Raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou, just outside of New Orleans, Antonio LeBlanc (Justin Chon) is a Korean adoptee struggling to make a better life for his family, including pregnant wife Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and step-daughter Jessie. Following an altercation with two police officers, Antonio is violently arrested and threatened with deportation after it is revealed that his adoptive parents never naturalised him as a citizen. He must now confront the ghosts of his past while struggling with the possibility of being forced to leave the only country he has ever called home.

Blue Bayou is a labour of love for actor and award-winning indie filmmaker Chon, who spent over four years working on the film, consulting with many adoptees in similar situations to ensure the experience depicted was authentic. The end result is a genuinely affecting drama that tugs at the heartstrings.

The films of visionary director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse) have intertwined history and mythology with fantasy and horror to create cinematic experiences that are equally beautiful and frightening. His latest film, The Northman, is an adrenaline-fuelled epic which surpasses his previous works in nearly every way.

Based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth – which directly inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet – the film begins with a young Viking prince witnessing the murder of his father (Ethan Hawke) at the hands of his uncle (Claes Bang), who then takes his mother (Nicole Kidman) as his own queen. Years later, the prince has become a warrior (Alexander Skarsgård) who is propelled by supernatural forces and driven by obsession to embark on a quest. His goal: avenge his father, save his mother, and kill his uncle.

Stark, brutal and intensely beautiful, The Northman must be experienced in a cinema.