Following the pitch-black Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos draws back the curtain on some more theatre of the absurd with Alps. A group of people offer an unusual service, replacing deceased family and friends in an effort to ease the mourning process. When one of them takes her position too far, things start to get messy. Slow, deadpan and unflinchingly weird, Alps is cut from the same cloth as Dogtooth, but lacks any real bite.

The latest offering from Paul Andrew Williams (known for 2006’s London to Brighton), it would be difficult to describe Cherry Tree Lane as the sort of film anybody would watch for enjoyment. The story of a London couple held hostage in their own home by some seriously disgruntled youths, it is uncomfortable viewing from start to finish; rarely has there been a film that could make you feel more horrified at what is happening onscreen. You won’t want to watch and yet, curiously, this is precisely why you must.