When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most striking roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal, affliction he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug. His transition from loving father to homicidal despot is depicted on a scale more akin to operatic tragedy than melodrama and, on top of the inestimable pleasures of Mason's performance, a narrative that explores society's use of drugs provides an unexpectedly prophetic di find out more...

(By Ian Freer on EmpireOnline) <br>Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is the drummer in a punk-metal duo with girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). When he begins to intermittently lose his hearing, his musical life seems over. At Lou’s insistence, he reluctantly enters a retreat for the deaf that means giving up his true passion. For a film marinated in silence, Sound Of Metal makes a helluva noise. The accomplished debut from Darius Marder (who co-wrote the screenplay for Derek Cianfrance’s The P find out more...

Les Franken defines ‘non-descript', everything about him is without note, but when he takes part in a clinical trial for a new drug called ‘Special' Les starts to notice super human gifts developing and as an avid reader of comic books decides to re-model himself as a fearless indestructible defender of justice. At times bleakly witty 'Special' is at heart a tale driven by delusion, the emotional collapse of a man who like many of us wishes to be something more than he is. A flawed tale that los find out more...