Manchester by the Sea

Until 2016, Kenneth Lonergan was the indie world's best-kept secret, a director of fine, intimate dramas featuring exceptional performances by actors on the brink of stardom. Despite rave reviews, his first two films - 1999's You Can Count on Me and Margaret, which followed a long 12 years later - were jinxed by business woes, but now it's third-time lucky with this masterful Sundance hit. Casey Affleck is on electrifying, Oscar-winning form as Lee, a surly janitor living alone in a Boston suburb. Summoned by his family after his brother suffers a heart attack, Lee returns to his seaside home town to face the secrets of his past. Admirers of Lonergan's previous output will know what to expect (death and guilt), and the tragedy is laid on even thicker this time. Nevertheless, there's an easy-going, low-key humour throughout - notably in scenes with Lee's teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) - that dispels some of the gloom and makes the inevitable showdown with Lee's ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) all the more electric.