Based on the true story of the murder of Karel van Noppen, this hard-hitting drama from Belgium stars Rust and Bone's Matthias Schoenaerts as a young cattle farmer approached by an unscrupulous veterenarian to make an illicit deal with a notorious beef trader. Michaël R. Roskam's muscular direction and an outstanding performance from Schoenaerts both render this one of the year's very best dramas.

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Terry Gilliam's ambitious adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's insane, cult novel is certainly faithful, but whether it hits the spot or not is another matter. Johnny Depp, as Hunter's journalist alter-ego Raoul Duke, has the guy down to a T in every way, while Benicio Del Toro is suitably deranged as his lawyer and partner-in-crime Dr Gonzo. But the pair's 1971 working trip to Las Vegas, which rapidly becomes a drug-crazed, three day odyssey of utter madness, is so relentlessly weird that this is find out more...

A multi-stranded tale of tragedy after tragedy unfolds against an icy Finnish backdrop. Following the sacking of a school teacher we follow a chain of misfortune from victim to victim; a loser car-thief, an ex-alcoholic vacuum salesman, who falls off the wagon in spectacular style, a depressed policewoman, a computer hacker and the policewoman's husband amongst others. A dark, uncompromising film which shows how fickle and cruel fate can be. There are some moments of humour but they are jet jet find out more...

Dan Dunne is a young, inner-city, junior high-school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Rejecting the standard curriculum, in favour of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his students how change works, on both a historical and personal scale, and how to think for themselves. Though Dan is brilliant, dynamic and admired by his pupils, he spends his time outside school feeding his addiction to crack and it is only when one of his troubled students, Drey, catches him getting h find out more...

Wilson Joel is not the most demonstrative of men and when his wife commits suicide Joel is ill prepared to deal with the sudden and unexpected tragedy. Losing himself in a world in which he has little comprehension or social maturity Joel is not long in finding himself out of his depth. Love Liza is a sublime comedy drama; darkly funny, offbeat, intelligent and sad, with superlative performances from an outstanding cast. find out more...

17-year-old Maria has a dead end job packing flowers in a small Colombian town, she's pretty and pregnant but her boyfriend is nobody special. Life, though, may be taking a turn for the better when she gets offered a job that involves travel - being a drug mule. After swallowing 60-odd rubber pellets packed with heroin, she and 3 other girls set off on the hazardous route to New York. Tagged as being "based on 1,000 true stories", this is an eye-opening glimpse into her background and prospects, find out more...

The best "buddy" movie ever made. Voight plays the naive rhinestone studded small-town boy who dreams of becoming a big-city gigolo, Hoffman is the frail, sickly hobo he takes under his wing. Stunning performances from both make this an outstandingly powerful and touching film. Very stylish. Won Best Picture at 1969 Academy Awards. find out more...

David Thewlis delivers an incredible performance as the clever and sarcastic Johnny. On the run from reality he turns up at his old girlfriend's house in London, where he proceeds to cause havoc. An inspired mix of script and improvisation with masterful direction, Leigh has taken a dark and inward look at life on Britain's bottom rung. Superb. find out more...

Harry, his girlfriend Marion, his mother, and his best mate are all addicts and all desperate for some form of contentment, perhaps even happiness. Requiem for a Dream is utterly engrossing and visually striking, a story where hope is all the characters have, but where their hope will drag them into an abyss of shattered dreams and misery; truly harrowing and determined in its lack of redemption, the film is simply unmissable. find out more...

A cracking Coen brothers caper with an absolutely magnificent Jeff Bridges as ageing hippy, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, happily bumbling through life, which in his case means getting stoned and hanging out at the bowling alley, until his peaceful existence is rudely interrupted by a couple of bungling crooks who visit his apartment late one night and pee on his rug. Realising he's been mistaken for his crippled, millionaire namesake, Jeff visits the real intended victim seeking compensation for th find out more...