Rose

A mesmerising performance from Sandra Hüller elevates the emotionally devastating, gender defying period drama Rose.

It is based on a true story and handsomely shot in stark monochrome. Set in a German protestant village after the Thirty Years' War, an enigmatic soldier appears, who is slightly built with a disfiguring facial scar. He gradually attains a grudging acceptance from the suspicious villagers but this is shaken by the revelation of an impossible deceit, he is actually a woman.

"The third film from Austrian director Markus Schleinzer is terrific. What initially seems like a gender-flipped riff on the story of Martin Guerre grows richer and more satisfying as it unfolds. Schleinzer deftly blends droll humour with a poignant portrait of a gender non-conforming individual in a society which is not forgiving of difference." — Wendy Ide, Screen Daily