Shaun Thomas

Vibrant with the ecstasies of being young and fleetingly free, this Cannes prizewinner from British filmmaker Molly Manning Walker is an honest take on female friendship and first sexual experiences. Buzzing with the excitement of new horizons, Mia McKenna-Bruce shines in a star-making performance.

Though self-consciously structured as if a fairy tale or fable, Clio Barnard’s follow-up to the docudrama The Arbor continues the tradition of Britain’s kitchen sink socio-realism. Both devastating and compassionate, The Selfish Giant is a profound film on friendship and the class system.