Good morning everyone,

This year I kept quite good track of the films I have watched this year, which is why I can bring you the Fem Fri films of the year. I know that Anatomy of a Fall is brilliant but I've not seen it, which explains… well, it explains a bit about the first film on my list. And yes I have seen Aftersun and it is fantastic but also, you do not need me specifically to recommend you Aftersun.

Point Break

Okay. Okay. This film is amazing. Why have I never seen this before? Did I think it was just like… a big long meme? Do you think that Point Break is a big long meme? It's a sexy nineties thriller! The best genre.

Saint Omer

This year I learned about both negative capability and misophonia and this film will be huge for fans of the former and utter torture for everyone with the latter. It just sits there with these incredibly long silences, occasionally punctuated by the soft breathing noises that make up about 15% of the film. There is also - and this is my personal sound trigger - the sound of someone rubbing a sleeping bag with their hand argh don't even like to type this. ANYWAY, if you like morally difficult media, this is an incredible courtroom drama that will leave you feeling Not Sure.

Rye Lane

As you know I love South East London so a film that was, as far as I could tell, shot entirely in SE postcodes was always going to be on the shortlist. Rye Lane is also incredibly funny and charming. Plus, it's just not that often that you see a mooncup on screen, let alone the big screen.

Past Lives

Not a wasted frame in this one. I keep going back to it in my mind and turning over some of these scenes. It's painful and delightful. It gives you the information that you need to understand its characters but it doesn't perk that information in your face, so you constantly feel like you're on the journey with them. There's probably a film criticism way of saying that better, or at least more compactly. You'll really enjoy it.

Saltburn AKA Sexy Brideshead AKA PENISES 3D: THEY FLY AT YOU FACE.

I have heard criticism that this film is tonally uneven, but there were probably about 15 minutes (non-consecutive) where I wasn't doing a low growl of approval while watching this. Class anxiety, webs of lies, the purest awkwardness, it is wonderful.

Happy watching beautiful people,

Alex.