Probing the social prejudices and legal obstacles surrounding abortion, Audrey Diwan’s Golden Lion winner astutely shatters the illusory liberalism of 1960s France. Starring a revelatory Anamaria Vartolomei, this unflinching and powerful cry for reproductive freedom simmers with a timely urgency.

With this proletarian drama, the Dardenne brothers made one of their finest in an illustrious career filled with social-realist masterworks. Attuned to the complexities of its rich cast of characters, and led by a never-better Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night is as enveloping as cinema gets.

Injecting a dose of neo-noir into melodrama, the Dardenne brothers reinvigorate their signature moral intrigue with a daring detective film. Starring Adèle Haenel in an impressive lead performance, The Unknown Girl is never squeamish about probing French attitudes to race and immigration.

So riveting, sly, and sophisticated is Azor, it’s incredible to think that it’s Swiss filmmaker Andreas Fontana’s debut feature. Set in the vampirically elegant, high-finance world of Argentina’s ultra-elites, this icily controlled conspiracy thriller holds its tension like an unsprung bear trap.