Andrew Haigh’s powerful follow up to his acclaimed Weekend is a subtly devastating film about love, time and memory. Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay (both exceptional – they picked up the top acting awards at Berlin) are Kate and Geoff, a married Norfolk couple whose relationship is thrown into turmoil on the eve of their 45th wedding anniversary.

Geoff has received news detailing the discovery of the perfectly preserved body of Katya, an old girlfriend who died in a fatal fall in the Swiss alps 50 years earlier. The news triggers a deep turmoil for Geoff, who plunges into his past, leaving Kate alone and lonely as their party looms, with questions bubbling up: what did Katya mean to Geoff? Has he been honest with Kate? Can you be jealous of a dead woman? Have their 45 years together been inauthentic, and would they even be together if Katya hadn’t died?

Haigh’s sensitive film keeps these questions alive until the very last shot in this haunting and troubled look at marriage and what it means to love someone over many years. It is without doubt one of the best British films of the year.

• The screening of 45 Years on Tue 22 Sept is part of our Cinébites deal: Get 30% off any main dish in the Café/Bar with a valid cinema ticket.

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