Séraphine
This is a measured, soulful and tactile work; a film with gouache beneath its fingernails, says Xan Brooks
The Sea Wall
Isabelle Huppert stars in a plodding adaptation of Marguerite Duras's novel set in 1930s Indo-China, writes Philip French
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Peter Bradshaw finds Rémi Bezançon's French box-office hit closer to a moderate TV drama than a feature film
The Sea Wall
This glossy, soapy tale will inevitably trigger fond memories of the once controversial 1992 film The Lover, says Peter Bradshaw
Tulpan
Philip French is struck by vivid tales from the Kazakh steppes in Tulpan
Tulpan
Sergey Dvortsevoy's movie, set in the vast, featureless steppe of Kazakhstan, is a quiet little gem, says Peter Bradshaw
Son of a Lion
Guns, guns, and more guns are on display in this simple but effective story, says Andrew Pulver
Welcome
An Iraqi Kurd stuck in Calais finds at least one sympathetic Frenchman in the gripping drama Welcome, writes Philip French
Welcome
What keeps it afloat are sharp performances, together with a pungent, docu-style portrait of the dockyards, says Xan Brooks
Johnny Mad Dog
Brutal but thrilling, this is an astonishing insight into a conflict waged by feral children. By Peter Bradshaw
Thirst
Chan-wook Park's Thirst gives vampires and religion a bizarre Korean twist, says Philip French
Indian cinema rides the Slumdog wave
Nirpal Dhaliwal: Slumdog Millionaire brought the harsh realities of India's underclass into the multiplexes. But Indian cinema just got a whole lot grittier with Sudhir Mishra's Ride the Wave Johnny
Katalin Varga
Katalin Varga is a poetic rural tragedy, writes Philip French
Katalin Varga review – gripping, Dostoyevskian tale of violence and retribution
British auteur Peter Strickland's debut is a strikingly original thriller set in the swooningly photographed Romanian countryside
La tête contre les murs
A masterpiece linking traditional French cinema and the emerging Nouvelle Vague, writes Philip French