Since 2014, ISIS has claimed the Syrian city of Raqqa as the capital of its so-called Caliphate-and, at the same time, been opposed by a band of local 'citizen journalists' whose mission is to expose the Islamic State's horrific crimes.

In doing so, it delivers a sinister chill that’s hard to shake. Chilly yet intimate, tranquil yet nerve-wracking, Trier’s aesthetically sleek (and flashback-peppered) film refuses to posit easy answers about Thelma’s true nature, instead taking an ambiguous perspective on its volatile subject. Rather than bringing her peace, however, Thelma’s feelings of desire and jealousy act as sparks for her unnatural abilities, and their emergence soon thrusts the proceedings into a beguiling realm between empowering coming-of-age saga and furious-deity nightmare. The Carrie-ish center of attention here is Eili Harboe’s Thelma, whose departure to college sparks fear in the hearts of her overbearing religious parents (Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen), and soon leads to a romantic relationship with classmate Anja (Kaya Wilkins). Rent/ buy on Amazon and iTunes.Īfter three reality-based character dramas, Norwegian director Joachim Trier takes a turn for the supernatural with Thelma, a genre piece about a girl with unholy powers-albeit one that still plays in a decidedly Trier-ian register. A bisexual Little Mermaid-by-way-of-vampire horrorshow scored to original New Wave-y tunes, it really is like nothing you've ever seen before. Like the dreamy love child of Amèlie's Jean-Pierre Jeunet and The Fly's David Cronenberg-except with quite a bit more singing and dancing from its fantastical femme fatales-Smoczynska's knockout debut charts its aquatic fairy tale creatures as they make a name for themselves as a pop duo known as 'The Lure,' along the way falling in love and chomping on unsuspecting (male and female) victims.

Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska's wackadoo import is a familiar drama about a young couple torn between individual dreams and professional desires, the twist being that these protagonists (Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszanska) are mermaid cannibals sashaying through the seedy cabaret underbelly of 1980s Warsaw. La La Land's award-season triumphs may have heralded the return of the Hollywood musical, but in terms of ingenuity, flair and sheer eye-popping weirdness, it can't hold a candle to The Lure.

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