You Were Never Really Here
A potential festival highlight, Cannes favourite and leading light of the British indie scene Lynne Ramsey (We Need to Talk About Kevin) brings this brutal hitman thriller, starring Joaquin Phoenix, to Dubai. The film has been almost universally critically lauded, and received a seven-minute standing ovation following its screening at Cannes in May.
Madinat Arena, 6pm
No Date, No Signature
Dr Kaveh Nariman (Amir Aghaee) is a forensic pathologist, a tough, hard-working, dedicated professional whose life takes a dangerous turn one night when he accidentally hits a motorbike on the highway. To Nariman's horror, the bike is carrying a young family, a couple, their 8-year-old son and a baby. Although nobody is seriously hurt, when the body of the 8-year-old arrives at Dr Nariman's autopsy room a few days later, he is shaken to the core. Diff returnee Vahid Jalilvand directs.
Vox 5, Mall of the Emirates, 6.30pm
Downsizing
Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig are a typical couple who decide to sign up for a revolutionary technique that shrinks you to five inches tall in a bid to counter overpopulation and the rising cost of living. Director Alexander Payne (Sideways) is something of a comic master, so it is no surprise that things soon go awry, sending our heroes off on a series of bizarre, surreal mini-adventures.
Madinat Arena, 9pm
I, Tonya
This is another film that has garnered rave reviews following its festival debut, at Toronto in September. Hollywood woman-of-the-moment Margot Robbie takes on the role of figure skater Tonya Harding, who famously hired a hitman to break the legs of her main competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, ahead of 1994's United States Figure Skating Championships.
Vox 1, Mall of the Emirates, 9.15pm
King Kong
Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Schoedsack's 1933 monster movie classic comes to The Beach in a digitally restored, re-edited cut that brings the grainy old footage up to date with the latest technology. Prepare to be terrified with Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and King Kong himself, as the giant gorilla goes on the rampage across New York.
The Beach, JBR, 7.30pm
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Read more from Diff 2017:
[ President Trump's Jerusalem decision hangs heavy over opening weekend ]
[ Film festival announces 140-film line-up ]
[ Gallows humour fuels Christmas spirit in Nazareth-based comedy Wajib ]
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