Exhibition

Joanna Hogg has only made three films – Unrelated (2007), Archipelago (2010) and now Exhibition, yet she's already established herself as one of Britain's leading auteur directors. 

Her new film Exhibition is brilliant and completes the hat-trick. Concerning an artist couple who are in the process of selling their house, it offers up an acute account of the nature of contemporary marriage whilst simultaneously baffling you with the intractable foreignness of this couple's private world.  

Hogg won the Guardian First Film award for Unrelated, and her uncompromising, spare films have consistently met with high critical acclaim. The films are utterly original and loved for both their quiet, dreamlike strangeness, but also the sharp bite with which they observe the middle class. She's a unique director – both deeply personal and broadly social; esoteric but still relevant.

The two lead roles in Exhibition are played by complete beginners, but not by absolute unknowns. It is typical of Hogg's familiar yet strange style that she has cast two people who are independently famous, Viv Albertine of punk band The Slits and Turner prize nominated artist Liam Gillick. They’re inspired castings: their unfamiliarity with the medium perfectly complements  the awkward candour of their characters. 

Tom Hiddleston, who's been cast in all of Hogg's films so far, has a small role as an estate agent, but the film is mostly centred on Albertine and Gillick, making it feel like a step away from mainstream cinema with it's recognisable names and faces. 

This really is a must see film. It's name won't be shouted at you from tube station billboards and bus stop advertising holdings, so keep it firmly lodged your mind and when April 25 roles along, actively seek it out.

To coincide with the release of Exhibition, the Curzon Mayfair are holding a screening of the film, followed by a Q and A session with Hogg and Viv Albertine, on April 25. Click here for more info.