A withering indictment of American social values, written and directed by a man who has never set foot in America, Lars von Trier’s Dogville is an ambitious provocation. With an all-star cast led by Nicole Kidman, this epic Brechtian drama is a raw examination of small-town hypocrisy and prejudice.

Following his Edith Piaf film La Vie en Rose, director Olivier Dahan turns his attention to another 20th-century cultural icon. Playing Grace Kelly during her transition from Hollywood star to European princess, Nicole Kidman burnishes the staid traditions of the biopic with a welcome hint of camp.