Showing Films Worth Seeing...

The Girl who Played with Fire (15)

The compulsive sequel to the hugely popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, is approached by a young journalist with a detailed thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden, and immediately throws himself into the investigation. Salander, who has had no contact with Blomkvist since a year earlier, is, in fact, in constant contact with him, having cloned his computer hard drive. While Blomkvist and others do research, Salander plots punishment for the traffickers. However, before she can carry this out, she is accused of murdering the journalist, his girlfriend and her own guardian. To avoid capture, Salander vanishes. Blomkvist tries despairingly to clear her name, but can’t find her anywhere. When he does find her, he discovers that Salander is more embroiled in his investigation than he could have thought possible. Seven Magazine review: “The sequel doesn’t quite have the freshness of the first film, but it still proceeds at a cracking pace, with the rather lurid plot kept aloft by the winning pairing of Rapace’s desperate, dark-eyed intensity with Nyqvist’s slyness and solidity.”

Director: Daniel Alfredson
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist and Lena Endre

Swedish/Danish/German 129mins

Language: Swedish, with subtitles
(Contains scenes of violence)

Stahl spring season

The Girl who Played with Fire (15)

The compulsive sequel to the hugely popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, is approached by a young journalist with a detailed thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden, and immediately throws himself into the investigation. … [more]

The Maid (La Nana) (15)

Raquel has worked for over 20 years as a maid in the same affluent Chilean household. She is regarded as one of the family but eventually the atmosphere becomes more oppressive and dysfunctional. Something has to give – both in the balance of the household and, by implication, in the Latin American social system. … [more]

White Material (15)

Isabelle Huppert is Maria, wife and mother, who owns a coffee plantation and is fighting to keep her family and her business together against the chaotic backdrop of a brutal African civil war. Armed child soldiers flock the local streets as French helicopters patrol the sky – hoping to save French families, like Maria’s, from near certain disaster. … [more]

The Kids are All Right (15)

The Kids Are All Right focuses on a lesbian couple (Nic and Jules) who each have a child conceived by a sperm bank donor. Both Joni, 18, and Laser, 15, have a strong curiosity as to the identity of their father. After a couple of phone calls and confidentiality agreements, the donor father named Paul agrees to meet with both Joni and Laser … [more]

My Afternoons with Margueritte (15)

Germain meets Margueritte on a park bench. He is middle-aged and barely literate; she is 95 years old, intelligent, well-read and articulate. Germain is bullied by his mother and teased by his peers. Margueritte is highly educated and cultured, a retired scientist. Margueritte's love of words intrigues Germain and his increasing regard for her awakens an interest in reading. … [more]

Another Year (15)

Mike Leigh is the most observant of directors, at his best when finding drama in the domestic and mundane. His touch allows comedy and compassion to come out of misery and unease. Staunton gives a most excellent cameo, allowing the viewer to understand her character’s awful plight in just a few minutes' acting … [more]

Made in Dagenham (15)

A dramatisation of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination when the bosses went a step too far by regrading the women's pay to 'unskilled'. The women's fight for better pay and conditions played a key part in the battle for equal pay nationally and internationally. … [more]

The King’s Speech (12A)

On paper, The King’s Speech might seem a rather predictable costume drama, with checkboxes for a classy cast and dependable production values well-ticked. But it’s actually a very witty and inspiring watch, with an interesting focus on one of the Monarchy’s more difficult hours – and has just received 8 nominations for the British Independent Film Awards. … [more]