Why you can trust 12DOVE
A winter's Friday night in Paris, where a public-transport strike has forced the city's traffic to a grinding halt. Caught up in the gridlock is Laure (Valérie Lemercier), who's supposed to be moving in with her boyfriend the next day. Then a stranger, Jean (Vincent Lindon), knocks on her car window, their chance encounter turning into a joyful one-night stand...
Writer/director Claire Denis (Beau Travail, Trouble Every Day) has no interest in probing her characters' jobs or personal relationships, instead choosing to zoom in on their mutual desire through an impressionistic marriage of visuals and sound. Dialogue is almost non-existent in this impressive sexual fantasy (as is typical of many of Denis' films) and meaning is conveyed using far trickier methods - close-ups of glances exchanged between the lovers, or by the way that Agnès Godard's mobile camera tracks their body language within the confined spaces.
It won't be to everyone's tastes, that's for sure, but Vendredi Soir is warm, tender and discreet, romantic filmmaking par excellence.
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.

Avowed is nothing like Bethesda's RPGs, but The Elder Scrolls 6 should take inspiration from its combat

Doom: The Dark Ages developers go back to the OG 1993 FPS for inspiration: "Every time you look at it, you learn something new"

Doctor Who season 2 release date appears to have been announced via an online advert - and it’s sooner than expected