Lara

The world of music forms the crucible for this gripping, prize-winning mother-son psychological drama from Jan-Ole Gerster (Oh Boy).

Lara, once an aspiring pianist, but now a lonely retired civil servant, discovers that Viktor, her son, also an accomplished pianist and composer, is to perform that evening – a performance to which she has not been invited. As a one-time musician, she is only too aware of the pressures on the artiste to succeed and the courage demanded to overcome the pervasive fear of failure. Unwilling to see her son succeed where she has failed, she embarks on a ruthless mission to sabotage his career. A mesmerising, virtuoso performance from Corinna Harfouch as the embittered Lara makes this an unmissable event in contemporary German cinema.

• Asha Richards