Son of Saul review: an outstanding, excoriating look at evil in Auschwitz

This remarkable debut film, about a prisoner in the concentration camp employed in the industrial processes of body disposal, is a horror movie of extraordinary focus and courage

The Tribe review – one of the most disturbing films of the year

Squeaking shoes and grunts of anger are the only soundtrack to this brutal and supremely strange Ukrainian film about a school for the deaf falling into anarchy

Stray Dogs (Jiao you) review – hypnotic power

This prizewinning portrait of life on the margins of Taipei requires patience, but the effect is breathtaking

Stray Dogs review – uncompromisingly agonised survival story

Tsai Ming-liang’s artistry is undeniable, but his film centring on an alcoholic father and his children lacks generosity

Futuro Beach review – pining for the waves

In this tenderly composed, languid study of the nature of exile, Brazilian lifeguard Donato finds himself living in Berlin – but he’s not sure why

Mad Max: from the Ozploitation wilderness to the mainstream

George Miller’s post-apocalyptic classic emerged from the misfit band of trash cinema that was the byproduct of Australia’s art-movie boom. But his road warrior ended up defining a new, quirkier alternative to the Hollywood mainstream

If you can create a new lexicon, why then resort to genre cliches?

New Ukrainian film The Tribe and Paul Kingsnorth’s latest novel both rethink how we use language, but then fail to buck convention with their plots

Samba review – upbeat French comedy drama

From the directors who brought us the breezy Intouchables comes the story of a Senegalese kitchen worker struggling to stay in France

The 10 best films about films

With Fellini’s flamboyant 8½ back in cinemas this week, here are the 10 best self-referential movies

Cannes 2015: how foreign-language film-makers took over English-language arthouse

This year’s film festival is dominated by movies made in English by non-native English-speaking directors. Is this an ominous sign of Hollywood killing off foreign cinema?

Samba review – tough social realism meets sugary romantic comedy

A mismatch of tones, weird narrative leaps, scenes that go nowhere, but at least it doesn’t decend into miserablism

A Letter to Momo review – painterly Japanese anime full of magic and emotion

Anime veteran Hiroyuki Okiura changes pace with this charming but disquieting tale of a bereaved young girl making a new life – and some strange new friends – on a remote, sleepy island

Au revoir l’été review – subversive drama

Koji Fukada skewers modern Japanese society through the eyes of a teenage girl who dreams of escape

Exit review – bittersweet midlife crisis

A woman’s lonely battle against a life in collapse provides comedy and pathos in Chienn Hsiang’s directorial debut

Exit review – sensitive Taiwanese mid-life drama

Chen Shiang-chyi gives an outstanding performance as a lonely menopausal women in Chienn Hsiang’s semi-hopeful drama