Alice and the Mayor review – can the left survive the crisis of modern politics?

Fabrice Luchini is a fading politician railing against leftwing malaise in Nicolas Pariser’s ambitious, frustrating drama

‘I want to make people laugh’: Quentin Dupieux, the fun auteur of French cinema

The cult French director talks about his first UK release – about a man’s obsession with a cowboy jacket

Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 review – epic, single-take battle of bloody-minded intensity

Only the most hardcore action junkies will have the stamina for what is essentially one marathon sword-fighting scene

White on White review – a damning snapshot of South American colonisation

A loner photographer looks down on white settlers without realising he’s part of the problem in a striking, ambiguous historical drama

Sweat review – behind the scenes of the Insta influencer

The loneliness of social media stardom is explored in this shrewd, compassionate drama

Thomas Vinterberg: ‘There is a great need for the uncontrollable – but little room for it today’

The Danish director’s new Oscar-winning film Another Round is about a group of teachers who dedicate themselves to getting drunk. He talks about losing control, patching up his friendship with Lars von Trier and the death of his daughter

‘Her body is her business card’: Sweat director Magnus von Horn on the world of online influencers

The Poland-based Swede’s new film, inspired by a Snapchat fitness motivator, explores the contradictions and freedoms of a social media existence

‘Exactly what cinema should be’: readers on their films of 2021 so far

From the joyous escapism of In the Heights and Cruella to the powerful storytelling of The Mauritanian, our readers reveal their movie highlights of the last six months

Sweat review – the loneliness of the social media influencer

Magnus von Horn’s contrived Polish drama about a fitness guru promises more in shock and character than it delivers

The Man Standing Next review – a thrilling scramble for political power in 70s South Korea

Based on a real 1979 military coup, this year’s Oscars submission from South Korea captivates with alliances, betrayals – and a climax worth waiting for

One in a Thousand review – Argentinian teen’s hoop dreams, hanging out and hoping

Clarisa Navas’ film is a confident, visually engaging romance conjuring a world of teenage waiting and wanting

Sherni review – Vidya Balan joins the hunt for a man-eating tiger

Balan excels as a resolute forest officer battling sexism and corruption, as well as nature, in the latest satirical thriller from Newton director Amit V Masurkar

Salaam Bombay! review – still fiercely unsentimental and throbbing with energy

The re-release of Mira Nair’s unflinching 1988 story of street children, prostitutes and drug dealers shows it has lost none of its power

Treasure City review – bizarre, oppressive and horribly brutal

Anger, confusion and despair are the keynotes of this one-night-in-a-city film that leads towards a horrendous scene of abuse

The best films of 2021 so far

Chloé Zhao hits the road, Carey Mulligan takes her revenge and Emma Stone refashions Cruella in the pick of this year’s films