OBJECTS OF DESIRE

The Lost King

Dir. Stephen Frears

Based on a true story, an amateur historian believes she has found the lost burial site of King Richard III, much to the chagrin of Britain’s most eminent historians.

AT BEST: ‘Presents a real-life hero whose humility and ordinariness is at the very heart of her historychanging power.’ — Jim Schembri, jimschembri. com

AT WORST: ‘Too slippery with the facts to have any standing when it comes to the truth.’ — Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald

Blueback

Dir. Robert Connolly

A marine biologist befriends a rare fish which serves as a metaphor a mother and daughter’s passion for the ocean and each other.

AT BEST: ‘An exceptional cast brings this very beautiful and ultimately moving film vividly to life.’ — David Stratton, The Australian

AT WORST: ‘A coming-of-age tale that’s downright silly, never finding a tone that does anything beyond manipulation.’ — Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com

Stalker

Dir. Steve Johnson

Returning to an eerily empty hotel after a day of shooting, a young actress finds herself trapped in an old, dangerous elevator with an unwanted companion.

AT BEST: ‘A taut, tense, terrific thriller... The best ‘elevated’ horror of the year.’ — Dallas King , Flick Feast

AT WORST: ‘Its pulpy, nasty final twist felt to me like a disturbingly misogynist move.’ — Cath Clarke , The Guardian

La Civil

Dir. Teodora Ana Mihai

A desperate mother is drawn into increasingly intense and dangerous circumstances as she searches for her abducted daughter in Mexico.

AT BEST: ‘A gripping thriller that balances tension with a nuanced portrait of the culture of violence that has come to define modern Mexico.’ — Allan Hunter, Screen International

AT WORST: ‘Ultimately lukewarm and unrealistic.’ — Alejandro Alemán, El Universal

Set in the nineteenth century in the immediate aftermath of slavery, River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer tells of a mother’s journeys across the Caribbean as she bids to find the children stolen from her. “A moving and dynamic novel… Shearer treats such a difficult and underexamined part of history deftly and honourably. She sieves through it to give us what all good novelists do; the essential without sacrificing the specific and the historical,” reviews The Guardian. “In scenes of vivid horror, stirring resilience, and moving reconciliation, Shearer shows the cruel effects of slavery and its aftermath. The beautifully written depiction of a mother longing for her children makes this transcendent,” writes Publishers Weekly in its starred review. While Library Journal says that, “The novel is in many ways an adventure story, but Shearer capably shifts the narrative from action to introspection, illuminating the inner life of this powerful matriarch.”

Crux is the memoir of renowned journalist Jean Guerrero, who weaves a riveting adventure story on her quest to understand her troubled father. “What truly makes this book extraordinary is the careful layering and connections… It’s the kind of story you think about long after you’ve finished reading it, and the kind of memoir that seems to redefine the genre,” says Los Angeles Review of Books. Fellow author Melissa Febos is also a fan of Guerrero’s work. “Crux is everything I want in a memoir: prose that dazzles and cuts, insights hard-won and achingly named, and a plot that kept me up at night, breathlessly turning pages.

Jean Guerrero has a poet’s lyrical sense, a journalist’s dogged devotion to truth, and a fast and far-reaching mind. This is a book preoccupied with chasing — that is one of its harrowing pleasures — but, like all great memoirs, it is ultimately a story about the great trouble and relief of being found.” The Washington Post was more succinct in its praise, hailing it as, “Luminous… heartfelt and mystically charged.”

In A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams, a woman baffled by her mother’s suicide discovers she had a decades-long secret correspondence with a serial killer. “A fairy tale for adults with strong stomachs,” writes Kirkus Reviews. “Masterfully plotted and heart-poundingly tense, Jen Williams combines British folklore, cults, and the most chilling serial killer to grace the page in years — creating a thriller that’s both mesmerising, and utterly terrifying. I was hooked from the first page to the last,” praises author Katie Lowe. “Twists and turns that keep the reader engaged, you’ll be shocked right up until the very end,” reckons Red Carpet Crash, while New York Journal of Books calls it, “Clever… a chilling tale.”