Ismael’s Ghosts

"If "Ismael's Ghosts" were a meal, it would be a massive slab of off-tasting meat alternative, wrapped in fake bacon, cooked in margarine, then covered in dairy-free imitation cheese."

"The cost of the film's shapeshifting is that it's hard to invest in it as anything other than a movie-making game - but for Desplechin's impish purposes, it's a price worth paying."

"The grace-notes of humour and whimsy simply take over, and the movie accelerates into a headlong rush towards absurdity and farce."

"A narrative that is not necessarily fully comprehensible as a stand-alone item but which takes great pleasure in playing with all of the writer-director's obsessions, themes and styles."