Slow-burning thriller worth seeking out

might not seem to even notice it at first, the two girls appear to be identical twins.

Celine Sciamma’s is a joy from first frame to last. Over that lean 72 minutes, the film unfolds as a deft and compassionatemeditation on time, parenthood, mortality and – especially – on those porous spaces and events when childhood seems to fold in on itself and become something that will indeliblymark itself on the adult.

And yet, is not just about memory and childhood.

This is also a film that dabbles in time-travel and parallel universes. It just does it in such a warmly observational and matterof-fact way, you’ll barely notice that has at least one foot in the world of and

Sciamma is best known for But she made her boneswith the trio and

– all acute, honest, small-canvas portraits of girls and young women moving from childhood and into adolescence and adulthood. plays like a kindhearted and insightful prequel to those films. In the truest meaning of the word, this is awonderful film – one of the year’s very best.

The Unforgivable (R13, 112 mins) Directed by Nora Fingscheidt Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★

Asmy belovedwife so succinctly put it, Sandra Bullock’s latest character is ‘‘noMiss Congeniality’’. When we first meet Ruth Slater, she is emerging from prison, having served 20 years formurder.

As parole officer Vince (Rob Morgan) talks her through the 10 ‘‘commandments’’ to prevent her coming back, her irritation and world-weariness is clear, especially when he reminds her that there’s also a ‘‘no contact order’’ she must adhere to.

Begrudgingly accepting her lessthan-salubrious shared Seattle accommodation, Ruth deflects Vince’s offer to put in a good word for her at the seafood packing plant, assuring him that she already has a carpentry job. However, when she shows up for work, the foreman denies all knowledge of any such employment deal.

‘‘Was it a phone call, or a visitor, between when I had the job and when I didn’t?’’ she spits.

‘‘Am I a convict anywhere I go?’’ she later opines to Vince, as she reluctantly accepts his help.

‘‘No, you’re a cop killer everywhere you go and the sooner you accept that – the better,’’ he snaps back.

Based on Sally Wainwright’s three-part, Yorkshire-set, Suranne Jones-starring, 2009 awardwinning, Bafta-nominated British crime drama littleknown German director Nora Fingscheidt’s English-language feature debut is a slow-burning character study with a terrific payoff.

Like Steve McQueen’s 2018

adaptation, this benefits from a strong sense of space and place and a terrific cast that includes Vincent D’Onofrio, Viola Davis, Aisling Franciosi and Jon Bernthal.

However, the real revelation here is Bullock. Once America’s ‘‘sweetheart’’, thanks to a string of actionmovies and rom-coms in the mid-1990s, she has done a magnificent job of reinventing herself as a serious, dramatic actor in recent times, whether facing fantastical perils in the likes of

and ormore down-to-earth crises, as is the case here.

As she struggles tomove on with her life, Ruth is also seeking closure and peace with the event that changed her life, while others see her return as an opportunity to seek vengeance.

Told in a spare, sparse, intimate style, with clues expertly drip-fed to the audience, we’re never quite sure of Ruth’s motives or state of mind, something that draws you in and ensures you’re invested in the ultimate outcome.

is a story where everything initially seems black-and-white, but divides gradually start to blur aswe learn and spend more time with the characters.

Clever framing and intercutting between the past and present assists this narrative greatly, but it is Bullockwho makes you care – even if she’s not exactly playing Miss Congeniality.