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10. Ex Machina
"Playing out like an adaptation of some newly discovered Isaac Asimov novel, Garland's film is intelligent without being heady, and should satisfy hardcore sci-fi buffs and casual viewers alike."
9. Catch Me Daddy
"Catch Me Daddy is essentially a chase movie, and it's a particularly tense one. As a piece of social realism, it's not quite so successful."
8. The DUFF
"Ari Sandel's film manages to play with the tropes of this genre in a fresh, satisfying and more believable manner than the countless generic high school comedies whose well worn path it treads on."
7. A Second Chance
"The premise of A Second Chance is so high concept it's a wonder no filmmaker has tackled this subject previously."
6. Whiplash
"Writer/director Chazelle was previously best known for some unremarkable genre screenplays but his own background in music means we're in safe and confident hands here as he immerses us in the backstabbing milieu of the conservatory, where being told you're not good enough hurts like few other truths, a blow to both your planned career and your greatest love."
5. Southern District
"Valdivia's film is clearly a comment on his country's political situation, but where most state of the nation movies are overblown and grand-standing, he keeps things confined to one house, one family, one mother, his drama quietly bubbling like an unattended pot of chili."
4. Blackhat
"Thankfully Michael Mann is as concerned with realism as the Dardenne brothers are with car chases; hacking is simply a macguffin to wind a loose plot around while Mann gets on with doing what he does best, delivering slick thrills in his own trademark manner."
3. It Follows
"This is a horror movie that stimulates your synapses while sending shivers down your spine."
2. The Duke of Burgundy
"With a jokey opening title sequence that credits a perfume designer (think about it...), it seems Strickland is set to deliver the obsessive cinephile version of a Zucker Brothers parody movie, but mere minutes into the film you realise he's selling himself and his latest work short. The Duke of Burgundy is far more than a polished genre pastiche; this is one of the best studies of a relationship to hit our screens in many a year."
1. Mommy
"Ten minutes into the film I despised the mother and son played by Dolan regular Anne Dorval and relative newcomer Antoine Olivier Pilon. An hour later I had fallen heads over heels for the pair, along with the friend they acquire in Suzanne Clément's neighbour."