampire western this year, make sure it’s this one.
Contains drug use, strong violence, sex.Related
The Woman in Black The Woman in Black
Horror 2012 95 mins Director: James Watkins
A young solicitor, administering the will of a recently dead old lady, is drawn into a sinister web of events centring on her abandoned house.
Tiger Stripes Tiger Stripes
Horror 2023 95 mins Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Nothing is quite as scary as puberty in this exuberant feminist pre-teen body horror from first time Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Out of Darkness Out of Darkness
Horror 2024 87 mins Director: Andrew Cumming
Bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘period film’, Andrew Cumming’s Palaeolithic horror movie is a true original.
Talk to Me Talk to Me
Horror 2022 95 mins Director: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou
Australian filmmaking brothers Danny and Michael Philippou’s feature film debut nods to their background as viral-video sensations.
The Wonders The Wonders
Drama 2014 111 mins Director: Alice Rohrwacher
An enchanting, otherworldly coming-of-age drama about a teenage girl who enters her unwilling family into a TV talent show.
Toni Erdmann Toni Erdmann
Comedy 2016 162 mins Director: Maren Ade
A lonely prankster upends the life of his high-powered daughter in a riotous comedy, deep and sharp.
Germany, Pale Mother Germany, Pale Mother
Drama 1980 151 mins Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms
Set during the Third Reich and its aftermath, this lyrical, harrowing tale of love and war is a neglected classic of New German cinema.
On the Twelfth Day... On the Twelfth Day...
Romance 1955 21 mins Director: Wendy Toye
Playful, charming, Oscar-nominated take on the Christmas song directed by queen of the dance Wendy Toye and designed by the great Ronald Searle.
Fish Tank Fish Tank
Drama 2009 118 mins Director: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold's BAFTA winner and coming-of-age story starring newcomer Katie Jarvis as disaffected teen Mia and Michael Fassbender in one of his earliest film roles.
Tehran Taboo Tehran Taboo
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2016 96 mins Director: Ali Soozandeh
In this gorgeously animated drama, the lives of several strong-willed women and a young musician intersect in contemporary Iran.
Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
Documentary 100 mins Director: Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter
A creative artist couple navigate love and ageing in this brave, fascinating documentary.
The Last Showgirl The Last Showgirl
Drama 2024 89 mins Director: Gia Coppola
Golden Globe-nominated Pamela Anderson is enchanting as the Las Vegas showgirl whose stage show is set to close.
Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound
Documentary 2024 91 mins Director: Antony Crook
Celestial sonic odyssey charting the cult Scottish band’s expansive career from the mid-90s to their tenth studio album written during lockdown.
Dust & Metal Dust & Metal
Documentary 2022 82 mins Director: Esther Johnson
Discover unfamiliar histories of Vietnam through Esther Johnson’s poetic documentary on the country’s love affair with the motorbike.
Flow Flow
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2024 85 mins Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Oscar-winning animated adventure about an unlikely group of animals who must work together to survive a natural disaster.
Invasion Invasion
Science Fiction 1966 79 mins Director: Alan Bridges
An alien fugitive, injured in a road accident, pitches up at a rural hospital. But when two intergallactic pursuers arrive, things start to heat up...