An amazing true story about a sensuous, unusual woman ahead of her time, who just happened to be the first bearded lady attraction.

Rosalie lives in a small French village of the 1870s, she is a young woman unlike any other. However, she hides a secret: Rosalie was born with a face and body covered in hair, a peculiarity she has concealed her all her life to stay safe, shaving to fit in. Until Abel, an indebted bar owner unaware of her secret, marries Rosalie for her dowry. Will Abel be able to love Rosalie and see her as the woman she is? This is a delicate drama about a woman who refused to accept social beauty standards of her time, with terrific charismatic lead performances from Nadia Tereszkiewicz as Rosalie and Benoît Magimel as her husband. The film has plenty of applications to modern times - not least of all in its appeal for tolerance of others’ differences - but the film works best as a quiet study in accepting oneself.

A novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment uses a pen name to write a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

At once broadly comedic and bitingly barbed, ‘American Fiction’ is the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (an outstanding Jeffrey Wright), a writer and malcontent who unwillingly finds himself back in his East Coast hometown. There he is confronted with the family turmoil he tries to avoid, heightened by growing irritation with the expectations he feels from the literary establishment about what “Black literature” ought to be. This is an extremely funny movie that lands some sharp blows, and a stellar feature debut from seasoned TV writer Cord Jefferson, where he confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes.

USA 2023 Cord Jefferson 117m

La Bête

Based on a Henry James novella ‘The Beast in the Jungle’, this is set partly in a near future in which artificial intelligence is in control of lives and human emotions are perceived as a threat.

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls a stoic society as humans routinely "erase" their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century LA, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering "retribution." Visually audacious, this is suffused with a haunting sense of mystery, and is punctuated by a career-defining, three-role performance by Seydoux. This is the final element on our short strand on Henry James’ Women on Screen which includes a screening of ‘The Innocents’ and an illustrated talk on the author’s female characters on the big screen.

France 2023 Bertrand Bonello 146m

What happens when you're ambushed by time? An archaeologist and an architect fight to re-imagine a future after traumatic brain injury leaves them adrift from the people they love.

Sarah (Rebel Wilson) is an archaeologist who is trying to juggle professional and personal responsibilities, while her partner Joe (Celyn Jones) slips away a piece at a time. He has trouble retaining memories and often forgets who and where he is – leaving Sarah reliant on various routines which safely control his day.  Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her partner Gwen (Trine Dyrholm) form the other part of this relationship equation. Gwen suffered a similar injury following a car crash and has been losing pieces of herself for over ten years. Linking both relationships together is Doctor Falmer (Meera Syal), who continues to treat both Gwen and Joe, even though their respective partners seem to be in perpetual denial. This is a life-affirming drama about loved ones dealing with long-term brain injury, with Rebel Wilson (seen in a new light here) and Charlotte Gainsbourg being the highlights.

UK 2022 Celyn Jones & Tom Stern 96m