After disappointing , Pawel Pawlikowski returns to his native Poland – and to form – to tell this deeply personal, consummately crafted tale. Set in the early ’60s, evocatively recreated in smoky monochrome, it centres on Anna (Agata Trzebuchowska), an orphaned nun. Her world’s turned upside down after meeting her free-spirited Aunt (Agata Kulesza); together, they go on a journey to explore Anna’s background.

They make for the oddesౠt of couples, but Pawlikowski paints his w🔥orld with disarmingly delicate brushstrokes.