Holy Motors

Holy Motors is the first Leos Carax feature since 1999's Pola X, and it sometimes feels as if every single idea, dream and nightmare that he has had in those ensuing years have been thrown into this singular picture. Less a narrative than a series of increasingly surreal vignettes, Holy Motors relies on a spellbinding and awe-inspiring performance from Denis Lavant to hold it all together.

He dons a series of elaborate disguises as a limousine drives him to various acting jobs – the true meaning of which are never explained – and he performs sexual acts in a motion-capture suit, kidnaps a supermodel (a very game Eva Mendes) and kills a doppelgänger, before running into a fellow 'performer' (Kylie Minogue). What all of this is supposed to add up to is anyone's guess, but the film's melancholy take on the nature of performance is oddly affecting, and on a scene-by-scene basis it's surely the most surprising, imaginative and hilarious picture you're likely to see for some time.