Ide joined Screen in 2015 as a London-based critic, and also writes for The Observer and Sight & Sound.
Top five
1. Monos (Dir. Alejandro Landes)
Thrilling, terrifying, forceful and original, Monos explores the savage fringes of human civilisation, focusing on an insular community of child soldiers who create their own rituals and live by their own rules. Mica Levi’s superb score perfectly complements the feral, feverish quality of the photography and arresting use of locations.
Contact: Le Pacte
Read Screen’s review here
2. Uncut Gems (Dirs. Benny and Josh Safdie)
A jangling, caffeinated assault on the senses, Uncut Gems is a symphony of discord and panic. Adam Sandler has never been better, and Darius Khondji’s cinematography creates a tension-headache palette of neon and opal. Contact: Netflix
Read Screen’s review here
3. Parasite (Dir. Bong Joon Ho)
Bong’s barbed social satire is an elegantly structured masterclass in mounting tension. The film deftly dissects class divisions with a degree of precision and detail that repays over multiple viewings. Contact: CJ Entertainment
Read Screen’s review here
4. The Souvenir (Dir. Joanna Hogg)
The aching anguish of first love with an untrustworthy man is explored with nuance and restraint in this autobiographical drama by Hogg featuring revelatory performances from Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke. Contact: Protagonist Pictures
Read Screen’s review here
5. Give Me Liberty (Dir. Kirill Mikhanovsky)
I adored the energy and spirit of this barrelling comic account of spiralling chaos and a minibus full of drunk Russian pensioners. As an account of the immigrant experience, it is sharply perceptive; as a study of human connections, it is glorious. Contact: Wild Bunch
Read Screen’s review here
Best documentary
Scheme Birds (Dirs. Ellen Fiske and Ellinor Hallin)
Intimate and, at times, wrenchingly sad, this remarkable observational film follows the life of a young woman growing up in Jerviston, a blighted housing estate on the fringes of Motherwell in Scotland. Robbed of a future when the local steel plant closed down, young people here get “locked up or knocked up”. Contact: Syndicado Film Sales
Read Screen’s review here
Overlooked gem
Valley Of Souls (Dir. Nicolas Rincon Gille)
The devastating first fiction feature from documentary filmmaker Rincon Gille, Valley Of Souls is a journey into darkness set against a Colombia torn apart by trigger-happy paramilitary squads. Fisherman Jose returns home one night to discover his family has been targeted. He sets out to retrieve the bodies of his sons — a quest that reveals a strikingly beautiful land with ugliness at its heart. Contact: Best Friend Forever
Read Screen’s review here
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