Catherine Deneuve

Arnaud Desplechin’s whirlwind dramedy doesn’t fully reject Christmas joy, but it does give the undersung holiday traditions of dysfunction and discomfort their time in the spotlight. Starring a formidable French cast, this festive film’s thorny exterior makes way for little glimmers of tender hope.

One of Luis Buñuel landmark films, Tristana was adapted from Benito Pérez Galdós’ novel and stars the hypnotic Catherine Deneuve and Fernando Rey. Full of erotic manipulation and symbolic actions, this in an idiosyncratic assault on bourgeois moralism, set in the conservative Spain of the 1930s.