Classic British horror/thriller

The character of the naif Eloise requires a bit of suspension of disbelief (not because of the acting which is fine), but if you can accept that, this is a well crafted and cleverly told horror-thriller. Neither very horrific, nor very thrilling, but an enjoyable ride through the stresses of both modern life for a young person in the city, and of the dark underside of the swinging sixties with it's deeply embedded sexist and mysoginistic attitudes.

A couple of good twists towards the end - the first to enable you to think "I knew that" and distract you from seeing the second until it is upon you.

All in all this is up there with the very best of the genre and thoroughly modern to boot.

Stillwater - redneck meets chic

The initial background scene setting in Stillwater is brief - it helps to have read the synopsis to know what is going on at the start. Once we get to Marseille it settles down. The twist at the end is nicely handled (if predictable).

Bicycle Thieves for the 21st Century

Life is confusing when you are growing up, and the film might seem so at first but it all comes together as a vivid portrait of Pio's experience trying to grow up.

The actors playing the family members are all a real Romani family playing themselves, but it is only at the end credits when you see their names that you realise this, so natural are their performances (I don't speak Italian so there may be some clues in the way lines are delivered).

This is an excellent example of modern neo-Realism, very much in the vein of de Sica's classic 'Bicycle Thieves', but thoroughly modern. If you like the films of Ken Loach or Mike Leigh you'll like this.