Loving (12A)

four stars

Dir: Jeff Nichols

With: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga

Runtime: 123 minutes

WHENEVER you see the name “Jeff Nichols” listed as writer/director, you can take it to the bank that the film that follows will be smart, delicately done, and definitely worth seeking out. So it is with this true story about Mildred and Richard Loving, a married couple from Virginia who outraged a certain part of Fifties America because she was black and he was white. Ruth Negga (up for a best actress Oscar for her performance) and Joel Edgerton play the reluctant heroes whose case is taken up by the civil rights movement. Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter and Midnight Special) and his cast play the story in a low-key way throughout, which only adds to its impact. Michael Shannon, a Nichols’ favourite, also turns up.

Toni Erdmann (15)

four stars

Dir: Maren Ade

With: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller

Runtime: 162 minutes

NOMINATED for a best foreign film Oscar, Maren Ade’s German comedy will induce squirms of recognition in parents and their grown children alike. Ageing slacker Winfried (Peter Simonischek) thinks of himself as a joker, but to his sharp-suited businesswoman daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller) he is an embarrassment. When a trip to see Ines goes horribly wrong, Winfried decides to try again, only this time in disguise. Though ridiculously long, Maren Ade’s picture is beautifully played, reaching the heights of absurdity in several laugh-out-loud scenes. An original treat.