High Life

Robert Pattinson stars in this beguiling, if puzzling, sci-fi from French auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail). Scripted in English by Denis and regular collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau, it follows a group of convicts - all serving death sentences - aboard a spaceship outside our solar system. The mission is to harvest energy from black holes, with Pattinson's Monte among the guinea pigs, but when crew members start dying off, attention turns to Dibs (Juliette Binoche), the ship's unhinged scientist, who is wantonly tinkering with biology. A low-key Pattinson excels in one of his more off-kilter films, though some may be taken aback by Denis's frankness. A scene with Binoche's character sexually pleasuring herself in a darkened room will raise eyebrows, though this is just one of the more outré moments in a carefully paced movie that borrows its eerie tone from more cerebral sci-fi such as Solaris. Examining mankind's desire to play god with science, Denis's enigmatic work also comes equipped with a fine cast (Mia Goth, André Benjamin and Lars Eidinger included), adding to the cult appeal.