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  1. Culture
  2. Film
23 December 2016updated 14 Sep 2021 2:44pm

The best films of 2016

Don't know what to watch this Christmas? Our film critic rounds up his picks of the year.

By Ryan Gilbey

Further Beyond (15)

dir: Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy

Playful semi-documentary in which film-makers planning historical biopic confront immigration and mortality.

 

Little Men (PG)

dir: Ira Sachs

Two Brooklyn teenagers find their friendship jeopardised by a property dispute between their families.

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Ghostbusters (12A)

dir: Paul Feig

Colour, generosity and sparkling comic detail fill the screen in this joyful revamp of the 1984 comedy.

 

Love & Friendship (U)

dir: Whit Stillman

This delightful director and his Last Days of Disco star Kate Beckinsale put a very funny spin on Jane Austen.

 

Things to Come (12A)

dir: Mia Hansen-Løve

“Isabelle Huppert gives great performance” is no shock headline. The nuanced story of a teacher in midlife free fall.

 

I, Daniel Blake (15)

dir: Ken Loach

Loach’s strongest film in years – an indignant attack on the savagery of the British benefits system.​

 

Son of Saul (15)

dir: László Nemes

Géza Röhrig is outstanding as a concentration camp prisoner clinging to his humanity.

 

 Victoria (15)

dir: Sebastian Schipper

A Berlin clubber falls in with a gang of crooks in this daredevil thriller shot in a single, unbroken, 138-minute take.

 

Embrace of the Serpent (12)

dir: Ciro Guerra

Two real-life Amazon expeditions form the basis of a mischievous and visually ravishing adventure.

 

Florence Foster Jenkins (PG)

dir: Stephen Frears

A film about the world’s worst singer (played by Meryl Streep) could have been a joke. Tenderness abounds.

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This article appears in the 13 Dec 2016 issue of the New Statesman, Christmas and New Year special 2016

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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