APPLAUSE

Paprika Steen delivers a tour-de-force performance in this devastating drama about an alcoholic actress trying to put her life back together.

A devastating portrayal of life after rehab, Applause is deeply indebted to, and inflected with, the raw majesty of Gena Rowlands in Cassavettes’ Opening Night. Danish director Martin Pieter Zandvliet’s blistering feature debut is a vehicle for its gutsy star, Paprika Steen. Gena would be proud.