White Material

Radio Times“Huppert is a magnetic presence...” Unfortunately, the disconnected narrative leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to figuring out when and where events are occurring...

Time Out film“A mesmerising portrait of civil war...” Huppert lends her poetic resolve and earthy beauty to Maria, a woman trying to squeeze one last week out of her dilapidated coffee plantation even as her workers drift away and the possibility of violence or death becomes increasingly likely...

The Telegraph“Denis is a genius at conveying both mystery and madness...” It’s possible to overstate White Material’s opacity. Compared with some of Denis’s earlier work, it’s transparency itself, making regular and unnecessary use of rebel radio broadcasts to anchor the drama...

The Independent“Huppert is superb...” With Denis films, her perversity comes as part of the package, along with the brilliance. Cavils that certain things don't entirely work, or make sense, must sometimes be suspended – she works on different levels of abstraction and concreteness...

Little White Lies“Another solid entry in the Denis résumé...” Despite the film’s lack of surprises, Denis’ philosophical preoccupations persist, making her film an absorbing and wholly relevant social commentary open to much interpretation and debate...

The Observer“Claire Denis's fine return to Africa...” Maria is played with sinewy determination by Isabelle Huppert, an actress at her formidable best when making her audience sympathise with a morally conflicted character...

Guardian“Denis has always been a poet of mood and moment...” White Material does not behave like a "thriller", nor like the traditional hand-wringing, breast-beating movie about Africa, and yet it as lapel-graspingly urgent as either, a movie that remains in the mind long after it has finished...

Variety“Powerful...” Unsurprisingly devoid of the kind of faux-liberal displacement/wish fulfillment or colonialist superiority that mars so many First World treatments of the subject, Denis' film views the continent as a kind of drug, intoxicating yet perilous...

Total Film “Lingers with nightmarish force...” Emphatic confirmation that Denis is one of the world’s finest filmmakers. Equal parts terrifying and tense, punchy and ambiguous, direct and disorientating, White Material marshals its resources with great intelligence and visceral clout...

Empire“An overly fastidious but insight-filled look at post-colonial Africa...” Fussily structured and brusquely concluded, Claire Denis’ return to Africa still offers some fascinating insights into the reprehensible actions that can seemingly be justified by a love of country...