Starring Margaret Qualley and Joe Alwyn as lovers on the run from shadowy forces in Nicaragua, the French auteur’s quasi-thriller is intentionally puzzling – and all pleasure

From a squad of young soldiers stationed in the middle of the Djiboutian desert to a stubborn plantation mistress refusing to abandon her estate amid a brewing civil war, Claire Denis’s films have placed some of cinema’s most alluring stars in some of the world’s most volatile environments.

Stemming from her memories growing up as a child throughout West Africa, the legendary French film-maker has possessed a career-long fascination with the everlasting ripples of colonial oppression and its lingering psychic effects on native communities.