Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor star in this nostalgic, aching romance, lifting a profound story of yearning in exquisitely tender performances. Interweaving timeless folk tunes with sumptuous, autumnal images, director Oliver Hermanus chronicles a love whose reverberations are felt for a lifetime.

Produced by Roland Emmerich, this sobering debut from Oliver Hermanus (The History of Sound) reveals the hidden trauma inflicted by gang violence. Nervy, jagged camerawork evinces the spiraling inner world of a grieving mother, whose turmoil embodies the plight of working-class South Africans.