“I just saw Warwick Thornton‘s Samson and Delilah, an Australian film selected for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival,” says Down Under critic Joel Meares. “It’s a tough slog that takes you into remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (basically the outback) and is relentlessly grim in some ways. But also extremely touching. It delivers emotionally like little else I’ve seen recently.

“This is definitely one to look out for. It’s probably the best and most profound thing to come out of this country for a few years at least. Two leads, untrained actors, perfectly natural, great perfs. I said to someone today it was like a good shot of Listerine washing away the bad taste of how ludicrously Aborigines were presented in Baz Luhrman‘s Australia.”